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 Born in 1972 in Karachi, Mahan Mirza was raised in Pakistan with the exceptions of Kindergarten in England and grades 4-5 in Southern California. In 1991 he came to the United States and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995. After working for two years as a project engineer in the HVAC industry in Seattle and Washington DC, Mahan left his job in pursuit of answers to deeper questions. He studied Arabic and the Qur'an for a year in Lahore and then joined the graduate program in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary. He continued working part-time as a design engineer while taking courses at the Seminary. In 2001 Mahan joined Yale's PhD program in Islamic Studies. He served as Wesleyan University's Muslim Chaplain last year and has joined us as Chaplain's Office Muslim Fellow this year. He is also currently writing his dissertation on the medieval Muslim polymath al-Biruni. Proficient in 6 languages, Mahan is 34 years old, married, and has 3 sons.
September 6, 2006
Assalamu Alaykum,
Greetings to the newcomers and welcome back to the oldies! Last year the Chaplain's Office at Yale initiated the Muslim Fellow's program to support the activities of the MSA. I have been appointed the Chaplain's Office Muslim Fellow for the academic year 2006-7. For those who don't already know me, I am also a PhD student in Islamic Studies currently in my sixth year writing my dissertation.
As Muslim Fellow I am expected to be a mentor and resource for the Muslim students on campus. In this capacity I will be offering Jumu'a Khutbas once a month (or whenever nobody volunteers!), lead a weekly discussion circle, support MSA events, and be available for advice and counseling.
As the semester gets started, note the following upcoming items:
1) Jumu'a Prayers. Prayers will be held in the musalla in the basement of Bingham Hall. Try and show up at 12:45 to get settled with ablutions and sunna prayers. The Khutba will begin at 1:00pm sharp. We should be all done by about 1:30pm, insha'Allah. Brother Usman will be sending an email soliciting volunteers for Khutbas. Keep an eye open if you are interested.
2) Qur'an Discussion Circle. We will have a weekly Qur'an discussion circle on Wednesday nights at 9:00pm (after isha prayers). Our first meeting will be this Wednesday 9/13. This will basically be an orientation where I can introduce the forum and gauge interest. And yes, it is a "discussion" circle not "dars/lecture" so come with your talking hats on! We will decide which ayaat to focus on ahead of time. For our first meeting we will talk about surat al-fatiha.
3) Zuhr and Isha Prayers. Brothers Noor and Yasir offered Zuhr prayers (at 1pm) last year together in the musalla whenever their schedules permitted. So if you are floating around at that time and would like to pray, try and make it a habit to make it to the musalla if possible. The same goes for Isha at 9:00pm. There may be times that you come and encounter nobody. Don't be disheartened. At other times you may encounter many, and perhaps in time this may become a more established tradition on campus.
That's it from me for now. I look forward to meeting you all around campus in the days and weeks ahead.
Your brother,
Mahan Mirza
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