By Mohamed Abutaleb

If you missed the earlier article on 5 Mistakes of Young MSA Leaders, check it out here.

When I was first handed the reins of our MSA (Muslim Student Association) at the age of 18, I never imagined that it would lead to some of the most powerful leadership experiences I’d share at job interviews for more than a decade to come:  difficult personalities, budgets, crisis management, media, public speaking, and mediation. Many of my cabinet and successors shared the same experience. More than one credited his/her MSA experience in landing a great job.  Here are 5 tips on how to hone exceptional leadership experience throughout your years of service:

1. Become a Remarkable Listener – Whether in families, marriages, or MSAs, many of us are already busy preparing our rebuttal while the other person is still speaking to us. Resolve to become a remarkable listener. Hear not just what the person is saying, but what is beneath their words. Pause a lot, repeat what the person is saying, and let others do most of the talking. Be open to being wrong. So many times, the Qur’an reprimands people who “would not hear.”

2. Learn to be Loved and Hated – This is a tough one. Effective leadership commands respect and comes with honor but that also means it is a weighty responsibility and attracts jealousy, envy, and hatred. Find that tough balance between self-righteousness and stardom. Don’t be fooled into thinking every time someone disagrees with you, you’re the only one on the truth and Islam’s last defender. Moderate your opinions with mentors and a wise inner circle. To lead, you must also give up your dream of being popular or everyone’s best friend. If everyone’s always singing your praises, then you’re either insincere or not doing anything worthwhile – even the Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) himself had those who opposed him.

3. Shift the Spotlight – The Prophet ﷺ says, “He who does not show gratitude to people, has not been truly thankful to Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala – Exalted is He).” When you appreciate the investment of your team, you embody a small, human manifestation of the attribute in Allah’s Name As-Shakoor (The Appreciative) – the One who rewards His servants’ deeds beyond measure. Be quick to volunteer for the most difficult and least glamorous tasks, and the last to claim credit or seek worldly fame.

In our MSA, there was a brother who would pick up all the date pits during Ramadan and take out the trash before the assigned committee could ever get to it. None of us could figure out who he was. When that unknown brother broke his arm, all of the sudden, the date pits piled up and the trash bags weren’t collected. He never shared it with anyone, and I don’t think anyone figured it out but me. Forget the likes, fame, and people’s adoration – seeking to please Allah is true leadership.

4. Treasure Your Time – To truly excel, you must cultivate not only the discipline to avoid the prohibited (haram), but the courage to let go of some of the halal. We all only get 24 hours a day. Al-Hasan al-Basri says, “You are but a collection of days – when a day departs, so does a part of you.” Great leaders treasure their time more than others while remaining balanced, they spend less idle moments, turn off notifications, and moderate their consumption of entertainment. Beyond the x’s and o’s, they beg Allah to place baraka (blessing) in their time. Reading the stories of scholars is a great place to see this trait in action.

When I was 21, people told me that I was one of the stronger public speakers in the DC area. I was in trouble. I heard people calling me “scholar” when I didn’t even qualify as a student, and I was one of the more driven individuals in my circle of friends. Then I met a passionate speaker with few as equals, with a stronger command of both the Islamic and worldly sciences than I. Essentially, a person who made me feel he had accomplished more with his time in every facet that I was praised for. Great leaders have to find the self-security and courage to surround themselves with people who are better, faster, and smarter than them.

5. Renew, Restore, and Reinvest – It seems like the more technology we have, the less productive we are; the more messaging apps, the worse our actual communication; and the more stuff and clutter in our lives, the less focused we are on our actual purpose in existence. Do you realize that your great-grandparents lived in a world without television, personal computers, the Internet, and laundry machines? Do you know that just 12 years ago, neither YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, nor Snapchat even existed?

The five prayers give a natural structure to the day, and this ummah (global community) is blessed in the time of the early morning hours. Make a sincere intention to wake up for fajr prayer and stay up, and discipline yourself to structure your day. To do that, you have to sleep at a reasonable hour. Don’t start or end your day with emails or texts.  Don’t touch your phone, Facebook, Twitter, or whatever for at least the first hour. Start with a spiritual breakfast (prayer/dhikr – remembrance), exercise, and a healthy meal. Remember that to give back to others, you must first be healthy and whole yourself.

I ask Allah to grant you sincerity, patience, and fulfillment in carrying the trust and responsibility of MSA leadership.  I pray that it is a means of growth and development for you and those you serve, and a joy on the day you meet Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala).

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Mohamed AbuTaleb serves as the Imam of the Islamic Association of Raleigh. He is a lifelong student of the Quran and Islamic studies and also shares a love of science and reason, having completed his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering from MIT along with degrees in physics and mathematics from the University of Maryland.  Mohamed has traveled the United States extensively as a lecturer, trainer, and educator.  His style focuses on enabling audiences to couple transformative understanding with relevance to daily life, and to cut across labels and divisions through scholarship and dialogue.  You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube or on his website. 

