developing community consciousness among muslim youth

early start: developing community consciousness among muslim youth
excerpt from islamic horizons,
september/october 2006 issue,
pages 24-31

the article was a bit academic
– “This article emanates from field research conducted and compiled by Harvard religion graduates (MA) Milia Islam (Islam in America) and Nada Unus (Islamic Intellectual History). –
but highlighted some important points to remember in raising muslim children in the US.

Inspiring Ownership
…An understanding of Islam that one-sidedly highlights rules and regulations is not going to motivate and inspire our youth. Islamic work and activism that seems to them to be nothing more than another chore or duty will not occupy a soft place in their hearts or a thoughtful place in their minds. The youth want to be a part of something that excites them and encourages them to be the best. They look for opportunities to be part of something bigger thean themselves, and they seek a context they believe in and for and with which they can feel good about working. The natural vigor and enthusiasm that characterizes youth necessitates this. Teaching them that they have the potential to be among the best in the sight of God, motivating them to seek submission not out of avoidance of punishment but in anticipation of the glory of having realized the most fundamental desires of nature and the emotional, physical, and spiritual rewards of loving and serving God…this is the most effective presentation of Islam, the one that will provide the motivation and inspiration they need to pursue united life with an Islamic framework and pursuing Islamic work.

Redefining Islamic Work
As we strive to more effectively mold our youth into vibrant Muslims an Islamic workers, it is important to ask how we define Islamic work in the first place. What makes work Islamic or un-Islamic. Who are the agents and clients in Islamic work? When we are calling our youth to Islamic work, what precisely are we calling them to and from what, consciously or unconsciously, are we calling them away?

Our challenge in engaging Muslim youth in Islamic work is not simply a matter of finding ways to draw them to it, but it is also our ability to reintroduce a broader and more authentic definition of Islamic work itself. If we were to ask Muslim youth in America how they would define Islamic work, the majority of answers would be working for an Islamic organization, working with Muslims and for Muslims on explicitly Muslim causes, being an imam, volunteering at the masjid, working at an Islamic school, and so forth. We do a disservice to humanity by viewing Islamic work in this parochial manner. For example, God in the Qur’an says: “O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for God can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily God is well-acquainted with all that ye do” (4:135).

The obligation upon Muslims to act justly, feed the hungry, care for the orphans, and provide for widows finds its value not in the recipient of those actions so much as the perspective and frame-of-reference of the one committing the act. Indeed, it is the perspective that prioritizes justice, fairness, brotherhood, and sisterhood that is Islamic and thereby colors ones actions with Islamic-ness. Islamic work, then, is inclusive of and intended for all humanity’s benefit without discrimination…activities in which we may never work with a Muslim or promote a specific Islamic doctrine. Nonetheless these are made Islamic by the fact that they serve Islamic principles and worldview and because they exercise and reinforce our Islamic identities.

Islamic work then does not fit neatly into the category of the religious or mundane but rather encompasses both…Islamic work does not have to occur at a masjid or in an Islamic school or amonst a Muslim population. All it requires is an Islamic perspective andthe desire to act upon it.

This does raise an important point. The masjid in North America is lagely seen as the center of Islamic work. While Islamic work need not be confined solely to involvement in the masjid, it is a practical and concrete hub for Islamic activism in North America for various reasons. Perhaps the most important reason is that within the Muslim American paradigm, it serves both as a place of prayer and a community center. Consequently, it is crucial that, while we do not limit our definition of Islamic work and activism to the realm of masaajid only, we do encourage our youth to be part of the fabric of the masjid environment.

Few will disagree that our youth are indicative of our future on both a personal and a collective level as Muslims in America. The potential, energy, and familiarity with North American society that our youth embodies make the key agents in he endeavor of creating a unique Muslim American identity. Thus, it is our task as families and communities to inspire their devotion to Islam and the ummah through developing community consciousness from an early age and cultivating it as they grow through the inherent motivation of the Islamic ethic. it is through such practices that we can truly enrich our youth, help them internalize their islamic faith and thus contribute to the establishment of a balanced Muslim family.