WHY CHANGE IS NOT HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY?
This is truly a puzzling question given the obvious need and the compelling case for urgent and fundamental change in our community. However, some of the very same reasons that make the case for urgent and fundamental change so compelling also explain why change is not happening, and indicate that affecting real change in our community will be an uphill battle. Identifying the reasons preventing change helps tailor our approach towards the elimination of the resistance to such change, which in turn should help focus our efforts, sharpen our message, and increase our efficiency. I will attempt - in this article - to list the reasons that are blocking meaningful change, as follows.
1. Lack of a compelling cause/mission and high aspirations:
Willful change in the life of people and community is usually driven by a compelling cause and high aspirations. That's what precludes stagnation and the development of a comfort zone, and that's what drives people to constantly push themselves and relentlessly challenge the status quo. And that's the raison d'être and the litmus test of movements.
Indeed, movements exist to fulfill a mission and to affect a meaningful change. Any entity that is not (or no longer is) mission-driven and does not affect a meaningful change becomes itself part of the status quo and may be called anything but a movement.
As mentioned in previous articles, devoid of a sense of mission and a sense of community, our version of Islam inspires neither a movement nor a change. Also, our people's background made them complacent and accustomed - willingly or unwillingly - to have low aspirations in general and to live a largely aimless and self-centered life with little or no attention to their community and their country. Most of our people were conditioned to aspire only to get by and, whether their aspirations are low or high, they usually don't go beyond their families, and are mostly limited to the materialistic aspects. Most community activists and leaders have the same problem, except that instead of being limited to their own families, their aspirations are limited to their own community (usually masjid community) or their own organization.
2. Lack of commitment to the country and lack of civic engagement tradition:
Other than commitment to a cause and high aspirations, which are largely lacking in our community, people's and communities' change, empowerment and growth may be driven by commitment to the country. In other words, they embrace the wellbeing of their country as their cause and as a result they live a life bigger than their own. But as indicated in previous articles and for a number of reasons, this motive is also largely lacking in our community. Indeed, when it comes to commitment to America, many members of our community are at least reluctant if not ambivalent.
The lack of commitment to America by the immigrant community was not due to the myth of return, or even because of the uneasy relationship between America and the Muslim world. The roots of such lack of commitment can be traced to an earlier trend. Even in their countries of origin, a deadly combination of ruthless oppression and rampant corruption substantially weakened people commitment and their sense of belonging to their countries, and denied them any tradition and culture of civic engagement.
Overall, the lack of commitment to a cause and to the country, the lack of high aspirations and civic engagement traditions, combined with uninspiring and irrelevant version of Islam created an atmosphere that denied our community the drive and the tools to affect change or even to yearn for it.
3. Lack of the will of change:
In general, for anything to happen, two essential requirements must be met: the will and the ability. That's why flight attendants request passengers seated in exit rows to be reseated if they are unable or unwilling to perform the needed tasks. The sum of the will and the ability must be sufficient to overcome all the internal and external stumbling blocks.
Even though both the will and the ability for change are critically needed, the former is much more critical. This is because people with a strong will may find a way and acquire the means (if there is a will there is a way). However, in the absence of the will, the means would be useless and may even reinforce complacency. Therefore, if change is not happening and people are not even trying, the first thing to check is the strength of the will or the motive, especially if the opportunity and the means are too obvious, as is the case for our community.
4. The importance of awareness:
The will for change is the product of a motive and awareness. The motive or cause establishes the standard (where things should be or what should happen) and sets people's eyes on the prize. The awareness brings to light the reality (where things actually are). Together, the motive and the awareness reveal the gap between the starting point and the destination, and help developing the roadmap.
That's why our approach should focus on:
- Understanding and discussing what is going on and why and what we should and could do about it
- Understanding and discussing different elements of our faith-based vision and how to implement, embody and advocate them
It is a dual-track approach of engaging the reality to affect change and close the gap between reality and vision. It combines a bottom-up approach of fixing our reality (both the symptoms and the root causes) with a top-down proactive track of turning our vision into reality. It entails (1) modeling the change; (2) reaching out to inspire, empower, and organize people; (3) support and partner with existing entities that are advancing the cause. Our approach is focused on society and its wellbeing, and therefore it applies to all citizens (Muslims and non-Muslims). This is because our movement project is a societal project geared towards America and towards the common good.
5. Denial, despair, and the role of leadership:So, while the immediate impediment to change in our community is the lack of will to change, our chronic complacency is rooted in the lack of awareness and motive. Indeed, our people are not sufficiently aware of the current situation and its potential grave consequences.
But, even though there is little or no serious efforts to elevate the debate and engage the community on serious issues, many members of the community know or at least feel that the situation is not reassuring, to say the least. But such awareness does not translate into action, not only because people lack motivation, but also because of two other hefty obstacles, namely denial and despair.