Commentary on the Irvine 11

By Waleed Ahmed

Michael Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, was invited to speak at UC Irvine last February on Israeli-American relations to a packed university auditorium of over 500 people. He was in the midst of his speech when a student bravely stood up and defiantly shouted out to him, ‘Michael Oren! Propagating murder is not an expression free speech!’ The ambassador continued speaking after this short disruption only to be disrupted again; and again; and again, for a total of eleven times.

The protesting students were escorted out of the building and arrested for “disturbing a pubic event,” though not charged criminally. An investigation later alleged that the Muslim Student Union (MSU) organized the protest; the MSU was suspended for the term and placed on probation for two years. The students’ protest was of the whitewashing of Israeli crimes by Ambassador Oren, who was a national tour to rebrand the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2009.

About three weeks ago, three days shy of a year after the incident, the Orange County District Attorney decided to lay criminal charges on the 11 students, now referred to as the Irvine 11, for heckling during Ambassador Oren’s speech. This has sparked outrage across the Muslim community and beyond. Debates on freedom of expression and civil disobedience ignited across university campuses. How can a non-violent protest possibly be labeled a criminal activity in a free democratic society?

Whether or not the method employed during this protest was justified is arguable. No doubt that disrupting the speech of an ambassador is rude and inappropriate. However, there are times when people need to be dealt with harshly and perhaps the actions of Israel warrant such treatment. Perhaps the students could have employed less disruptive means, but then again, their voices would have not reached as far were other methods to be used. Either way, I think we can all agree that disciplinary actions by the University were enough to reprimand these students; bringing criminal charges is going too far.

Speaking of insulting foreign dignitaries, one must not forget that back in 2007, President Ahmedinejad was invited to speak at the University of Columbia in New York. He was introduced on stage by the President of the University, Lee Bollinger. Bollinger’s introduction was essentially a verbal assault on the Ahmedinejad, during which he said, “Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” adding, “You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.” These are the words used by the president of a world-renowned university to introduce the leader of another nation! Whose to blame students if teachers set out such an example?

Disrupting speeches are par the course across American campuses; criminalizing dissent sets a chilling precedent which discourages activism for all students. As we know from American history, student activism has played a significant and powerful role in shaping the discourse and policies of our nation; if the traditional bastions of free speech – college campuses – were to be stifled, this would be at great detriment for citizens as a whole. The fact that this situation is without precedent – and looking at the recent anti-Islam hate rally in Orange County, the same county these students were charged in – it makes one wonder if these charges were laid because of the importance of the speaker to America or because of the faith of the students protesting.

Regardless of the validity of the methods employed by these students, I must commend them for their courage and gallantry. Risking something as valuable as your university career to protest a cause you strongly believe in is the epitome of activism.

Considering the importance of this cause to Muslim community, it becomes our responsibility to stand behind these brave individuals who have been wrongfully charged for defending the oppressed and saying that which is just. Please visit Irvine11.com to learn how you can stand with the 11.

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ACTION ITEMS

Want to help out the Irvine 11?  Here are some action items you can do to make your voice heard.

1. Visit www.irvine11.com for action items and updates.
2. Follow the 11 at on Facebook (facebook.com/irvine11) and Twitter (@irvine_11).
3. Contact the Orange County District Attorney by phone, letter, or email:
   • Phone:  (714) 834-3600
   • Email: tony.rackauckas@da.ocgov.com OR log on to orangecountyda.com >> Contact Us >> Feedback Form.
   • Address: 401 Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana, California 92701
4. Speak Out & Voice Your Support: Media Coverage: Lend your voice to the media coverage of the Irvine 11.
   • Call-in to your favorite radio station.
   • Write a letter-to-the-editor to the local newspapers.
   • Pen an op-ed piece. Or just comment on a previous story.
5. Spread the Word & Educate Others: Fight injustice with knowledge. Flood Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google Buzz, and the blogosphere with news and information on the Irvine 11. You can:
   • Tweet about the campaign. Use the hashtag #irvine11 – example: “Stand with the Irvine 11 against injustice: www.irvine11.com #irvine11.″
   • Host an event at your college campus, your mosque, your church, your library. Start a discussion; educate people on the situation and the fight for civil rights in this country.
   • Email your family, friends and community about the Stand with the Eleven campaign. Give them quick, easy tips on how they can help. A sample email is available at irvine11.com.

Not sure what to say?
Suggested Talking Points:

• Any decision to prosecute the students is a form of selective prosecution. There are student protests practically every day on American campuses. Even if we disagree with how the Irvine 11 staged their protest, there is no merit in criminal prosecution of their behavior.
• The University has already disciplined the MSU by banning the Muslim Student Union for the Fall quarter (which just ended), followed by two years of probation.
• Criminal prosecution is a waste of taxpayer funds.
• Prosecuting students for a peaceful protest on a university campus would establish a negative precedent that will affect university students throughout Orange County and beyond Southern California.

You can find this information in digital form (and more!) by visiting irvine11.com.