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Surat al Kahf, the 18th surah found in the exact middle of the Qur’an, contains 110 ayaat rich with stories and parables that are constantly engaging the reader. It is a Meccan surah that is full of deep insights and tackles serious subjects that concern us both in this life and the hereafter. The surah gives us a perspective to examine life differently in pursuit of finding its reality.  Surat Al-Kahf pertains to everyone, no matter his/her situation. If one is poor, weak, and oppressed, he will find the whole surah addressing his problems, giving him support, and suggesting solutions. If one is wealthy, healthy, and powerful, she will find it primarily speaking to her as well.

It was reported by the Prophet (pbuh) that “whoever reads Surat Al-Kahf on Friday, it lightens what is between the two Fridays.#” How can we best understand this light? This light is a guiding light throughout the week. Since we all face challenges that are both large and small, and we can very easily get confused as to how best to address our issues, we need a frequent reminder of the right perspective.  Surat al-Kahf gives us a criterion to make decisions and form opinions. It helps us understand challenges and gives us the ability to deal with them, whether they involve our finances, our personal relationships, or our pursuit to seek knowledge.  There is no doubt that this surah will, time and time again, be an indispensable gem in our lives if we use it in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh).

This episode is an invitation for the reader to instill within himself the habit of reading Surat Al-Kahf every Friday, reflect deeply on the wealth of lessons and ideas, and more importantly, recall these lessons throughout the week. It is our hope that you, the reader, will enrich this episode with your own reflections and commentary by engaging with the material and discussing the ideas brought forth with your fellow MAS members, family, and friends, insha’Allah.

All of the world’s eyes are on Egypt and current events are, by all accounts, historic. Whatever our connection to the uprising, there is no doubt that as MAS members we are drawn to any call for liberation and every fight against oppression. The peaceful methods of change, the enterprise of people in gathering and protecting each other despite obstacles, the economic and social divides that have been crossed in the organic, grassroots mobilization for justice are all aspects that resound with us.

We invite you to participate in a reflection process to show our own people a different side of the Muslim world in this peaceful, organized movement for democracy. It can help us guide our families and friends to channel their energies into productive activism instead of being over-idealistic or apathetic.  Finally, these reflections help us engage in an interactive, experiential tarbiya process, in which we are seeing the lessons in real life instead of through books and speeches.

The Lighthouse Team invites everyone to contribute  to 100 REFLECTIONS on the current situation in the Middle East, which will be shared online on the MAS Tarbiya blog. Send your reflections on the comment section of the blog. Reflections can be any length and any style.

To get your ideas flowing, the Lighthouse team drafted 10 opening reflections. Read, reflect, learn, then give back by sending in your own!

1. From Hope to Belief

We all know that we should never lose hope in Allah and His support. However, this belief sometimes becomes a theory. The Egyptian uprising ignited this belief and made it real. Many of us were almost hopeless after many attempts to reform. This uprising removed the dust from our hearts and taught us to always believe that Allah will bring justice, even after a while. Allah gives people the chance to struggle, put effort, try possible means, and become almost desperate. Only then His support comes to revive our belief and comfort our hearts. In light of the events in Egypt, the verse “Until when the messenger almost gave up on their people and thought they are deemed liars, our victory comes to them…” takes on a completely different taste.

2. Power lies in the Hands of Allah

We know that the ultimate power lies with Allah (swt) — “there is no strength nor power except with Allah.”  But as we observe and rejoice in what is happening in Egypt and across the Arab world, we are reminded that Allah (swt) also empowers people to do good in the world.  Our prime example is His empowerment of one man, Muhammad (p), to completely reform the society and return mankind to the path of Allah (swt).   He further empowered the companions of the Prophet and their righteous followers, who serve as models for our generation to follow and emulate.  The parallels with our current situation are striking.  Allah (swt) empowered a group of “regular” people, including youth, elders, men, women, activists, merchants, and farmers.  Their initiative to stand up for the truth, and to gain their rights, was magnified by Allah (swt).  Now the entire region is set in motion based on their model of peaceful demonstration and inclusiveness.  We can use this reminder from Allah (swt) to think of how to move people and unleash their power to work together for good causes in our own communities, like helping to improve education or fight poverty.

