Naba Faizi: Ruh Platform and Spirituality

Naba Faizi is using the power of shared narratives to evoke the spirit of young Muslims in Ruh Platform. The platform consists of a blog, Instagram, and a YouTube Channel that encourages young Muslims to reflect and strengthen their spirituality. Recently, Salt Lily had the privilege to discuss Ruh Platform’s upcoming projects with Naba Faizi

What is Ruh Platform?

Ruh Platform is a space for young Muslims to talk about their connection to God, faith, and spirituality. The name came from the root word ‘ruh’ which means spirit or soul. I decided to name it [Ruh] because I feel like that’s our essence. Islamic-ally we believe that we are souls in human bodies, and our souls are the things that are going to go back to God. I feel like anything in life from my perspective goes back to your spirit and your inner self. 

Why did you decide to start this Ruh platform? 

I feel it’s important for young people to have a connection with themselves early on. That comes through awareness and reflection. I feel like I haven’t seen anything on social media or on YouTube that specifically talks about your spirituality. I’ve seen other things about Islamophobia or modest fashion, but I haven’t seen anything about spirituality and how you struggle as a Muslim. I felt like this was something that was needed.

You’re making a documentary so tell us more about that?

The documentary is called ‘Ruh’ and as I mentioned before it’s about your spirit and your soul. It’s geared towards young Muslims. I interviewed anyone who was interested between the ages of 16-35 there were a few people who were a little above or below that. They talked about their relationship with God. I would ask them questions like ‘When do you feel close to Allah [God]?’, ‘When do you not feel closest to him?’. We all have different struggles whether that’s in school or our community. There are just so many different struggles that you can’t always explain it to your parents or your friends, but you can always explain it to God because he knows and he’s always there. I wanted to get back to those types of questions even if it makes people uncomfortable, it makes people think about things. 

Why do you think young people have a hard time talking about their spirituality? 

I think it’s because it’s uncomfortable and you have to be vulnerable. You have to think about things in a way you may not want to. Sometimes it’s just a hard door to open. It’s not necessarily the popular thing to talk about. Yeah, there is the whole thing about spirit, the universe, and energy and stuff, but it’s not always easy for people to talk about, especially for a young Muslim. 

Was it hard for people to be vulnerable in your interviews? 

Surprisingly, it actually wasn’t, but most of the people came to me. I think it would be harder if I went up to somebody who was more reluctant, I didn’t get that experience. In the future, I probably will. Now that I think about it, there was a girl who wanted to be anonymous and I was completely okay with that. I think she ended up not feeling confident about it in general. Most of the people I interviewed came to me or I knew them to some extent. I wanted everyone to feel as comfortable as possible so I would send them questions ahead of time. These are the types of questions you can’t ask on the spot. You have to think about it, and ask yourself ‘how do I feel about this?’ I would give them time to think about it and they would be prepared. Once we met I would ask them normal day to day things and when they were comfortable I would start with the interview

Is this platform only for Muslims in Salt Lake City? 

There were some people from Utah and there were some people from the Chicago area. That was because I happened to travel to those places. It would be interesting to have it be something that’s throughout the United States.

In Salt Lake there is a small population of Muslims, however Chicago has a large population. Did you see any differences in spirituality between the two communities? 

In my experience, it all comes down to your upbringing and your own personal experiences. From the interviews, that’s what I got. Everyone had their own struggles whether they were in a religious household or not. It also depended on their schools and their environment. I feel like I didn’t see a difference between the cities. It all came down to a personal level. 

While interviewing did you learn anything new about your own spirituality? 

I’ve always been a really reflective and intuitive person, so for me it just deepened the relationship that I have. This is a lifelong journey with God. I think it deepened that connection and I have so far to go. I have so much more to do and this journey is definitely a long one, but I think it just made me close to him [God]. Especially after hearing stories, you become closer to that person, just in a humane way. Your ‘ruh’ your spirit you definitely connect with that person you are interviewing. It wasn’t like a big epiphany it was just a quiet connection that just deepened. 

What was the most memorable part of making this documentary? 

I think the process. I definitely believe it’s all about the journey and not the destination. It’s the process of finding people and having people come to you and be like ‘I want to be part of this’. Interviewing people that you know, people you don’t know and finding out so much more about them. I think that experience was beautiful. 

What are the challenges of filming and marketing? 

I had no previous experience with that. When I was young I’ve always wanted to make a film about something. I think it’s just because it’s a way to bring out your creativity. For me, I enjoy anything that brings out my creativity. A lot of it were things that I did on my own. One of the struggles I had was with sound just different technical things like that. I feel like someone with more experience might know more about it. It’s so hard to find free B-Rolls for Muslims, so anyone who is listening please make more free B-Rolls. I don’t want to pay fifty dollars for a video of someone walking with a scarf on. That was the hardest part [laughs]. I definitely believe your education, your training, and your experience makes all the difference. But also having that creative vision and energy really helps too. I think that’s what really led me. I know definitely in the future I will need people who have trained in that aspect. 

How are you planning to release the documentary? 

It’s going to be released as a film series. For example, one of the questions is ‘When do you feel closest to God?’ and that will be an episode, so it will be split up into topics. I’m going to use YouTube and Instagram as my main platforms. 

Do you think social media is helping or hindering people’s relationship with God? 

I think all the tools we have with social media can be used for good or bad. It can be used as a distraction or it can bring you closer to yourself thus closer to God. It really depends on how you use the tools that you're provided. In Islam, there is a quote ‘you're shaped by your company’. I feel like with social media, are the people you’re following really making you feel happy? Are they influencing you to be a better person? So if it’s not maybe evaluate that. The other thing is we live in such an interesting time because everything around us is just a distraction. It’s really hard to bring yourself back. There are times where you just have to tune out or just detox yourself from social media. That’s really important too. It’s about having a balance of everything and using social media as a positive tool to network with people and grow as an individual. I think social media is powerful because you can reach out to people who’ve never met. It just all depends on how you use that tool. 

What are your plans for Ruh Platform for the next five years? 

Honestly, I have no idea. I think right now it’s all very organic. I don’t have a plan I just want to jump start and get everything done. I’m just going to go step by step and see what kind of response I get. I need to tweak things according to what’s needed or if there is something people want to see more. I’m not exactly sure yet I just want it to be more organic. 

Is there anything you want to add? 

Always take out time for yourself. It’s really important to reflect and look around you. You should have this practice with yourself and ask ‘Where am I?’ ‘What am I doing?’ and ‘Where am I going?’ In Islam, God mentions in the Quran (this is not verbatim) ‘ God has made many signs for us to reflect upon on’. In essence of it everything around you is a sign to look at and reflect as a human being. It really helps you empower yourself and heal. It’s always important to take time out and do that and make it a priority, because when you have a healthy relationship with yourself then you have that within yourself to respect others and help others. All work starts from within

The first episode of Ruh is now available on YouTube.

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