Community Organizing in Chicago with Rami Nashashibi

On July 17, 2007, the MPSN interns met Rami, a man who dedicates much of his time bridging communities, empowering the poor, and representing the highest virtues of Islam.

His talk began with an introduction of his background and how he became involved in addressing poverty and community building in the first place. He described the personalities he met while at DePaul, ranging from the African American man who introduced him to an understanding of the social inequity in southeast Chicago to the indifferent Muslims at his local masjid. He painted a picture of a tie between the plight faced by the poor near his college and the oppression faced by others in the Middle East.

But the story continues, for unlike his contemporaries, he was not satisfied to witness injustice faced by minorities in the Chicago central city. He choose to try to mobilize some of the Muslims he knew to commit to outreach to the African American and Latino communities and founded IMAN, the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, a non-profit designed to provide much needed social services to needy individuals and families in Chicago.

As time progressed, he was able to build alliances with the main players in various ethnic, religious, and political entities, and created a brand that is now known not only in Chicago, but across the United States. Part of this branding came through an event called "Takin' it to the Streets", a summer festival held to celebrate the diversity of Chicago and to encourage its residents to get together to enjoy music, art, and learn more about Muslims and Islam.

Although IMAN is known for this event, the organization and its volunteers also operate a food pantry and offer medical services to low-income people. They also advocate across religious and ethnic lines for the rights of laborers to earn promised income and engage youth in productive activities to ensure that they do not become involved in crime.

Rami says that he models his commitment to service after our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and explains that it is incumbent on all Muslims to serve their communities and to stay engaged. He also suggests that only through building alliances and being active in local communities can the American public ever come to respect, understand, and care about Muslims and their issues.

This raises the following questions:

With Islam's heavy emphasis on providing for the poor, the orphans, and the wayfarers, why are Muslims behind in contributing to these groups, especially when compared to other religious groups?

What are the direct and indirect benefits to Muslims in America from contributing to the well-being of the less fortunate in this society? Should Muslims even consider their potential benefit in choosing to become socially active, or does that kind of consideration defeat the purpose in the first place?

Even still, do inherent biases affect the Muslims in America, thus preventing them from even attempting to address poverty? Further, does the relatively high socio-economic class of Muslims discourage them from helping others because of their perception of the hard work they themselves have done to get where they are today? What does this say about arrogance in our community? More importantly, what does Allah (SWT) say about those who are arrogant with pride about their money, and what end such people will face in the next life?

All of these questions are only beginning points for reflection, and ought to be addressed by this MPSN class and other interested parties.