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Thursday, May 06, 2010 |
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In Our Own Words: Reflections of Youth
By SuperUser Account @ 8:53 AM :: 551 Views :: Featured Articles
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A Legend of Our Own by Maryem Abdullah Aqsa School
 Abraham Lincoln once said, "All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind." This quote implies that one should always follow their dreams, no matter how impossible or puny they may seem. With perseverance and ambition, anything can be done. Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, our beloved Imam, lives by this quote. Through hard work and determination, he implemented his "go green" lifestyle into the citizens of Bridgeview.
Yousra Hujaji, a senior at Aqsa School, brilliantly linked Abraham Lincoln to Sheikh Kifah Mustapha with the above quote. Hujaji explained that through Sheikh Kifah's charisma, he successfully made Bridgeview a greener place by encouraging people through his lectures and sermons.
The essay that Hujaji wrote was submitted to the Lincolnland Legends Scholarship Competition, and she was awarded an $8000 scholarship. As a mere student, Hujaji was simply trying to do the best she could on an essay assignment that gave due respect to Sheikh Kifah, someone she greatly admires. Yousra stated, "It is an honor; it's empowering to think that even as a high school student, my voice is heard." With her astounding accomplishment, she became a role model for other aspiring students.
Mrs. Baste, the principal at Aqsa School, expressed great pleasure and pride in Hujaji's achievement. "Alhamdullilah, we are so proud to have a recipient from Aqsa School two years in a row. But what is even more noteworthy is that the mention of Islamic figures as role models is not only for Muslim students, but for other religions and nationalities as well." Mrs. Baste, along with other Aqsa School staff expressed their joy for Yousra.
For the past two years, two girls from Aqsa School were chosen to win the Lincolnland Legends Scholarship—Yousra Hujaji and Zaina Zayyad. Not only did the Aqsa School faculty and students acknowledge the achievements of the two students, but so did the Illinois Dollars for Scholars organization. "It is very rare for a school to have two recipients for the same scholarship," Baste declared
In Yousra's Lincolnland Legends essay, she beautifully connected past with present, relating the universally known Abraham Lincoln, with locally known Sheikh Kifah. She exquisitely related Lincoln's struggle with freeing slaves to the ongoing struggle to keep Bridgeview an environmentally friendly district. With the simple wish to be heard, Yousra practiced the sunnah of our Prophet. A hadith of the prophet (pbuh) states that one is advised to "acquire knowledge and impart it to the people." Yousra attained more than just a tangible prize, but also an everlasting reward in the hereafter.
Bridging the Gap: Inside Scoop by Aala Mohamed Universal School
 Civilization involves human interaction and engagement with their surroundings. Whether these interactions produce differences or similarities between people is left for the humans themselves to detect. However, once discrepancies are discovered, they prickle like thorns in relationships and result in distant, diverged affiliations. Parents and their offspring vary in aspects more significant than the apparent cavity in age. The gap’s roots are inclusive of discord in culture, environment and upbringing, language, and mindset. The matter at hand is how to identify and potentially overcome this gap by building a bridge, and coping with the differences. The gap between the generations of youth and their parents today is just one form of a bond that sprung out from a solid variation; yet it can be healed.
The overbearing influence of culture on these relationships is the captain in the tide of impact. According to Webster’s dictionary, culture is defined as: “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.” Culture is thus the combination of all arts, hobbies, traditions, and habits of a generation. Just as a fragile package is wrapped in cushiony materials before shipment, the culture must be handled with caution. That is where the gap begins to appear: most of tradition has been broken through conveyance.
