Sharing and giving

Great is the community that would pay for tickets to listen to new ideas from a disparate group of speakers. LAST month, I spent an inspiring five days in Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley. In the midst of global attention on the democracy wave hitting Egypt, Tunisia and the Arab world, and with emotions running high among American Muslims and liberals over a congressional hearing on the supposed radicalisation of the American Muslim community, my visit came at a most opportune time. A close friend who was a classmate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where I did my graduate work, had invited me to give a talk at a fund-raising event at her daughters all-girls private school. What impressed me most was the sense of responsibility and commitment I saw among the many women and men I met.

Open to new ideas: The writer (centre) with Laurene Jobs (left) and Nancy Biffar. All of them consciously wanted to learn and absorb new ideas and to contribute their time and money to make the school, the community and the world a better place. They also wanted to show that, in this high achieving community, to live only for yourself and your family and not to share and give back to the community was frowned upon. The evening of talks raised over US$500,000 for the Castilleja school scholarship fund for deserving students who could not otherwise afford its high tuition. Parents and supporters of the school contributed anything from US$125 to US$5,000 to listen to five speakers sharing their personal stories and life work on the theme Optimism: Engaging Possibility. What a great community that would pay for tickets to listen to new ideas from a disparate group of speakers. There was Tim Brown, the CEO of IDEO, regarded as one the top 10 most innovative companies in the world. His work focuses on the convergence of technology and the arts and how design thinking can transform organis! ations a nd promote the well-being of people living in emerging economies. There was Dr Jill Tarter, the Chair for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and whose life story was made famous by Jodie Foster in the film, Contact. There was Anna Deavere Smith, a playwright, actress, and professor best known for her documentary theatre style performances, in which she draws from hundreds of interviews with individuals as source material for her dramatic interpretations. There was the future of America, Cory Booker, the Mayor of Newark, who is becoming an urban legend with his bold vision as he breaks new grounds in urban transformation. He is touted in one breath as the most upbeat politician in the United States, the next Barack Obama, and arguably the most inspiring politician with over one million twitter followers. And there was me, standing proud in my Tom Abang Saufi batek, being interviewed by the ABC news anchor Elizabeth Vargas on the possibilities of equality and justice in Islam, and enjoying the warmth and goodwill of a very appreciative audience. Yes, there is escalating Islamophobia in the US, and Islam and Muslims are demonised by the right-wing media and politicians. But there are also many Americans, like my friend Nancy Biffar, who go out of their way to get their community to understand Islam better and to break the stereotype of the victimised, silent, oppressed Muslim woman. Not least in the heart of the Silicon Valley where ideas germinate to shape globalisation. What was heartening was the deep and genuine interest of the community I met to build their knowledge on Islam and to understand that the violence of the extremists should not be used to assign collective blame and tar the entire Muslim ummah. It was impressive that the whole Castilleja school community, all of its 420 pupils and their teachers, attended the school assembly to hear me speak. An essay competition on Islam and Womens Rights was held and the winner, a senior student of American-Japanese parentage, got the honour ! of intro ducing me and the work of Sisters in Islam on stage. Afterwards, I met with a smaller group of students in their 9th grade (14-year-olds) Cultures and Civilizations class, and then on to a lunch and conversation with 11th and 12th graders, three of whom had just attended the Womens Summit in New York. And there were plenty of questions and discussion among the eager girls. One cannot expect anything less, of course, from a school that lives up to its motto of Women Learning, Women Leading. Laurene Jobs, a Castilleja parent and wife of Steven Jobs, hosted me to a lunch to meet with other women and men who use their private wealth to finance the public good. I gave a talk on womens rights in Islam and a few of the women immediately asked about ways they could help us, details of our annual budget and whether we got support from private philanthropy. These were not just women who do lunch, but highly accomplished women with successful career paths who decided to use their time and wealth towards making their community and the world a better place by actively supporting causes they believe in. Nahid Aliniazee, another Castilleja parent, and her husband Kamal Ahmed opened their home to the Muslim community in Silicon Valley to hear me talk about my work. Nahid is active in the Islamic Network Group, an impressive organisation that promotes better understanding of Islam and conduct interfaith dialogue to combat stereotypes and prejudice against Muslims. Its president Maha ElGenaidi chatted with me afterwards to share the kinds of criticisms she faced not just from the Islamophobes who incite fear and hatred of Islam, but also the misogynists within the Muslim community who do not share her vision of a progressive and compassionate Islam. We laughed at the irony of Islamists and Islamophobes both attacking the position that groups like ours take in promoting a just and compassionate Islam that recognises equality, justice, diversity and possibilities for change. The only difference is the motive one side does ! not want its privileged status in life justified in the name of religion to be undermined in any way, while the other does not want to hear anything good about Islam as that comes in the way of their demonisation campaign. As I flew home energised by all my engagements in Palo Alto, I continue to dream of the day when a Malaysian school would invite me to speak to its assembly and engage its students on the subject of Islam and womens rights, how change is necessary, and that change is possible.