3. Be Quick to Acknowledge Mistakes

Rarely do we see situations that are black and white or right and wrong. Watching news footage of the Egyptian army and the police trying to deter the protesters helps us empathize with people who may often be viewed as “the other side.” Check your assumptions. How might it feel to be an Egyptian soldier, a police officer, or even a politician in a corrupt regime? Think hard about when you might have wronged someone or defended a false cause. Are you willing to admit to those mistakes, repent, and change? When Umar ibn Al-khattab listened to the Prophet and Allah’s words with his heart, he became one of the greatest leaders of our time. Only when we can check our assumptions of others can we truly become sincere, conscious people ourselves.

4. Do we have what it takes?

Victory, Freedom, Justice, and social equality all come at a price. We are hoping that the Egyptian people will be willing to pay this price, but am I? Are you? If I were in their shoes, would I be on the streets or in my home? Would I be cold, hungry and shivering with the protesters or would I be following at home on televsion? Parents who are allowing their children to join the protests are giving their own hearts to the struggle. This mass of protesters, while huge, are a percentage of the population who are determined to put their own selves, their spouses, and children on the line for the sake of a better future for everyone. They are heroes. While standing against a tyrant and his oppression holds promise of tremendous reward from Allah, some people will be hurt and some people will die. If we were present at a moment of truth, when freedom and justice demand an advocate, do we in our current state have the strength to stand up?

5. Using Social Networking for Positive Change

Social networking has been at the heart of the revolutions that rocked Tunisia and Egypt. They placed tremendous power in the hands of the people and empowered them to organize, and more importantly, cause positive change. These tools are largely untapped resources that can be extremely effective when used correctly. They allow minute-to-minute updates and the forming of groups so members can stay up to speed on the latest.

How can we utilize social media in America to convey Islam? We have seen the positive change of social networking, but as Malcolm Gladwell wrote, we can also fall into a false sense of action if the activism does not move outside of the Internet portal and nothing happens in real life. If I “like” a status, it is not enough action. We have to figure out how to use these tools as a means as opposed to an end.

6. Giving Up Luxuries in the Fight for Justice

We, as Americans, live in a culture of over-consumption and instant gratification. We rarely question whether or not we will have enough food to last us the day, or if we will have enough blankets to keep us warm at night.  Currently, there are over 80 million people living in Egypt, half who live on less than two dollars a day and who would be wide-eyed at the luxuries available to us on a daily basis. We can learn a lot from the activists in Egypt- they are sacrificing their comfort, and even their lives, for something they firmly believe in. What if we found ourselves in that same situation? Would we complain and have shorter fuses due to our lack of food, showers, or sleep or would we recognize that we are striving for something greater?  How dependent are we on grocery stores, banks, shopping malls, and cars to survive? It’s easy, in theory, to say that we would choose to give up luxuries, but let us reflect on a long plane or car ride and how uncomfortable we were. Would we then be able to sustain camping outside in the cold for days while our spirit remained unblemished?

7. Unity Results from Rallying for a Cause

It is amazing how a common cause can unite a people that many thought to be so diverse that they could never coexist together peacefully. Muslims and Christians, professors and farmers, the youth and the elderly, the rich and the poor, all stand side by side to clean the streets, protect one another, guard each other’s property, and get their message across. No longer are the differences so prominent and many shortcomings are put aside. Did not the message of the Prophet (pbuh) unite the people of his times? Both the poor and the rich, the Arab and non-Arab, worked together to uphold the truth. Did not this cause and this unity prune the people from many of their ignorant ways? What cause does your family uphold? What rallying cause can our community support that may bring about this unity?

8. Nationalism Tied to Dignity

Since the uprising, many of our Egyptian brothers and sisters started saying “proud to be Egyptian, Egypt is the “mother” of the world,” a dose of what can be called nationalism. Recalls of history figures, heroes, and champions of the nation became an apparent evidence of this nationalism. All of us do that especially at the times of massive victory and, to a lesser extent, defeat. The Middle East uprising in general and the Egyptian uprising in particular places an important spin on the concept of nationalism. It tied it to dignity, freedom, and struggling for rights. It gives pride to a nation fighting oppression and demanding a virtuous and just life. People who are not Egyptian, Tunisian, or even Arab, took pride in the same nations. This reminds me with the Qur’an relating Prophet Abraham to Prophet Noah albeit thousands of years apart by saying, “And from his group is Abraham …” When nationalism becomes excessive and is not tied to values and virtues, or even worse, opposes values and virtues, nationalism becomes an evil thing one should eliminate.

