MSSN at 66: A retrospect

ONE of the most remarkable events that characterised the 20th century was the birth of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), the coming of which (by Allah’s mercy) has brought nothing but good. The Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) was birthed on 18th April 1954, exactly 66 years ago, through the efforts of vibrant Muslim students from Methodist Boys High School, Kings College and Queens College in Lagos State.

Alhamdulillah, the effort has been preserved, nurtured and blossomed into a big society with numerous branches spread across the nooks and crannies of the country. The first indigenous student based society in Nigeria inspired the formation of other students organisations in the country as well as globally relevant Islamic organisations like Muslim Students Association MSA of the US and Canada, World Assembly of Muslim Youths (WAMY) among others. Alhamdulillah! MSSN has had 66 impactful years on its members, the Nigerian Muslim Community and the nation at large through its activities and their consequences.

The main goal of the establishment of the society in 1954 was to encourage Muslims to have conventional education without compromising their faith as was the norm then. It is instructive to note that efforts to subjugate the interests of Muslims in educational institutions are still substantially present in Nigeria of today. MSSN has since been at the forefront of the struggle to protect the interests the Nigerian Muslim students in particular and the Ummah at large. The society is at the forefront of encouraging Muslims to preserve their identities whether as students or as professionals.

Allah has used the MSSN to contribute to national development, by being a platform of national unity and cohesion among Muslim students; thereby promoting national integration and building bridges across all the geographical and ethnic barriers in Nigeria as well as emphasising the brotherhood of Islam, in particular, and mankind in general. Allah raised, from the society, generations of outstanding leaders in all spheres of national life with invaluable contributions in the areas of good governance, justice, and the fight against corruption, oppression and immorality in the country. Being the pioneer organisation of its kind in Nigeria, the society has nurtured and provided manpower for most of the Muslim organisations in the country today while consistently defining and encouraging adherence to acceptable Islamic standards of national ethos.

The society, by the grace of Allah, will continue to make its activities much more relevant and beneficial to its members, the Nigerian Muslim Ummah, the country at large and the global Muslim community as a whole.

We remember today and beseech Allah’s blessings on all those He used to establish the society, those who assisted in nurturing it, all its workers and all those who will continue to contribute to its projects and activities in the future; may Allah grant us all His Al-jannah.

By Dr Taofeeq Yekinni, president, and AbdulAzeez Oladejo, National Public Relations Officer.

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