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Sunday Open Thread 7/18/2010 | Polls, Muslim Professionals, etc. | CONTRIBUTE!

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July 18, 2010

Abu Reem

Summer is here… and everything’s kind of lazy, so let us help you get out of the funk :)

I am sure you all have noticed the polls over the last weeks (all polls archived here— see left menu). There is actually some rhyme and reason to the poll questions. Our hope is to address some of the issues related to the polls. If you think you can address the previous polls or like a topic polled that interests you and perhaps you could write about, then we’d like to hear from you! Leave a comment.

Another topic that we’d like to discuss/address is on successful Muslim careers. Recently I stayed with a friend who not long ago made partner in one of the largest (perhaps the largest) consulting firms in the world. Wouldn’t it be nice for our youth to read about how this brother climbed the career ladder to the high position he has, despite his refusal to drink, being consistent with his prayers, and in general being very upfront and open about his Muslim identity? I certainly think so, and I have already requested him to write something on it (and he promised he will inshallah).

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So, if you or anyone you know is a professional “whatever”, someone who has been very successful in his/her career, while still maintaining his/her Muslim identity, then we’d like to hear from you. This is your time to tell the world how your hard-work and commitment to your career, while keeping up with your deen, has flowered into a top position at work.

The goal is quite simple but important: help our youth with making the right career choices while at the same time giving them hope that there have been others practicing Muslims, who have “been there, done that”.

We also want to recognize more Muslim positives in the West. So, if you know someone you’d like to nominate and interview, someone who has made a difference to the larger community (beyond just Muslims), then let us know.

Other areas where you can contribute to our (yours and mine) community-driven, award-winning, Muslim blog include: technical editors and political/current affairs writers. We are also looking for more indigenous American/European voices (i.e. African-American Muslims, Native-American Muslims, etc.) as well as sisters who are career professionals. In fact, any area you’d like to talk about that we don’t address sufficiently is open game.

Ilmsummit is less a week away and many of the MM folks will be there, including yours truly. We are planning to bring some of the ilmsummit experience to MM again this year inshallah. Beyond the summit, Ramadan is on the horizon, so we have to start revving those spiritual engines!

If you are interested in participating in anyway, email us at info at muslimmatters dot org. Specify your interest and where possible, please send us a writing sample.

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Abu Reem

Abu Reem is one of the founders of MuslimMatters, Inc. His identity is shaped by his religion (Islam), place of birth (Pakistan), and nationality (American). By education, he is a ChemE, topped off with an MBA from Wharton. He has been involved with Texas Dawah, Clear Lake Islamic Center and MSA. His interests include politics, cricket, and media interactions. Career-wise, Abu Reem is in management in the oil & gas industry (but one who still appreciates the "green revolution").

19 Comments

muslimah

July 18, 2010 at 11:18 AM

what if somebody googles out stuff and pass it on as their ‘sample’? lol

Reply
Sayf

July 18, 2010 at 3:08 PM

We need some sort of epic idea to get more people praying fajr.
*dusts off thinking cap*

Reply
Moona

July 18, 2010 at 3:49 PM

Biggest reason that some Muslim youth get radicalized?

– misplaced sense of righteousness

Reply
sabirah

July 18, 2010 at 4:46 PM

salaams

I thought that the poll questions cannot and do not reflect the complexness of the problem (in this question). There are so many other factors that radicalize youth (not just muslim youth, but that just happens in other societies as well) and all at the same time
Muslims living in non muslim countries are often excluded in society, haven’t got the same job opportunities, sometimes get harassed, etc. Poverty and the feeling of empowerment do play a great role, there can be as much community support or peacefulness of the religious message… it is very difficult for young people to mentally thrive.
It is also to generally educate the young people, giving them basic coping skills etc, not let the young people totally feel seperated to their american surrounding.

For me this question is not as easily answered as the poll answers indicate, and also the poll is indicating that the problem originates in the ummah and the communities, which i doubt personally.

Reply
- Amad
  
  July 18, 2010 at 6:22 PM
  
  the poll is more for muslims in the west… poverty & feeling of empowerment may have been good choices.. agree.
  
  Reply
Jon

July 18, 2010 at 5:48 PM

Assalamu alaikum and jazakum Allahu kharyan for the thoughtful post and responses. Re: Muslim careerists, the brothers and the sisters are probably going to have very different experiences in this area. A lot of brothers do not have beards, wear kufis, or display other things that telegraph their status as Muslims. The sisters on the other hand are a lot more likely to have outward signs of Islam on them; whether they cover their hair or not. In my field, it’s very rare that alcohol even comes up so that has not been an issue. Also, taking a 15 minute break to pray is probably not even noticed. For the kids out there, you should really consider librarianship. It makes a good career and it’s one where Muslims are underrepresented. Good hours for family life and largely free from haram activities.

