From the Editors’ desk
E
ngineers habitually carry alongside themselves a distinct fondness for rigidly laid out plans, quantifiable benchmarks and a robotic pursuit of results. This was my approach towards the magazine when I was confirmed as the Editor-in-Chief. It wasn’t long after that, that I realized my approach was not going to work. I realized that working with people who sacrifice their time and effort to contribute to a project because they care about the wellbeing of the community is fundamentally different from working with people who care about good grades, or employability. It is said that the companions of the Prophet PBUH were surprised when Abu Bakr nominated Umar to succeed him. Umar was known for his fury, and statesmanship requires composure. Abu Bakr’s response to the objection was “the burdens of responsibility will moderate him.” It has only been four months as part of the TMV, and I can feel the burdens of responsibility taking their toll. It has been a very personal transcendence for me. A struggle to venture beyond my usual assertiveness into a realm where decisions have to be made collaboratively. Transcendence is my journey, and I hope the journey of many of you, beyond my immediate comfort zone where I was able to understand that there is much more to life than a pavlovian notion of reward and punishment. Transcendence is a metaphor for the inevitable transitions we go through in life and that is how we have tried to present it within the articles of this magazine. A special thanks to all my team members, without whom, the publication of this issue would not have been possible. It was not a smooth ride, we went through crests and troughs, we had our fair share of reversals and strike-downs, but here we are past the finish line and in the end that is all that matters. To all my team members, a wholehearted Thank You! To the readers, you may enjoy what you read, you may not enjoy it. You may agree with the opinions presented in the issue, you may disagree with it. You may want to praise the work we have done, you may want to critique it. Whatever it is, I would be very happy to hear your opinion about the magazine. On behalf of the TMV 2019/20 team, I would like to thank you for picking up the magazine. I hope you enjoy reading the magazine just as much we enjoyed creating it.
Usama Bin Ansar Editor-in-Chief
XXV | NOVEMBER 2019 | THE MUSLIM VOICE | 3
