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 Another Inconvenient Truth >> Aki Nawaz “Go Join Hezbollah!" >> Amina Nawaz So, You Wanna Change the World? >> Sarah Waseem 10 Books To Read Before Going To University >> Mujadad Zaman Still Learning to Tread on Hallowed Ground >> Omar Fraser A Prophet for All >> Abdul-Rehman Malik Emerging from the Rubble: A Letter from New York City >> Zeeshan Suhail and Muntasir Sattar Istanbul’s Illuminated Ramadan Nights >> Abdal Hakim Murad The Pain of Panjshir >> Chris Sands A People Coming Apart at the Seams >> David Lepeska A Cynical Plan to Rebuild Islam >> Louay Safi Suffer The Little Children >> Tasneem Osgood Dangerous Denial on Darfur >> Muhammed Abdelmoteleb Is the Glass Half Full of Hope or Despair? >> Fozia Bora The Mother of All Muslim Organisations >> Mullah Charles Bala Subramaniam Narasimha Rao A Pious Mole >> Mudasser Ali Living on the Edge >> Tauhid Pasha The Silly Season >> Dal Nun Strong Walk in the Old Paths >> Daoud Rosser-Owen A Modern-Day Ibn Battuta - A tribute to Thomas Omar Abercrombie (1930-2006) >> Shiraz Sheikh “How can you hear a million words from a million mouths at the same time?” >> Shan Khan A Triumph of Myth >> Abdul-Rehman Malik The Timbuktu Charter: “We will be like ferocious lions” >> Muammar al-Gaddafi Updike’s Terrorist: An(other) American Folly >> Raneem Azzam A Crooked Commission >> Sunny Hundal Aural Remembrance Whitewashing White Terror Veil-Gate - The End of Tolerance? Organic Iftars, Unholy Garbage iPod vs iMuslim Formula One Fatwas Vox Populi |
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So, You Wanna
Change the World? Page 34 They’ve spent the last few weeks
marching confidently on to university campuses. Sporting the latest
hijab prints, fashion goatees and designer topis, they are the next
generation of Muslim student activists. But scratch below their shiny,
happy veneer and all is not well. Frankly, they’re nervous, hormonal
and they haven’t got a clue. Islamic Society (ISoc) veteran Sarah Waseem is here to help set
them straight (if only they’d stop debating how long the ‘first look’
is allowed to last). You are about to embark on what is probably the most significant period of your personal (and gastronomic) development at a time when your hormonal imbalances, intelligence (with momentary lapses) and energy combine to make the most potently deadly combination known to Man. Well, certainly men. Such bursts of dynamic centrifugal force (OK, so I didn’t do Physics) need to be carefully channelled into the appropriate streams otherwise things might go frightfully awry. As a grey-haired, world-weary graduate from The University of ISoc (my LLB in Law being a subsidiary – almost incidental – qualification in passing), and in the tradition of our respected forefathers, I dispatch some humble advice regarding the First Year of University and Student Union Islamic Society endeavours taken from the blood, sweat and tears of my personal experience (and that was for just getting the Brothers to clean their Prayer Room). In an attempt to make life black and white, like many ISocs are wont to do in the fiery, light of newfound Truth, let’s see what we can extrapolate from the experience that is ISoc: Proper Intention You reap what you sow. Proper intention doesn’t mean fine-tuning the utterance of the basmala while you’re beginning to do wudu, believe it or not it goes further than that. Proper intention means that you’re there for one reason, working and breathing for one reason, having sleepless nights for one reason, keeping your commitments for one reason, attending the interminable meetings for one reason. And no, it’s not (just) for the fried chicken. Proper intention is the single most difficult act to get right while you’re working in the ISoc. And if you’re not finding it difficult, then you probably don’t have a proper intention. And if you think you don’t have the proper intention then you’re probably on the right tracks. You’re just not there. Yet. It’s quite simple. Proper intention includes giving in and letting others get into the limelight if it’s for the sake of getting The Work done. This includes, and wait for it, it’s gonna hurt – enabling and encouraging Sisters into (dare I say it?) leadership positions. The time immemorial problem with female leadership hasn’t been the meek, shy and retiring nature of Sisters (Hello? What do you think we do on the other side of that partition wall?), rather it’s been the inflated, territorial and almost guerilla (and sometimes, I have to say, gorilla) nature of Brother leadership. Ever heard of the saying, ‘Behind every great man there is a great woman’? Well, behind every great ISoc is a great Sister on steroids. And black coffee. And almost certainly the mobile phone. ISocs need to reconcile double standards within and without the Prayer Room mentality. All smiles and roses for our non-Muslim colleagues (for the sake of da’wah I tell you!) and icy cucumbers when it comes to Brother-Sister relations. The obsession over the intricacies and methodologies and mannerisms of the interaction need to be normalised, reconciled and brought to some semblance of rationality and reality. Somehow, in some skewed form of ISoc evolutionary logic “official shura meetings” have become almost synonymous with “prospective marriage candidates”. Until these ‘candidates’ sort out what they’re doing in those meetings (this is why making an agenda is always a good idea), you’ll either always get the nervous, jittery, erratic behaviour of doomsday brothers and sisters or the type of banter more suited to a Blind Date show. Somehow, somewhere, there needs to be a sense of sense, which is commonly uncommon. Noble Purpose Noble purpose incorporates your aims and objectives and relates to the ISoc outlook as a whole. In every mission statement of every ISoc up and down