Sendhil Mullainathan: Solving social problems with a nudge
February 2, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani
MacArthur winner Sendhil Mullainathan uses the lens of behavioral economics to study a tricky set of social problems — those we know how to solve, but don’t. We know how to reduce child deaths due to diarrhea, how to prevent diabetes-related blindness and how to implement solar-cell technology … yet somehow, we don’t or can’t. Why?
Muslim Online Haiti Fundraiser, Organized on Facebook, Raises $105K in 2 Hours with 400 Donors - CNN iReport on SeekersGuidance & Islamic Relief Fundraiser
January 19, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani
iReport — January 18, 2010
On Sunday, January 17, 400 Muslims raised over $105,000 in the span of two hours through the “Help Haiti, Heal Haiti” Emergency Online Fundraiser conducted by SeekersGuidance and Islamic Relief. The average donation amount was $250.
[Attached videos include songs, prayers, and appeals by American Muslim leaders for the online fundraiser]
Participants from the US, UK, and Canada signed onto an online portal to give generously to the victims of the devastating Haiti earthquake. The event was pulled together by volunteers within two days through a viral marketing campaign on Facebook and Twitter; other American Muslim groups endorsed the event and spread the word. This was one example of how the American Muslim community quickly mobilized to provide relief to Haiti. On Saturday, Islamic Relief flew representatives to Haiti for direct assistance on the ground. The online fundraiser featured prayers, devotional songs, and fundraising appeals by prominent American Muslim Imams and scholars.
Muslim leaders joined through pre-recorded and live video appearances, stressing on the religious duty of Muslims to give to their suffering neighbors, often quoting Quranic verses and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, founder of and instructor at SeekersGuidance, drew connections between the character of the Prophet Muhammad and the last speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King said “Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation …. It seems that I can hear the God of history saying, ‘That was not enough! But I was hungry, and ye fed me not. I was naked, and ye clothed me not. I was devoid of a decent sanitary house to live in, and ye provided no shelter for me.’ That’s the question facing America today.” Shaykh Faraz continued, “This is the call of the Prophets. It is the call of compassion. It is a call of mercy. Let us answer that call. The Prophet Muhammad said “Be merciful to those on earth and the Lord of the Worlds will be merciful to you.” If any person is in need, it is the believer’s duty to hasten and assist.”
SeekersGuidance, founded in 2008, is an Islamic educational learning portal that combines online courses, weekend seminars, and free digital media to inspire its students to grow spiritually as they apply Islam to their lives. The website also features an award-winning blog, one of the top 10 Islamic podcasts on iTunes, and free question and answer service.
Islamic Relief, founded in1993, strives to alleviate poverty and suffering wherever it is found, paying no heed to gender, race or creed. After a quarter-century of service, Islamic Relief now has permanent locations in over 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. It provides emergency disaster relief, and spearheads development projects in multiple sectors, including education, income generation, orphan support, health and nutrition, and water and sanitation.
Quick Facts:
What?
Islamic Relief and SeekersGuidance hosted a successful two-hour online fundraiser for Haiti’s earthquake victims, raising $105,000 among 400 Muslim donors.
Why?
American Muslim religious leaders joined via webcast to encourage participants to alleviate the suffering of their neighbors in Haiti as part of their Islamic duty of charity and compassion.
When?
Sunday January 17, 2010 from 2pm to 4pm EST (Video footage available upon request)
Where?
Participants joined the event online by registering at www.seekersguidance.org.
For more info, contact:
Tarek El-Messidi
Phone: 865-964-6866
King’s dream meets Obama’s reality | Lola Adesioye | Comment is free | Lola Adesioye - guardian.co.uk
January 19, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani
One year in office for a black president was never going to be long enough to cool America’s heated battles over race
Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial in 1968. Barack Obama used the day before his inauguration to honour King.
