Reaching out to people is not always easy. It is even more challenging when the topic is one people are uncomfortable confronting. But our duty is clear. We must educate ourselves, then reach out with the strength of our convictions. We need to be creative. We need to be passionate. And we need to be consistent. Here are a number of ways you can reach out to others. Using the strength of your convictions and the steadfastness that comes from acting for the sake of Allah and reliance on Allah alone, you can make a difference.
1. Start a conversation. Pick up the phone, talk to a friend, bring up the topic over a meal -- break the silence. Friends and family members are a great place to start. Tell them what you have learned about domestic violence. You may be surprised to discover how many lives this issue has touched. Invite your familly and friends to join you in a united effort against family violence.
2. Send an email or a text. Do you feel hesitant to initiate the conversation in person? You can just send a link to this website to a friend and ask them what they think. You can pass on articles and information about the issue so that you and your friends and family are all learning about it together at the same time. What is important is for you to keep educating yourself, and to join with others in making a difference.
3. Create A Team: Use our Team Page to start your team. You will be able to create your own team page on our website too.
4. Start a project: Together with your family and friends, there are many projects you can do. See our Projects page for some ideas. It is a good idea to start with something small and build on your successes.
Teaming up with others in your neighborhood can be a powerful way to build community as you address the issue of intimate partner violence. Here are some ideas to help you get started reaching out to your neighborhood.
1. Post a Flyer: Making and distributing a simple flyer can be a meaningful and effective activity. See this post for an account of one brother's experience. You can hand it out to the people you meet, post it around the neighborhood, or put it in people's mailboxes.
2. Take a Walk: Go alone or take a friend or family member with you. Visit your neighbors and talk to them about the need to raise awareness about domestic violence.
3. Organize a Game: Initiate the talk before or after the game and invite them to join you in united efforts against domestic violence.
4. Organize a Neighborhood Cook Out or a Potluck Dinner: Initiate the talk before the dinner is served and use the time during dinner to talk further about creating neighborhood a task force working to end domestic violence.
5. Close to Home Campaigns: The innovative and award-winning organization, Close to Home, has pioneered techniques for engaging neighbors to work together to take action against domestic violence. Check out their "1000 Actions Campaign" and "What's Your Tool?" campaign to learn more about working with your neighbors. Have a look at their powerful digital stories, and learn how to make your own. There are lot's of ways to reach out to your neighbors. Get inspired! And Get busy!
6. Create A Team: Use our Team Page to start your team. You will be able to create your own team page on our website too. Help motivate others by sharing your experiences.
1. Distribute literature: You can obtain literature from a number of sources. There is free literature, like this directory of resources for the Muslim community put out by the Asian and Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence in collaboration with the Peaceful Families Project, that should be available in all of our mosques and community centers. The Peaceful Families Project also puts out a well-produced for sale in bulk.
2. Fund-raise to bring the Garments for One Another video package and other materials into mosque and community libraries. These invaluable resources are designed to guide religious leaders and community groups helping DV victims. Organize simple fundraisers like Jummah bake sales. It's a great way to involve youth in community projects!
3. Talk to your Imam: Ask him to talk about the Muslim perspective on domestic violence and to introduce you to the community in Friday sermon, so the people interested can meet you afterwards. If he needs more information, he can model his talk on Hamza Yusuf's khutba and Imam Majid's open letter. Encourage the incorporation of useful information from recommended sources.
4. Make a short video: You can make a simple video making your own personal statement against domestic violence, then join your voice to all the others being raised by uploading as a part of the Peaceful Families Project's "Take a Stand Campaign." Or you can put together a digital story about an experience you've had. Find out more about making and using digital stories in domestic violence work at Close to Home's Digital Stories page. Finally, you can connect a survivor of domestic violence willing to share their story anonymously as a Digital Diary with altmuslimah's project leads. (scroll down to action #4 for Digital diaries)
5. Form a Community Action Team: Forming a Community Action Team is the heart of working together for change in your community. Here is a good online-toolkit for forming community action teams to end domestic violence that can grow to mobilize action in local communities in many different ways. Learn more about the INSTIGATE model, and put the model to work for you in your community.
6. Create A Team: Use our Team Page to start your team. You will be able to create your own team page on our website too.