Planting seeds

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other" - John Fitzgerald Kennedy


I was invited to give a short talk on Friday, to discuss the phenomenon of football, positive activism through writing and the positive roles Muslims in the mainstream society play.

It turned out to be a very satisfying evening.

Amongst the attendees sat half a dozen individuals who had mentored me during my early teenage years.

Their presence bought back very fond and warm childhood memories for me. I couldn't help digress from the speech, using the example of these people to share an observation on positive mentoring.

Many moons ago, when this community institution was a total pipe dream, Brothers Jalal, Hasan, Fahim, Jamil, Arman etc saw a group of young people who sat in the street kicking their heels when they were not at school or at the Mosque for Quranic studies. They engaged us, persevered, mentored, advised and supervised us. They put up with our tantrums.

We became part of the DIYG football team. We had our own kit. I loved every minute of it until I got poached by my mates across the estate.

To this day I have nothing but the very fondest memories of these people. They played their part in instilling within us a desire to succeed and work to serve the interests of the whole of our community.

I joked about the banter, camaraderie and unity I witnessed as a teenager. Resources were non existent but the spirit was sky high. I reminded attendees of Bro Hasan standing on his soapbox (actually milk crates) to give rousing speeches.

I am thankful to these people for the time they spent with us. Their intervention was effective and in the years since, our bunch of friends haven't done too bad at all.

The moral. I pointed out was never feel yourself to be too insignificant to offer a word of advice, or a supportive shoulder to a young person. Do take advantage of any opportunity to plant the acorns for from within them shall definitely grow mighty oaks. Your advice may prove to be very significant in the future of a child or young person.

My Professors Werner Menski & Sham Qayyum's invaluable presence at our lectures have made me ponder whether community leaders are born or nurtured?

In a nutshell believe it's a combination of both, with the nurturing proving to be the single most important contributory factor. If you read this post from the beginning again, you may very well agree.