a message from advisor asad.
"sorry, i've slacked in my duties as a MYNA advisor. I've spent the past few months observing, reading and reflecting upon whats going on around us. the dynamics of the muslim world and american muslims are changing at every moment. i'm not a reactionary activist. i'm also not with any global islamic movement. i haven't progressed on appointing new MYNA officers because i believe we're in the midst of a transition. there's no schedule for this phase, and -who is doing what- is uncertain on the national and zonal levels. MYNA GROUPS ARE DEAD EVERYWHERE ELSE AND VARIOUS REORGANIZATION PLANS HAVE YET TO TAKE EFFECT. Ask yourself... WHAT GOOD IS AN ACTIVE REGION 7 if its parent organization lays dead or dying while other movement based youth groups continue to indoctrinate unsuspecting kids with the same old dry reactionary teachings, ideological cousins to those terrorists out there.after september 11th i think we MUST NOT continue with mindless activism as if it was yet another time to react to hate crimes and do dawah and then move on to the next event (ie. the olympics). I Will NOT corrupt innocence by sucking yet another child into the dangerous world of Muslim activism without being able to convince myself and parents that our group's Methodology and Ideology has nothing to do with those who HATE and dehumanize. We the advisors and former officers need to discuss these issues before continuing with business as usual. I'm holding a meeting at the United Muslim Conference in Orlando on the weekend of Dec 21th. We can discuss these and other priorities and hopefully come out more energized and able to respond to whatever the serious needs of our youth are at the moment. i want to see who out there wants to commit to helping our youth be the dymanic muslims they ought to be and what we have to do to get it done. within MYNA or WITHOUT. IF you've worked hard FOR MYNA the organization, i'm sorry, things may change. BUT if you used your time in MYNA to improve yourself and the world around you than pray that Allah blesses you with His grace and mercy. No struggle is wasted if it was done right and with pure intentions. If you can't come to Orlando for the conference then e-mail me your thoughts on the issues discussed above and if you know any former or current MYNA advisors or local officers please forward them this e-mail and ask them to respond with there suggestions directly to me, e-mail me or call me at --- - --- - ---- .peace and love."
posted by Asad Siddiqui @ 3:47 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Salam Asad... I just wanted to let you know that I completely agree that it is not longer a time for mindless activism...I would love to
hear more about it from you some time after my finals
I'm not sure yet if I'm going to the United Muslim Conference
Do you have a set meeting date and time then? take care
Salamz All. I concur with what Asad Siddiqui has said, and since I will not be at the United Muslim Conference, I would like to give my thoughts on this:
I honestly believe that the spritual growth and development of one's deen has to be an individual
effort, and even when done collectively, must be done
outside of an organizational effort like a youth group. It is very important to understand the
dynamics of the society that one lives in, and if we are careful enough to take that into consideration, we will clearly see that the most benefit that we could
possibly do would come out of a youth group that does not focus on "Muslims" alone and does not do "dawah" from outside the fabric of the general community.
I believe that organizations like the YMCA are clear examples of how such endeavors have evolved, through trial and error, and it would behove us to analyze their position and approach as they exist now. ...get an idea as to where their experience has led them...
...it is clear that the INCLUSION of youth of all faiths while promoting the good virtues
and habits of the Judeo-Christian beliefs is the formula they have chosen to pursue. I truly believe
that this is the approach that we should take with our groups and use Islam as our foundation.
Things like halaqas can be done among the Muslim kids that are part of this youth effort, but it doesnt need to become a part of the groups activities. The spiritual upliftment of each member should be encouraged, but
Islamic spiritual upliftment should not be a part of the groups goals... each member should feel absolutely secure adhering to their own faith.
Historically, Muslim thought and Islam as a religion did not spread through the concerted efforts of people organizing themselves into groups that actively promoted Islam... it was the commitment to living a truly Islamic life wherever they happened to go that
remarkably affected the people and communities they lived in. I feel that organized youth work can be a
lot more beneficial and effective if it is open to youth of all faiths.
It is also very important, I believe, to move away from the proselytizing nature of our groups right now. It is far more important for us to analyze our own
lives and live it to the best of our abilities than it is to "pamphlet-preach" Islam to others, most of whom will only view it just as you and I view Jehovahs Witnesses, etc. Also, it is very important to inculcate and preserve the purity of intention of
doing a good deed for the purpose of doing a good deed (which is what pleases God), and not for the purpose of showing people that "we are doing a good deed and we are Muslim." This I think takes away from the very reason God has given us a conscience to begin with.
In other words, is it more important that great medical discoveries were made by Avicenna that have led to saving millions of lives through evolution of
medicine, or is it more important that he was a Muslim? He pursued his field with a great passion,
and as a result, he not only succeeded in his field, he is known in the world as the "Muslim" who contributed this....he did not make a concerted effort to let everyone know that he is Muslim, nor did he go around preaching Islam to people. The recognition
just came with his dedication to humanity.
