My dear brothers and sisters, we live in trying times and are witnessing days of hardship as frequent as we see our families – May Allah protect us! Ameen!
What follows are a few words of caution for you to consider:
Firstly: In Islam life is sacred and murder will always be condemned, irrespective of time and place. We stand in solidarity with the families, friends and loved ones of every innocent soul that has been killed in Palestine Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Burma, CAR, Sri Lanka, France, Britain and every place on the planet. our Lord says in the Qur’an: ‘Whoever kills an innocent person – it is as though he has killed all of humanity (5:32)
Secondly: A comment by someone in reference to the disaster in Paris or any other disaster should not be interpreted as the speaker or writer being oblivious or insensitive of the atrocities that are committed in other lands. THIS does not necessitate THAT, and doubting the intentions of others, is not praiseworthy in the Shari’ah.
I know there is a lot of emotion floating around and Muslims are constantly being battered and targeted without justice; this does not help these emotions settle. I relate to that; all I am saying is that we need to be a little more mature and wise and never forget that there is always a bigger picture that transcends the realm of the ‘self’. Everything we say and do has a cost and a consequence.
Never allow these crippling emotions to cause any forms of hallucination, when listening to the statements of certain Muslim commentators or when reading their writings. ‘Hallucination’ is not a typo here my dear brothers and sisters. How many times have we seen rants against commentators related to areas of discussion not even addressed by the commentator.
Sometimes we become flustered about nothing due to doubting the sincerity of a commentator or refusing to understand the current message in light of previous messages by the same commentator.
We should not be involved in creating a situation whereby a writer/speaker has to apologize for our very own misunderstanding. We should not nit-pick and cause ourselves and others to behave in a counter-productive way that causes us to miss the entire point of the statement
Yes constructive criticism is a must and yes; there are some commentators out there that do not carry any messages deserving of any praise! But at least understand well what you hear and read first, and then carefully choose your next move.
May Allah assist us with this. Ameen.
Thirdly: Wrong will always be wrong. We should be happy only with that which pleases Allah and sad with whatever displeases Him, the Almighty.
The argument that ‘they oppress us and deserve what they get’ is flawed and has no roots within our faith.
We must never judge right and wrong based on the actions of others. Let me be clear, you cannot rejoice in someone’s innocent family being harmed because that very person harmed your innocent family. Yes, what that person did is oppressive and he must face the consequences before the law! However, his innocent family did not deserve what happened to them. This is a basic fact of life and common sense and also a fundamental teaching of the
shari’ah.
Never allow other people to walk in your head with their dirty feet.
Never allow others to dictate your Islamic values.
Instead ask yourself: what would the messenger of Allah (Peace be upon Him) do in this circumstance. And whilst you are asking; don’t forget to visit the reputable scholars of your vicinity and enlighten yourself with regards to your question.
Remember my dear brother and sister that we are allowed to feel emotions; but ultimately we are governed by daleel (evidence) and not desire.
Fourthly, we have to be an Ummah of the present reality. In fact we always have been the ummah of here and now. Somehow we have become insular communities, indifferent to the greater picture, and this has led us to become isolated. This, along with other things, has allowed extreme groups to portray a wrong picture and create incorrect paradigms and as a consequence allowed the media to go on a campaign creating the well known ghost called Islamophobia. We are the ambassadors of Islam, but sadly, the true Islam has been kept a secret by us due to our refusal to to engage the sensitivities of our age in the past. We just never felt the burning need to engage others and make them experience Islam. A lot has improved now, Alhamdulillah, and we ask Allah to shower upon us progress. Ameen.
Everyone of us reading this must ask ourselves about the world we would love our children to live in. We must ask ourselves about the answers we will present on the Day of Judgement regarding our representation of Islam, because we were made flag bearers of this true and rich religion.
We must also consider that Its no more about the ideal versus that which is not ideal. The reality on the ground is that sometimes that which is not ideal is actually the best course of action given the our circumstances.
We need to become relevant and we need to act wisely. We just don’t live in that utopian globe that is planted deep in our minds. Indeed as the Prophet(s) said, “Wisdom is the lost property of a believer! He/She is the most rightful owner of it wherever it is found.” Let us become wiser and engage our communities wisely my dear brothers and sisters.
Fifthly, Du’a is the minimum we can do. Please note the term ‘minimum’. We must make du’a and we must ensure that we are using other ‘means’ in ensuring progress. We are all part of the solution and need to come together and do more. We need to stop reading each other with double meanings. We need to stop doubting each other’s sincerity and we need to stop losing focus of the real issues that require our time and attention. Let us not become another tool for the devil – May Allah Almighty protect us all.
May Allah unite the ummah of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon Him), and correct our affairs. May Allah Almighty inspire us to aspire and make us the seeds of change and the means of a better tomorrow.
May Allah shower upon us security, safety and protection and guide the Muslims in their belief and guide those not upon Islam towards correct belief. Ameen.
This message is from your brother from the heart. It is not a message which generalises and aims at being offensive. Indeed my brothers and sisters are amazing human beings. This message is a reminder to myself first. It is also a reminder to others who know, and a lesson for those who do not.
In Allah Almighty do we place all trust, and Allah Almighty knows best.
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