Our time is now: #MyMuslimFuture
This is an acknowledgment of what Muslim, Black, and brown communities have endured for the past 20 years.
Wars. Surveillance. Discrimination. Hate.
Conversations about us happening in the media, but never conversations for us, especially in the mainstream. We wanted you to join us in a simple effort to envision the next 20 years, and you delivered.
In your future as a Muslim, what do you long to see for our people, our planet, and our societies? This is what our community said in response, sharing hopes, prayers, and visions for our horizon.
Our time is now, this is #MyMuslimFuture.
Sumeyya Malik
My hope for the future is for a unified society that celebrates each other’s differences instead of labeling some as “the other.” Where children can grow up proud of their background and heritage, no matter where they come from. #MyMuslimFuture @sumisadventures
Anisa Khalifa
In the next twenty years, I want us to take the work we are doing in our communities and expand it outside our communities. I want us to live the values of truth, justice, compassion, conservation and charity in a way that is publicly and unapologetically rooted in Islam. I want our communities to acknowledge and face the trauma we’ve endured, as the first step in healing from it and envisioning a freer and brighter future for Muslims of all ages and backgrounds. Big hopes, but all things are possible with Allah. #MyMuslimFuture @anisakhalifa_
Sinthia Shabnam
#MyMuslimFuture where youth don’t have to fear praying in the corner of the library, worry if their food is halal, or feel awkward for making wudu. A world where handshakes won’t be a source of stress, where requesting off for Eid won’t be a hardship, where our names will be pronounced like our ancestors, where modest clothes is accessible. @photosinthisys
Shajuti Hossain
I pray that everyone can have access to a safe and stable home and community where they can thrive together in #MyMuslimFuture @shaboots517
Zaynab Abdi
My hope for #MyMuslimFuture is that the next generation that comes after us will have better outcomes and a better future than the present we are in. And that is why we work hard for the generation to come.
Yafa Dias
In #MyMuslimFuture, I hope to see more Muslims elected to Congress in 2022!
Azleena Azhar
A future where our community is not afraid to speak out against injustice, where we seek greater representation in politics & media. Where we make coalitions that speak out for the disenfranchised. A future where our culture is celebrated in the American fabric. @share.your.aurora
Soumaya Lansari
#MyMuslimFuture includes increased public knowledge about mental health & neurodivergence 💜 it also includes more representation in ALL fields. For me, I know being a Muslim teacher has helped students feel safer at school and I'm so glad about that ❤️
@sousemoose
Safa Ahmed
My hope is that every young person in my community is able to find strength in what makes them different. May swimming against the current make them stronger, and not drown them the way society tries so hard to do. #MyMuslimFuture @safanotsawfa
Noor Azeem
In the coming years, I hope to see even more of those voices amplified, for us to tell our own stories as part of a diverse coalition in media instead of being spoken about as a monolith. The past 20 years have largely been about silence and I hope the next 20 can be about being heard.
#MyMuslimFuture @abnoormal.ity
“Fear the prayer of the oppressed, there is no barrier between it and Allah— The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam 🤲🏽 ”
“I hope that more people will speak out against Islamophobia and apartheid against the Palestinian people. American Muslims have to maintain solidarity and continue the fight for Palestinians, and for ourselves who face discrimination in our workplaces by being overlooked for promotions. In #MyMuslimFuture, I want to see a more conscious America where people are not placed into buckets for discriminatory practices, and where the true history of this country is taught in schools. There should be a concerted effort to hire teachers who represent the student population. ”
“My vision for Muslim Americans in the next 20 years is one that is centered around liberation and the space to be authentically ourselves in every form. There is diversity within the Muslim community and it is through this diversity that we can help to build one another up, and center the people most minoritized within our communities. This means centering Black Muslims, centering Muslim Women, and all groups that continue to be disenfranchised in this country. #MyMuslimFuture”
“What I want for the Muslim community is to embrace all of its brothers and sisters and to also recognize the vast diversity in our beautiful community. #MyMuslimFuture”
“Over the past three days, I’ve seen article after article tackling the trajectory of Muslim lives in the 20 years since 9/11. Every person’s story is different, with a whole lot of common, tangled threads.
The thread I’d like to pull on, while thinking about what the next 20 years looks like, is Muslims who saw our vilification and chose to be public-facing figures anyway. In the coming years, I hope to see even more of those voices amplified, for us to tell our own stories as part of a diverse coalition in media instead of being spoken about as a monolith.
The past 20 years have largely been about silence and I hope the next 20 can be about being heard.
#MyMuslimFuture”
“Here’s to the kid I used to be - ashamed of a name that was so short but still no one could pronounce, ashamed of the fact my dad went to a masjid and not a church, ashamed of an attack I had nothing to do with. Here’s to watching every lecture I could on sharia law just so I could explain it to the white guy in my history class who tried to mansplain how oppressive it was to me. (Nice try, Chad who probably supports the military-industrial complex.) Here’s to learning Classical Arabic so no Pastor Joe could misquote the Quran at me. Here’s to writing articles about life as a Muslim and shocking people with how normal we are lol. Here’s to being proud of who I am.
My hope is that every young person in my community is able to find strength in what makes them different. May swimming against the current make them stronger, and not drown them the way society tries so hard to do. #MyMuslimFuture”
“Sometimes I think a lot about the growth and struggles that I’ve gone through to get to where I am today. I’m always having to learn more about myself in relation to my religion/faith, to my community, to my family, and to the world in general.
#MyMuslimFuture includes increased public knowledge about mental health & neurodivergence 💜 it also includes more representation in ALL fields. For me, I know being a Muslim teacher has helped students feel safer at school and I’m so glad about that ❤️
Thanks to @mpowerchange and @photosinthisys for using the platform to share a brighter vision of the future
Also, special thanks & love to my smallest sister who knows the ND struggle and is one of the biggest reasons I have hope for this vision becoming reality 😁❤️💜”
“In class, I had an assignment to draw my life trajectory and significant events. On my timeline, I struggled with whether or not to put 9/11 in between my move to California and a new job.
As with other Americans, 9/11 was traumatic to American Muslims. However, we had the added layers of misplaced guilt, surveillance, profiling, No Fly Lists, and Islamophobia to contend with afterward. Drawing my life trajectory made me realize how much our community has changed after 9/11. Mosque surveillance became rampant, being apprehended when flying Muslim was the norm, imprisonment without trial was suddenly justified. We were branded on popular TV and news as the enemy, in a war that was marketed against our culture and people. There was Guantanamo. The Muslim Ban.
Meanwhile, something intriguing happened: Khutbah rhetoric toned down. Masjids started having open houses. We reached out to our neighbors. We became socially conscious. Almost every large masjid now engages in interfaith with churches and synagogues. Muslims were elected to Congress. We began to create a presence not just economically, but politically, socially and culturally.
What do I envision for our future? A future where our community is not afraid to speak out against injustice, as our faith calls for. Where we seek greater representation in legislature, politics, media. To make coalitions that speak out for the disenfranchised. A future where our mosques are inclusive, we embrace differences and we don’t pass judgment. Where we impact popular art, music and literature. A future where our culture is celebrated as part of the American fabric. 🇺🇲”