Culture did not cultivate itself; culture is not an independent factor. It rests on a foundation subject to change. The change itself is a factor also ordinarily established as the environment. The interactions that solidify peoples’ childhood and upbringing bear the most dynamic impression on them in the future. The prophet (pbuh) was also aware of this through his hadith, “The company of a good friend is like an owner of musk; if you don’t buy anything, you will get the smell of it. The company of a bad friend is like the blacksmith’s bellows; if you are not affected by its black dirt, you will be touched by its smoke.” My father grew up in Sudan, where he nostalgically refers to his life as highlighted by social gatherings-events where the entire village would attend and share laughs and memories. They did not estrange others as ‘foreign’, and lived a homey, warm atmosphere. To contrast, my childhood in America was of a secluded nature. I confided in myself; my life revolved around the lifestyles of only my parents and siblings. Modern technology is a prominent aspect of my life, as it is for many Muslim American adolescents. One day without a cell phone, television, or internet is sure to create anxiety. My parents’ generation, on the other hand, lived without these tools. Their love for greenery and animals humbled their hearts, and their reliance was on the ‘technology’ of the natural world around them. Our wants are confused with our needs, and as long as we continue to tangle them, our gap difference will only complicate as times progresses.
The alteration itself has been discovered. The objects that undergo distortion are acknowledged. The avenue of its revolution has been left for last, for in it lies the ultimate solution. Language and mindset are but branches under the spacious umbrella of communication. Mindset is the focus of a human’s life, the goal every individual aspires to pursue. Mindset is the science of the track of human thought: a splintering difference between parents and their offspring. Our parents dreamed of a broader vision: they aspired for the success of their children and their beloved. Whilst worshipping Allah, their ambition is to flourish on God’s Earth and attain satisfaction. The youth in the States nowadays seemed to be sucked into the whirlpool of popular culture. Their ambitions are reflected in the music and movies they amuse themselves with, which echoes the superficial theme of attaining ‘money, cars, clothes, and women’.
Language, the other form of communication, involves the application of phrases and words. It is the medium through which communication is performed: it expresses culture, art, environment, mindset, and civilization. The tone through which we address this difference is unfortunately of mockery, as we find humor in singling out our incompetence in speaking other languages. A mother utters an English phrase with an accent, a child speaks Arabic informally and incorrectly, and they would both mock one another-igniting sparks of arrogance in the two.
Arabic, the mother language of my parents, is a language of depth that incorporates countless dialects. My parents interpret, think, and dream in Arabic, instead of English. Allah (swt) also speaks of its distinctiveness: “And indeed We know that they (polytheists and pagans) say: "It is only a human being who teaches him (Muhammad SAW)." Our interpretation of the Quran as Muslim youth thus differs in this aspect. Our parents can directly connect with the Quran, for its powerful meaning strikes their senses without any barriers. Young Americans, most of whom speak English as a first language, rely on the interpretation of various translators who fail to capture the essence of a verse. Thus, our relationship with the Quran is hindered, and more effort on our conveyance is required. We are bereft of the resources, and it is time-consuming for many to locate the channels to help and hope. Hence, we fail in securing the relationship, and only dig a deeper hole into divergence.
The solution is through communication. The differences occur in transmittance, as previously mentioned. Both parents and their children must strive in reshaping how their recipient receives their messages. A simple talk with a parent, or an inquisition of how a child’s day occurred is enough to place the two on the same page. Fruitful discussions, feelings of affection and understanding are the keys to a healthier relationship. The mere phrase “I love you” is sufficient to gain the trust of one another. We need to re-evaluate our goals and visions, and shift them towards enhancing our interactions.
In conclusion, the gap difference between parents and their offspring in the 21st century is a pressing issue in need of thought. The differences and change of culture, environment, language, upbringing, and mindset are all but actors in the play of life. The parent and child, however, are the directors, with them lies the power to alter the script. Through their correction fluid of communication, they may advance closer towards compromise. Sacrifice will be conducted on both sides only to unite both parties in devotion and harmony. All the tools are existent; the only task left is to implement-for the directors to command, ‘Action!’
Attention Middle and High School Students! To submit your original Islamically appropriate articles or art work for the Community Pulse, email them to connie@mosquefoundation.org. Articles must be in Word format, Art work must be in jpg, pdf or png format. Include your name and school. All submissions will be considered according to Community Pulse guidelines.
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