Why Leaders Need To Talk About Religion at Work: Omar Mouallem’s Praying to The West Review
Sara Quindlen via Inside Arabia
One phrase you’ll hear me say often is that the work of advancing equity & inclusion is ‘making the invisible, visible.’ Inevitably, once you see it you can’t unsee it as you ascend from ignorance to awareness.
This awareness can make you a better parent, friend, and leader.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ PRAYING TO THE WEST
Our most recent B.O.O.K. Club read was Omar Mouallem’s Praying to the West: How Muslims Shaped the Americas.
In this deeply personal book, Omar grapples with his upbringing in a Muslim household by seeking to better understand the roots of his faith. Not necessarily the origins of Islam itself, but how it has arrived and thrived (or not) in his slice of the globe.
The book starts off in a place where I actually have some history myself: Salvador, Brasil. I did an internship there with the Canadian International Development Agency back in 2011 when that was still a thing, but I definitely did not see any Muslim influence while I was there. I was blind apparently – I’d learned much about the African influence in the State of Bahia with over 3.5 million slaves brought there, and it stands to reason that they would had brought their faith with them to the strange and foreign land.
From there Omar takes us to Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico, and up into the USA. The chapter set in Chicago gave me new perspectives on the Nation of Islam’s influence on the civil rights movement. Which then influenced and continues to influence Black culture in the US – even listening to hip hop I grew up on like Talib Kweli and Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) I’m hearing phrases like ‘umma’ (community), ‘inshallah’ (God willing), and others that I may have nodded along to and not picked up the context before. Making the invisible, visible.
Not to be left out of ‘the Americas’, as Omar is an Edmonton-based author, he moves through Canada in chapters unpacking the role of Ismaili Muslims in Canada (I finally learned who the Aga Khan was aside from a Justin Trudeau scandal), the World’s most Northern mosque in Inuvik, the most-inclusive Unity mosque led by a Black lesbian in Toronto, and making us readers confront the tragedy of the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting as well as the culture of Islamophobia that led up to it and persists in Bill 21 to this day.
“On paper, Quebec’s immigrant and minority population isn’t significantly less than the rest of Canada’s until you factor out Montreal and its suburbs. Then you’re left with a population that’s 96 percent white—even in the capital, Quebec City. If multiculturalism, that wobbly foundation for Canadian identity, has proven anything, it’s that exposure to foreign cultures breeds tolerance. Since multiculturalism was adopted as policy in the 1970s, negative stereotypes of immigrants—whether as criminals, unassimilable, or a drain on society—have plummeted everywhere except in Quebec.”
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO WITH INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP AT WORK?
First of all, Praying to the West shatters the image of Islam as a monolith.
Media at large has implanted a particular image of Muslims and has put many an unfortunate Muslim in the position of having to play spokesperson for the entire faith condemning acts of Al Qaeda and ISIS when they’re just as appalled and heartbroken (and disconnected from) those heinous acts as non-Muslims in America. So when talking to someone about their Muslim faith, be curious about what it means to them and not as some absolute.
One way many companies may be unintentionally alienate Muslim team members is through their celebration of holidays.
Canada observes a strongly Christian calendar with Easter and Christmas guiding when schools and employers are closed for the observance, while not acknowledging the plethora of important holidays observed by other faiths or cultures. Ramadan is an important 30-day observance involving fasting which rotates through a calendar year (April 13 - May 12 this year). It is helpful to be mindful of the expectations we place on people not eating from sunrise to sunset (though that can mean playing and playing well, in the NBA playoffs), as well as any work-related events involving food – though that doesn’t mean avoiding them altogether, but rather asking the individuals how they’d like to be included as we heard from some of our Muslim readers that they really don’t mind and it’s just nice to be asked.
Finally, we talked about the inadequacy of workplaces for practicing Muslims who pray five times a day. One leader shared that when they worked at Home Depot they allowed one of their staff to pray in his office. Walking past one day, he noticed his employee praying on his knees on the concrete floor. The supervisor had just finished a series on carpet installation and so he made sure he grabbed one of the offcuts and kept it in his office for that employee. It’s the little acts of inclusion that make people feel seen and that they belong.
I feel more confident as a leader when it comes to Islam. No, I am not an expert nor does that mean that it is the conclusion of my learning & unlearning journey, but I can say that I am better off than where I was in January. Better yet, I know close to 60 other men who have made a positive step forward with me.
If you want to feel better equipped to handle the challenges of inclusive leadership thrown your way and be seen as a competent and caring leader to your team and community, no matter the issue, the Beyond Our Own Knowledge (B.O.O.K.) Club for our next read.
WHY JOIN B.O.O.K. CLUB?
Yeah, I read the ‘thought leaders’ that dominate lists when you Google ‘top business books’: James Clear, Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, Dale Carnegie, etc— but very rarely do these lists include diverse authors. Case in point: Shopify’s Best Business Books recommended two female authors (one co-author and the other’s subject of her book is a male leader), and on James Clear’s own top 10 there are no women and, I think, only one person of colour.
So if you’re a bookish striver like me, chances are you’re predominantly reading an overwhelmingly white and male view of the world.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned life and business-changing lessons from these guys. James Clear taught me how to build habits that stick, Tim Ferriss multiplied my earnings back when I worked in business development, and Seth Godin’s influence is all over Next Gen Men – heck, I even formalized the idea of B.O.O.K. Club as an offering while completing his altMBA!
That being said, a mantra at Equity Leaders is Believe in Diversity, Behave Inclusively, Become Equitable. Why? Because diversity is a fact, inclusion is an act, and equity is an outcome. So in order to walk my talk, I know I have to stretch beyond the status quo to become a better leader.
Need a copy for yourself? Nab a B.O.O.K. Club leftover.
This article was originally featured in the Conscious Commute Newsletter — the newsletter that helps leaders in male-dominated industries navigate the WTF of DEI.