Muslim Student Association

Colorado State University

Dear new Muslim student,

As-salamu alaykum. The Muslim community of Fort Collins is happy to welcome you to our city. We hope that your stay here will be happy and enjoyable, and that you will become an active member of our community.

Dear fellow Muslim, we would like to emphasize to you that each Muslim is an ambassador and representative of Islam. We ask you to be aware of this at all times in your behavior and interaction with others.

Islam is still not well-understood in this society and many people have wrong ideas about its teachings. If your behavior is not Islamic, the people around you will not blame you as an individual. Rather, they will suppose that your actions are because you are a Muslim. In other words, everything you do and say will be understood to be a reflection on Islam.

Back home, if an American or a European does something which is not suitable, people are likely to say, "This is how Americans or Europeans behave." Similarly, here, also, people will say, "This is how Saudis, or Egyptian, or Turks, or Pakistanis behave" -- in other words, "This is how Muslims behave," as they will understand that this person's behavior is because of Islam.

Dear brother or sister, we must be very careful in our manners and dealings with the people around us -- with non-Muslims just as much as with Muslims. We are guests in this country and we represent our faith. Therefore we must try to do our best in all our interactions with other people.