UW-Madison’s Muslim Students Association Hosts “Muslims Got Talent”

UW-Madison’s Muslim Students Association (MSA) hosted a “Muslims Got Talent” event Saturday night, which featured talent from the campus area, as well as a special performance from a Chicagoan artist.

This is the first time in more than five years that MSA has had a talent show like this, said MSA president Mahad Siad.

“I think it went pretty well,” Siad said. ”Muslim talent isn’t highlighted that often. Usually, (MSA’s) events are about Islam awareness or more serious stuff, but we don’t get to celebrate Muslims as much. So this was a good night to do that.”

The event, which was held at 8 p.m. in  Memorial Union, included performances from current UW-Madison students, Madison high schoolers and a featured spoken word act from poet Hasan Hussein, who went by Wizduhm. Hussein’s act also included his sister, Sima.

Acts ranged from singing, spoken word performances, a stroll performance, musical impressions and a performance of Dabke, a traditional Arab folk dance that combines circle and line dancing. Throughout the night, each performance was followed by trivia and audience members had the chance to win MSA t-shirts. MSA artists also had the opportunity to display their work.

“I really liked it,” said Tasnia Kamal, a UW-Madison sophomore. “It’s nice to have this outlet where Muslims can show their talents because usually we’re stigmatized and told to not be in the public eye as much. So this is nice. Also, I feel like there are some non-Muslims here so it can expose them to what it means to be Muslim.”