Abid Mohiuddin

Competitions Committee
The George Washington University
Pre-Med

My name is Aabid Mohiuddin, I am currently an Undergraduate Pre-Med student at the George Washington University. I hail from Frederick, MD, or as some like to term it “Frederock, Murdaland.” Before college, I attended boarding school for four years, and being able to now see the interconnectedness of many area high schools, especially in regards to the Muslim students, has inspired me to get involved with DC MIST. As a rookie myself, I ask humbly for your patience, but also for your optimism, and inshallah it’ll all be swell

Adam Kareem

Regional Director
University of Maryland, College Park
Ph.D student, Mechanical Engineering, c/o 2013

Adam is currently entering his second year as director for the DC region and his third year of graduate school. He is currently working with Prof. Santiago Solares in the field of atomic force microscopy (AFM). While he finds the research to be exciting, he’s mired by the fact that coursework can sometimes slow research down. By Allah’s mercy, Adam was able to continue his graduate studies at his undergraduate alma mater allowing him to continue his efforts working for MIST. He is passionate about MIST and in a perfect world he’d work for MIST full-time. What he enjoys most about MIST is how it creates a platform for all members of the Muslim community to celebrate their Islamic identity and to form strong bonds of friendship in ways not often seen anywhere else. He hopes to bring MIST to every high school in MD, DC, and Northern VA, insha’Allah.

Adil Bukhari

Webmaster
University of Maryland, College Park
Graduated 2010
Computer Science, Statistics and Economics
Currently pursuing a Masters in Computer Science

In 2005, Adil signed up for his high school’s first functional DC MIST team. Ever since then, he’s volunteered his time as a competition judge and webmaster for DC MIST.
Adil graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in computer science, statistics, and economics; he now applies his talents as a software developer at a large consulting firm. Adil serves as one of the webmasters for DC MIST’s website and spends time tinkering with it. In his free time, Adil enjoys photography, long-distance running, independent website design, and reading.

Amina Haleem

Competitions Committee, Group Projects
University of Maryland, College Park
Undergraduate, Government and Politics, and Rhetoric

Amina has been involved with MIST for over 8 years as both a competitor and a member of the Executive Board. She has competed in many different MIST competitions including Short Film, Extemporaneous Essay, Short Fiction, Nasheed, Knowledge Test, and Website. She has managed to finagle her way onto the Competitions Committee, the best committee ever, to help make MIST an amazing experience and better than ever! She is also involved in other activities such as the University of Maryland Senate Judiciary (kind of like a mini Law & Order, except it involves real students getting in trouble) the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and the UMD MSA! She loves dark chocolate, National Geographic, and would one day love to explore South America. Amina is also colorfully multi-ethnic, so she would love for you to guess where she is from!

Amina Faizan

Food/Event Setup Committee
University of Maryland
Community Health

Amina has been involved with DC MIST for several years, first as a competitor, then as a judge and volunteer, and now she’s on the board working as Food Chair. She is involved with the Dar al-Taqwa community in Ellicott City and has been teaching at the Saturday School program for the past few years. When she’s not busy with teaching or school, Amina likes to volunteer for different local organizations and loves to watch TV and read. She really enjoyed her years as a competitor and looks forward to helping future competitors have a great time!

Bismah Iqbal

Competitions Committee – Writing & Oratory
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Senior, Health Administration and Public Policy: Public Health

Bismah has been a part of the MIST Executive Board since 2009, after she competed for four years throughout high school. She is currently part of the Competitions committee. She is a member of the Dar Al Taqwa community in Ellicott City, where she also taught at the Dar Al Taqwa Saturday School Program. Currently, she works on the administration staff at the MCC Sunday School program in Silver Spring. With her passion for teaching and working with young children, she hopes to put in her greatest effort for the youth that DC MIST brings together every year, Inshallah. Without MIST in her life, she wouldn’t have the opportunity to meet the youth of today and work with the extraordinary MIST board, that have the utmost dedication towards MIST and better, love for their religion, Islam.

Bushrah Rahman

Marketing Committee
University of Maryland, College Park
Junior, Biological Sciences: Neurobiology & Physiology; Minor in Linguistics

Bushrah has been involved in MIST for 5 years now, and loves being a part of it! She hopes to continue working with the Marketing Committee members to better familiarize MIST to students, guests, coaches, parents, and the greater DC Muslim community. When she’s not studying/homeworking or getting MISTified, she enjoys learning about the brain and everything it’s capable of! She is also an active member of the University of Maryland’s Muslim Students Association.