9. The Humiliation of the Oppressor

History is full of examples of just leaders and oppressive ones, and rarely does an oppressive leader’s end come easy. The moment that someone chooses to wrong someone else, they have destined themselves to a horrible ending and punishment from Allah.  Pharaoh oppressed the people of Egypt by putting them under slavery and telling them he was their one true God. Allah (swt) not only purged the land of his evil rule, but also made him an example of what happens to oppressive leaders for the rest of time. “What, now! When previously you rebelled and were one of the corrupters? “Today we will preserve your body so you can be a Sign for people who come after you. Surely many people are heedless of Our Signs.” (Quran, 10:91-92). Pharaoh’s oppression led him to be humiliated in the next life. and also in this life by Allah preserving his body. Seeing rulers fall from their thrones should cause us to reflect on oppression and seek refuge in Allah for such blindness. We should beware of falling into oppression with ourselves or with those who are under our care.

10. How Emotional Are We?

Our hearts feel like they are bursting out of our chests as we watch images of Egyptians risking their lives and standing up against an oppressive regime. Many of us are not even Egyptian and we feel solidarity with those defying injustice. However, are our emotions getting the better of us? Are we getting caught up in the moment or are we looking ahead, knowing that it will be an uphill battle to rebuild a country and knowing that change takes time? Allah tells us in Surah al-Hadid, “No evil befalls on the earth nor in your own souls, but it is in a book before We bring it into existence; surely that is easy to Allah, So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you; and Allah does not love any arrogant boaster,”(Surah al-Hadid, 22-23). How can we, as individuals, temper our emotions in order to remain goal-oriented after the adrenaline fades? Are we glued to our screens watching all this news coverage because of the emotional high that we feel? In the aftermath, will we fail to pay attention because it is emotionally boring?

Now it’s your turn. Please share your reflections in the comment section.

TAM West – San Diego – Oct. 8-10
TAM East I – Maryland – Oct. 15-17
TAM South – Houston – Oct. 22-24
TAM East II – Hartford, CT (hosted by NY) – Oct. 29-31
TAM Mid-West – Milwaukee, WI – Nov. 5-7

The 2010 TAM Team and the TAM host chapters are working hard throughout this Ramadan to create a memorable and powerful TAM experience that will equip MAS members with an invaluable set of skills. Stay tuned for many more details and sneak peeks into this year’s program and highlights.

Make the intention this Ramadan to attend TAM, deepen your commitment to the cause of Allah, and play an active role in this important national MAS event by registering TODAY!

MAS Tarbiya would like to congratulate you on the upcoming month of Ramadan. There is no time of year that is filled with the potential and opportunities as the days ahead. The Prophet (saw) said, “Ramadan has come upon you. It is a month of blessing, in which Allah covers you with blessing, for He sends down Mercy, decreases sins and answers prayers. In it, Allah looks at your competition in good deeds, and boasts about you to His angels. So show Allah goodness from yourselves, for the unfortunate one is he who is deprived in this month of the mercy of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted.” [Narrated by Tabarani]

For Ramadan-related inspiration and ideas on how to maximize self-development, don’t miss the Lighthouse Project episode from last year, “Flee to Allah”, which contains instructions on how to make Ramadan a turning point, combat inconsistency and laziness, increase our reward through charity, and become among the people of the Quran. You can view the pdf document here.

For MAS members, Ramadan should be much, much more than just a season in the conventional sense–when greetings are exchanged, fasts and prayers are performed collectively, and families and friends come together. Get ready from this very moment to take advantage of the enormous opportunity for self-development and purification before you. Stretch yourself and push yourself to the limit in charity, activism, and self-purification–we have the whole year to pace ourselves so this is not the time for rest and taking it easy. Do not allow Ramadan to come and go without achieving a breakthrough in your relationship with Allah (swt).

Let’s compete before Allah (swt) to take advantage of Ramadan, for we are coming upon a special time when rewards and forgiveness are given out left and right and there is an unbelievable discount on jannah itself. If we walk away empty-handed, we have only ourselves to blame. Remember MAS, your brothers and sisters, and the upcoming TAM 2010 in your supplications–ask that Allah (swt) forgives us all, bestows His guidance on us, and grants us the energy, time, and sincerity to carry His mission forward in America.

