What is MIST?

Muslim Interscholastic Tournament (MIST)™ is a fun, educational, interactive program of competitions and workshops geared towards bringing high school students together from around the nation to develop leadership, communication, and other creative skills -- all while gaining a deeper understanding of Islam and Muslims.

It is a national nonprofit that consists of annual regional tournaments in over 15 states. The winners from each regional tournament qualify to compete at the annual National Tournament. The tournaments last three days, complete with 40+ competitions, engaging workshops, and judges to evaluate student submissions.

Why is MIST Important?

• Mufti Zaid Khan at a MUNA young sisters event also explicitly stated that he loves and supports MIST and the community it builds for young Muslim youth.
• The creator of Drops of Knowledge recently posted about how one person pushed her to do MIST. She now runs a Facebook group with tens of thousands of members especially including youth, to share Islamic reminders and she's published a book. She's only in her twenties and her passion for spreading da'wah and learning about Islam actually came from MIST new York!
• Competitors leave MIST claiming that competing in it strengthened their Deen and/or made them more aware and happy to be a Muslim.

Why Should Samihah Go?

MIST is more than a competition; it is a life-changing event that brings people together and impacts them emotionally and spiritually. For Samihah, MIST Nationals 2019 is her last and final MIST as a competitor. She was the president of Tech Taqwa and has been competing on the team for 4 years. She has competed and placed in several her competitions throughout the years but this year, her senior year, she brought home 1st place overall team along with 3rd place MIST Bowl and Social Media.

It really means the world for her to be able to go to her last ever MIST and be able to compete with her MIST bowl team. Its not the competition she’s looking forward to, its the memories she knows she’ll make with her closest friends insha’Allah that give her the desire to participate.

Her team members and friends, Sabiha and Iftida, continuously ask if she will be able to make it. For them, it would add to the value of their own last MIST, not because she’s an extra brain they could use, but because she’s the extra heart they need. She is not only an essential member of the Tech Taqwa team, but she is also their leader. Samihah is not only needed in her own competitions but in the event altogether to inspire people and bring unity and teamwork, which is how the team succeeded during regionals. During nationals, she won’t just be in charge of bringing unity and inspiration to her own team, but also to the teams of all of New York in their competition against the other states. This is a bigger and more complicated task, which is why Samihah is needed now more than ever. 

Being able to compete at this nationals would allow her to feel complete and fulfilled with her MIST experience. She’ll always remember the nationals she was never able to experience. It’s her last opportunity to see her work on the smaller scale of regionals pay off with something larger, nationals.