As salaamu alaykum, Indiana—
On International Workers' Day and the anniversary of massive immigrant rights protests, learn how the Islamic faith has inspired movements for justice from Muslim leaders like:
- Sussie Lozada from UNITE HERE Local 100 and Abdirahman Muse from the Awood Center, Muslim labor leaders organizing marginalized workers — particularly immigrants, refugees, and people of color — to take on mega corporations and win real change;
- MPower Change Executive Director Linda Sarsour, an award-winning racial justice and civil rights organizer;
- and Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, the first Muslim woman elected to public office in the state of North Carolina.
Omid is a leading Muslim public intellectual who is committed to the intersection of Islamic spirituality and social justice — as well as liberationist prophetic traditions in the legacy of Martin Luther King, Rabbi Heschel, and Malcolm X.
Seemi is a Sufi scholar and lecturer in Classical Arabic, with a special interest in Islamic literature, spirituality, and gender studies. Her Qur'anic recitation is available on the audio accompaniment to Michael Sells' "Approaching Islam: the Early Revelations," as well as on the PBS documentary "Islam: Empire of Faith."
While Muslim communities came together to organize projects like #MyMuslimVote and repeal the Muslim and African bans, Seemi shared her translation of Qur'an 61:13: "Victory comes from God, and a clear opening is near."
She reminded us that while our communities have lost so much, we have also won so much — and yet there is still so much more to do.
The Qur'an says (16:90): "This is God's command: love and justice."
During the isolation of the pandemic, trauma has often fueled anger, bitterness, and destructive conflict within our hearts and communities.
Everyone, even the shining lights of prophetic voices, feel anger sometimes. Anger tells us that something hurts. It alerts us to harm and injustice.
But it doesn't mean we should act out of anger or develop our organizing strategy when we're not clear-headed and grounded in our purpose and faith.
We were created to love, be loved, and act from a place of love.
With love,
Salma, Linda, Ishraq and the MPower Change team
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Salma Mirza <info@mpowerchange.org>
Date: April 2021
Subject: Re: Digital Ramadan
As salaamu alaykum, Indiana—
This year, the blessed month of Ramadan falls on May Day — International Workers Day — a resistance holiday honoring workers, the people who make everything run.
It is the anniversary of historic immigrant justice protests in the United States. It is the anniversary of the day that dockworkers closed down the ports to protest the racist Iraq war.
It is a day that we — as Muslims and allies committed to justice for all — believe is a great opportunity to reflect on what we can win when we come together.
This May Day event will be a little unlike the other events you might usually see us put together.
Instead of coming together to take necessary action to dismantle oppression, we are coming together to reflect and discuss what keeps us motivated and inspired in our fight against injustice.
In the face of so much recent violence, we all need time to allow our heart to break open in love and compassion — we must allow injustice to drive us towards action that serves the most vulnerable among us, as our faith and tradition teaches us.
Ramadan is a time to celebrate and gather with our loved ones to honor the revelation of the Qur'an to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW). It's also a time to reflect on the suffering of others with compassion, and care for those in need.
As an organizer, I teach people that the first step to getting people to take action is to get them (righteously) angry. Anger tells us something hurts. But if we are mostly fueled by anger, we lose sight of our compassion for each other and the most vulnerable. That means our minds are clouded and we lose sight of what wins are possible when we come together.
When we allow ourselves to feel, reflect, and connect, we can gain invaluable clarity on our shared purpose and path forward.
I learned from one of the guest speakers for our May Day event, Dr. Omid Safi, that the famous Muslim Sufi poet Hanafi faqih Rumi once wrote:
"Sometimes a heart breaks
sometimes a heart
breaks open
What a difference between the two"
Dr. Safi writes:
"When Rumi prays for a heart that is broken open, the word he uses is 'sharheh sharheh,' which is from the same root as 'sharh,' which is a 'commentary.' In other words, he is calling for a heart broken open, for us to see the mysteries inside our own heart. He wants you to read the scripture of your own heart. As Rumi and Shams remind you, so many scholars write commentaries on books. We also have to learn to compose commentaries on our own heart. And for that, a heart has to be opened up."
In solidarity,
Salma, Linda, Ishraq and the MPower Change team
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