Yours sincerely,
The MAS Tarbiya National Team

TAM East I: Maryland

TAM East II: New York

TAM Mid-West: Chicago Milwaukee

TAM South: Houston

TAM West: Phoenix San Diego (boycotting due to Arizona Immigration Law SB1070)

TAM 2010 will take place between the dates of Oct. 1 and Nov. 7. The exact dates for each location will be announced soon. Stay tuned for more details.

We hope that all chapters in every region will contact the host chapters to see how they can help and begin to plan to push registration in their localities to ensure that TAM ’10 is a positive opportunity for every MAS chapter.

Objective 1: To increase the contribution of MAS members to the tarbiya effort and resources – Contribute over Consume

Objective 2: To further describe the five major tarbiya qualities

What is this objective?

When we started the term, our team came up with five major tarbiya qualities that we would like to achieve in MAS members individually and in MAS as a society to be able to carry out MAS mission. The qualities can actually be used to describe any American Muslim who wants to engage in a mission like ours. The five overarching qualities are:

• God-conscious: the personal characteristics of a righteous individual, whether this individual is active or not
• Movement oriented: the set of qualities that an individual must embrace to be active, work for the sake of Allah, and expand righteousness beyond oneself
• Team players: the qualities of people who work in a team and the dynamics of the team environment
• Exemplary citizens: the characteristics that specifically are directed towards serving our country
• Bearers of a message: comprises the set of qualities needed to accomplish the second half of our mission statement, “… and to convey Islam with utmost clarity.”

We introduced the five qualities with some examples of the sub-qualities each would entail. However, we believe that there needs to be some effort in expressing these five qualities in more detailed, unambiguous fashion, hence this objective of ours in 2010 and beyond.

Why this objective?

There are many reasons for taking on this objective. Some of those reasons are:

• MAS members need to know some of the detailed qualities they should aspire to achieve in their personal development.
• When developing tarbiya curricula for small groups and large groups, it is important that this curricula has clear, foundational, and detailed objectives.
• All tarbiya projects, such as camps and programs, will be aiming at one or more of these detailed qualities.
• This project can serve as an organizational schema for the many resources MAS members collect and develop. In addition to tagging and categorizing those resources based on areas of knowledge such as fiqh, foundation of fiqh, or seerah, we will be able to tag them using the five tarbiya qualities, which will be extremely helpful in leveraging resources for personal and team development.

How is it related to the MAS leadership’s strategy?

Early in the term, the MAS BoT came up with a list of strategic goals. One of these strategic goals was to “reshape tarbiya in the American context.” This second objective of expanding the five qualities is an attempt to describe MAS members and MAS in general as a society of American Muslims working to achieve MAS’ mission.

How is the national team working toward this objective?

The national team is working on this objective through a very unique, strategic project called the Tarbiya MindMap. We will be running a series of focused meetings on this project  in the next few months. If you are interested in participating, please contact us. We will share much more about this project later and we will request everyone’s participation in it.

Jamal A. Badawi is a Canadian-based professor and world-renowned speaker, author, and advocate of Islam and Muslims. He has authored several books and articles on Islam. He also researched, designed and presented a 352-segment television series on Islam, aired in Canada, the US and other countries. Audio and video copies of this series are widely available.

Click here to see Episode III

This episode will inspire in-depth discussions and challenge you by exploring the issue of moderation and how we in MAS approach this key theme of Islam. Many questions will be raised, some will be answered, but more importantly, MAS members all over the country are invited to answer many of the crucial questions asked in this episode.

MAS members are encouraged to share this episode in all of their circles and throughout their communities. There are in-depth articles and reading lists, exciting case studies as well a chance to design your own, and two interactive webinars that you do not want to miss!

Check out the introduction for an overview of the episode and a suggested timeline on how to use the  material.

The first beam “Moderation Unleashed” approaches moderation from a theoretical and scholarly perspective, also underlining some of the popular misinterpretations of moderation. “Moderation Applied” explores the theme in the daily lives of MAS members, taking a very practical, day-to-day approach. And finally, “Moderation in Society” raises questions about how we can create a message of moderation to be advocated by the greater society.

Click here to access the episode pdf! We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. A special thanks to the LHP team and all of the contributors to this episode.

Objective 1: To increase the contribution of MAS members to the tarbiya effort and resources – Contribute over Consume – C over C

What is this objective about?