Ehson Kashfipour

Marketing Committee
Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
Sophomore Operations Management & Information Systems Major

Ehson has competed in MIST for three years as a part of the MCS Hawks team and gone on to two MIST Nationals (Atlanta and Houston). After graduating from high school, he volunteered the following year and served as the DC MIST honorary cheerleader at MIST Nationals 2K11 in Atlanta where DC MIST made history as the first visiting team to win first place. Ehson is very enthusiastic and passionate about DC MIST (especially when it comes to Nationals) and enjoys dedicating his time to the improvement of the program. DC We See Nothing But Victory!! Ahhh….Woooosh!!

Faheem Mahmooth

Marketing Committee
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – Graduated 2010

Faheem recently finished his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where he was also involved with the MSA. Although his initial plans were to attend Medical School, he has since veered off that track and, probably due to his involvement in the UMBC Debate Society and the UMBC Student Judicial hearing Board, now feels that his future revolves around pursuing a law degree.

It was at a debate tournament that Faheem first met a MIST organizer who was in charge of MIST debate competitions. Soon, Faheem found himself at a MIST tournament as a debate judge. Although he had heard a lot about MIST, he had yet to experience the sensation commonly referred to as “being MISTified”. As a MIST judge, Faheem was amazed at the youthful American enthusiasm inherent in every competitor and organizer at MIST, and yet was also impressed at how the competition still remained grounded on Islamic principles.

Unfortunately, Faheem was unaware of MIST during his high-school years, and thus now regrets missing out on a such a rewarding opportunity. Faheem now dedicates part of his free time to the MIST
Marketing Committee to ensure that others in his community will not come to feel that same regret.

Fatima Ahmed

Food/Event Setup Committee
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Junior, Psychology

Fatima has been part of the MIST executive board since 2009, working under the Food/Event Setup committee and has enjoyed every minute of it. She is an active member of the Dar-al-Taqwa community. She recently started teaching at the Saturday School program. Alhamdullillah, she is grateful to have the pleasure of being surrounded by eager competitors, superb organizers, and other well-known individuals from the community. She looks forward to the new experiences ahead in future DC MISTs!

Hayat Noor

Competitions Committee, Basketball
University of Maryland, College Park
Undergraduate, Computer Science

Hayat is a n00bie to MIST, and he’s put at one of the most electrifying positions in the whole tournament! Who doesn’t enjoy intense, competitive basketball?! When not sitting behind a computer programming his brains out or doing his freelance work as a software tester, you can probably find Hayat in the Eppley Recreation Center or at home sleeping. He’s an avid sports fan and ensures all his work is done before the weekends so he can spend time with his family and watch football. Hayat is a member of the Islamic Center of Maryland (ICM) community and Islamic Society of Frederick (ISF), where his family resides.

Hoda Hammad

Competitions Chair
University of Maryland, College Park
Bachelors in Mathematics – Graduated 2008
Masters in Biostatistics – Graduated 2009
Pursuing a Ph.D in Molecular Epidemiology

Hoda has been part of MIST since 2004. She started off as a competitor in 2004 and 2005 and enjoyed the experience so much that she continued to be involved as a judge for Knowledge & Quran. She has been a member of the MIST Executive Board since 2009 and currently serves as Competitions Chair, the most critical committee of MIST.

Despite the stress associated with being a committee chair, Hoda finds it rewarding to see students realize their potential and strength, not only in their religion, but also in their academics and future career goals. So while some might complain about the all nighters, the panic attacks, and the inevitable grey hairs, Hoda finds it a small price to pay to help the future of Muslims (corny, but true).

She is currently pursuing her PhD in Molecular Epidemiology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She is also interning for the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program where she does data management and analysis for various general infectious disease and HIV research studies.

Irma Hashmi

Competitions Committee
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Irma has been involved with MIST since high school when she competed in DC MIST (2006-2008) and then later in MIST Nationals (2008). This is her first year on the Competitions Committee. She loves the workshops and team bonding spirit of MIST weekend, and looks forward to a fun-filled tournament this year inshaAllah.

Jabir Khan

Finance Committee
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Your brother in Islam, Jabir/zabir/zoobear/gabir Khan. He’s in his fourth year as an undergraduate student studying information systems. He competed for four years of MIST and has been on board for three. As chaotic as life can be, MIST along with all its fantastic brothers and sisters working for sake of Allah returns him back to normal ground. He’s no sports buff but loves anything with two wheels and an engine.

Jamal Aladdin

Marketing Committee
University of Maryland, College Park
Senior, Government and Politics and Criminal Justice

Jamal has only been with MIST for two seasons since Spring 2010, but he is already excited about the trails that he is helping MIST blaze on the multimedia front. He is currently a member of Marketing as well as the head photographer ( =] ), and hopes to use his know-how and artistic skill to ingrain DC MIST into the minds of all DMV residents! He’s a member of the ISWA masjid, but also floats between
the MCC and Dar al-Taqwa communities. When not getting MISTified, he is busy keeping his GPA up for Pi Sigma Alpha Government Honors Society, growing his beard, working on his car, or taking pictures for a variety of student organizations.

