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Great post. I agree that the Muslim community needs to encourage certain fields more, particularly the arts, media, and social sciences. The reasons why we need more Muslims in the media are quite obvious, and I think it’s important to acknowledge the fact that politics has been woven into our lives and cultures ever since 9/11. It’s part of our lives now and will probably remain that way for a very long time. Muslims, no matter if they’re White, African, South Asian, Middle-Eastern, Asian, etc., often get asked questions by their non-Muslim peers and friends about the current situation in the Muslim world. No matter what our occupation is, we’ll always run into these questions and be expected to answer for them. Our children will also be asked these questions — questions about crimes and attacks that they didn’t even do!

Television is considered to be society’s most powerful storyteller and I agree with this because I believe people would rather watch TV rather than read a book. TV is faster, quicker, and easier to process. We hardly have any Muslims in the mainstream media, even though there are a lot of Muslim filmmakers, actors/actresses, musicians, writers, and authors who work very hard. We never see someone like Sumbul Ali-Karamali, the author of “The Muslim Next Door,” featured on “Oprah” or “The View,” for example.

Anyway, I know I’m pretty much preaching to the choir here, but the main point I would like to address here is that Muslims face two challenges: (1) discouragement from within their community to pursue “non-traditional” careers, and (2) actually receiving recognition. As I mentioned with Sumbul Ali-Karamali, she wrote a fantastic book that should be (in my opinion) read by all Muslims and non-Muslims alike, but she’s hardly being publicized for it. The Muslim voice unfortunately gets often marginalized in the media.

But first we need to take care of step 1: Stop discouraging the arts, careers in journalism, media, social sciences, etc. On a spiritual note, Allah has blessed us all with a Gift and He has a given us a purpose in this world. Someone may have the Gift to write, but if those talents are suppressed and discouraged, then the world will be missing out on that Gift. Historically, Islamic civilizations have flourished with creativity, invention, and so many remarkable achievements. Many of the great Muslim philosophers, poets, physicians, astronomers, and scientists would enjoy and cherish the pursuit of knowledge and attribute all of their findings to Allah. We need to stop valuing certain fields and careers over others. All of our pursuits are honorable and respectable. I have immense respect for the medical field and there is nothing wrong if a person pursues that career. My only problem is that I know a lot of Muslims who are forced into this career, while their passions lie somewhere else. I notice that a lot of Muslim men feel immense pressure (and as a Muslim man, I admit I do too) for establishing careers that can bring in enough income to support their wives and future family. Pursuing certain careers like filmmaking or media don’t really guarantee success or sufficient income and it doesn’t look too good on the uh, marriage check-list of the potential in-law parents. These are cultural pressures that seem to be additional obstacles and I’m sure they’ve had influences on career choices.

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Sireen, that’s so true. Sometimes the greatest influences aren’t that clear until the time has passed. I know I made some poor choices in regards to academics simply because the people that I thought were cool at the time, were advising for this and against that. I didn’t have much of my own experience or knowledge to go on, so i took their opinions to heart. There seems to be something wrong with making a teenager (whose prefrontal lobe hasn’t fully developed) decide what they want to do with the rest of their life.

B, I do hope that the next generation will see it that way. With a combination of open mindedness and lack of baggage we can see our kids excel in a variety of fields…a true renaissance culture. =)

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Our generation doesn’t have any of that “baggage” so to speak, so hopefully the upcoming generation will be diverse. I am sure anyone who was forced into a specific career won’t impose such restraints on their own children.

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Definitely, the parents play a huge important role, but society does a pretty good job of limiting our options as well!
Why I say this? Because society for some reason makes us think inside the the box instead of outside of it. Unless you have parents who have pushed you out of your limits and comfort zone to REALLY experience the world and what is out there, you’re probably just driven into the this way of thinking as well…

I mean, we’ve all been in high school and quite honestly how many of us knew EXACTLY what we wanted to do in life at that stage? How many of us were determined to get there at that age when everyone seems to be lost? I knew I wanted to be an “astronomer” for the longest time EVER…and then as I took physics, I knew that dream was out of my world…I then kept saying, I will break traditions and become a successful business woman…Yeah right, another day dream out the window…
I started university and naturally went into the sciences because…all my friends were going into it…I never even discussed professional school with my family…as a matter of fact, I made it clear I would not go down that path…
I said, I will be an organic chemist…I will be a professor inshaAllah…Half way through my university degree…there I was, writing those entrance exams and applying to professional schools…

So you see…Unless you’re the type that really thinks out of the box and are not driven by societal expectations, you’re gonna end up thinking the same way as you realize what works in this world, and what doesn’t…

Sometimes I wonder how life would have been if I entered interior design and designed the most magnificent mosques but alhamdulillah 3ala kulli hal …

I know I’ve learned a lesson in keeping the minds of kids open and allow them to experiment…regardless of how much we may fear what they will come up with…

I love reading these articles Please keep up the good work sisters…may Allah reward you all…they are truly inspiring

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