The spirit of service
Ismaili Muslim youth group is making a difference in the pandemic
When Sugar Land resident Arsalan Aslam, 22, looks back at high school, his memories include volunteering at the Houston Food Bank and an area women’s shelter. That’s because, as a teen, he joined Ismaili Community Engaged in Responsible Volunteering (I-CERV), a faith-based service organization run by youth ages 13 to 25 in the Ismaili Muslim community.
Now that Aslam is a senior at the University of Houston, he has transitioned into a leadership role at the organization. And when COVID-19 hit Houston, and Aslam’s college classes moved online, he joined other I-CERV leaders to rethink operations and find a way for work to continue.
“We’re so invested in helping out in the community,” Aslam said. “How do we make an impact during the pandemic, while still keeping everyone safe? Safety was our top priority. We were kind of at a standstill.”
He started making calls to other organizations in the community to ascertain where the help was most needed, a process that mirrored I-CERV’s response after Hurricane Harvey. Youth volunteers headed to the George R. Brown Convention Center to help. But with the coronavirus, everything was different and, in a way, more challenging, since volunteers were on lockdown, Aslam said.
“This is a time when people still need help, but we had to keep in mind that people were stuck in their homes,” he said.
I-CERV decided to host a mask drive at the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center in Sugar Land. Once collected, the donations were taken to area hospitals. Then, volunteering went virtual, and I-CERV found a way to help youth make their own masks to donate.
“We hosted a mini Zoom training session,” Aslam said.
Members of the Ismaili community taught students how to sew on the video-conference, and later, I-CERV volunteers picked up their creations to donate. A Zoom tutorial also was created to show students how to crochet blankets, and then I-CERV members went to work, donating their blankets to a homeless shelter. Students also started writing and sending letters to the elderly, who are often isolated in nursing homes.
In-person service opportunities were relegated to those 18 and older, to reduce the risk of
spreading the virus. College students were able to man food and school-supply drives. Currently, they are helping with blood drives as well.
“Our faith teaches us to always give back and take care of the community,” Aslam said. “It’s something we grew up with. It was just a matter with COVID of figuring out how we could continue to help.”
I-CERV volunteer lead Aresha Davwa, a who lives in Sugar
Land, was confident the group would forge ahead during the pandemic.
“I knew we would find a way to
still be plugged into the community,” she said. “Disasters, like with Harvey and COVID, really put a spotlight on what we can do as a community selflessly — and that’s service.”
Service is, after all, what ICERV is all about. The faith-based organization offers youth in the Ismaili Muslim community opportunities to engage in volunteer projects and learn more about current issues. Participants, like Aslam and Davwa, who was a member in high school, also become local leaders.
“It’s really an effective structure,” Davwa said. “The high school and college students are really plugged into the community and know what the needs are.”
Currently, young volunteers have been more eager than ever to help, Davwa explained.
“Right now, a lot of people are passionate about giving back,” she said. “Service is about empathy, and true empathy is a very spiritual experience. This is an opportunity to learn about spirituality that you can’t get at Sunday school. It’s lived experience.”
Sharing time, talent and resources to improve the quality of life of the community is a central tenant of the Ismaili faith. Ismailis are a branch of Shi’a Muslims and Houston is home to one of the largest Ismaili communities in the nation, with about 40,000 members. Currently, plans are in the works for Houston’s Ismaili Center, which will be the seventh globally, and will be located adjacent to Buffalo Bayou Park.
Ismailis follow the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam, considered a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad.
Aga Khan, a graduate of Harvard University, is a firm believer in the role of the intellect in faith. He founded the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), an organization of agencies focused on health, the environment, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural improvement, disaster reduction, privatesector enterprise and the revitalization of historic cities.
I-CERV is part of the Aga Khan Youth and Sports Board for the U.S.
Spring resident Ruhee Momin, who serves as regional honorary secretary for the board for the southwestern United States, remembers spending Sundays during her childhood in Houston volunteering for service projects for what became I-CERV.
“We’d go to marathons and hand out water or volunteer at the Food Bank,” Momin said. “Another time, we worked with Habitat for Humanity.”
During Hurricane Ike, she had an aha moment. “We got together and helped provide for families,” she said. “I realized the magnitude of what we were doing.”
Spending time with other students volunteering to help neighbors brought her closer to the Ismaili faith.
“Our faith community makes service a priority,” she said. “That really strengthened my faith, and it made me feel more connected.”
Now, Momin is in a position to do the same for young adults in the Ismaili community.
“I-CERV is playing a great role in youth development,” Momin said. “This is something we should make a priority.”
Sean Hassan, national chair for the Aga Khan Youth and Sports Board for the U.S., explained that while the I-CERV name was adopted about 15 years ago, the youth group devoted to volunteerism has been around for a while.
“This has long been a part of the DNA of our community,” said Hassan, who also volunteered in his youth. Across the country, Hassan said, the organization is making a difference.
“Every three days, we have an I-CERV activity somewhere in the U.S.,” he added. “On the faith side, we’re reminding the youth that their faith calls them to care for the environment and the most vulnerable in society.”
On the youth development side, Hassan said, learning through service is hard to beat. Students gain self-esteem, learn about current issues and develop problem-solving skills.
“If you want to support young people and give them the support they need, service is amazingly transformative,” Hassan said.
Students also learn more about Ismaili values.
“It’s through these activities that we can say, this is what Islam is about, this is what the Ismaili community is about,” Hassan added. “For us, it’s like, if there’s a need, and we can do something about it, let’s do it. We may have to stay at home — but our values are not on lockdown.”
“On the faith side, we’re reminding the youth that their faith calls them to care for the environment and the most vulnerable in society.”
—Sean Hassan