This objective seeks to encourage MAS members to become contributors to tarbiya resources and programs rather than mere consumers of them. The national team has decided to leverage the power of the MAS membership and its experience to build a strong and relevant tarbiya offering on the local and national levels. This signifies a shift from programs and resources prepared by a central team to programs and resources prepared by a larger proportion of MAS’s membership. The shift aims at utilizing the power and talent of the membership to create, share, transcribe, translate, edit, publish, and filter tarbiya material. This effort utilizes the tremendous experience MAS members are gaining on a daily basis and makes it part of what MAS can offer to its members and community at large.

Why this objective?

• Leveraging the experience of MAS members. Tarbiya is mainly about sharing experience. People develop by interacting with others and learning about their experiences. MAS members, on the ground and active in many areas of Islamic work, are constantly exposed to opportunities for learning and development. They interact with great mentors, listen to lectures, engage in discussions, work in committees, and go through exciting life experiences within and outside MAS. This experience SHOULD NOT be kept to themselves. It must be shared. This model will make MAS members aware of the importance of sharing and contributing what they have gained to the tarbiya of others, both locally and nationally.
• Leveraging the time of MAS members. Many MAS members think that there is little they can contribute to the tarbiya offering and resources. This is not true. There is MUCH that MAS members can offer. Many MAS members have time to offer, but they do not have a space to contribute. By making this shift, MAS members will be able to contribute to tarbiya programs and resources by merely sharing their time. They can transcribe lectures, workshops, or discussions. They can translate important material. They can proofread, edit, or filter material. They can tag and categorize material shared by others.
• Moving away from “wait” mode. Many MAS members developed the mentality of “waiting” for the central team to deliver. When the curriculum is outdated, people cry “where is the new curriculum?” When some material is missing, people continuously call for “experts” to create this material for them. When we make this shift, people will be actively contributing. They will be reaching out to “experts” in their localities and will be eager to share what they have prepared and contribute it to a national offering.
• Establishing ownership of programs and resources. Collectively building resources makes people feel a sense of belonging to a larger team and a sense of ownership of our programs which leads to continuous improvements and contributions. It also helps people to start developing a sense of gaining reward by contributing to the development and growth of many people and not just themselves.
• Coping with the dynamic growth of MAS. MAS is growing extremely fast and moving into many new areas. Without the contribution of MAS members it is very hard to find experts who can keep up with the rapid changes that are taking place on the ground, let alone provide relevant solutions to the challenges of tarbiya. Asking the right questions, sharing new experiences, and attempting to face the specific realities of people on the ground will make MAS’s tarbiya offering more meaningful and develop “experts” in many of the new areas of tarbiya. The best people to bring real experience to the table are those who are experiencing reality.
• Maximizing the contribution of “experts.” Experts now become real resources. Instead of consuming the experts in the central preparation of material or putting them all in a committee that cannot meet or discuss due to geographic and logistical barriers, the general membership will be utilizing experts locally. They will turn to them for their questions and thereby contribute to the questions AND answers of our tarbiya offering. People will video and audio tape speakers and share. Others will transcribe the great wealth of audio material already available instead of requesting the experts to write. Many will be interviewing intellectuals about new challenges and sharing their results. Experts will have time to filter, comment, and summarize the contributions made by others.
• Promoting the best learning and developing experience: learning by contributing. People read more and better when they know that they will be sharing what they learn. If I am posting an article and know that others will see and use it, I read it better. When I translate a piece, my retention of the meaning is better. When I transcribe an audio lecture, I learn it twice; once through listening and once through typing. When I share my experience, I go through it multiple times: once when I experience it, once when I share it, and many times when people comment and give feedback on it.

Connection to MAS’s Executive Strategy

MAS Executive Council recently adopted a 6-item strategy. One of these items was to “use a ground up approach.” Our objective of contributing over consuming ties directly into this strategy.

How is the national team realizing this objective?

The national team was taking steps towards achieving this objective even before it was explicitly articulated. Here are a few examples of how the national team is working towards its realization:

• The MT-Portal Project: This is one of the major projects we are taking on this term. We would like to create a strong online community around tarbiya. This project (which will be shared later in detail) will allow MAS members to come together in a central place where they can share experiences and resources. This project is essential for achieving the C over C objective. It will be the central place where questions can be asked and answers will be provided, by all of us. It will be the central place where resources will be shared, transcribed, filtered, and translated.
• The Tarbiya Annual Meeting (TAM): TAM in the past was a meeting for tarbiya workers which naturally transformed into an all member meeting around tarbiya. As you all have experienced, and many have explicitly mentioned, TAM creates more questions than answers and presents more challenges and problems than solutions. This was, and will continue to be, by design. We would like to establish this objective: we contribute to the solutions of our challenges together. Speakers and moderators play the role of facilitators rather than lecturers and contribute to the discussions along with everyone else. The results of the past 3 TAMs shaped the direction and strategy of both MAS Tarbiya National and MAS as a whole. People now come to the TAM with the mentality of contributing rather than merely consuming. They have started adopting C over C, at least in the TAM.
• The Light House Project (LHP): One would find the same attitude when looking deeply at the LHP. There are more questions than answers and more discussion points than discussions. There has been a constant request in the lighthouse beams of the previous two episodes that we launched in 2009 asking people to “contribute.” We asked people to share their opinions, reflections, and writings on the specified topics. This was and is part of an effort to encourage contribution over consumption.
• Building the Tarbiya mini-Guides: Even in projects as essential as the developing of a set of guides for tarbiya, the MAS Tarbiya Mini Guides project, we are taking the C over C approach. We are calling on all local tarbiya directors, chapter presidents, and MAS Youth directors to contribute to the making of these guides. We will also make a similar call to the MAS membership. We want these guides to be as relevant and as real as possible. This will only result by involving people on the ground.
• The Tarbiya Standards Map (TSM): The national team even decided to build our curriculum and study material using the same approach. The tarbiya standard map is a mind map, a tree, or a taxonomy describing the final product that we are working towards: who are MAS members and what does their environment look like? (more about this project later). We would like all of our mentors, leaders, and members to contribute to drawing this map and the programs and resources needed to achieve it.

How can we realize this objective locally?

Here is where the real action happens. Local chapters need to aim for this objective on the local level and encourage their members to participate in the national effort. Every chapter should make this a priority in 2010. Below are a few examples of how this can be done. Please note that these are only EXAMPLES and possible ideas are countless.

• Promote the spirit of C over C. In our small and large gatherings, we should remind each other of the importance of contributing to our tarbiya effort. When we speak about it, it will effect our actions, then our daily habits, then become a natural part of our lives.
• Follow up on contribution efforts. Mentors and committee leaders should follow up on how much people are contributing to ongoing tarbiya projects.
• Assign contribution tasks. Local tarbiya committees should assign individuals and small groups some tasks for the local tarbiya work. For example, let the monthly meeting be planned and executed by a group. Let this group change every few meetings. They should be responsible for planning and executing as well as summarizing and sharing with the rest of the chapter and the rest of the nation. Give some people the responsibility of creating some material or designing some programs.
• Share your successful projects with the rest of the nation. Every chapter has a strength. Some chapters are more advanced than others. It is very essential to the development of MAS as a whole for this experience to be shared. If you develop a Personal Development Plan in your chapter, or a nice monthly program, or a unique recreational effort, PLEASE SHARE IT with the rest of us. If you conduct a local training, TAPE IT and SHARE IT. Your successful project is a property of MAS not your chapter. It is our collective right to benefit from each other’s work.
• Own a national project. Reach out to our national team and take ownership of some projects. Form a small group of people who like to write and research and own an episode of the Lighthouse project or prepare some material for the curriculum. Do not wait for the national team to assign you something. Reach out to them. Come up with ideas and pilot them in your chapter.

Individual application

MAS members are the main players in this shift. They are the ones who will make it or break it. Commercial companies make breakthroughs using the power of the public and MAS will make a breakthrough in tarbiya if we can capitalize on the tremendous wealth we have in our members. Crowd sourcing is becoming a norm and the MAS crowd is a unique crowd. Here are a few tips on how MAS members can make this shift:

• Get out of the “wait” mode
• Share your experience; it’s extremely valuable.
• Find out what you can contribute. Even transcribing an audio lecture is a great service.
• Try to write. Writing is very effective for one’s own development. Create your own blog NOW!
• When asked to contribute, take it as an order.
• Reach out to your local committee and find out how you can contribute.
• Reach out to the national team and find out how you can contribute.
• Know that “a little” is not a little when put together. The river is nothing but a compilation of streams.
• Keep your camera or mp3 recorder with you and record events that you attend. Make sure you take the permission of the speaker before taping him/her.
• Say 10 times a day, “I can’t wait for the mt-portal to launch!” When it does launch, we will hold you accountable to these claims.

