Youth Profiled

A 30 Day Marathon

Compiled by AMYNA Staff Writers

Looking out the windows of Caffina Coffee, one catches a glimpse of some of the sketchier parts of Detroit, bordering Dearborn. Typical of most dilapidated Detroit neighborhoods, various electronic shops, liquor stores, and car care centers line the streets.  The mood is gloomy; everything appears almost gray as your mind processes the backdrop. 

Yet inside this Detroit business, quite a different picture emerges.  Here, a vibrant energy radiates from every customer that sits circling tables, set against the backdrop of a vivid wall-sized mural depicting French-style villages.  Coffee in hand, laptops open, these youth appear to be intensely engaging one another with rapt attention, while enjoying each others’ company—proof by smiles and occasional laughter.

“Why not just make that the main project and the rest we can focus on later?” asks Ali Maki, a 21 year-old who currently attends the University of Michigan-Dearborn.  When addressing five other youth working on a project called Muslim Youth Social Support Network (MYSSN), Maki says, “I think that mentorship of young Muslims is the most important task at hand, and that’s what we should focus on.”  Sitting around him, everyone seems to agree.  

Ali Maki and several other youth met through the entire month of May.  They are partaking in a local project called 30 Days 30 Muslims, or 30/30.  Several months ago, Ali, along with over 30 other youth, received an email inviting them to join a group of local activists who would commit to meet for 30 days to work on crucial community projects that focus on Dearborn’s Muslim youth.  He, along with others heeded the call, and started meeting every night at Caffina, a local, Muslim-owned coffee shop.

“A lot of people talk about doing these great things for our community, but talk without action is like living in a dream; and we made that dream a reality,” states participant Zeinab Zahreldin, referring to the project.

Many local youth feel the same way as Zahreldin.  Dearborn is a vibrant community that is home of the largest concentration of Muslims outside the Muslim world.  Several organizations and local mosques try to do their part to serve the community, but many youth are frustrated at the inaction and lack of latitude to get things done. 

Eager to get involved, each participant of the 30/30 initiative signed onto the project that to which s/he could contribute the most. Several projects took shape during the month.  The groups’ various agendas included a da’wah (Islamic education) project, planning a youth leadership retreat, MYSSN, and creating an online hub for the Metro-Detroit Muslim community. 

With the end of May, the 30-day marathon ended.  Two days before the close, one can’t help but sense the hope in the room.

“What makes 30/30 so dynamic and spiritual is the groups’ unified love for God and the community,” beams Zeinab Hussein of Dearborn. “With the guidance of Allah and the brilliant minds of my fellow Muslims, I saw a vision come to life! I was so excited to be a part of a group that had no ties or affiliations to anyone but Allah.”

Several of the youth expressed that in addition to getting their work done, something more came out of the initiative; something…intangible.  “It was a learning experience; it taught us about leadership, teamwork, and punctuality,” says Latifeh Sabbagh, a young professional that works at the Dearborn Public School district. 

Zeinab Chami further explains, “After the 30/30 experience, my activism will never be the same.  This has shifted my paradigm, teaching me a great deal about myself and the power of a collective.”

Mariam Zaiat, an occupational therapy student, was also among the participants, “This has become my social life.  I don’t enjoy as much going out to the movies, bowling… I'd prefer to spend my time with my friends working on such projects.”

The youth all agree that this needs to continue, that is why they have set aside at least one day the week for the upcoming months to meet.  Each group will come in with their projects and continue to have working meetings.  Yet they are hoping this will spark a bigger movement among Dearborn’s many Islamic organizations.  Participant Sura Hassan of Livonia suggests, “I hope that this will encourage more collaborative and complimentary efforts within our community… That way each organization can do its part while working together for the community at large.”  Sura is among several of the participants that also work with other local organizations that are youth-based. 

“There’s an old adage that hindsight is 20/20,” says participant Jim Jouney.  “In this case its 30/30. It's an encouraging to see people inspired and eager to continue.”