Why Muslim Influencers are revolutionising the future
Over the past five years, a huge market has emerged for a new breed of Muslim - Youtubers, entertainers, Instagrammers, fashion icons, in short, Muslim Influencers.
Fuelled by a new generation of young Muslims who are desperately seeking halal content in a world that seems to offer nothing of the sort, coupled with the dearth of Muslim role models in the public eye, young Muslims are flocking towards those with big followings and interesting talents.
It's empowering and exciting to see such a diverse group of Muslims emerge, reclaiming their own narrative, showing that Muslims are not a homogenous group, and certainly not all doctors and uber drivers.
I often wonder whether 16+ years of constant negative media attention has destroyed Islam’s PR and whether the religion can ever recover from this battering post 9-11.
While Muslims are against the ropes, they are also in the most fortunate position they've ever been in. With the world's spotlight shining so brightly on Muslims, it's an opportunity for Muslim Influencers to the dispel the pernicious stereotypes which have formed in the modern imagination of their co-religionists, by occupying powerful positions of influence in key digital and non digital spaces.
Communicating what Islam is has conventionally been reserved for scholarly circles or whoever the media happen to find to represent the faith. But Influencers are finding their own, unique ways to present their faith, or at least their version of the faith, and are increasingly replacing, and in some senses, diminishing - although not intentionally - the roles of scholars.
Popular online figures like Adam Saleh, Dina Tokio, Harris J, Khaled Siddiq and others, who although don't claim to be religious figures, have reached a somewhat celebrity status largely because they proudly wear their faith, but also provide the new generation of Muslims with content they can relate to and enjoy. They also have immense influence on their follower's habits, including their buying decisions.
The halal economy, or the 'Muslim Pound' is almost worth $4 trillion in 2018, and Muslim Influencers are increasingly being used to market campaigns and products.
Recently, we've seen women wearing hijabs, affectionately known as 'hijabis', appear in big-budget campaigns for Rihanna's Fenty Beauty, Nike, Apple, YouTube and Dolce and Gabbana.
In the U.K., for L’Oréal, Danone and Uniqlo.
While Canadian sportswear company, Lululemon used Ibn Ali Miller in this slick and powerful advert.
This is where M.I.N comes in.
The organisation realises that Muslim Influencers are becoming increasingly powerful, both in shaping the buying habits of their followers, but also in their influence to effect change in society.
But what are these Influencers doing with their millions of followers?
Are they using their influence to better the world we live in, or purely for self-gain? Often it's somewhere in between.
M.I.N is keen to provide the Influencers with the tools they need to attach everything they do with higher purpose and vision, whatever that may be for them. Of course, it will vary from person to person, but will ultimately boil down to bettering the society of tomorrow.
M.I.N essentially operates on two levels: connecting Muslim Influencers with global brands to tap into an audience of one billion Muslims, and empowering our Influencers to better the society of tomorrow.
The time in which we find ourselves in is new, profound and exciting. It is deeply unstable, but also powerfully interconnected. Despite us heading into unknown terrain - what will Donald Trump's next move be? - one thing is for sure: Muslim Influencers who are now the face of 1.8 billion people (that's 1 in 4 human beings) have a huge role to play in it all.