Also, re: radicalization of the youth, I have not seen any of that in the areas I’ve lived (Midwest US). They don’t seem to be real interested in that side of Islam or much that has to do with Islam for that matter. As to that issue, I think lack of interest in Islam has more a matter of folks not yet “owning” their own religion (Islam) yet. Islam is something their parents have and they inherited it. May Allah make us good examples for our kids and make them better Muslims than we were.

Also, re: praying Fajr and reading Quran. How about some kind of Ramdan challenge where MuslimMatters challenges us to memorize Juz Amma or maybe the first Juz of Bakarah. Another challenge could be to memorize all the Arabic and English names of all 114 surah titles. Or even better than that, we could memorize the titles, and the first one or two ayahs of each Surah. Flashcards are a good method for this kind of thing. What a great way to get to know our book during the month of the book. Salam.

Reply
abdu

July 18, 2010 at 6:17 PM

Biggest reason that some Muslim youth get radicalized?

Foreign Policy.

Reply
Hassan

July 18, 2010 at 7:44 PM

Has this guy ever posted comments here at muslimmatters?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/18/al.qaeda.magazine/index.html?hpt=C1

Reply
- amad
  
  July 18, 2010 at 11:38 PM
  
  I believe he did until we put him on mod. But he definitely wrote a lot of articles against MM and its authors, which we actually appreciated, as it clearly demarcated his perverse ideology of terror from ours.
  
  I am surprised that someone like him, with clear inflammatory articles was allowed to leave USA (or perhaps this was what US wanted so that they could use extrajudicial ways to go after him), while others who have said or done far less find themselves in jails.
  
  Reply
Saladin

July 19, 2010 at 12:46 AM

I would love to see Muslims portrayed positively. Not that they’re not out there, but the media often ignores them. One who immediately leaps to mind is Brother Eddie on The Deen Show (http:///www.thedeenshow.com). His program goes out of its way to bring speakers to the show to educate or just share their experiences. He also highlighted Alya Nuri, the 10 year-old author who is worthy of nomination herself!

Reply
Mahin F. Islam

July 19, 2010 at 9:39 AM

Amad…great idea on the article for Career Development :)

You should also share some of your own experiences as it is not every individual who can consider himself a grad from the top business school in the country.

I would be happy to contribute from the perspective of the entry level individual.

Reply
ummousama

July 19, 2010 at 11:04 AM

Assalamu alaikum,

Biggest reason? Society and friends. Love of this dunya.

You see you can bring up your kids on the deen, on the tawheed, have lessons at home, the parents only having practising friends, being a great daa’ee, no parent can be sure that their children will stay on the straight path all the time. So, you see kids of very good practising parents goind astray and you see kids of non-practising parents loving the deen and practising it from very early on. Guidance is in the hands of Allah and thus parents should make lots of du’as, sincere du’as, as often as possible, for Allah to keep their kids on the right path.

Reply
- sabirah
  
  July 20, 2010 at 4:47 AM
  
  i think that would isolate muslim youth in the west just more.
  
  Reply
Hassan

July 19, 2010 at 1:12 PM

Syria bans niqab in universities.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100719/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria_islamic_veils

Reply
Mohammad Sabah

July 19, 2010 at 8:24 PM

Subhan Allah. And they say Islamic radicalism is the problem, ignoring the fact that incidents like these will propel extremism! In the name of secularism, see what even the so-called ‘Muslim’ countries are doing to the Muslim Ummah – they give religious freedom to everybody except to Muslims to practise their faith! And on top of that these self-anointed ‘Muslim experts’ are passing judgement on the niqab and calling it ‘extremist’ or ‘degrading’ when our mothers including Aisha (RA) are reported to have worn it.

“The issue has been debated across Europe, where France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands are considering banning the niqab on the grounds it is degrading to women.”

How about banning nudity for God’s sake and asking women to cover up and be modest! Isn’t that degrading! Sadly, the lesser clothes a woman wears, the more it is considered a sign of elevation and progress in this warped world order!

May Allah help us to learn about and practise Islam wherever we live and give us victory against hypocrisy, for as the Prophet (pbuh) said, the greatest danger for the Ummah is not from the outside, but from the inside.

Reply
Abu Abdullah

July 20, 2010 at 1:25 PM

http://www.ted.com/talks/naif_al_mutawa_superheroes_inspired_by_islam.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2010-07-20&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email

this weeks Ted video included the99 . I am not sure if they discuss it on MuslimMatters.

Reply
Muhammad

July 22, 2010 at 12:13 PM

http://www.youtube.com/lifeinaday?x=three

Reply
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