Track 4 Challenges and Solutions for Dawah among Youth

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Track 4Challenges and Solutions for Dawah among
Youth Ethnic Communities

• June 27, 2004
• Dawanet Retreat
• Oakville

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Our Team

• Asif Zia
• Busher Fakir
• Hassan Syed
• Humairah Irfan
• Junaid Yousuf
• Shoeb Hosain

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Major Challenges

• Muslims not present in mainstream politics,
  education, volunteering and media
• Lack of media presence targeting youth (more
  attractive programming) and ethnicities
  (programming in their languages)
• Unbalanced representation of leadership in our
  masajid, and all types of organizations with
  respect to
• age, gender, ethnicity and at every level of
  leadership
• Lack of Muslim Role Models for the Youth to draw
  and learn from

Contd
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Major Challenges
Contd

• Little investment in research and development
  which results in lack of innovative techniques
  and methods of providing dawah.
• Lack of Knowledge of Islam preventing dawah
  giving capibilities.
• Not wanting to listen to people that you give
  dawah to, just want to talk and convey the
  right messsage.

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Were not in the mainstream

• Politics
• Education
• Volunteering
• Media

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Challenge

• Politics
• Lack of concern amongst ourselves with mainstream
  issues
• healthcare, economy, pension, taxation.
• Muslims are passive and dont want to bring up
  issues of concern
• Lack of reporting hate crimes
• Jewish community report hate crimes far more than
  Muslim community

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Solutions

• Politics
• Khutbahs need to encourage holistic values
  amongst Muslims, not only values of religion but
  values of becoming an accountable Canadian
  citizen.
• Educate community re politics and increase
  awareness of what is happening.
• This Education will encourage Muslim candidates
  to run for office.
• Muslim Political Candidates need to start bottom
  up, and prove their worthiness as a candidate by
  volunteering in the community, making their name
  known and sharing their time, only then they
  should be running for office.

Actors Imams, National organizations, media,
teachers
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Challenge

• Education
• Low Standards of education - not balanced with
  extracurricular activities, lack of personal
  skill development (Communication, leadership
  skills, organization skills, etc.)
• Lack of preparation for students of the real
  world or further education in the public system
  (universities/colleges).
• Lack of properly educated and trained
  educationlists.

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Solutions

• Education
• Standardize curriculum, nationally or
  provincially amongst all Islamic Schools ?
  develop a national governing body to overlook
  this curriculum
• This body can be challenged with changes to the
  curriculum brought forward by existing teachers,
  parents, and students.
• Need many more Extra-curricular activities for
  our Islamic schools
• Islamic Music, sports, arts crafts, debating,
  etc.
• Lack of openess with regards to conflicting
  values that exist between Canadian values and
  Islamic values (e.g. prom).
• We need to be open about these issues and discuss
  them with all parents/students, rather than
  suppress the discussion of such topics.

Actors National organizations, school Principles
and Masajid, Educationalists
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Challenge

• Volunteering
• Not enough Muslim representation (as a group, not
  individually) with regards to community
  involvement
• Ali and Omar may volunteer individually to these
  events. However we rarely see organizations
  volunteering as a group to attract attention and
  give implicit dawah.
• Lack of Muslim sponsored medical equipment,
  hospital rooms, blood drives, marathon running.

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Solutions

• Volunteerism
• Need to sponsor hospital rooms, medical equipment
  (e.g. Umar Ibn Khattab Dialysis Machine)
• Need to support United Way, soup kitchens,
  rallies, Breast Cancer awareness, Canadian blood
  society as a group, with banners so that we are
  accepted as an active component of society.
• Concentrating our efforts in a group
• Build healthy competitions amongst organizations
  and masajid re who will raise the most money
  this month for Breast Cancer awareness?
• Include media coverage of such events.

Actors youth, Imams, Muslim public
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Challenge

• Media
• Boring Islamic programs on TV, lack of
  creativity, thus we require innovative and
  interesting techniques for presentation of
  topics.
• Everything has become about religion most
  programming has to do with religious ideas. Why
  not talk about Muslim cooking? Muslim art?
• No money to fund such programs in the media.
• Change target audience ? if we intend on giving
  dawah we need to target non-Muslims in our
  programming. Currently the only target is
  Muslims.