Karam Hijji

Competitions Committee, Debate
University of Maryland Alumni
Material Science and Engineering

After hearing fantastic MIST stories from several MSAers, Karam Hijji decided that he just had to ‘get MISTified’. Quite eager to help out in his first year of volunteering for MIST, Karam took on several smaller tasks. He now spends his time improving the MIST Debate competition. Karam appreciates the beneficial effects of MIST upon all of its participants, judges, and organizers, and he hopes to make this year’s MIST the best one yet (meep meep).

Although currently working at the patent office, Karam has found tons-o-free time to be outdoors, read, watch many TV shows and, most of all — play soccer and take pichaz.

Khadija Mohamed

Registration Committee
Montgomery College

Khadija has been around MIST since she was in the 8th grade and after graduating high school went through post MIST depression because she thought her days with MIST were over. When the opportunity to become a part of the board came, she couldn’t resist.
She is an admirer of facial hair and sloths. And plans to be apart of the MIST family until her career as a mainstream gangster rapper kicks off.

Manaar Zuhurudeen

Program Committee
University of Maryland, College Park
Master’s candidate for Speech-Language Pathology

Manaar is in the middle of her 5th year with DC MIST. She started out as a volunteer, went on to help with the Fundraising and Finance committees, and is currently serving (and absolutely loving!) the Program committee. Even though most of her time is taken up by school, she thoroughly enjoys reading and writing comedy, and can occasionally be found imagining what her life would be like if she were a muppet.

Mariam Eltoweissy

Logistics Chair
University of Maryland, College Park
Senior, Government and Politics

Mariam joined MIST fresh out of middle school and has since been involved with the organization. Moving from a competitor to a volunteer to a judge and now a board member, she has been through the full range of MIST experiences and absolutely loves every moment of MISTification. When she’s not nerding out on political theory, Mariam tries to enjoy nature’s blessings and the simple joys in life. She is really looking forward to the tournament and plans on kicking any signs of a nervous stress breakdown in the rear!

Nudrat Siddiqui

Competitions Committee – Scholastic Bowl and Knowledge/Tafseer Tests
George Mason University
Communications: Public Relations

After being MISTified as a competitor throughout high school, Nudrat joined the DC MIST board to relive the experience. Her favorite part of MIST is always the awards ceremony, all the teams are all hyped to the max, anxious, loud, and fully MISTIFIED! Nudrat is currently a student at George Mason University pursuing a degree in Communications with a focus on Public Relations and Event Management. She also serves as the Public Relations officer of the GMU MSA. Nudrat is fond of good art, photography, and poetry. In her spare time she stares at books and wonders how people read for leisure.

Omnia Elgoodah

George Washington University
Religion/Pre-Med – Class of 2011
Northern Virginia Community College/James Madison University – International Affairs with a Concentration in Education

Omnia LOVES MIST – but sadly, when she was in High School, she wasn’t aware of it. She first volunteered with MIST during her Sophomore year of College in 2007 and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, because her school was too far from College Park, she was not able to volunteer any more after that – until now! Omnia is very excited to be back now and help her Brothers and Sisters in Islam; she is ready to learn, have fun, meet others and enjoy her time during this year’s MIST.

Omnia Joehar

Registration Committee Chair
University of Maryland, College Park
Senior, Government and Politics

Omnia has been working with MIST since 2009 and before that was a competitor throughout High School (2004-2008). She was a part of the Registration Committee and is currently serving her first year as Registration Chair. She can’t wait to have a great MIST weekend this year while bonding with the competitors!

Sameer Ali

Program Committee
University of Maryland, University College

My name is Sameer Ali and I’m from Trinidad and Tobago. I went to Al-Huda School then left to go PGCC. I’m currently a student at UMUC with a Cyber degree.

Sanjana Quasem

Program Committee
University of Maryland, College Park
Community Health – Graduated 2010

Sanjana has been with MIST since 2007. She never had the opportunity to participate in MIST as a competitor but after volunteering for DC MIST 2007, she was MISTified and has been since! She joined first as a volunteer and then acted as the DC Region Co-Coach at MIST Nationals 2007. After that, she held the position of Registration Chair for three years and also worked on the Awards Ceremony Committee and the former Outreach Committee. She currently is a member of the Program Committee. InshaAllah she hopes to contribute more to MIST in the coming years so it continues to be a beneficial and gratifying experience to all involved.

