The Muslim Interscholastic Tournament (MIST) is a 3-day tournament held in several regions across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The tournament gives young Muslim high school students a chance to showcase their talents and creative abilities in various competitions, including non-religious competitions like short film, mobile app development and poetry to more Islam-centric competitions such as a religious knowledge test and memorization of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

Overview

There are two levels of MIST competitions: regional (qualifiers) and national. As of 2019, regional MIST tournaments either occur over a single weekend or are divided into three days over two weekends. For regional tournaments taking place over two weekends, Saturday and Sunday are reserved for competitions, and an awards ceremony takes place on the following Sunday. For regional tournaments taking place over a single weekend, competitions take place Saturday and Sunday while the awards ceremony takes place on the same Sunday. Trophies and medals are given to the top three places of various competitions, qualifying them for the national tournament held in the summer. The national MIST tournament, however, takes place over three consecutive days on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The awards ceremony takes place on the same Sunday evening.

History

MIST was founded by Shazia Siddiqi in 2002 at Houston, Texas and the non-profit has been completely run by volunteers ever since.

Competitions

Category I: Knowledge and Quran * Knowledge Tests * Quran Memorization Category II: Arts * 2D Art * 3D Art * Fashion Design * Graphic Design * Photography Category III: Writing and Oratory * Extemporaneous Essay * Extemporaneous Speaking * Original Oratory * Poetry * Prepared Essay * Short Fiction * Spoken Word Category IV: Brackets * Debate * Math Olympics * MIST Quiz Bowl * Improv Category V: Group Projects * Business Venture * Nasheed * Humanitarian Service (formerly Community Service) * Science Fair * Short Film * Social Media Category VI: Sports * Basketball

Participation

Regions

Below is a list of regions that host their own regional tournaments and participate in the national tournament, listed alphabetically. #

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

# NorCal #

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

# St. Louis # SoCal (Southern California) #

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

# Washington D.C.

Notable participants

Noor Tagouri Noor Tagouri (born November 27, 1993) is an American journalist, activist, motivational speaker and producer of the documentary series on the mistreatment of people with mental disabilities titled ''The Trouble They've Seen: The Forest Haven Sto ...

, a Libyan American journalist and producer of documentary "''The Trouble They’ve Seen: The Forest Haven Story"'' and ''"Sold in America",'' participated in MIST as a high school student and was a keynote speaker at multiple MIST tournaments including MIST Chicago in 2016.

Demographics

Out of the MIST participants in 2007, 60% were South Asian, 20% Arab, 17% Black, and about 3% were of other races or ethnicities. Additionally, about 82% were estimated to be Sunni Muslims, 15% Shia Muslim, and 3% non-Muslim.Khan, Shaza. ''De-MIST-Ifying the Adolescent Development of Muslim American High School Students: A Qualitative Study of Schooling and Youth Programming Experiences of Participants in the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament''. Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, 2009, ''De-MIST-Ifying the Adolescent Development of Muslim American High School Students: A Qualitative Study of Schooling and Youth Programming Experiences of Participants in the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament''

Preparation

Preparation for regional MIST tournaments starts early November, when board members start planning, looking for sponsors, venue, and volunteers. They have weekly board meetings to keep up with progress. Registration for MIST regional tournaments begins in winter, high school students choose their competitions and start practicing, creating, and studying for their events. Regional MIST tournaments are usually held in late March or early April, while the national MIST competition can take place anytime from late July to early August.

National Tournament

The top 3, 4, or 5 competitors in a competition at a regional tournament qualifies for the National Tournament. National Tournaments take place in a different city each year. * 2011: Atlanta * 2012: Toronto * 2013: Detroit * 2014: Washington DC * 2015: Houston * 2016: Toronto * 2017: Detroit * 2018: New York * 2019: Baltimore * The 2020 National Tournament was slated to take place in Chicago; it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. * The 2021 National Tournament was conducted online. * 2022: New Jersey * 2023: North Carolina * 2024: Georgia

References

{{Reflist Islamic education