• Read carefully and critically
• Think of any general feedback you would like to give our team
• Think of specific input you would like to see in EACH of these guides
• Share this post with your local team or anyone who can contribute to this project and encourage them to contribute
• Contact us to be part of the mt-guides team and we will use your help

As you will see below, the guides will serve all of us from individuals to the local and national leadership. We are sending this email to the tarbiya coordinators, chapter presidents, and my-directors to solicit input and recruit the team who will own this project with us isa.

Please sent an email to mt-guides@googlegr..com if you want to be part of this team, general feedback, or give specific input on what exactly you want to see on these guides

For those who will be part of the team we will send them more information on how to view the tarbiya guides wiki and we will get them in ISA

MAS National Tarbiya Team

Why this guide?

Tarbiya is an essential concept and a very important core value in the Muslim American Society, MAS. MAS believes that its success and the success of American Muslims rely on how effective we are in applying this concept in our lives. Developing ourselves in all aspects and enriching our skills and talents are key to our success. We also hold similar responsibility towards people around us and the society at large. Tarbiya can be viewed as the art of dealing with people and helping them to get better and closer to their creator, and to equip them with the needed physical, spiritual, and intellectual requirements to attain success in this life and the life after. “To move people to strive for God-consciousness, liberty and justice, and to convey Islam with utmost clarity,” is a mission that can only be held by people who are in a constant development effort and with an ability to change people around them.However, the concept of tarbiya is quite general and often misunderstood or partially understood to say the least. In addition to that, most of what is written about tarbiya addresses it from an intellectual/theoretical point of view and lacks the practical and the implementation aspect. MAS national tarbiya team believes there is a dire need for a practical guide that helps individuals and teams to incorporate tarbiya in their respective work and make the tarbiya effort more organized and effective. These simple guides are a living document that aims at incorporating people’s experience along time. It is by design that these guides change and grow based on the experience added to them by those who are involved with the tarbiya effort on the ground. As its initial version may be incomplete and lacks a lot of crucial components, it will grow into a very practical and very comprehensive set of guides in a relatively short period of time insha’Allah.

Who should read this guide?

Everyone should read this guide. This guide has tips and suggestions for all. It will guide you through your endeavor of developing your own self. It will also help you while developing a small number of people around you such as your family, your halaqah, your MAS Usra, your MY Connect. It will help you become people’s oriented while dealing with your youth committee or with your chapter council, and even with your colleagues at work. The guide will also focus on helping people who are in charge of providing tarbiya programs to others such as the local tarbiya committee members, the local tarbiya directors, and chapter presidents. It will also help people who will join the national tarbiya team and sub teams. It can even go as far as helping the national leadership of MAS to effectively incorporate this concept in the national MAS strategies and operation.
Therefore, our target audience are:

• Individuals who are interested in developing themselves, their families, and people around them
• Mentors such as MAS Usra leaders, MY Connect leaders
• Local tarbiya committee members
• Local tarbiya coordinators and directors
• Chapter leadership and chapter presidents
• National tarbiya team members

How is this guide organized?

