The Power of Knowing

By now, you've probably seen the Invisible Children's (IC) attempt to make Joseph Kony one of the most recognized names around the world. The IC quickly got thousands of people sold on the Kony 2012 initiative by making a documentary, which runs for half an hour, go viral. When was the last time you saw a half hour long video go viral? And the most important thing about all of this is that the Kony video made thousands of people care.

 

The last video I recall to receive this much attention was about a 13 year old  girl trying to make the crucial decision between sitting in a car's front seat or sitting in the back seat while joyfully singing about Friday. A few days before the Kony video was uploaded, the most popular trends on Twitter involved Jeremy Lin puns and Justin Bieber’s 18^th birthday. Meanwhile, meme comics were flooding my Facebook news feed for weeks (I’ll admit I’m guilty of sharing memes too). Yet by asking for only 30 minutes, the Kony video was able to make thousands of people look into their hearts and find some space in there for the victimized children in Uganda.

Now the video did receive its fair share of criticism. In my opinion, the Kony 2012 project has a lot of holes in it. I feel that it did not do enough to educate us about the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) or the political history of the region. However, even though I was not sold on the Kony 2012 initiative (at least not yet), the video did remind me how important it is to educate each other about issues that matter. Before we can do anything about the children in Uganda, the hungry in Somalia or the oppressed in Syria and other countries around the world, we have to find a place for them in our hearts.

Albert Einstien once said about his passion for playing the violin, “love is a better teacher than a sense of duty.” And I agree. Love is probably the most powerful force that can drive us to fight against tough odds. It is also a sentiment that everyone can understand. But how can we love something we know nothing about?

A couple of weeks ago, I was debating with a friend on whether or not raising awareness on complicated issues made any difference.  

“At the end of the day, sharing videos and hanging posters do not solve anything.”  

“You can yell and scream as loud as you want in front of the Syrian embassy but that won’t change what’s going on in Syria.” 

In my opinion, these arguments stem from a lack of both foresight and knowledge in human history.

In the Quraan, Allah (swt) says:

(إنك لا تهدي من أحببت ولكن الله يهدي من يشاء وهو أعلم بالمهتدين)

or roughly translated: Almighty says: You cannot guide whomever you please: it is God who guides [according to His Law] whom He pleases and He best knows those who are guided. (28:56)

This tells us that the role of the Prophets (peace be upon them), and inherently our role in this world, was to convey the Message, raise awareness and educate people about the oneness of God. Da'wah after all is awareness. It is a practice that the most honorable people in history were doing for most of their lives.

Vincent van Gogh once said, "Great things do not just happen by impulse but are a succession of small things linked together." And the first small step here is learning. The more we learn about the oppressed, the more we realize they are just like us. We all want to go to school without worrying about being kidnapped. We all want to speak freely without worrying about being thrown into prison for 10 years. Suddenly I realize that we are the same. Suddenly I care for you because I realize that you are my brother, sister, father and mother. And we all know the lengths we would go to save family.

Still not convinced that sharing raw videos from Syria and protesting in front of Syrian embassies will do any good? Maybe you should step into the shoes of the people in Syria. If you are unaware of what the indoor atmosphere is like in Syria, then maybe you should read what Jacques Beres, co-founder and former member of the Medecins Sans Frontieres group, said about his time in Homs, Syria:

"They are always watching television. The TV is always on, the news flows and they communicate via Facebook and Twitter. They know what is going on."

They see us! They see what we share. They see us taking it to the streets and waving their flag. This gives them hope and wipes away their sense of loneliness. And hope, very much like love, can be the only thing that keeps us going in times of tribulation. The same applies for Gaza and many other regions around the world.

On the day of judgement, we will be asked what have we done with our freedom, what did we say with our voices, what did we do for the children in Uganda, the hungry in Somalia and the oppressed in Syria. In spreading the word, you've already taken the first step and I believe God guides whoever takes the first step.