Not only are people not fully aware, but also they don't want to know. And people don't only lack the motivation but also lack hope and self-confidence. With very few exceptional bright spots, the modern history of Muslims is very depressing, and success has been very sporadic and very limited. A number of factors have been fueling this feeling of hopelessness, including the dismal situation of the Muslim world, the dispiriting media propaganda, and a number of Muslim speakers and leaders. The latter are largely responsible for the stagnation and complacency of our community because rather than helping people confront reality, inspiring and empowering them to affect change they - unintentionally - reinforce the status quo by soothing people and fueling either denial or despair. No wonder why people are largely comfortable with the status quo, in spite of the compelling case for change and the striking fragmentation, disengagement, and irrelevance.
Those who - either with their own efforts or with some help - manage to overcome those obstacles and are willing to move stumble in another set of obstacles that are more related to the means rather than to the will. These obstacles include the serious deficiencies in our community when it comes to mentorship, empowerment, and adequate forums for engagement and involvement or even for belonging. No wonder why converts struggle tremendously to make their way into Islam and into the community.
The ongoing work is neither exciting nor expansive. And the existing forums are neither inclusive nor empowering to the point where most Islamic centers and organizations are struggling to make the case for people - including those revolving around them - to join them or even support them. Most of those organizations are serving people as customers or guests, and people became very comfortable with this passive role. People feel that only their presence or probably their support is needed. There is hardly any effort to cultivate or even dig up people's creativity, skills and talents. The most one would hope for is to find a forum (fraternity) that gives him/her some sense of belonging and offer some activities that he/she can attend.
For all those reasons, our focus should be on meaningful education that help people confronting the reality and inspiring and empowering people with the needed tools and forums to affect change. And in the process, we should focus on modeling the change, believe in people and their potential, genuinely welcome and respect them, focus on mentorship to dig up and cultivate their creativity and talents, and treat them as partners and stakeholders, not as fans, guests, customers, or just helping hands.
6. The issue of identity and the way out:At the root of all impediments to change comes the unwillingness and or inability of our community to unequivocally resolve the fundamental issue of identity (who we are?) and the related fundamental issue of mission (what our mission and role is in life in general and in 21st century America in particular?). Indeed, there are some rampant misconceptions of the Islamic and the American components of our identity, which lead to the situation where our commitment to Islam and to America are inadequate. That's why an essential part of our movement project is to reintroduce Islam as a mission and help people understand it and commit to it as such to make our community a mission-driven community. This will require us to try to invite people to go all the way to the roots of Islam and dissociate it from a lot of nonbinding and often irrelevant heritage and unhealthy culture. And in parallel, we should commit people to America and end any ambivalence about it, which shall pave the way for a genuine and meaningful citizenship, outreach, and civic engagement. This shall focus our attention neither inward nor overseas but on America, our country, our home, the ship that we are boarding with fellow citizens, and the dwelling in which our future generations will be living.
In reaching out to Muslims and non-Muslims, our approach should essentially be the same and our focus should essentially be on the same issues that have to do with the wellbeing and the future of our country and how to uplift ourselves and to have positive influence on people's lives, government policies, and social norms. The only exceptions have to do with the commonalities and the source of inspiration, which may be different for different people. With Muslims we have Islam as the common source of inspiration and the Muslim community's wellbeing as a common concern. In addition to the human and citizenship bonds, we are bonded together by Islam. And part of the positive change that we aspire to affect in society goes through inspiring and empowering the Muslim community and committing its members and institutions to the divine mission and to America. An integral part of this inspiration and empowerment, and the fulfillment of the divine mission is to get our community to embody the divine guidance.
With other fellow citizens, the commonalities and the source or basis of inspiration are different, depending on our relationship (neighborhood, profession, common causes,...). Conveying God's final and universal message to people around us whom we interact with is still an essential part of our divine mission. However, we should separate the religious and civic components of our mission. Civic issues concern all citizens even if they differ on their perspectives and approaches. But the message of Islam is to be delivered the right way in the right time to those who show interest or are at least receptive. The most effective way to promote Islam is by our example, our outreach, our civic engagement, and our contribution to the welfare of the society.
Indeed, the most effective way to affect positive change and overcome some of the heftiest resistance to change is by modeling the change and delivering a compelling message. That's why self-development and civic engagement are key to change, and every agent of change should strive to (1) internalize, embody, and articulate the message; (2) realize his/her full potential; (3) become a civic leader.
Building a genuine and relevant American Islamic movement goes through committing our community to the divine mission and to America, and the development of a genuine American Muslim identity, personality, discourse, and platform.
It is hoped that such approach will produce some born-again effects, effect a shock therapy, shake and dust off a number of limiting factors, and enable people to overcome the impediments to change.
