As Davidson students launch into another semester of celebrating cultures and religions from all around the world, the College is welcoming its first Associate Chaplain for Muslim Life, Warith Deen Madyun.
“It’s really significant for Muslim students on campus to have a resource who can get to know Davidson specifically and support them both with their questions and programming that might be specific to different holidays or religious observances,” College Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Julia Watkins said.
Chaplain Madyun was hired through a search process conducted by the Chaplains’ Office, which included representatives from Chaplaincy staff, faculty and students. “After a series of interviews and bringing him to campus to meet with students, we felt really positive about hiring him,” Chaplain Watkins said. “He just started this semester […] and began connecting with students for Jummah prayers [prayer service performed by Muslims on Fridays] the first Friday that they were back.”
Chaplain Madyun completed his undergraduate degree in Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and his master’s in Construction Management at Drexel University. He also studied Islam in Egypt for two years. After returning from Egypt, he served as a Muslim chaplain for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, working with inmates from all different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Even though serving as a project manager for an electrical construction company is currently his primary full-time job, Chaplain Madyun is taking his role at Davidson very seriously.
“It’s something that comes naturally to me—to be able to teach, to be able to counsel, but also to listen and learn from others and meet people where they are,” Chaplain Madyun said.
Chaplain Madyun will be conducting weekly Friday sermons (Jummah) at the College and will also have office hours from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.
“Maybe 15 students have stopped by each Friday, and they sit and they listen, and they’re very attentive,” Chaplain Madyun said. “The Wednesday office hours have been a little bit more informal […] We’ve been talking and just getting to know one another, and so often I’ll give them a word of benefit and quote something from the Quran to inspire them.”
In addition to being an associate chaplain and a project manager, Chaplain Madyun owns a bookstore and translates published books. He is currently in the process of publishing a 300-page book that he wrote: Becoming Strong and Trustworthy. “[The book is] directed towards young men coming of age and preparing to face this world, getting prepared for life […] and it addresses very serious topics like drugs, violence, mental health and religious things,” he described.
Rimsha Syed ‘27, the vice president of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) this semester and someone who has consistently stayed involved with religious life on campus since her freshman year, was also part of the group advocating for and providing feedback on the hiring process for a Muslim chaplain on campus.
“From the moment we met him, he seemed very down to earth,” Syed said. “I think the fact that he was very understanding of students from different levels of religiosity, and his specific emphasis on creating a space to advocate for our own needs and wants on campus as an organization and as individuals in general, is really important.”
Syed’s remarks about Chaplain Madyun complement the chaplain’s own hopes for the Davidson community.
“One of the things I want to get across is that the religion of Islam is not what is stereotypically portrayed in the media,” Chaplain Madyun said. “I encourage the […] intelligent students of Davidson to have an open mind and to want to learn about different traditions, different from what they might have grown up learning about in their neighborhoods, to not pass judgment based on what is perhaps seen on TV but to hear from Muslims—what it is that Muslims believe. That, to me, is very important.”
Bita Parhami ‘27, the student representative for Campus Religious Life, also spoke on the significance of a chaplain for the Muslim community on campus.
“I think it opens a lot more doors,” Parhami said. “It would be an incentive for students, especially freshmen, to want to join in and feel more comfortable practicing their faith.”
Even though Parhami has not had any interactions with Chaplain Madyun, she is a follower of the Baha’i faith and has spoken with several Muslim students, friends and otherwise, who had communicated the need for a representative for the Muslim community on campus.
“I think he’s very excited about forming relationships with students of all kinds and reaching out to Muslim students who feel like they may not have had a home in the Muslim community at Davidson before for whatever reason,” Chaplain Watkins added. “I think our Muslim community does a wonderful job of introducing students across campus to Islam and to why their faith matters to them. And I hope that Chaplain Madyun will help expand our capacity to make students feel like they have a place here.”