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Solutions

• Media
• Muslims need to be encouraged to pursue careers
  in journalism, TV production, and movies
• School Trips to Media outlets and education
  regarding these career options.
• Need to become more innovative in Media, develop
  attractive programming to target Muslims and
  non-Muslims alike.
• Need to encourage investment in such projects.
• Programming targeting general Canadian
• More holistic approach, encompassing other
  aspects of life, not just religion
• Employ media to introduce accountability upon
  Imams and Muslim Leaders to question their
  motives and actions, whether they are truly
  helping Muslim Community.

Actors Students of journalism, technical know-how
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ChallengeNeed Muslim Role Modelsfor our Youth
and for Reverts
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Solution

• Big Brothers and Big Sisters
• Introduce mandatory mentoring programs in Islamic
  schools
• Allow networking of mentors and students,
  according to their interests and goals in life.
• Media coverage of exemplary Muslim role models,
  successful in worldly AND religious realms.
• Media coverage of exemplary non Muslim role
  models who are helping the Muslim Community.
• Allow Reverts to have someone to connect to just
  when they have reverted to Islam as this the time
  they are the most vulnerable as they have
  isolated themselves socially. Need someone who
  can be a role model to encourage and foster their
  growth in Islam.
• Establish Mentor teams
• These teams can go to Islamic schools and public
  schools and inspire Muslim and non Muslim
  students and share their successes and give
  presentations.

Actors Role models from the community
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ChallengeUnbalanced Leadership Age, Gender,
Ethnicity
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Solutions

• Need to incorporate extra-curricular activities
  into our school curriculum which will foster
  qualities of
• Time management, leadership, communication, and
  organizational skills.
• This will in turn train the new leaders of
  tomorrow.
• Leadership camps to encourage development of
  leadership skills.
• Establish Youth Advisory Committees to Masajid
  and organizations (e.g. Mississauga Youth
  Advisory Committee to the Mayor of Mississauga)
• Create Leadership opportunities for youth, women,
  and diverse ethnicities in our masajid and
  organizations mandate in their constitution the
  diversity of leadership with respect to age,
  gender and ethnicity.

Actors Masajid, youth, public
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ChallengeHow to generateMoney?
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Challenge

• Currently, main source of money is donation only
• Main resource for donation collection is masjid
  rarely do organizations collect as much money as
  masajid.
• Masajid rarely invest money outside the masjid.
• Further, the donors are usually the same
• Same Muslim families, businesses donate.
• Rarely any new ones donate.

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Solution

• Develop organized support for donations towards
  other organizations which will invest in Canada.
• Establishing a committee for zakat, to ensure
  payment of zakat automatic bank withdrawls.
• Establish other sources of income
• Fundraising dinners 1000 plate
• Entertainment events (i.e. Comedy Festival) with
  500 plate.
• Travel Agencies whose sole profit is donated to
  organizations.

Actors Dawanet, national organizations,
businessmen
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ChallengeKnowledge of Islam
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Solution

• Dawah Training Program
• Need to establish baseline knowledge level for
  potential givers of dawah.
• Use existing websites as outlets for training and
  education
• Islam101.com
• www.irf.net

Actors Individuals, Dawanet
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ChallengeInability to Listen while giving Dawah

• Giving proper dawah entails time investment and
  the exchange of ideas.
• This is difficult if you are unwilling to listen,
  discuss and debate the issues at hand.
• The ranting of ideas and words is not only
  ineffective dawah but essentially will leave the
  person with a negative impression about Islam.

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Solution

• JUST LISTEN!!!
• Non-Muslims face MANY social problems
• Empathize with their problems and help provide
  solutions.
• Establish rapport and bonds of trust.
• Communicate and represent Islamic values and this
  will be great Dawah!
• Know the different ethnic communities
• Muslims should familiarize themselves with
  others religious values as well as their
  cultural norms and practices.

Actors Muslim public
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Thank You