Revolution and the future

Approximately one year ago, the Imam Khattab Endowed Chair of Islamic Studies and professor of Religious Studies Ovamir Anjum predicted in his lecture that democracy in the Middle East would be a natural transition. He argued that the people in the region would embrace the change.

To say that he was dead-on with his prediction is an understatement.

On Tuesday, Anjum gave his annual Imam Khattab Lecture on the "Revolution in Egypt and the Future of the Middle East," a talk that was on-point with its timing, as it relates to current situations and uprisings that flood the media on a seemingly endless wave of development.

Anjum's lecture described support and optimism for the rise of democracy within the Middle East. He cited the revolutionary spirit of the youth, as well as the rejection of their current situations by the revolutionaries as indicators that the overthrow of many of the governments was forthcoming .

Anjum said democracy is a possible achievement for those in the Middle East and it is only a matter of time before actions are taken for it to succeed.

Omar Subei, a sophomore majoring in chemistry, said Anjum gave inspiring words.

"The lecture was very informative," said Subei, who is also an intern with the University's Initiative for Religious Understanding (IRU), a campus-based initiative that helped organize the event. He is also an education chair for the Muslim Student Association.

"Dr. Anjum was very deep in an intellectual aspect. The speech was directed more towards a scholarly audience, and that's how I believe it was delivered. Quite a few people told me afterwards that they enjoyed the lecture, and I couldn't help but agree." Subei said.

Subei, who was born in Saudi Arabia and whose family still resides in the Middle Eastern nation, believes that the lecture came at the perfect time.

"I believe that it was definitely important for people who are not in the [Middle Eastern] region to see what was happening from an insider's perspective. It was important considering the negative images that the media portrays of the events throughout the day." Subei said.

Subei believes that the Middle East will continue to be in a state of revolution, whether the events are being talked about in the media or not.

"Every country is going through uprisings," said Subei. "Before now, when people tried to protest in the streets, the people never saw the hope or the light at the end of the tunnel, and so the revolution went unsuccessful. But now, everyone is taking these revolutions seriously. When [former Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak fell [on February 11], it set the stage for other revolutions to take place across the Middle East. People didn't have hope before Egypt fell, but now they see that change can happen, and they have hope in change."

Subei gave a promising outlook for the future of the Middle East, in a similar manner to Anjum.

Thinking on a possible picture of the Middle East five years in the future, Subei said, "There will be no perfect countries in the [Middle East] region in five years. However, people will be improving the conditions within their own country. People will learn new things as time goes on, not only as a people, but as a country, as a government, and as a Muslim community. Every year that elections are held, there will be improvements made."

Subei also said, "Democracy is definitely coming to the Middle East."

Subei concluded with his thoughts about the current situation in the Middle East as of now. "In this moment in time, every person, every Arab, every Muslim is cautiously optimistic. We [the Arab people] like and embrace the idea of revolution and change, but at the same time, we are analyzing it each and every step of the way. Every day we are getting more and more sure that this is truly the People's Revolution."