11/07/2021
Join our MLA teen seminar! For our teens, we hold classes in a Seminar Format that includes grades 8-10. We are off to a great start!
This year's class will touch upon the mentorship of the Prophetﷺ. We will touch upon how, even if people were not individually like the Prophet, he saw the inherent potential in each of them and guided them to be the best they could be. By extension, we will learn how Islam, through the guidance of our beloved Prophetﷺ can help us become the versions of ourselves. I've chosen women and men, black Sahaba beyond Bilal RA. People with perceived handicaps such as Ibn Umm Maktoom and Khabbab ibn Aratt. I want to get people out of the singular conceptions about what a leader has to look and talk like. Mentorship in Islam was framed very differently . The Prophetﷺ built people up according to their own inherent strengths and aptitude
The Mentorship of the Prophetﷺ
Surah Baqarah v. 2:142-143
The foolish among the people will say, "What has turned them away from their qiblah,1 which they used to face?" Say, "To Allah belongs the east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a straight path."
And thus We have made you a median [i.e., just] community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you. And We did not make the qiblah which you used to face except that We might make evident who would follow the Messenger from who would turn back on his heels.1 And indeed, it is difficult except for those whom Allah has guided. And never would Allah have caused you to lose your faith [i.e., your previous prayers]. Indeed Allah is, to the people, Kind and Merciful.
Surah Ahzab v. 33:21
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.
Surah Anbiya v. 21:107
And We have not sent you, [O Muḥammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.
Not just an example, a mentor, based on their individual qualities and aptitudes:
Some were inherently assertive: Hamzah, Umar, Nusaybah
Some had perceived physical handicaps: Ibn Umm Makhtoom, Julaibeeb, Khabbab
Some were soft spoken, but possessed great wisdom and resolve: Abu Bakr
Some needed comfort in the face of persecution: Ammaar ibn Yassir, Khabbab ibn Aratt
Some were positioned to help challenge the racism and bigotry of society. Bilal, Usamah bin Zayd, Umm Ayman
Some were artists: poets and reciters - ibn Masud and Hassan ibn Thabit
Some were willing to take charge from a young age: Ali, Asma Bint Abi Bakr, Anas ibn Malik, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar, Hafsah bint Umar, Umayr ibn Abi Waqqas
Some were willing to take an early stand: Khadijah, Zaid and Umm Ayman
Some needed compassion in the face of error: Kaab ibn Malik, Abdullah ibn Jubayr and the archers of Uhud, Abu Sufyan
Some were gifted public speakers and communicators: Muadh ibn Jabal, Musab Ibn Umayr
Some were athletic and had a warrior/fighting spirit: Abu Dujanah, Khalid ibn Waleed
We've had a number of guest speakers join us this year, tying into our curriculum:
On 9/12, Nausheen Akhter, director of Cardiooncology with Northwestern Medicine spoke to the students about the concept of Mentorship. As a class we discussed the ideas of Mentorship and Leadership, how they differed and how the best leaders are able to mentor a diverse range of people at an individual level. We learned how the Prophet [saws] was able to mold the natural forceful personality of Hamza ibn Muttallib [and Umar ibn Khattab] to bolster the community as a whole, even as he taught them restraint against impulsiveness.
We had a session on 9/26/21, we had a guest speaker who talked to us about Neurodiversity and Neurodivergence, highlighting the idea of reframing neurodivergent situations such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia as "different brained" and how doing so makes us both able to avail ourselves of our society's talents to the maximum, and design for all people in mind, but also that it deals with fundamental concepts of justice and fairness, something that any organization (such as Microsoft) and society should strive for. Along with this, we spoke about Ibn Umm Maktoom, the blind Sahabi mentioned in Surah Abasa, about whom the Prophet (s) "Welcome unto him on whose account my [the Prophet’s saws] Sustainer has rebuked me." After the initial incident where the Prophet [saws] frowned and turned away from him, Ibn Umm Maktoom was groomed as a leader for the Muslim community. He and Musab ibn Umayr were the first of the Companions to reach Madinah prior to Hijrah. He was appointed Deputy Mu’ezzin, behind Bilal ibn Rabah, adn was deputized to lead Madinah on occasions in the Prophet's absence. Despite being excused from battle posting, he went on to become a standard bearer in battle despite his blindness. He was martyred during Umar’s Khilafat. We also learned about Khabbab ibn Aratt, who despite his stutter was among the early acceptors of Islam, and led through his faith in the face of persecution. The Prophet [saws] mentored him by encouraging him to speak out and offer his opinion, in spite of his stutter. For example, he was the one who advised the Prophet [saws] th occupy the wells of Badr as a battle strategy
One Sahabiyah we learned about is who I would describe as the original Muslim women's activitist, Nusaybah bint Kaab. She was one of two women who joined in the Second Pledge of Aqabah, pledging allegiance to The Prophet [saws] and solidarity with the Muslims emigrating from Makkah to Madinah. She chose to fight in battle defending the Prophet [saws]' station when many of the male soldiers were in disarray at the time of the setback of the battle of Uhud, and was among those who traveled unarmed from Madinah to Hudaibiyah among the Muslims who moved to defy the ban on Muslims performing the rites of pilgrimage by Quraysh Tying in with this, we were joined by Mahrukh Hussain, who spoke to the about "Finding Your Voice". Mahrukh Hussain is a Corporate Vice President, Associate General Counsel at McDonald’s Corporation.
Most recently, we had the opportunity to have Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR Chicago speak to our class on "Communicating Effectively in a Challenging Environment". He spoke with the students on how he was moved to take on the challenge of communicating effectively in the face of an organized effort to smear Muslims and Islam. He spoke with the students on what he sees as keys in being an effective communicator for our chosen causes. Tying in with this, we spoke about Musab ibn Umayr and his communications with the people of Madinah after the first pledge of Aqabah whereby he was able to persuade and connect with people, to get through to people like Saad ibn Muadh and eventually to people in Madinah such that the Muslim population grew from the first 12 from Yathrib who made that pledge to the point where every Arab household in Madinah had at least one individual under the fold of Islam. We also spoke of Jafar ibn Abi Talib, the brother of Ali, who led the delegation of Muslims seeking asylum in Abyssinia under the rule of Negus Ashamah. He was able to effectively plead the case for asylum in Abyssinia, and he too, knowing his audience was able to connect with the Negus by narrating from the Quran the story of Isa (AS). He did not pretend to accept the religion of Negus, Christianity at the time, to be granted asylum, but was able to make the connection between the common heritage of Islam and Christainity
