The Chain of Change Starts with Us

We as Muslims should be people of reflection. As an Ummah we need to reflect and ask ourselves, what is the matter with us? Is it our lack in numbers? The answer to that, is simply no, one in every five people walking on the earth is a Muslim, so this has nothing to do with numbers.

Is it because of  no wealth and resources? The answer again is no. Most of the greatest natural resources are in the hands of Muslims. So what is the reason? We are more than a billion in number, with enough wealth, so why are we in the decadence we find ourselves in today?

It is our lack of men and women of substance as we have allowed the diseases of civilization to overtake us. We should bind our hearts to the Almighty and after that bind our hearts to one another. We should love for our brother, what we love for ourselves. Our Prophet may peace and blessings be upon him, did not teach us to hate people. 

The Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him, warned us of the diseases of civilization. The diseases of envy and hatred. We should be grateful for what we have. Don't complain all the time.We should thank Allah subhan wa ta'alal for the blessings bestowed upon us because the minute we start complaining is when those blessings will be taken away from us. The more we appreciate what we have, the more we will be blessed, so we should honor our blessings.

Everyone speaks about wanting change...If we truly want change then there are conditions for changes to happen and for Allah to allow that change. There are two things we need to have, first, the burning desire of wanting change and second, the effort that we put forth in order to make that change. If we seriously want to change then we have to have the desire to change... It is very difficult to change when we don't see the need to change, and if we don't have that desire to change, then how are we going to change and how can we expect change?

The greatest battle is with the self. We have a bad habit of blaming other people, for example; "the king is not doing this, the queen is not doing that, the leader needs to change first"... This is the wrong perception that we have. We always like to shift the responsibility and put it on someone else. Allah  Azza Wa Jal does not appoint a person only according to our attitude.

The condition we are facing is because of us... because of our perceptions and our actions.

"Verily, never will Allah change the condition of a people, until they change themselves(with their own souls)" (Quran Ra'd 13:11)

So don't expect... reflect. Acknowledge that in order for change that the change must take place within ourselves first. 

Have a fixed goal, prepare a plan on how you will reach that goal, be determined and persistent. Stay away from negativity, stay with positive people that will encourage you to do good things. After you have achieved what you have set out to do, assist others to do the same and last but most importantly ask Allah subhan wa ta'ala for help in your journey. We need to revive ourselves, refresh our faith.We cannot revive a dead body, we can't help a dead heart..

We didn't get it yet.. 

We don't need the north or the south, the east or the west. We don’t need to cry to the creation when we have the Creator…

If we are truly people that believe in our destiny, if we are truly people who claim La illaha il Allah, if we are truly people that comprehend from the soul, the way out is very easy..

The chain of change starts with us......

He who has no patience

He who has no manners has no knowledge. He who has no patience has no deen. He who has no piety has no nearness to Allah. ~ Hasan al Basri(ra)

Indeed, all Praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, seek His Help and Forgiveness and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and the evil consequences of our own actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, no-one can lead him astray and whomsoever He leaves astray, no-one can guide him. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, the Most High and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and final Messenger - sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam.

May Allah grant us salvation from the Fitan of this world and endow us with knowledge, wisdom and correct action which aids us and keeps us steadfast when trials, tribulations and calamities befall.

The heart burns as one is subject to silence on matters in which one wants to cry out and be heard. Nothing is more difficult in this dunya(life) than being patient in times of fitnah (trials and tribulations). That is the power of Iman (faith), to bear patience where there is none around you, to endure while everyone around you is weak and to wait for the right moment where what you do and say will make a difference.

In the hadith of Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri, the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said: 'No-one has been given a gift as ample as patience.' ¹ – and that is because nothing follows patience except ease and vastness. So we wait for the ease and when the ease comes be just and fear the tribulations that will again come our way.

Expect, with the grace of the Almighty, that these times will pass, more tests will come and remember that what we are enduring today is by means of destiny by the will of Allah subhan wa ta’ala. And Allah is the best of planners, if only we would take heed and grasp onto the ropes of our faith.

The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings be upon him) used to urge his Companions to learn about the stories of ancient nations, in compliance with Allah’s (subhan wa ta’ala) command in the Qur’an: “So relate the story, perchance they may reflect.” (Al-A’raaf: 176)

May Allah give us all knowledge and open our hearts to relate and reflect so as not to be deceived by this world. Ameen

There is an example in a true story explained by Ibn Sa'd where he relates in his Tabaqaat al-Kubraa (7/163-165) and of which is a reality that must be shared as we are facing the same trials and tribulations today.

