White Space in the Muslim Psyche!
White space, in the realm of graphic design, is the silent speaker – an essential element of aesthetics. It is not 'negative space', but rather something 'positive' that makes a synergistic contribution to the entire composition. But only a seasoned designer can resist the temptation to pack his page with the myriad widgets available, each more eyepopping than the next, in the eternal quest for eyeballs. In the commerce vs art debate of commercial art, the art camp claims a hallowed ground for white space, but the commerce camp considers it an ineffective, anachronistic luxury. While Chanel No 5 can nonchalantly throw a half empty bottle on its centrespread in Vanity Fair, poor Acme Packing Boxes will cram every available square inch in its Rental Guide quarter page ad with its full range of boxes from 3”x3” to 30'x30' each with its set of choicest adjectives.
But what does all this have to do with an Islamic blog, you ask. Thus giving me the perfect lead in to state my hypothesis that Muslims – organizations as well as individuals – are obsessed with getting the biggest bang for their buck. Actually, I am only talking about the small minority of active, concerned Muslims; the vast majority are apathetic and least concerned about anything. But even the well-meaning activists lose sight of the big picture with their narrow focused vision. If they spend a minute reading something, they want to make sure they get immediate 'Islamic' benefit; and if they spend a minute writing something, they certainly want to ensure that they give immediate 'Islamic' benefit. We forget that Islam is a complete way of life and restrict it to purely worship, scriptures, and spiritual matters. We are consumed by results here and now. We won't even waste a worm, but we want to catch the biggest fish. Today, we hand out a Quran to a reluctant pedestrian and immediately want him to recite the Shahadah. Contrast this with our ancestors who walked the talk, spending a lifetime on the path of Sunnah, and hordes converted to Islam just to become like them. Muslim charity has lost its relevance to the rest of the world as it focuses exclusively on Muslims, become something like Lincolnian democracy – of the Muslims, for the Muslims, by the Muslims. We argue that we really want to help everybody, but due to the paucity of resources we prioritize Muslims. Forgetting that there was no more precious or scarce resource than water, when we were taught to give water to a thirsty dog in a desert. Do we ever go beyond preaching our religious scriptures; do we ever try to promote wildlife conservation, or demand universal healthcare and education, or agitate against tobacco and alcohol? It is like being at an 'all you can eat buffet' where nobody eats a balanced meal – why waste premium stomach space on lettuce and croutons instead of lobster and pheasant?
We have double standards on how we judge Muslim and non-Muslim organizations, which prevents us from emulating the 'success' of other organizations. We generally talk about how missionary schools, hospitals and churches are very successful, and that missionary volunteers are more dedicated and disciplined while Christian donors are more generous and philanthropic. Fallacious self-deprecation. If an Islamic school achieves the same results as a missionary school, would we call it successful? A typical missionary school in India caters to a miniscule number of Christian students, does not go beyond introducing Jesus (peace be upon him) and the Lord's prayer, and ends up gaining a good name for Christianity in society. Now, if an Islamic school serves less than 90% Muslim students, devotes anything less than 40% time for the Quran and Islamic studies, and does not give holidays for every Muslim festival, you would be lucky to find any Muslim donors. Same thing with a Muslim-run clinic or newspaper. How can we get any credibility or positive press, with this tunnel vision? We need to embrace a more comprehensive, inclusive, subtle, long-term strategy for Islamic activism. And yes, lots of white space. Too much text already.
White space, in the realm of graphic design, is the silent speaker – an essential element of aesthetics. It is not 'negative space', but rather something 'positive' that makes a synergistic contribution to the entire composition. But only a seasoned designer can resist the temptation to pack his page with the myriad widgets available, each more eyepopping than the next, in the eternal quest for eyeballs. In the commerce vs art debate of commercial art, the art camp claims a hallowed ground for white space, but the commerce camp considers it an ineffective, anachronistic luxury. While Chanel No 5 can nonchalantly throw a half empty bottle on its centrespread in Vanity Fair, poor Acme Packing Boxes will cram every available square inch in its Rental Guide quarter page ad with its full range of boxes from 3”x3” to 30'x30' each with its set of choicest adjectives.
But what does all this have to do with an Islamic blog, you ask. Thus giving me the perfect lead in to state my hypothesis that Muslims – organizations as well as individuals – are obsessed with getting the biggest bang for their buck. Actually, I am only talking about the small minority of active, concerned Muslims; the vast majority are apathetic and least concerned about anything. But even the well-meaning activists lose sight of the big picture with their narrow focused vision. If they spend a minute reading something, they want to make sure they get immediate 'Islamic' benefit; and if they spend a minute writing something, they certainly want to ensure that they give immediate 'Islamic' benefit. We forget that Islam is a complete way of life and restrict it to purely worship, scriptures, and spiritual matters. We are consumed by results here and now. We won't even waste a worm, but we want to catch the biggest fish. Today, we hand out a Quran to a reluctant pedestrian and immediately want him to recite the Shahadah. Contrast this with our ancestors who walked the talk, spending a lifetime on the path of Sunnah, and hordes converted to Islam just to become like them. Muslim charity has lost its relevance to the rest of the world as it focuses exclusively on Muslims, become something like Lincolnian democracy – of the Muslims, for the Muslims, by the Muslims. We argue that we really want to help everybody, but due to the paucity of resources we prioritize Muslims. Forgetting that there was no more precious or scarce resource than water, when we were taught to give water to a thirsty dog in a desert. Do we ever go beyond preaching our religious scriptures; do we ever try to promote wildlife conservation, or demand universal healthcare and education, or agitate against tobacco and alcohol? It is like being at an 'all you can eat buffet' where nobody eats a balanced meal – why waste premium stomach space on lettuce and croutons instead of lobster and pheasant?
We have double standards on how we judge Muslim and non-Muslim organizations, which prevents us from emulating the 'success' of other organizations. We generally talk about how missionary schools, hospitals and churches are very successful, and that missionary volunteers are more dedicated and disciplined while Christian donors are more generous and philanthropic. Fallacious self-deprecation. If an Islamic school achieves the same results as a missionary school, would we call it successful? A typical missionary school in India caters to a miniscule number of Christian students, does not go beyond introducing Jesus (peace be upon him) and the Lord's prayer, and ends up gaining a good name for Christianity in society. Now, if an Islamic school serves less than 90% Muslim students, devotes anything less than 40% time for the Quran and Islamic studies, and does not give holidays for every Muslim festival, you would be lucky to find any Muslim donors. Same thing with a Muslim-run clinic or newspaper. How can we get any credibility or positive press, with this tunnel vision? We need to embrace a more comprehensive, inclusive, subtle, long-term strategy for Islamic activism. And yes, lots of white space. Too much text already.
posted by Riaz at 11:57 AM
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