As a beginning activist, or one who is ‘re-beginning’, one might ask questions such as, “How do I find my place in da’wah and islah work?”, “How do I find my ikigai (a Japanese concept that means your ‘reason for being) in da’wah and islah?”, or “How do I sustain myself doing da’wah and islah in the long run?”. Once faced with these fairly daunting questions, I developed these six perspectives through my own experiences, with a little bit of reflection and hindsight.
Perspective 1: How will we present ourselves to Allah s.w.t. on the Day of Judgement?
Julie Andrews in ‘The Sound of Music’ sang, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…”. However, when contemplating one’s da’wah and islah journey, it may be useful to start at the very end, that is, the very end of one’s life. When all is done and dusted on the Day of Judgement, we would be presenting ourselves to Allah s.w.t.
We would be asked to account for all that we have been given in this world – years of life, resources and opportunities. We would present the person that we had become through the deeds we had done, the experiences we had gone through, and our responses to all of the opportunities we were presented with.
As a (re-)beginning activist, it is critical to realise that we often could not control outcomes, often miss out on opportunities, and that our own efforts may be severely lacking, but how we respond and who we choose to become are fully within our control.
Therefore, how we wish to present ourselves to Allah on the Day of Judgement becomes our personal vision and the starting point to think about our own da’wah and islah journey.
Perspective 2: How will we embody Kalimah Tayyibah in our da’wah and islah journey?
In Surah Ibrahim, verses 24 and 25 states, Allah put forth the analogy of kalimah tayyibah (a good word) like a good tree with firm roots and branches in the sky.
“Have you not considered how Allāh presents an example, [making] a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches [high] in the sky? It produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Lord. And Allāh presents examples for the people that perhaps they will be reminded.”
Surah Ibrahim (14:24-25)
The mufassirin have interpreted kalimah tayyibah as the shahadah or the declaration of faith in Islam. Abu’l A’la Al-Maududi, in his book ‘Let Us Be Muslims’, extends this analogy further:
Look at an oak tree. How firmly it is rooted, to what great height it reaches, how extensively its branches spread, what fine foliage it bears! How did this tree acquire such strength and magnificence? From the nature of its fruit, the acorn. Its seed has an inherent right to become a great tree. … Thus by merit it developed into a great tree; by yielding beneficial fruit and by the nobility of its dimensions it continued to demonstrate that it deserved to become a tree of mighty stature and that the help given it by the combined forces of earth and heaven was totally justified. … Kalimah Tayyibah produces sweet fruits: it establishes peace in the world. Goodness, truth and justice predominate and people benefit accordingly.
We have all recited the shahadah, but how often have we reflected on its meaning and the implications on our daily actions? Have we established our faith in the way that a steady tree is buttressed by its roots, equally unshaken by the winds of calamity and good fortune?
What fruits, shade and benefits will your shahadah bear for those around you? We all have twenty-four hours each day. We should be thinking about how we are spending those hours, minutes and seconds embodying Kalimah Tayyibah. Equally important, is how we intend to manifest the shahadah, in line with our strengths, abilities and the limited time and energy we have.
Perspective 3: How will we use our ‘11 Lifetimes’?
There is a popular notion that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to achieve mastery. One can debate the actual time needed, but generally the idea is that it takes time to become good at something (very obvious), and that one needs to be deliberate in practising the skills and techniques involved to improve (not very obvious). On the basis of an 8-hour work day, 5 workdays per week, and 40 effective workweeks per year, this takes about 7 years.
The online comic ‘Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal’ builds on this idea, by positing that all of us may have one life, but several potential ‘lifetimes’. If it takes 7 years to master something, and one starts at 11 and expects to live to 88, there are ‘11 lifetimes’ for us to explore and contribute.
This is a very powerful idea, especially in da’wah and islah work. It means that we need not be tied to a specific type of work all our lives. It also means we can pivot ourselves to work on different causes, depending on the one that resonates most with us in a particular stage of our lives.
For instance, between the ages of 18 and 24, one might decide to focus on outdoor camps for disadvantaged Muslim youth as a means to help motivate and inspire them to be driven in their academic and non-academic pursuits. In the next season between the ages of 25 and 31, after having one’s own children, one could then decide to pivot to work with an organisation that focuses on caring for children without a father figure in their lives.
At the same time, one could still coach younger activists to help them become better at organising outdoor camps for disadvantaged Muslim youth. Other causes could then follow, as the individual crosses different phases of life.
Having said that, it is perfectly reasonable to want to dedicate one’s entire life to a specific cause, or to spend all ‘11 lifetimes’ focusing on a specific type of work too. Da’wah and islah work, as with all ibadah, requires sincerity as a baseline. Whatever it is one decides to do, sincerity of intention is a must.
Perspective 4: Are we adding value, learning or doing both?
In an interview with LinkedIn’s Editor-in-Chief Daniel Roth, former US president Barack Obama said that the key to building a career is “just learn how to get stuff done”. This gels very well with the perspective that in every da’wah and islah opportunity given, one should either be adding value or learning something.
The best that one could ever ask for is to be able to do both, and that is something that is fairly easy to achieve if the (re-)beginning activist seeks to apply himself/herself and be accountable in every endeavour that he/she undertakes.