I truly believe that the victory and reward that Allah promises us in the Qur'an come with the true and sincere devotion to enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and that when this is done with no prejudice of faith and "thinking of superiority" of one faith over another, the beauty of Islam will automatically come forth.
To this end, I believe that Muslim youth have not only the responsibility , but a wonderful opportunity. Wassalam
Asalamu'alaikum all.. unfortunately i won't be able to come to the united muslim conference..but here are my thoughts about everything that's been happening
alright i personally think that after the whole sep.11th incident our brothers and sisters in our nation need a boost to help them become better muslims, have more knowledge about different faiths, know the history background on afghanistan,palestine,israel and so on, and also get some good tips on how to have some local dawah programs in their commmunity.. (kinda what asad/mustafa were saying) ..i defnitely don't think that we should have the olympics this year..because who knows what is going to happen in a month from now and so on.. but i do think that local youth groups in our region do need information on some good tips to defend themselves as a muslim brother and sister and ideas for how their city can learn about islam..this is a crucial time and this is when a lot of muslims need to know that there are muslim brothers/sisters in their region that are going through the same problems and know that there is help near them.
.i think one thing we can do is start up the newsletter,"al-Muezzin" again. Insha'allah this newsletter will just maybe help out bros/sisters in our region, and give them tips..just because myna national is not as active doesnt mean that we can't at least do little small things to maybe somewhat help out local youth groups...i know a lot of sisters from pc, tampa, huntsville, augusta and miami who also agreed that a newsletter would help out..bros/sisters can write inspirational columns on how they are getting through this awful time , talk bout political issues happening right now, and etc..
i think that's all i have to say.. take care and ws'z
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah all, insha'allah this finds you well. I don't know if i will be able to come to the conference or not..i'll be in miami but i don't know...so khair, i guess i'll just share my thoughts with you through email.
Its strange that i read these mails now, because i have been thinking about something along these lines for a while...see, at emory, right by the elevators, there is this flyer with an awesome quote...i dont know all of it, but the essence is about "servant leadership"...i read that and thought, "hunh?" and then i read the description which explains that a leader must be a servant FIRST...that a leader should lead in SERVICE, in serving the community and peers and family... and it reminded me of what i wish we, as a community, would do more of.
We just seem so internally focused, fixated on our olympics and our conferences and our elections...we need to balance that out...we need to encourage the youth to develop in a way that is not ignorant about the context in which we live.
I personally feel that we need to encourage the youth to get out there and become active, not on the basis of something being a "muslim" issue, but on the basis of it being an issue we, as people, should care about period. Why aren't we there pushing for cleaner communities or joining illiteracy movements designed to teach others to read, or writing advocacy letters to our congressmen about the yuckiness of meat processing factories or pushing relief organizations to care about the AIDS orphans or joining those child advocacy programs on behalf of abused kids or visiting children in hospitals or helping to build houses for the homeless...yes, even it it IS with habitat for humanity...i feel as if all this time, we've just been pushing the lable " genuine islam" but have failed to really deliver on the thing that matters the most, "substance"...Mustafa (bhaijan) is right.
Another thing, i think the youth need to be encouraged to become more critical thinkers..the situations around the world in which muslims are embroiled in are NOT a simple case of muslims versus the rest of the world... there are so many complex issues involved, so much politics, and so many different perspectives...yet ppl somehow think that we simply have to side with the muslims period...forget trying to understand where the other person is coming from just go with the one who's muslim....its a horribly stagnant way to think...why aren't we encouraging the youth to have debates where they have to alternate taking different sides to the same issue, or participate in those model UN things or to just even think in a way that takes factors besides religion into account?
I listen to those videos the suicide bombers have sent, all spouting venom and saying that there are hundreds more willing to take their place and continue the "jihad" and it freaks me out...we need to encourage our youth to be critical thinkers so that they won't get sucked into ideological thinking that is just as simplistic...ppl are always encouraging us to support the palestinians, and not that i am saying they shouldn't be, but why aren't we also trying to understand the israeli side?how can our understanding of the situation be complete without that? Especially in light of september 11th, its critical that we wake up and THINK.
We used to be people of discussions and thought, of creativity and imagination, on the cutting edge of scholarship and life in general...where did it all go?
ok, i think thats enough from me. If i think of anything else Asad bhai i'll let you know when i come home...thank you for asking us for our input. wassalam
P.S please make dua for me that i'll get home ok cause i'm flying and in light of these attacks and stuff i'm a bit..um..apprehensive.
