By: Shourouk Abdalla

Personally, before entering Depaul I have always been a person who questions ‘what must be done’. A person who fights injustices in everyday situations. This is an Islamic principle that I have grown to know very well, the Prophet PBUH said if you see something wrong, fix it with your hand, and if you cant fix it with your hand, speak of it with your tongue, and if you can’t do that, dislike it inside your heart and that is the weakest of faith. So as a Muslim we must oppose evil in an active and principled nuanced way, we must actively help, assist, and figure out ‘what must be done’. And this is the question St. Vincent spent his life answering. St. Vincent’s faith gave him a vision of how the world should look, in much of the same way so does Islam, therefore acting upon faith is a common ground and can invite anyone of all faiths and backgrounds to the Vincentian family and its values.

This reminds me of a Quick story: when the Prophet PBUH saw a man in a street and asked the man he was with, what do you think of this man, the man he was with responded by saying he is the noblestest of men and any woman would take his hand in marriage in a heartbeat. He later asked another man, ‘what do you think of this man’ and the man said this man?! He is the poorest of all muslims, and no women would ever accept his hand in marriage, no woman would ever consider him for marriage and he also added that no one will ever listen to him when he speaks because he is not worth listening too. Then the prophet pbuh said this man has more value than the noblest man and the entire mighty earth combined than to the wealthy man you compare him to.
Only today I realized that this is a Vincentian value. What I like about St. Vincent is that he didn’t like the statuesque, he saw countless men, women, infants and children living at the margins, people who had gone hungry, people experiencing homelessness, victims of war, orphaned children, and elderly left alone, people who did not receive adequate health care, no educational, employment, or economical opportunities. And so he tried to work upon that and figure out ‘what must be done’.

So this all inspires me, and reassures me I’m on some right path in my career and life.

You don’t have to be an activist to uphold this, just think of St.Vincents values within every day actions. Actively do good. Teaches you how to lead.