Mini-Lecture: Serving the Community (MIST 3/5/11)

What is MIST (Muslim Interscholatic Tournament)? (View this first to get some background to the mini-lecture)

**********************************************

Intro:

• I would like to begin by thanking MIST, Br. Bilal Baqai, Br. Heidar Albandar and all other MIST organizers for inviting me here today. I would also like to that you, the bedrock on what this is all built, for attending today, to show your support, enthusiasm and concern for our young adults - yes, they are young adults - who are seeking three main things: to solidify their identity; to make a difference in society and to be pleasing to their Creator and their parents. It is in this spirit that we need to see them, engage them and support them.
• Formation of MIST - If we look at how MIST was started, we will see that it meets these three goals: solidify identity, make a difference and do something that is pleasing to God and to parents. This is an example of what establishes the foundation for us here as humans, as social citizens, as Muslims, on earth - to serve God and others. Here we have an 18-year old Muslim who wanted to do something that would not merely change her life, but change the life of Muslims all over America. In the very formation of MIST, we have the theme of this discussion tonight: “Serving the Community.”

What does it mean to serve the community?

• Activity: What does it mean to serve the community? Hand out pieces of paper and give them 3 minutes to come up with 2 examples from each table.

Qur’an

• You are the best people ever raised for the good of mankind because you enjoin what is good and forbid evil and believe in Allah." (3:111) - We see “enjoin what is good” as only relating to the halal and haraam, because of our conditioning. This is a limitation is us.
• By no means shall you attain righteousness unless you give freely from that which you love. And whatever you give, Allah knows it well" (Qur'an 3:92) - Is it only money?

Prophet:

• Abû Hurayrah quotes the Prophet (peace be upon him) as saying: “A man was going on his way when he saw brambles in the path. He moved these out of the way. Allah so esteemed his virtuous act that He granted him forgiveness." [Sahih Muslim]

Others: (http://www.quotegarden.com/helping.html)

• Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.  ~Mohammed Ali
• I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.  ~Mother Teresa
• The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.  ~Leo Rosten
• How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
• ~William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
• The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was:  "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?"  But... the good Samaritan reversed the question:  "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
• It's easy to make a buck.  It's a lot tougher to make a difference.  ~Tom Brokaw

Real-Life Example

• The Giving Pledge: Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and many others are pledging to give 50% of their wealth to charity. These are of the wealthiest people in the world. They have seen the need to give back to the community. Imagine one of us going home to our families and saying, “Baby, honey, habibti, I want us to give back 50% of our wealth to charity during our lifetime...” She might look at you like you are insane. But deep down, she also knows that there is something noble in the idea.

Example in Pay-it-Forward - The joy of doing for others... 

Today, while writing this, my wife said, “I am going to take the older kids [her nieces and nephews] to the movies next week.” I initially looked at her and thought, ‘Don’t you see that I am writing here, so that Heidar does not say stuff about me on Facebook?’... Then I realized that this was an example of exactly what I am speaking of - service to others. She was looking for a way to give her sister some time to herself, by taking the kids for a day. It is the small acts that make a difference.

What I am speaking of here is nothing that no one here does not already know. We know these things. We ‘feel’ it in us. We feel the need to help, serve, give back. Some times we just cannot. Sometimes we prevent ourselves from doing the good things that we are naturally inclined to do. Some times we do not have the resources to give back.

What is it about?

It is not about giving; that is just the means ... It is not about not being materialistic; that is just an added benefit to not idolizing wealth. It is not even about competing with others to do good things; that is just a blessing that we can obtain. It is not even about getting blessings; that is something that is guaranteed if the intentions are right... In my opinion, it is about genuinely caring for people. It is about seeing the part you play / can play / should play in the lives of others. It is about seeing that others have rights to your wealth, time, abilities, etc... It is about all these things.

So, how do we serve?

Activity: Close your eyes for a second. Picture your community - whatever it is, wherever it is. Picture your busy lifestyle and your limited resources. Think of all the things you have to do for your kids or with your kids. Think of all the things you want to do and don’t have the means to really do it. Think of the help you need to get some of the things done - help from someone, a bank, a friend, a family member, etc... Now imagine yourself getting some of that help you want... Think of the feeling of relief you have right now...

Eyes still closed. For a second, imagine that the person needing the help is your wife, brother, sister, mother, husband, son, daughter, friend. Picture the relief on their face once they get the help they need. Now picture that you are the one being used to help them. Open your eyes.

I want to pause for a second, to give you a chance to think of ways in which you can serve the community. Turn to the person next to you, and think of ways in which you can serve the community and how we can help MIST achieve its objectives and goals. I then want 5 suggestions for how we can serve.

• Financial
• Time
• Volunteering
• Car pooling
• Opening your home to others
• Inviting the neighbor’s kids to the movies with your family

How do we get there?

It is good and necessary to know what serving means. It is good and necessary to know the ways in which we can each serve the community. However, it is not sufficient. Many of us have knowledge, but when it comes to implementation, we fall short. I want to focus on us... We are the ones being called to serve. We are the ones who get in our OWN way when we try to serve, or when others try to serve. What do I mean?

What are the destructive qualities which prevent us from serving?

• Pride - You think you have the answers. You come in and desire to change things. You act like you are coming with “revelation” on stone tablets. Or, you hear a suggestion, and you oppose it because it threatens what you have known for years and how you have done things. Isn’t that the same thing people in the Qur’an were chastised for?
• Miserliness - Not recognizing the right of others in your wealth (all its forms)
• Short-sightedness - Only seeing what is right in front of you... Not seeing beyond yourself or immediate needs
• Selfishness - Only seeing your needs and not the needs of others. Help people how THEY need to be helped, not how you think they should be helped

What qualities do you need to have to serve the community?

• Humility
• Sincerity
• Commitment
• Honesty
• Forgiveness
• Patience

Looking to ourselves/Seeking to change:

• Are we saddened by the hardships of others? - Irrespective of who they are?
• Does it bother us when we cannot help someone?
• Does it bother us when we choose not to help someone?

As individuals, humans, civil society members, Muslims, it is not merely a duty to serve, but it is enshrined in everything we do. We are the servants; the ‘aabid / ‘ibaad of God. This is what we do, it is who we are. We can no longer sit on the sidelines of serving the community. We have to be front and center. We can no longer live in 2 worlds that leave our young adults confused; we have to be decisive and proactive. We cannot live in America like it is our benefactor, and then decry it like it is an enemy. We can constructively critiqued it and work within it to make it better, but we cannot confuse our children anymore. We need to be better; we need to do better. I want to quote a saying I saw Imam Anas Muhaimin post somewhere: “Go into the world and live good; but more importantly, go into the world and do good.”

Closing:

• I want to thank you all for being so engaging, supportive and responsive to the presentation tonight. I pray for the safety, success, health and guidance of all of us who strive to serve God, do good deeds and be good people. May all those striving for that achieve the success they seek.
• Closing note: I want to end off by quoting Mahatma Gandhi (Ganghi G) - “be the difference that you want to see in the world.” I want to modify that, or expand it to say, “Be the difference that you want to see in the world through service to others and sacrifice for something greater.”
• Thank you. Peace be unto you all.