Salaam Alykum Br. Asad, Inshallah all is well with you this Ramadan. I wanted to respond to your email as I found it a little confusing. In particular the statement "after september 11th i think we MUST NOT engage in mindless activism as if it was yet another time to react to hate crimes and do dawah and then move on to the next event (ie. the olympics)." seems to imply that you think that that's what MYNA did. You further stated that "I WILL NOT corrupt innocence by sucking yet another child into the dangerous world of Muslim activism without being able to convince myself and parents that our group's Methodology and Ideology has nothing to do with those who HATE and dehumanize." and if forces me to ask what in the world you think our methodolgy is to even question it? If anything, MYNA has always been an organization that has always spoken out and acted against hate and dehumanization.
If you feel things haven't been what they should, put your efforts to improve. Too many Islamic efforts are wasted in a "my way or the highway" response to things. I'll call you Inshallah. Salaams, Your brother.
assalaamu' alikum- I shall talk the liberty of being slightly less formal than I should, and begin by saying your email has the potential of sounding very harsh. With that being said, the purpose of MYNA perhaps can be seen from the story in surahtulkahf, with the ayat we love to quote, "They were youth who believed in their Lord and We advanced them in guidance" Is that not our purpose? We serve as a vehicle to make the importance of this knowledge known and provide access to it, by still fostering the idea of brotherhood/sisterhood. So essentially our mission really hasn't changed, although it has changed practically. So youth groups are to brainwash innocent children into mindless terrorist because we use imported ideas?
Hold up--lets look at youth groups
in nations where Muslims are minorities.....South Africa for example, where Muslims have become active members of the Parliament as well as cabinet members, because they had youth that were committed to the idea of serving
Islam...... where did this idea come from??? Oh my god! They were involved in MSA (on an international level), and they used some of the imported but they evolved them to their own situation............... My point being: there's no reason to throw away the wheel because it was made in china (most everything is)
So my idea: We look at where we are. We have kids that are:
1. scared to be Muslim
2. scared to be alive
3. scared of Muslims
so what do we do?
fear is from ignorance, understanding is from knowledge
so the point is to teach, but how do we teach and what do we want: we want youth to realize what islam is and how to work for islam, and make islam part of the American fabric, no we do not want them to assimilate....the salad bowl theory is fine we want non Muslim youth to realize what Islam offers, why Islam, and why there's no reason to fear Islam.
So how: the MYNA olympics, at least for me, was never seen as our purpose, it was just a way to get kids excited, to see one another, but we were suppossed to work on a community level on our halaqa, etc.
So let's expand on that, let's get our youth together but instill in them courage and let them know there is a community that supports them. Call churches and synagogues and have cooperate community service events between youth groups so we can see that our youth are just that....youth.
Maybe we can go back to the community service projects MYNA used to have, break out with the MERCY international T shirts and go out into the community and help out. That way we feel that this is our nation, our country, our land.
Anyhow, I've gone on for quite some time......... my point don't throw away the past because of an uncertain future. food for thought. fi ammanullah
Assalamualaikum Asad bhai, i recieved your email about the myna region 7, someone forwarded it to me.
I have similar concerns about the future of myna. I've only been in myna for two years, and unfortunately it hasnt been the experience i wanted it to be. If i knew beforehand, some of the stuff that went on, i would have honestly never joined, let alone become president. But thats besides the point, I'm in it now, and I really want myna to change. Like you said, it needs some serious reconstruction, and return to how it was before. It needs a more stable format. I've seen people deteriote before my eyes, rather than people improve. So obviously something isnt being done right, the message isnt getting through to the youth. This year's term is almost ending, and most of the current members are graduating. So as of next year, I will be the oldest member in Myna. I'm thinking of ways of how we can rejuvenate the group, because i dont want it to fall apart. Myself and some others girls have decided that we will give our utmost ability to revive the group, and seriosly bring about some drastic changes. Also, other youth groups are sprouting up in the area, most dominantly YM. By observing these groups, I agree with their methods which seem to be very effective and enlightening. Especially amongst the YM brothers, they meet punctually every friday, and i see their mass growing larger each week. Similary, the girls seem very serious about learning, and are very focused. On the contrary, our myna, which is dominantly girls, are focused on only the fun aspect and there is a serious lack of interest when it comes to religios learning and understanding. It seems that things are much more focused and kept in check, when boys and grls are separate. Yes, ive heard the myna argument, that a boy and girl enviroment can do no harm as long as their is supervision. But is that really so? The things that ive seen and heard, i really dont believe that anymore. Parents have become concerned about letting their kids join, their seems to be a negative image of myna floating around. Just like you, these issues have been eating me up, and im left confused. Should we just get rid of myna all together, and just become one unifed central group like YM. What is the solution? Please enlighten me and provide any advice that you can. Jazakullah Khair, A concerned young Muslimah.
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