Sanjana is also a graduate from UMCP where she received her Bachelors in Community Health. She currently works as an Outreach Program Coordinator with the Asian American Health Initiative, a part of the Montgomery County Department of Health & Human Services. On her free time, Sanjana likes hanging out with her friends, shopping, eating sunflower seeds, and quoting Michael Scott.

Shihan Chowdhury

Marketing Committee
University of Maryland, College Park
Economics

Shihan Chowdhury first competed in MIST in his senior year in high school. Sadly, his team ended up with negative points in the end. But, he loved the MIST atmosphere so much that he decided to volunteer as a judge. Later in 2010, he became heavily involved with the media side of MIST. Now he is on the marketing committee as a video coordinator and director. His goals are to spread the awareness of MIST through commercials and infomercials. Also, during the MIST competitions he will be recording all the moments and make highlights of the competitions. On the side, Shihan, with his production line “Shihan Studios”, works with many upcoming Muslim music artists and makes music videos for them. Inshallah, with his passion for motion pictures, Shihan hopes to grow his skills with MIST.

Sidra Hashmi

Program Committee
Food/Event Setup Committee
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Junior, Pre-Medicine

Sidra joined the MIST executive board in late 2009. She originally joined the Food/Event Setup committee and is now in the Program committee as well. Before joining the board, she participated in MIST as a competitor since 2006. She was inspired by the atmosphere MIST provided when she was a competitor and aspired to become a part of the board when she graduated. Her prime motivation for devoting time to MIST is bringing all of the youth in the DMV together for the sake of Allah. Sidra is a member of Dar Al Taqwa in Ellicott City, Maryland. When she is not doing work for MIST, she spends most of her time doing different academic activities or with her family and friends.

Tara Mohammed

Associate Director
University of Maryland, College Park
Special Education and Family Science

I am a senior at UMCP, graduating in the Fall inshAllah. Dream job is to work with a non-profit organization that provides services and advocacy for people with special needs. My passions lie in the exploration of my own, and other’s, strengths and talents. And MIST falls right in line with that. MIST creates a unique platform for students to explore their talents and passions, within the context of their Islamic identity. That is what drew me to MIST, as a competitor in 2008, a volunteer through 2010, and a coach in 2011. With loads of hard work, prayers, and a little coffee, I think MIST can become one of the biggest, and most influential, inter-scholastic competitions our communities have ever seen!

Widad Zenhom

Competitions Committee – Arts
George Mason University
Junior, Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Widad was first introduced to MIST as a competitor at both Regionals (07-09) and Nationals (07-08) tournaments. She couldn’t get enough of MIST and returned, after graduating high school, to volunteer. Alhamdulillah, this year is her first year as an organizer. Widad absolutely love MIST because it really brings so much positive energy in the Muslim community by providing a platform for the youth to explore their potentials in the effort of pleasing God. As a Conflict Analysis major, Widad hopes to save the world one conflict at a time, inshAllah! Widad enjoys spending time with good company. She also enjoys a good story so when she has free time (besides recruiting new MISTers) you may find her reading, watching a movie, or admiring photojournalistic blogs.

Yasser Ameen

Competitions Committee, Group Projects
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Junior, IS Business Technology Administration

Yasser participated in MIST in 2006 and has since been volunteering for MIST. He joined the Competitions Committee this year. Yasser is a member of Dar Al Taqwa in Ellicott City, Maryland. To Yasser, the best part of being on the Competitions Committee is the abundance of activities for him to participate in. When he is not helping prepare for MIST, Yasser enjoys hanging out with his friends and going to school. Yasser likes being a part of MIST because he has met so many new people and can always rely upon them.

Zulekha Sayyed

Marketing Committee Chair
University of Maryland, College Park
Studio Art

Baltimore bred and based at the University of Maryland, Zulekha first joined MIST in 2007 as a competitor from a small MSA of only four people. After graduating from high school she continued to keep MIST a part of her life in subsequent years by becoming a volunteer and judge, and finally joining the MIST Marketing Committee. She hopes to use her skills and involvement in MIST as a way of ensuring that the life lessons, as well as fun, that she experienced at MIST as a competitor continue to grow for future MIST kids! Her hope is that MIST continues to positively impact our youth and spreads all over the nation!

Zulekha hopes to inspire, educate, and tell the stories of silent voices through her future work in Art and Film Production. Another one of her deep rooted goals is to impact our future by helping children on a global scale through Film and Art. Zulekha is highly involved in her MSA and has worked as a graphics director, videographer, intern for Leechon films, Head Staff Writer of CreativeMuslims.com and is currently working on several other projects.