On Leadership

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Today I caught myself doing something that totally caught me off guard. Something I wasn't prepared to face, at least not just yet. I was walking downtown Toronto on my way to the mosque to attend Friday's prayer. On my way as I crossed one street I spotted a guy that was obviously Muslim; I knew that from his looks! He had a long untidy beard, short pants, and was walking as if grace was not informed of his existence. Unconsciously, when I reached the other side and was getting prepared to wait for the other pedestrian light to turn on, I found myself moving away from him in a silent and desperate scream of disassociation that only I could hear. I didn't notice what was going on in my head until I realized that I was deliberately, yet unbeknownst to my conscious mind, increasing the distance between me and him. My actions only meant one thing: I was ashamed of being associated with my tribe, even when I knew that its only in my head!

Why is this tribe such a shame? Is it because of the underlying principals that weave the fabric of what it stands for? It certainly is not, because, I for one, consider myself to be rational and intelligent yet I willingly subscribed to the fundamental system of belief to which that same person I wanted to disassociate myself from subscribes to; that is the faith both of us belong to. The same faith that presumably led to his awkward appearance, and maybe his tactless way of thinking.

Then a question struck me: Why are a large percentage of Muslims who are sincere in their will to climb the stairway to heaven end up being like this guy? I don't know him at all to judge him, yet out of experience; people who look like this belong to a certain category of intellectual superficiality that reveal a lot about their role in society, and life in general.

The answer came to me during the prayer as the Imam (speaker) gave his sermon; the answer lies in one word: Leadership."
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