Unlike in salaried roles where a structured appraisal process and accountability is demanded due to the remuneration received, da’wah and islah work is often done on a voluntary basis without any form of compensation. Thus, it is very easy to land in a situation where the sacrifice of one’s time by being “present” is deemed enough as a form of contribution, without necessarily applying oneself.
The (re-)beginning activist should aim to avoid this. Instead, one should always seek to contribute at a level that commensurates with one’s experience, knowledge and skills. This is what it means to apply oneself and “get stuff done”, and is the only way to ensure that the da’wah and islah work is of a continuously increasing standard.
All this, of course, should not lead one to be arrogant or picky in terms of how one contributes to the da’wah and islah work. Indeed, one has to be acutely aware of the needs of the community and of the specific organisation, and not be afraid to ‘merely’ arrange chairs in preparation for a meeting or to greet newer activists with a smile. To the (re-)beginning activist, no good deed is too small as it may be that seemingly insignificant deed that tilts the balance towards Jannah on the Day of Judgement.
Perspective 5: The best way to learn how to do things is to just do it.
It is said that learning and development is best done through the 70-20-10 rule of thumb: 70% is achieved by taking on challenging assignments and stretching projects, 20% happens through developmental relationships, and 10% through training and coursework.
While not scientifically and empirically backed, this rule of thumb is useful for the (re-)beginning activist to keep in mind when thinking about how best to go about “getting stuff done”.
In going about finding those challenging assignments that make up the 70%, one has to find a certain ‘sweet spot’ – projects and tasks which are not too easy that it seems trivial and well within one’s experience, knowledge and skills, and yet not too difficult that it makes it impossible to make progress or even lead to burnout.
In my experience, there is no way this can be done by sitting down and simply thinking about it. One must volunteer and try out different things in different organisations and consciously reflect on those experiences and one’s responses to those experiences.
It is not surprising that learning and development through forging developmental relationships is important, for instance through mentors, coaches or just listening to our seniors share their experiences and lessons learnt. In a way, leveraging on the wisdom and experiences of our seniors who have gone through the path before us is a short-cut to access such lessons.
As the saying goes, we must learn from others’ mistakes because we will not live long enough to make all the mistakes ourselves to learn from them. Even so, these mistakes and experiences happened in a different time and place, and were interpreted and conveyed through the lens of another human being.
Therefore, there is still the work of contextualising such nuggets of wisdom to our own unique situation. Which explains why developmental relationships form the 20% in the 70-20-10 rule of thumb.
The last 10%, which is learning and development through training and coursework, may seem fairly counter-intuitive, given the emphasis on life-long learning and upskilling through courses in recent years. I recommend something else altogether: instead of investing time and money on courses, cultivate a habit of reading.
These days, one can even get the full syllabus of a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) course through books. With the Libby App and an NLB account, there is no excuse not to read voraciously and widely.
Perspective 6: Who are we spending the most of our time with – the musk seller or the blacksmith’s bellows?
There is a saying, often attributed to the motivational speaker Jim Rohn, that one is the average of the 5 people one spends most of one’s time with. This, of course, is about 1400 years later than the hadith of Rasulullah (SAW). Narrated Abu Musa: Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said:
“The example of a good companion (who sits with you) in comparison with a bad one, is like that of a musk seller and the blacksmith’s bellows (or furnace); from the first you would either buy musk or enjoy its good smell while the bellows would either burn your clothes or house, or you get a bad smell thereof.“
Sahih Bukhari
It is important – critical even – for aspiring activists and those who wish to rekindle their activism to be around like-minded brothers and sisters. The journey is long and challenging and often imposes demands which conflict with other life priorities. This is not a hobby to be partaken in only when one has free time and resources:
- A good activist must firstly be a good and true Muslim. Self-improvement is a must, be it in terms of individual ‘amal, skill sets, qualities or characteristics.
- Activists need to lead their families to become good Muslims and a good Muslim family unit that other families, Muslim or non-Muslim alike, can emulate.
- Activists need to be able to lead and mobilise their community, navigate the stakeholders and advocate for issues and causes.
All the above can only be achieved with a strong support network of like-minded fellow activists who meet regularly, remind each other of their responsibilities as activists, seek accountability from one another, encourage one another in their own journeys, and above all provide the brotherhood and sisterhood that will sustain activists through difficult seasons of life.
These 6 perspectives are by no means the only ones that (re-)beginning activists may find useful, but these are what I have gleaned through my experience in kick-starting my da’wah and islah career. I hope you find them useful too.
Re-beginning: re-starting or re-inventing oneself to a fresh start as a da’wah activist perhaps after a hiatus from da’wah activism in the past.
Da’wah: the act of calling people to Allah and to Islam
Islah: to reform or to improve
Ikigai: a Japanese concept that means your ‘reason for being.’ ‘Iki’ in Japanese means ‘life,’ and ‘gai’ describes value or worth. Your ikigai is your life purpose – what brings you out of bed everyday.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles on The Ocean’s Ink are the authors’ own, written in their personal capacity. They may not reflect the view of The Ocean’s Ink or IMSGP as an organisation