This guide comprises a set of smaller guides (mini guides) to make it easy for the readers to zoom in to what they are looking for. The first guide, “Tarbiya: a core Islamic value, a movement value, and a MAS core value,” aims at defining the concept of tarbiya and its value in Islam and the movement work. It also helps the reader to understand the importance of considering this value and applying it in our lives. The guide quickly describes some of the challenges that can be overcome by utilizing this concept and some of the challenges one faces while applying this concept. The guide will help the reader be aware of some of the objectives of tarbiya, and some of the methods and the tools that can be utilized to achieve those goals.
The second guide, “Personal Guide to Tarbiya,” takes the reader towards personal tarbiya, an effort every single Muslim should be concerned about. It will help the reader apply the concepts and the ideas described in the first guide for their own personal development. The guide will present the reader with extra reading resources as well as practical tools for personal development.
Moving beyond personal tarbiya, “The Mentor’s Guide,” helps the reader develop the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to offer tarbiya to others around. Those who are formally leaders of others such as MY Connect leaders, MAS Usra leaders, or committee leaders, and those who informally mentor others such as relatively senior members can benefit a lot from this guide. It gives tips and suggestions on how to perform this important work and help overcome many of the challenges faced in this area. It will present the reader with numerous case studies and real life situations. The guide also helps us understand the tools we use within MAS to formally focus on tarbiya such as MY Connect and MAS Usra with tips and suggestions of how to get the maximum out of these tools and how to make them creative and use them to solve real life tarbiya challenges. The guide also highlights the national resources that can be used for mentorship.
As MAS chapters engage in a more organized tarbiya activities, the “Local Tarbiya Team Guide,” helps the local tarbiya committee to better execute tarbiya plans for the chapter. The guide gives tips and suggestions of the best practices and structures of the local tarbiya committee, the responsibilities of this committee, and the relationship between this committee and other entities within the chapter. It also highlights the relationship between the local committee and the national team and gives suggestion of how to make the local tarbiya work synchronized with the rest of the nation. The guide demonstrates how the local tarbiya team can leverage the experience of the network of chapters around the nation. The guide helps the local committee to make a plan and synchronize their plan with the national plan. It will also come with a portfolio of case studies and problem solving tips and suggestions to help the local committee in their day-to-day challenges.
Chapter leadership in general and chapter presidents in particular are the key players in making the tarbiya effort in MAS successful. Chapters whose presidents are focused on tarbiya and incorporate it in all aspects of work are the most successful chapters. Tarbiya effort is struggling in chapters whose leadership is not focused on tarbiya. Therefore, the “Chapter leadership Guide” aims at helping chapter leadership in general and chapter presidents in particular be cognizant of their crucial role regarding this effort. It will help the chapter president make an assessment of tarbiya effort in the chapter, take the necessary strategy, choose the right tarbiya team and hold them accountable to the right job responsibilities. It helps the chapter leadership incorporate tarbiya in the many aspects of MAS work not only the tarbiya department.
At the end of those guide resides the “National Tarbiya Team Guide,” which helps MAS national team understands its role within MAS national and its responsibilities towards the tarbiya effort within MAS. It makes a clear description of national tarbiya operation and sets the model for interacting with the local crew. It also gives tips and suggestions to MAS national leadership of how to form the national tarbiya team and hold them accountable to the right measures.
It is important to note that

• Those aforementioned guides are not huge guides. They are, on the contrary, mini guides that are meant to ignite ideas, and solicit discussions.
• The guides come with numerous workshops and training material which will be mentioned in each guide. Those will be offered according to a national plan and based on chapter requests.
• They are also meant to grow and include real life experience of those who read them and implement them. They will represent the experience of those who contributed to them
• By design, those guide avoid giving detailed instruction or a “must-do” type of tips. This is due the fact that different chapters have different contexts and what fits a group may not fit another. However, details and examples will be used to demonstrate a general suggestion or to clarify an abstract concept.
• The guides are authored and published incrementally. That means some of these guides will be published while others are under development.
• All the content in these guides are for educational and development purpose. This means any rules, by-laws, policies, or procedures set by the national or the local leadership supersedes what is in these guides unless otherwise explicitly stated in the guides.
• The guide is mainly published online with a yearly printed version available for purchase. MAS national owns full copyright of the material and distribution and sharing should take place according to MAS national set policy.

How can you help make this guide better?

As mentioned earlier, this guide will continue to be a living document where experience will be added. You can make this guide better by giving the editors feedback on the material especially that which stems from personal real life experience. You can also help by giving more tips and suggestions of how to do things in a better way, or how to solve certain problems. You can also share your successful experience as well as the not-so-successful one in the platform specified by each guide. These guides will only be useful when practical input shows itself and where accumulative experience gets included. 
In these early stages of developing these guides, MAS tarbiya national is looking for those who are interested in contributing to the first edition of the guides. Please contact the national tarbiya team if you feel you can help in brainstorming, suggesting, writing, editing, or publishing any or all of these guides.

Ready, Set, Go (only for those who join the guides team)

• GUIDE 1 – Tarbiya: a core Islamic value, a movement value, a Muslim American Society’s Value (under development)
• GUIDE 2 – Personal Guide to Tarbiya (under development)
• GUIDE 3 – Mentorship (under development)
• GUIDE 4 – Local Tarbiya Team (under development)
• GUIDE 5 – Tarbiya for Chapter Leadership (under development)
• GUIDE 6 – National Tarbiya Team (under development)
• Appendix I – Personal Development Plan Example (publishing …)
• Appendix II – MAS Tarbiya Standard Map: a Snapshot (publishing …)
• Appendix III – Tarbiya Annual Meeting Manual (under development)
• Appendix iV – MAS Usra/MY Connect Frequently Asked Questions (publishing …)
• and more …