The vision behind the Mirror International Weekly could have been best understood by engaging in a few minutes of interaction with its founder Br. Anver Beig. Through brief discussion you would have learned that his intention was clear: To provide a voice for Muslims to be heard. For those who missed out on getting to know this tremendous figure, one can still share in understanding his mission by simply picking up a copy of the Mirror International Weekly.

If you analyze the paper you will gain insight to his dreams and ambitions. The news section fulfilled his desire to keep Muslims informed of what was happening throughout every corner of the world. This universal worldwide perspective reflects the Islamic mindset he had of being a part of our global Ummah. His concern for the youth is vividly reflected in the youth corner of the paper. Br. Beig always appreciated a sophisticated, intellectual, well balanced, and non-sensationalist approach taken by an author of an opinion article, especially when dealing with the most striking of issues. The Centerpiece will always serve Muslims organizations, major Islamic personalities, Islamic concepts and issues which are not given the projection that they truly deserve. The centerpiece literally evens out the lopsidedness of the mainstream media. A witty cartoon which makes its point and injects a potent dosage of humor captures his sense of humor which when shared always enlightened one with a lesson to learn. The “What they say” (later renamed to ”Quotable Quotes”) section captures perfectly the type of information Br. Anver, an avid reader who paid very close attention to who is saying what, wanted Muslims to be aware of. The most important section to him clearly was the religion section, it is no secret that the Deen of Islam was his sole motivation, and the Mirror would not be the Mirror without it.

The name Mirror no doubt a reminder of the hadith of the Prophet (S): “A Muslim is a Mirror to a Muslim” serves as an ongoing reminder. The motto for the Mirror is “Justice and Peace for All”. And that is the dream that br. Beig lived every day. To promote Peace whenever he got a chance, and to stand up for those who were not receiving justice. That motto fit his spirit very well. I remember working on a center piece on the International Criminal Court. I remember how outraged he was that countries that have so much potential to do good would arrogantly not recognize any such international institution. He could not stand double standards and outright hypocrisy. Being a great family man himself, he found pleasure in getting feedback from families which told him that when the paper would arrive at home, everyone would pick it apart and would literally be tussling over its pages. Many of the brothers who knew him for a long time do not see the Mirror as his major contribution to Islamic Work. They are more affixed on his personal touch or graceful impact that he had on others in motivating them to work in the cause of Allah. I personally do not see this paper as his only legacy either, especially since that was never his intention. This paper was created to serve a much grander purpose: Its providing a voice for Muslims. Whether people want to listen to that voice is not the question, as long as it can clearly be heard his vision will be alive.

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