By Shakeel Syed

May/June 2023

Protesting is a prophetic legacy and innately human. God has bestowed upon humans the gift of discernment and the ability to protest a wrong to right it. History invites us to celebrate earlier protests and learn from them. Here are some inspiring examples.

Prophet Ibrahim (‘alayhi as salam) challenged his people’s polytheism, Prophet Musa (‘alayhi as salam) contested Pharaoh’s arrogance, and Prophet ‘Isa (‘alayhi as salam) drove the moneychangers from the sacred grounds of the Temple. Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) protested against slavery, demanded equal dignity and rights for all people, and demolished the 360 idols desecrating the Ka‘bah. His goal? To establish the sovereignty of the one God, who created all that exists, and that He alone is worthy of worship. 

Protests matter.

People of conscience embrace this legacy knowing that it will be a vocation of agony. For example, protesting requires a spirit of sacrifice. Unlike past prophets, we no longer have to risk our lives. However, we must be willing to give up some comforts and accept a few losses, for we “shall certainly be tried and tested” (3:186). 

We may not know basketball great Shaquille O’Neal’s commitment to his faith, but he seems to have gotten his essence right. When challenged by an ordinary working mother, he dismissed the $40 million Reebok endorsement that he had signed to help the create its $200 shoes. Instead, he arranged for his signature shoes to be available for $20 to her children and to many others like them. That’s a person of conscience who has a spirit of sacrifice. 

Similarly, we may agree or disagree with model Bella Hadid’s profession, but we nevertheless salute her. She chose to stand up for the oppressed Palestinians and against the oppressive apartheid state of Israel. Consequently, she lost lucrative modeling contracts. Conscientiousness does not come free. In her, we see a person of conscience who has a spirit of sacrifice.

Not all protests yield the desired results. In fact, they sometimes yield the very opposite. For example, El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was killed while protesting the country’s racial and economic inequalities. Similarly, the local police killed Yemeni American Nagi Mohsen Daifullah, who was protesting the abuse of farmworkers alongside Cesar Chavez, on Aug. 15, 1973. 

In 1975, two years after his killing, the State of California passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, in which farm workers finally obtained collective bargaining rights. The California Democratic Party of Orange County’s 72nd Assembly Democratic Alliance created the Nagi Daifallah Social Justice Award to remember his sacrifice in the name of justice. Note, this man came to the U.S. merely to earn a better living. It is important for us to remember Daifallah’s story and his impact on Americans’ and immigrants’ rights. His legacy of social justice lives on among Arab Americans, members of the United Farm Workers and activists for workers’ rights. 

We remember them today because of their commitment to making the world a better place. Examples abound. A few are cited here.

Since its inception, the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, considered the gold standard for news writing, had used “Moslem” instead of “Muslim.” They had assumed that it was the best way to differentiate between (the now former) Black Muslims and mainstream Islam. A Muslim American journalist’s persistence eventually paid off when AP agreed to implement his suggested change. 

Some two decades ago, a Muslim freshman protested being charged for meals even though he couldn’t eat the food being served. Initially, the highly respected more than a century-old university resisted on the grounds that he could eat salads and that no Muslim student had ever raised this issue. Finally, the university relented and set up a halal kitchen from scratch — a decision that continues benefits all of its Muslim students.

A Muslim employee of a major American establishment protested her retirement funds being invested in bonds. Again, persistence paid off and the employer not only moved her funds to an Islamic fund, but also made the facility available to all of its present and future Muslim employees.

Examples of successful protests abound, from being allowed to wear the hijab while playing sports to having beards while working in certain jobs.

We all admire Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) today. But not all of us may remember that her path to success was full of protests and sacrifices. Before many of us started protesting Donald Trump, she confronted him at one of his campaign rallies and got thrown out. Her persistence has inspired many others who, like her, aren’t afraid to call out our nation’s hypocritical support of an apartheid state and its opposition to the Palestinians’ legitimate struggle.

Protests matter. If it was not for the Black Lives Matter protests, George Floyd’s murderers would still be walking free. If it was not for the police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, former President Barrack Obama may or may not have said on Mar. 18, 2008, “What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part — through protests and struggles, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience, and always at great risk — to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time” (https:// www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-campaign19mar19-speech-story.htmlv).

According to the Washington Times (Sept. 27, 2014), at the annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner Obama stated that Brown’s death “‘awakened our nation,’ to a reality that black citizens already understood.” 

We cannot forget those from the Global South who protested the European colonizers and their colonizing projects to free their lands and their people. Protests matter.

To protest is a prophetic legacy. Pursuing it is just as relevant today as it was during their times. We have more options and less risks than them. What are we waiting for?

Shakeel Syed is executive director of the South Asian Network.

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