The past year has provided the world with the opportunity to see whether or not the potent symbolism of Barack Obama’s inauguration has translated into reality. This is particularly so today, a federal holiday in the US to mark the birthday of Martin Luther King, on the subject of race relations – a topic so fundamental to America’s history and one unmistakably tied to its present day social, economic and political reality.
According to a recent Pew poll, America’s race relations are in better shape now than they were two years ago. African-Americans are assessing race relations and prospects for the future more positively than at any time in the past 25 years.
Yet others might argue the contrary, that a number of high profile race-related incidents over the past year suggest a lack of progress. Henry Louis Gates, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, tea-party goers, the New York Post and, most recently, Senator Harry Reid are just some of those who have been involved in controversial events which have led to questions, criticism and scrutiny about exactly how much racial progress has been made under Obama’s presidency.
A more revealing place to look, certainly more so than polls or media firestorms, is at the fact and figures of minority life in America. There is the 16% African-American unemployment rate, which is expected to soon reach a 25-year high. There is the fact that while the president works on passing a healthcare reform bill, people of colour continue to die at disproportionate rates from diseases such as cancer and heart disease. There is a US education system which continues to fail minority children. While the picture is not all doom and gloom it is clear that the issues which most negatively affect the quality of life of a large number of minority citizens still persist in spite of an African-American president.
Yet, expectations that President Obama could single-handedly overturn centuries-old individual prejudices and systematic racial issues – particularly in the space of one year – was merely setting him up for failure. There have been enough successful and powerful Americans of colour to suggest that one person’s acheivement will not radically alter the day-to-day lives of the rest. Nor should it be left to one person to bear that responsibility. In fact, by adopting the notion that casting a vote is enough and that all subsequent efforts are to be made by the president and his administration, people are absolved of their own responsibility for creating a society that works well for everyone.
The most important question now, going forward, is how to get to the root of the matter – so that the situations which lead to higher than average unemployment rates for minorities, even when there is no recession, and disparities in healthcare, education, economics and elsewhere no longer exist. It is here that an opportunity for something new lies.
Since President Obama’s inauguration, there have been repeated calls for more talk about race as the key to solving issues and improving race relations. However, if there’s anything the past year has taught us, it is that Americans already talk a great deal about that topic. If talking about race were the only, or best, way to end race-related issues, they would surely have ended a long time ago.
Racism – indeed, any –ism - and race-related issues arise from a fundamental, and often subconscious, belief that people are unequal. When Martin Luther King gave his famous “Dream” speech in 1963, he proclaimed his desire to see an America which would hold “self-evident, that all men are created equal”.
Unfortunately having an African-American president does not mean that all people believe that “all men are created equal.” Indeed, some of the views that have been expressed since the inauguration suggest that there are those who clearly still see the president himself as not being equal.
If President Obama is to really fulfil Dr King’s dream, and to make a real difference in his presidency when it comes to America’s race relations, it will be by having the notion that “all men are created equal” come to life as an integral part of American beliefs, such that all America’s systems – educational, economic and the rest - continue to change to reflect that. Until that happens, it is likely that we will see a continuation of disparities that will limit not only minorities but America as a whole.
Video: Haiti Earthquake Online Fundraiser - SeekersGuidance and Islamic Relief - Sunday, January 17 (2 pm) - Faraz Rabbani
January 16, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani
YouTube - Haiti Earthquake Online Fundraiser - SeekersGuidance and Islamic Relief - Faraz Rabbani
Do not overwhlem yourself with the state of the world to the extent that you forget yourself - Shaykh Abdus Shakur Brooks
January 15, 2010 by Faraz Rabbani
Do not overwhlem yourself with the state of the world to the extent that you forget yourself… |
The situation of current world events is important. But if you die tomorrow none of it will matter to you. Thus, do not
overwhelm yourself with the state of the world to the extent that you forget the state of yourself. If we correct our own state, then as a collective community we can correct the world state. We will not be asked about the state of the world but we will be asked about our state and how we lived.
Abdus Shakur Brooks