A group of Muslims came to Al-Hasan al-Basri(ra) seeking a verdict to rebel against al-Hajjaaj [a tyrannical and despotic ruler]. So they said, "O Abu Sa'eed! What do you say about fighting this oppressor who has unlawfully spilt blood and unlawfully taken wealth and did this and that?"

Al-Hasan replied, "I hold that he should not be fought. If this is a punishment from Allah, then you will not be able to remove it with your swords. If this is a trial from Allah, then be patient until Allah's judgment comes, and He is the best of judges." They left Al-Hasan, disagreed with him and rebelled against al-Hajjaaj.  Al-Hajjaaj killed them all.

Al-Hasan used to say, "If the people had patience when they are being tested by their unjust ruler, it will not be long before Allah will give them a way out. However, they always rush for their swords, so they are left with their swords. By Allah! Not even for a single day did they bring about any good. If this man is a punishment from Allah then you cannot lift punishment with your swords. And if this man is a test from Allah, then no one is patient with this test except Allah will find a way out for them.”

A reminder to us all; Shaykh al-Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah(ra) said, 'Rarely does a person go out against a leader (fighting etc), except that the evil consequences of his actions are greater than the good.' (Minhaj al-Sunnah al-Nabawi)

If only we open our true hearts and understand the clarity and how clear this is below..

"And indeed We seized them with punishment, but they did not humble themselves to their Lord, nor did they invoke (tadharru') with submission to Him." [al-Mu'minun: 76]

And in the end, this will all end..

And we the creation will return to our Creator 

And we the creation will ask ourselves, what did we do

And we the creation will ask, what did we achieve

And we the creation will stand in fear

And we the creation will wish we could just disappear

And we will ask for one more moment to come back to rectify our mistakes, 

But by then, it will be too late

"Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves".. try to understand..

What a strange world

We live in a very strange world.... A world where there is more funding for activists, then for funding those who are in dire need of food

Where there is more media attention for the plight of one, than the eradication of millions

Where politics matters far more than people

Where you are judged by your appearance and your ethnicity could have you locked up for life

Where trophies are presented on lavishly laid tables, at the expense of thousands of lives

Where people don’t donate.. unless they’re invited to an extravagant party

Where the fight for food is more trivial then a flight delay

Where human rights activists are far more concerned about a country where there is stability, then to an entire population in another that is destroyed and whose people are close to extinction  

Where one prize can feed a million, instead it is presented to one who is working to endanger a million

Where funding is forwarded to those who manipulate and destroy lives... neglecting those who just want to live

Where money is spent for those to report, rather than for those they are reporting on

Where a few are empowered to be heard and everyone else is subject to silence

Where thoughts can only be thoughts as long as they are not spoken

Where millions are forced to flee the poverty of their homes... while a few are financed to fuel fires

Where one person matters more than an entire continent and if they could push it a little further more than the entire globe

Where one voice is more important than the painful cries of thousands

Where ones view is praiseworthy, while others are declared unworthy.... just because they disagree

Where millions lay displaced, destitute and on the verge of life and death, a few selfishly steal the limelight for what is a petty matter in comparison and take center stage

Where the attention is sparked at one who refuses food, ignorant to those who forgot what it is really like to eat

Where human rights represent human wrongs, imposing their ideals with disrespect to your culture, your tradition and your religion

Where it is acceptable to be anything but your real self... indeed what a strange world we live in...

We will remain weak as long as Islam comes second.

 

“No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Surely, Allah is all knowing, all aware” Surah Luqman verse 34
We are chasing life as if today and tomorrow will never end. And yet there is only one thing that we can all be certain of and that is that we won’t last forever.
Despite the facts we have a bad habit of constantly complaining, we have a bad habit of always portraying the victim and we give excuses to the rest of humanity that we are helpless and that our civil liberties are being eroded because we are Muslims. But when you look a little closer and the solution we are looking for it is somewhere else. It is not in the Quran and in the Sunnah, it is in manmade ideologies and philosophies and then we complain while we are nothing more than slaves to a Godless capitalist society.
We quote Aristotle, we quote De Vinci, we quote Mandela and Kennedy, yet we fail to quote the most important men and women in our Islamic history. Is it because of our ignorance or because we are afraid? That is a question I would like us to ask ourselves.

