Quran Study Group Provides a Community for Niles West Muslims

Morton Grove resident Samama Mahmud was a freshman at Niles West when she found “a second home” through the school’s Quran Study club.

“I felt like everyone greeted everyone with a smile,” she said. “It's a nice place to come at the end of the week and talk to people who have the same interests as you and help each other out with problems you may have.”

Now, as a junior, she’s one of the presidents of the group, attending meetings twice a week and working at home to plan activities and special events.

“I wanted to see the club grow,” she said. “I wanted to let the freshmen have the same experience I did.”

With around 100 members, Quran Study is one of the largest nonathletic organizations at Niles West. It’s on par with service groups Dance Marathon and Relay For Life and dwarf’s the school’s only other religious club, Christian group H20, which has about 15 to 40 members depending on the year.

Quran Study meets after school every Friday, starting with students joining together for prayer.

“I think prayer in our religion is very important,” said math teacher Tayyaba Ahmad, the club’s sponsor. “It doesn't really matter if you're a religious guy or not, you pray. A lot of kids pray and leave.”

Some days the students just hang out and chat over pizza and soda. During other meetings, the executive board members lead activities like group games, which can be purely for fun or educational, such as an Islam-themed version of Jeopardy. Imams regularly come in to discuss religion, and once a month Loyola University professor Omer Mozaffar attends to talk about the Quran and current events.

“For students growing up in this time and age, they want to know why their religion is always in the media,” Ahmad said. “It's letting them take an active part in learning about their religion in a modern and open-minded perspective. They like to talk about it. They like to express their feelings.”

Sophomore Rahim Amlani of Morton Grove attended in Morton Grove for eighth grade, but went to high school at Niles West. He joined Quran Study as a freshman and now serves as co-president.

“I wanted to keep up with my Islamic studies and be within an Islamic environment,” he said. “In the club, we're doing activities that are fun but at the same time you're learning about religion.”

Senior Mahween Ahmed of Niles said she joined Quran Study because her older brother had been a part of the club.

“I felt like I found a sisterhood,” she said. “As a freshman you're kind of lost. I found something I can fit into.”

Ahmad is a Niles West graduate and attended Quran Study as a student. She was a sophomore in 2001 and said that the group was especially important to her in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“We talked a lot about the tragedy that happened and took our time to learn about what was going on in the world,” Ahmad said. “That was huge for me, to be able to feel comfortable and feel part of the community.”

Ahmad said she believes Muslim students growing up in post-Sept. 11 America often feel that they must prove themselves to others and spend a lot of time considering their identities.

“I think that's an awesome experience too,” she said. “You really have to think about it a lot more instead of just going through that same routine of taking everything for granted.”

Quran Study’s membership numbers have stayed the same over the past decade, but Ahmad said the demographics have shifted. When she was a student, there were many more Bosnian members, but the club is currently dominated by Indian and Pakistani students. She said she’d like the group to reach out to more Muslims, including African Americans, and participate in more charity events.

“This year what we really want to do is activities that help us be part of the larger school community,” Ahmad said.