What Am I Doing / Who Am I Being For Peace?

By Lyla El-Safy, Peace Ambassador

My mission is to connect Muslims to the Peacebuilding teachings of Islam such that they experience greater inner peace, gain skills in creating peaceful interpersonal relationships, and are activated as Peace Ambassadors of Islam in a wide variety of personally selected modes/locations/levels. To accomplish this mission, I am designing an online course that will cover both inner and outer dimensions of creating peace based on Islam's teachings.

The idea came to me when I was a participant in the Peace Ambassador Training program at The Shift Network. It was in the second session that I had the sudden thought that so much of what was being presented was also found in my own religion, perhaps addressed differently using different language. I remember thinking, "Someone should do a similar course from the point of view of Islam!" Immediately after that, I recalled that if you see something that needs to be done, it is probably your job to do it. That scared me. Such a project would be huge! I tucked the idea away and tried not to think about it.

The homework for the last session of the PAT was to think about our own role as Peace Ambassadors and consider what would come next for us. I couldn't think of anything. I have no experience in conflict resolution or negotiation. I am not affiliated with any peacebuilding organizations. I couldn't even seem to resolve conflicts in my own family. I loved the idea of Non Violent Communication but could not seem to put it into practice in my own life. What could I possibly do?

Still, the earlier idea about a course on peacebuilding traditions in Islam kept popping up and I finally accepted my heart's invitation to consider it: my role could be producing this course. I was intimidated by what such a project would entail, how I would proceed, what would be required of me to make it happen. I was afraid that people might challenge my lack of credentials and that I would be considered a dilettante. Without experience or a track record, who am I to put together something like this? I have the option to stay small in my corner and seek peace in my own spiritual practices. Yet, here was an option of doing something that would require me to grow as a person, reach out, meet more people, engage in enriching discussions with thought leaders in my community, and delve deeper into the peacebuilding teachings in my religion.

As I really looked at it, I realized that I could do it. It doesn't matter that I'm not an expert - I am not pretending to be. An authentic response to that criticism, should it arise, would be that my role is not to be a subject matter expert but to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and spark discussion. Peacebuilding is what I want most to learn, and there is truth in the old saying, "The best way to learn something is to teach it." Besides, I had no other ideas that called to me. Nothing else to consider.

I expanded my definition of myself. With the vision in front of me of helping expand peace while learning and embracing opportunities for personal growth, I committed. Since then, work on the course has progressed and it is taking shape, with a pilot due to launch on January 7, 2016. My vision as a Peace Ambassador is that through this course, Muslims (and non-Muslims, too, if they are interested!) will be facilitated to expand their awareness of the guidance on peacebuilding that is woven like golden threads throughout the teachings of Islam, and that they will each rise to the challenge of discovering their own unique role in expanding peace on the planet. In this way, I pray that the Divine will bring forth expanded inner peace, peaceful families and communities, and a world in which all people are equipped to wage peace to transform systems of structural violence into those that support and sustain justice and peace. May God find ways for us to meet hate with humanity, wisdom and mercy.
 

More about Lyla El-Safy: I'm a San Francisco Bay Area native and two-time graduate of UC Berkeley with a BA from the interdisciplinary Development Studies program and Masters degree in Business Administration. I've spent 18 years working in financial services and raising a family. A passion for genealogy and history led to the publication of my book, "From Prairie To Palestine: The Eva Marshall Totah Story" in 2012.

Over the years, I have looked for a way to integrate my interest in development, my chosen religion of Islam, and love of education. The Shift Network's Peace Ambassador Training course provided an opening and inspiration for how to do that and the sense of possibility to get it moving.

To contact Lyla, please write her at - click here.