Burka Avenger
There is an old saying, “may you live in interesting times.” Being an American-Muslim it has been an eventful 2015 and yes interesting times. Living in a globalized world, brought the events of Charlie Hebdo, Paris bombings, and now closer to home San Bernardino to the fore front of our lives.
Combined with the run up to the Republican party presidential primaries has brought up a mood of fear that we haven’t experienced since 9-11. But every cloud has a potential for a silver lining. When President Obama said during his Oval Office address that “Muslim-Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes,”
Donald Trump tweeted “Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who? Is Obama profiling?”
There were plenty of posts highlighting a handful of Muslim sports heroes including Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabar. However, there are a lot more. Here is a List of Muslim Sports persons.
But I am not satisfied, with Muslim Sports celebrities. Perhaps we can do one better and list present day Muslim heroes, and someone at the blog Muslim Heroes has done just that.
That’s better, but I think we should recognize heroes regardless of their faith, so here is a List of Activists doing wonderful work.
Marvel comics has done a great job in coming up with Muslim heroes, including Kamala Khan. Haroon Moghul, had written a post, “Please make a Muslim hero character, J. J. Abrams. We need it.” Go for it JJ!
This is all good stuff, but wait there’s more. Hat’s off to all the Super heroes out there both known and unknown. Where does that leave us the every day Muslim? You don’t have to be rich or famous to be a Superheroe. To be a Muslim in the spirit of the most compassionate human being, the Prophet (PBUH), to be an Ambassdor of Islam means we cannot pass that responsibility on to others. We can do small everyday acts of kindness that are meaningful and can make an impact on the world we live in. We can be everyday heroes doing things like smiling, being generous, and showing empathy. Here is a list of of things Everyday heroes can do to make not only 2016, but the future of our children and coming generations one be a peaceful and hopeful one. Go ahead be a hero.
Muslim Outtakes Blog 