the country we read, “We are an open Student Union society who welcome people who are interested in learning more about Islam (unless they’re gay or Jewish or one of those modern Pakistani types.) We provide facilities such as the Prayer Room (in the darkest, dingiest part of the campus), the direction of the ka’aba, prayer mats and fried chicken (halal). This exhaustive provision of services complements our social calendar which includes Ramadan (where we provide food), Eid dinner (food provided), Dhul Hijja voluntary fasts (where we provide food), Eid ul Adha (food provided) and Islam Awareness Week (where you can get some food on the stall).” I don’t know if you’ve managed to untangle the common thread in the ISoc social calendar: Yes, that’s right, moon-based events do not lend themselves to forward planning. The point is that sometimes calculating how many laddoos and baklawa need to be on the Islam Awareness stall kind of misses the point of being a means to an end rather than a complete end and purpose in and of itself. Food-centric approaches are good, but unfortunately the visionary tactics of our future cream of Muslim students need to refocus if it is to really be an effective force for social change. Noble purpose is a difficult concept for members of an Islamic society to deal with. Often faced with opposition and obstacles in delivering some basic facilities to Muslim students it becomes a stretch of the imagination (hark! Did I refer to creativity?) to encompass campus-wide policies. After all, insular, ghetto mentalities are comfortable, encased in a safe, squishy bubble away from the harsh realities and allures of campus life… and yet without SU participation, a sharing of common experiences which touches at the humanity of all people and a principled approach to diplomacy – there can never be a true representation of what it means to see Islam in action. A common trend is for ISocs to fall into the trap of pigeon-holing, regurgitating and staying within the parameters of yore without actually ever thinking laterally - or horizontally for that matter. Noble purpose has within its horizons an outlook where Muslim moral agents are forces for change within the issues that affects all students. It is not until Muslims look out for everyone and are aware of university universalities will Islam be seen a path for humanity. Not just brown people. Sound endeavour Following the way of our ancestors is a sound endeavour. Following the way of the ISoc of the year above just leaves you with wet chappals. Endeavours may be sound but sometimes a bit of smart thinking goes a long way. The most effective endeavours are those which affect your community. It’s the economy, stupid. Looking at the heritage and specialism of any university and using it to exploit Islamic world-view inroads with academic conferences, relevant publications and research is key. Sometimes students become very disillusioned with the subject they are studying while they are at university (nothing to do, of course with the lack of effort expended upon their academic pursuits) and fail to realise the ‘student’ part of the ‘Muslim student’ appellation. Sometimes the most lasting impression that you can leave it to simply excel at what you’re there to do in the first place. That indeed, you are a force to be reckoned with, you’re not just an empty-hijabed, savagely bearded individual (and preferably not both together, that would be quite unfortunate). The discourse needs to change from laddoo to logic, baklawa to brainpower. It’s a mighty task, fit for only the most dedicated ISoc. Dedicated cause It’s not always about winning. In our ISoc we reconciled ourselves to be losers in this dunya – for the sake of being winners in akhira (jingle-making in production). Sometimes the bigger picture is worth fighting for over dabblings into ignoble stoopings. Elbow grease is the key to this success: a dedicated, focused, sincere team that gels and who share a selfless vision whilst keeping a check on themselves. A dream team? An idealistic notion? It can and has been done. National umbrella organisations have increased political participation of Muslim students on a national scale by hundreds of percent year on year, London-based networks have collected monumental amounts of charity in a co-ordinated effort unheard of in student history (beating RAG week collections on many campuses), Muslim students have got themselves on to the executive of their university SU and much more. ISocs are not petrified rigid institutions incapable of change. Rather, they are what you make of them depending on how much you put in and persevere. Gender relations, the Usual Suspects on the social calendar, an apathy towards subject specialisms, opponents to female leadership and a political outlook divorced from all sense of grey issues and the community in which the ISoc is entrenched are in reality all non-issues. However, it takes someone who is looking back to realise what was really important at the time. The biggest red alert issues that will keep you awake till the wee tahajjud hours become petty, insignificant and worthless in retrospect. In the short sojourn that is your university career, make sure you are “a human who is searching for the meaning of his humanity amongst people, and a citizen who wants dignity, freedom, stability, and a good life for his nation”. Otherwise the heady trappings of leadership, fame and power burns the little time you have to really make a difference. Who am I? A needy servant, a tourist seeking the truth, a student in need of advice, ex-General Secretary of the LSE SU Islamic Society, LSE NUS delegate, a Lifetime Honorary Student of the LSE, a Society Award holder for Individual Achievement and a thankful friend. Who are you going to be? With acknowledgment to Imam Hasan al-Banna’s Letter to a Muslim Student. |