Creating Lovers of Allah that Are the Leaders of Modern Society

By Aisha Yaqoob

ATLANTA – Hundreds gathered at the Atlanta ICNA-MAS Southeast 20th Annual Convention this past weekend. This year’s theme “Muhammad (SAW) – Life, Legacy & Lessons” echoed in each one of the sessions.

Among the leaders at the three-day conference was Ahmad Saleem, community activist and educator. He was invited to speak as part of the Young Muslims sessions.
Saleem is the creator of SaleemAcademy, an umbrella organization for various initiatives. Through SaleemAcademy, he created a platform for reforming Islamic education. He believes in reforming education such that it is empowering and applicable to the Musilm youth. The namesake, in addition to his surname, represents what he hopes for the Musilm Ummah: people who have peaceful and sound hearts (qalb saleem).

Recently, Saleem realized his next and most pressing goal. As his service to Allah, he has chosen to dedicate his time to a global empowerment program, Living Legacy TV. This platform will be equipped with fundamental leadership and self-help courses which follow the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Set to launch in mid-2015, Saleem is working tirelessly to position Living Legacy TV as the premier website for reformed Islamic Education and Youth Empowerment.

Saleem believes that in order to empower youth to make change, one must take baby steps and speak their language. In a society over run by popular culture, Saleem has found that many young Muslims struggle with incorporating their Islamic values with what is surrounding them.

“If you speak the language of the youth, you can actually empower them to become greater than you can ever imagine”, said Saleem. “Scare tactics don’t work.”
Through his youth work, Saleem has found that there are different groups even within young Muslims. Whether it is a group of teens, college age students, or young professionals, he has found that each faction has the same struggles, but speak different languages. Saleem works strategically to reach out to each one of these groups, but focuses mostly on the teens and college aged students.
Saleem’s work is heavily influenced by Muhammad Iqbal, philosopher and poet, and inspiration of the Pakistan Movement. Iqbal envisioned a “generation of lovers of Allah” who can guide the modern world to the truth. Saleem uses this “Iqbalian goal” of creating “lovers of Allah, that are leaders of modern society.”

Saleem’s said his ultimate goal is “for our generation of Muslims to rise up to see who they really are and the great potential they have”. He hopes for a unified global Muslim Ummah that is actively integrated in peace, justice, and Islam.

An Orlando native, Saleem first began his path to activism after getting involved with the Muslim Students Association at the University of Central Florida. During his involvement with the MSA, Saleem began empowering his fellow students and brought different groups of people together for interfaith discussion. He describes MSAs across the United States to be a sort of Madina of modern times, where people of different faiths and differing levels of faith can join together without prejudice.

After college, Saleem started Project Friendship to integrate Muslims and Non-Muslims “with the spirit of love and understanding”. With interfaith events and reaching out various faith groups, he was able to accomplish his mission on a small scale. This became a stepping stone to Saleem’s greater vision.

Later on, Salaeem found his niche working with the youth because he found that many of them had similar internal struggles which he also faced while growing up. In late 2012, Saleem hosted the Muslim Youth Survival Guide Seminar to reach out to a wider group of youth across Central Florida. His goal was to teach the young Muslims about empowerment and deen in a way they would understand.

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