Sometimes we’re so preoccupied with how history will see us. There’a a lot of ego in each of us, preoccupied with what people say about us, how we’re perceived, how we’ll be remembered.
The problem with worrying about our obituaries is that we forget to live. Here’s the challenge: Don’t worry about how history will write you up. Worry about what needs to be done. There’s so much need in the world, and so much opportunity to get involved, to engage and to create something new.
Twenty years ago, when I was the President of Islamic Relief, I heard so many humanitarian actors focussing on the need for partnerships supporting sectarian Islamic groups. Everyone was talking about his own organisation!
Now, we’re creating the Islamic humanitarian movement together, and the emphasis is changing from Muslim/Muslim support to Muslim/non-Muslim support. We’re defeating the divisions inside the Muslim community, and bringing the humanitarian spirit of Islam to the larger community. We’re crossing the sectarian, racial and religious boundaries, to the wider humanitarian world.
I witnessed this last week when I attended a meeting of the Muslim Charities Forum. It was so heartening to see humanitarian actors looking beyond themselves and creating new possibilities for partnerships. They stopped worrying about how they looked; about what history would think of them. And because they did, history was in the room with them, as they created something new.
Instead of chasing history, let history chase your footsteps and try to listen to the whispers of your thoughts and dreams. People who don’t bother about what history will say, will be able to deliver what humanity needs today, because they are so heavily engaged with addressing the needs of humanity.
