Qur’an Study’s co-president sophomore, Rahim Amlani, walks to the podium in room 1210 and begins the khuthbah, or Islamic speech. He stresses the importance of acting kindly towards parents and establishing regular prayers. The students listen intently, wanting to gain as much knowledge as they can. As he draws his speech to an end, the Friday prayer begins with an Arabic call to prayer. Everyone gets up together to participate in prayer. Everyone bows in prostration together and, for some time, there is nothing but peace and calmness in the room.

After prayer  there is a pizza party to celebrate Eid, the Islamic holiday celebrated last week. The club also encouraged people to go and watch Fordson, a documentary on Muslims, by showing them the movie trailer.

Rushing all over the place to make sure everything is in order, the head members of the club were excited and occupied.

The increasing number of Muslims in Niles West led to the creation of a group called Qur’an Study. Qur’an Study began in 1992 and continues very strongly up to this day. This year’s sponsor of the club is Math teacher Tayyaba Ahmad. A devout Muslim, Ahmad, takes much pride in this club and its growing popularity.

“Qur’an Study is a place where students of all different backgrounds come together to learn about the Islamic faith. It’s also a place for students to get together and have fun after school,” said Ahmad.

Co-president of Qur’an Study and junior, Samama Mahmud, also holds a similar view. In between rushing around and trying to make sure everyone got their pizza, Mahmud had some time to speak with me.

“ Qur’an Study is place where we can discuss the problems of the youth,” said Mahmud.

Qur’an Study is a group for Muslims and non-Muslims. Qur’an Study is also amongst the most diverse and largest groups of the school. It has about 88 attending students who are of many different ethnicities including; Bosnian, Albanian, Pakistani, Indian, African-America, Bengali and many more.

Qur’an Study is also a place for Muslims to relax and get to know other Muslims, believes secretary of Qur’an Study and senior, Iqra Siddique.

“ [Qur’an Study] gives me a feeling of bonding with my fellow Muslims. I feel like I can relax and not worry about problems I feel through the day,” said Siddique.

If you are interested in Islam, Qur’an Study meets every Friday after school in room 1210 at 3:30.