Role Models: The People that Shape Us (for Better or Worse)

The 2024 Met Gala / Destruction in Gaza

To my delight, when I opened Instagram one afternoon in May, I found the Pro-Palestinian community in a tirade against celebrities and influencers who had been silent on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The “Blockout” movement was in full force, encouraging everyone to unfollow and block the celebrities that had participated in the Met Gala and more. Like a dystopian scene from The Hunger Games, the Met Gala had showcased extravagant ball gowns of the rich and famous while Israel began its brutal offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The humanitarian crisis that we have been watching unfold in Gaza has been a wake up call on many levels, and this was no different. While the Blockout movement has had mixed reviews, the lesson is clear: we need to reevaluate who our role models are.

Like a lot of people in my generation, I gravitated toward YouTubers and online influencers when I was younger. Not only did I watch their videos, but I also attended book signings, participated in the online forums, and engaged in furious YouTube commenting for their cause. Notably, I never once said or even thought that “This YouTuber is my role model,” but in hindsight my heart and my actions were saying otherwise. Although immersed in the community and its inside jokes, I didn’t see how deep-rooted my obsession was. It took a specific video that clashed with my Islamic view on the LGBTQ movement for me to understand this. By that point, I was knee-deep in the fandom and had spent years justifying my participation by saying to myself that this community was so “close to Islam”. As I watched this video, the spell had broken and I realized that I was ignoring a part of myself that was important to me: my faith. I had spent hours upon hours getting entertained and educated by this channel. Even as an adult, my convictions were being slowly chipped away by the digital environment I was putting myself in. 

I had this epiphany a few years ago, but the situation in the world today has reminded me that everyone latches onto different communities, and the people we follow will ultimately shape our identity. It’s something we don’t want to hear, but we can rattle off the names of Taylor Swift’s cats by heart. Sad, right? Too often, we unintentionally fall into fandoms that aren’t serving the identity we want to cultivate. I want to be more connected to my Muslim identity, but I haven’t put enough time into learning about the historical people that I can relate to. As a community, we’re missing a basic understanding of the Muslim role models we should be emulating. A lot of us have good intentions, but we can’t even name the wives of the Prophet (S). Ideally, we would learn their stories and understand that each of them had a unique and beautiful personality. It doesn’t have to be difficult, and we can still enjoy some entertainment, but I’m advocating for balance. Take a detour from your usual routine once in a while to learn just a little bit. It’s as easy as listening to a Seerah lecture or reading a book on the Companions and reflecting on how it relates to your life. Focus on the people in the story and what emotions they might have been going through. I promise when you do that, you’ll fall in love with those individuals and reconnect to your purpose. It’ll open your eyes to the fact that the famous people you heard about in Sunday school are not so out of reach. One thing is clear: in the people of Gaza, we are witnessing the type of faith we read about in the Quran and Sunnah. I hope the rest of us can achieve a strength of faith close to theirs.