[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his installment of Real Talk will present examples to show why Muslims need to work as a team in today’s world. The concepts of embracing unity, accepting your role, sharing common interests, and serving as ambassadors of our religion will be mentioned.
The main take home message of this piece is that we all need to work together, and every man/woman is as important as the next one.
Valuing Unity
God says, “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers…” (3:103).
We need to value the unity God has destined for us despite our differences. The fact that there are differences among Muslims should not cause us to become rigid and judge others.
In fact, differences show the nature of flexibility in our religion. We should try to remove our aversion to things that are different because it may be that we are just afraid of the unknown.
Choosing Your Role in the Team
Another observation that is related to the previous discussion is that of career paths. In many different Muslim communities there are the same common perpetuated stereotypes to become a doctor, engineer, or lawyer.
If you are Egyptian, lawyer is not an option as you will be considered a loser in Egypt (makes sense given their judicial system). I have been pleasantly surprised by the fact that most of the Egyptian parents in my community have allowed their children freedom to choose.
Parents want to look for what is best for their kids, so they naturally guide them to what they know. But they really do want you to be happy. I have found that while they sometimes prefer you to choose a “steady” career path, they do not mind if you choose to do what you love with a purpose and a reason.
As long as you are being the best that you can be at whatever you do, then that is all one can ask for.
As a young adult, I have benefitted greatly from having friends of different career paths. It allows for more stimulating conversations and learning. Some of them are politically active. Some are business minded. Some like to use big words for no reason (you know who you are).
But for real real (said that on purpose), it is truly beneficial. We can’t all be politicians. We can’t all be doctors. We can’t all be engineers (only a select few can. JK).
The point is we need to see value in other people’s career choice. If we find ourselves getting arrogant or seeing others as wasting their time, we should re-evaluate our thought process.
The Muslim community needs to be balanced and involved in all facets of society. This will not only build a stronger and more diverse community, but will also allow us to have a positive effect on those we live around– whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim.
We need each and every member of the team to contribute, in whatever role it may be. Go Bruins!
Featured photo: “Shunting,” © 1996 John Spooner, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
JazaakAllahu Khairan for the share Zizo! Very simple and many important gems to be taken.