Who Are Our Heroes?
By Naseeb Khan
We live in a culture where if a fire breaks out in Australia tonight we will know about it by the next day. The speed with which information travels today is almost instantaneous. This is truly an incredible accomplishment. The internet and all its paraphernalia of email, blogs, download of audio and video etc has made information so accessible that almost nothing is held secret anymore. We can “google” our neighborhood and find out the names of the neighbors who live next to us.
Part of this ease of information access is that the people who control the media of television, movies, newspapers and radio find themselves in a unique position. They can define what the people see on their TV screens and radio etc and thus they can greatly influence the information being showed. This information of course in turn directly and subliminally influences the way people think and the way they act. The advertisers have long recognized this and have become masters at influencing us to buy their products. They spend billions of dollars to do this as they know that we will in turn be convinced to spend our money as they tell us.
Part of this process is that the media decides for us who our role models and heroes are. They glamorize the lives of film stars and athletes to such an extent that we become engrossed in following the twists and turns of their lives. We secretly desire to become like them and we speak their names on our tongues. If you were to ask the average Muslim Youth to tell you the names of twenty film stars by name, they would look at you and say if that is all you need. They can then easily name you twenty without any fuss. They can also name you many, many athletes by names too. This is the effect of the media on us.
If we were to do the same experiment and ask them to tell you the names of ten contemporary Islamic scholars or scientists or artists or athletes or film stars, the challenge will be great and they may not be able to do it. The reason is again the media. We are almost never told about the heroes among the Muslims and thus we reduce ourselves to using the Non-Muslim heroes as our role models .This is sad and really unfortunate. Logically, if Islam is from Allah and it produces the best in humanity, it follows naturally that it must have produced some of the most amazing humans that the world has ever seen. But where are these people and why do we not hear about them.
We need to document the Muslims in America and elsewhere who have accomplished significant things and then make this information easily accessible to the Muslim youth. This can inspire many of them to also become role models and heroes too. If we were to look at our community, we will be amazed at how many wonderful and amazing things people do each day from our Ummah. For example, in 2005 I went to Makkah for hajj. During that same year, a man from India was also present. He was making hajj for the first time. This had been his desire all his life from since he was a youth but he just could not afford it. His present trip was actually sponsored by donations from people all over the world. You see he was 135 years old. Yes, one hundred and thirty five years old. One of the oldest living human beings on the face of the planet was fit enough to make the hajj. Imagine how much dua’ he must have made and how patient he had to be not to lose hope. Imagine how he had to keep his health intact in case he was given the chance to go to the hajj. Allah granted his wish at age 135. That to me is Imaan.
During the hajj also I was one day praying in front of the Ka’bah and was very, very tired. I was thinking that I will sit down for the Salaah instead of standing. In front of me was a man who had only one foot. His next leg was chopped off. He, who had all the reason in the world to sit, stood up for the Salaah. He made ruku and then on one foot went down for sajdah etc. I felt so ashamed that I had to stand for the Salaah too. Later I went back to the hotel and tried to go down from a standing position to sajdah on one foot and just could not do it. It is these little acts of strength and Imaan that we must seek to see in each other.
I know a brother who as he drove to work each day, played audio tapes of the hadith in Bukhari Shareef. He was able to memorize the whole of Bukhari Shareef from cover to cover. These are our fellow Muslims who we must emulate. In our Ummah, we can find thousands of extra ordinary people who display the power of faith and Islam in their lives everyday. We must all try to let the world know about them, so that our youths can pattern their lives after these people. Our Ummah is full of really incredible people who have excelled in almost every field. We must get to know them.
For example how many of us know about Abu Hanifa, one of the four great Imaams. He was an incredibly intelligent person. Once the Kharijites came to him as he was sitting with some students, and asked him a question. The Kharijites were a fanatical group of Muslims who killed all fellow Muslims who did not believe just as they do. They would come to you and ask you what you believe and if you did not reply carefully to show you had the same belief as them, you would pay for this mistake with your very life. This was a terrible time in the Islamic history. Here was the trick question they posed to Abu Hanifah – “who are you people?” The only answer that could save you here was to say you were the same as them. But this would be a lie. This was a very serious situation. The Imaam replied “People seeking refuge” and then he quoted the Qur’aan where Allah said “If any polytheist seeks refuge, give it to him, so that he may listen to God's kalam, and then escort him to a place of safety". This stopped them in their tracks. They had to obey the ayah. Their leader then turned to his men and said "Recite the Qur'an for them to hear and then escort them to their homes.”
Our heroes span every century and time. Today, we note the accomplishments of incredible men such as Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) who walked away from fame and wealth at the height of his career to pursue a path to Allah. Today he continues to inspire thousands all over the world and in England. We have Muhammad Ali, who went to jail, instead of fighting against the innocent in a war that was unjust. We have Malcolm X who when he found truth in Makkah had the guts to accept it and advocate it. He paid with his life for this decision. We have Hakeem Olajuwon who came from a small village in Nigeria and rose to the pinnacle of excellence to become a two time champion of the National Basketball Association. He would fast in Ramadan, while still playing the games.
Dr. Ingrid Matteson is one of the people I admire. She rose through a male dominated structure to become the first ever woman vice president of the ISNA (Islamic Society of North America). She has a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Chicago and is a professor at Hartford Seminary.
Shirin Ebadi is the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She is perceived as a controversial figure, who as a lawyer have championed women’s rights in Iran for many years. She does this at the risk of her very life.
The list can go on and on. Those who recite the Qur’aan such as Abdul Basit and Husari and others can be added to this list. The Muslim explorers, scientists, reformers, writers, scholars have all done their share of extra ordinary things. So have you! Do not forget this.
My point in all of this is that we have got to really start the process of educating our people not only about the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon them all) but also of the common everyday people who take their faith and become great by serving humanity in so many special ways. To this end we will begin a new series of articles that will feature one of this Ummah’s hero each week. Hopefully their lives can inspire all of us to also do something special with our life.
