Reclaiming Inner Authority in a Time of Disillusionment
A few days ago, I came across a post that said:
“These times will keep reminding you over and over again that no one out there is your saviour… especially people in positions of authority. If you keep putting people on pedestals, the universe will keep engineering situations where they disappoint you so that you can reclaim your disowned power.” Xavier Dagba
It deeply resonated and echoed a sentiment that was expressed to me after delivering a talk entitled Competing Narratives, Contested Futures, during my book tour in April this year.
A young woman approached me with a question, given my critique of authorities and their influence on religious formation: “So, who should I listen to?”
Her words were heavy with disappointment. It felt like an echo of the disillusionment that I hear and see from many people toward religious leaders and public figures who were once held in esteem. She had lost faith, and she was looking for someone to fill the void.
I told her: You’re asking the wrong question.
Not because seeking guidance is inherently wrong, but because I don’t believe our first move should ever be to outsource. I invited her to pause and ask herself instead:
What do I need in this moment?
What does my community need in this moment?
What kind of future would serve us all and what’s required to bring it forth?
When we shift the question away from “who should I follow?” and toward “what are we building, and with whom?” we begin to reclaim a deeper form of agency. We stop reaching upward for saviours and start looking sideways and inward: to ourselves, to one another, to what is needed now.
This is what I tried to convey to her. What she was really seeking wasn’t another authority figure but the restoration of her own inner authority.
In the final chapter of my book, Knowledge, Authority, and Islamic Education in the West, I confront some of the real and painful scandals that have led to widespread disillusionment in Muslim communities. But I don’t stop there. I argue that the answer isn’t just in naming what went wrong. It’s in what we choose to build next.
If we stop looking for the next perfect leader to follow, we can begin nurturing a new generation of leaders, not for new pedestals, but a vision of collective leadership with people who lead by integrity, practice, and presence, not performance.
And maybe the future we long for won’t be ushered in by one voice, but by many, where we are all speaking, stumbling, and rising together.