“We were the most humiliated people on earth and God gave us honour through Islam. If we ever seek honour through anything else, God will humiliate us again.” ― Umar ibn Al-Khattab(RH)

And look at the Muslims of the world today. Humiliated as we have forgotten what once bought us honour. Like sheep that have lost their shepherd we have left the fold, and we are in the den of wolves that are ready to pounce at any moment.
We plea with mere mortals for change, obscure that the only change will come from making dua’a to Allah Subhan wa ta’ala and our own efforts. Do we really want change? Then first let us change ourselves. Do we want good leaders? Our Islamic history proves that when the people were good, they had good leaders. So what does that say about the people in the world today? Do we really want the world to be a better place? Do we really claim to be what we say we are? If the answer is yes, then go back and read the Quran, go back and follow the Sunnah and understand for everybody else manmade laws and philosophies will work, but for Muslims the only thing that will bring us back is the Quran and the Sunnah.
Is that too difficult to comprehend? Is that too difficult to understand? We claim we are Muslims but Muslim is not just in a name. I don’t intend on beating around the bush, and I don’t intend on providing a façade of the reality of the situation today.
Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan said 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) say, 'Nothing remains of this world except trials and tribulations.' The world today is the very proof of the trials and tribulations that we are facing. In some cases we don’t even need to look around, it is happening on our very own doorstep and yet we remain ignorant to the wants of this world.
"And fear the Fitnah (affliction and trial) which affects not in particular those of you who do wrong, and know that Allah is Severe in punishment."[Al-Anfal: 25]
We may not do any wrong, but we are no better than those who do wrong when we do nothing at all.

The Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) was speaking to a group of Sahabas (companions) about a time which will be full of fitnah, the Sahaba were concerned and said,  “What will be the way out Oh Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, “Hold on to the Book of Allah” in the time of fitnah, this is what you have to do. “In it is the narration of those who came before us and those who will come after us.”
More than 1400 years ago, we were warned, we were sent a final message of mercy to the whole of mankind, not to a selected few, but to the whole of the human race. During that period, rivers have changed directions, civilizations have fallen and others have risen, languages became extinct and the miracle that we have forgotten is that for more than 1400 years, not a word, not a letter, not a dot has changed in the Book of Allah (Subhan wa ta’ala).
Our greatest tragic dilemma is the ignorance of our roots, the reason of our purpose in this temporary dunya (life). We choose our battles, we choose our direction, we choose what we stand for and we cannot lay blame to anyone or anything other than ourselves.  Do not fall prey to the power of deception; do not fall for the cunning tricks. No one can be forced into the wrong path, no one can be forced to do wrong, it is the influence of free will that drives us to disobey.
“He who does not live in the way of his beliefs starts to believe in the way he lives.” ― Umar ibn Al-Khattab


We live in the most amazing of times ever since the mercy to the whole of mankind, the last and final Prophet Muhammad, May peace and blessings be upon him. We are witnessing verse after verse of the Holy Quran before our very eyes, a sign, a warning of what has come and what is about to occur, yet we fail to embrace the times and we are waiting on the sideline afraid to speak, in fear of the creation while neglecting what matters the most which is the Creator.
What is wrong with us? And when I look at the Arab world in particular, I wonder, what has become of us?
Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) said "Indeed Islam began new and strange and it shall return as it began - new and strange. So glad tidings to the strangers." (Muslim) It was asked, "And who are the strangers?" Rasool Allah said, "Those who are far away from the tribes." (Ibn Maajah)
And indeed this is the case today whether we want to acknowledge the fact or neglect it.
History repeats and in particular the last century with the mass media and technology the Arab and Islamic world has been humiliated.. why? We have been labelled with every label possible known to mankind since the dawn of time and only once and a step back in time did we once have our honour.
Usamah ibn Zayd: 'The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, 'Do you see what I can see? I see the places of tribulation amidst your homes just like the places of raindrops as they fall (on the earth).'
And so begins our decline, unless we start treading in the right direction again.
“And whosoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed”… “And whosoever does not rule by what Allâh has revealed, such are the disbelievers (Kâfirûn)”

Did Allah Subhan wa ta’ala tell us to create and follow man made laws?  Are there instructions in the Quran or in any hadith to create or implement other laws other than what Allah Subhan wa ta’ala ordained? Are there different instructions depending on the century we are born in and on the technology achieved?
People give excuses today, they say times are different; we live in a different era, with all this technology. But we as people have never really changed. We still contain the same feelings, same pain, same hearts, the same loss, same happiness, a soul. The physical appearance of the world may have changed but we as people are the same from the beginning of time to the end of days.
I recently read, “The Way Out of Tribulations” by Shaykh Muhammad Isma'il al-Muqaddam which made me stop and think and it is of the utmost importance to share. We like to claim and perceive that we are Muslims so here are some of the questions raised and questions I hope we will start asking ourselves.
“Do we believe in Allah and that He is the Creator? And do we believe that He knows what was and what is, that he is most knowledgeable about creation, that he knows mankind, what is good for him and what is bad? And do we believe that he sent the Messenger Muhammad (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) with guidance and truth, and revealed to him this Qur'an in which there is guidance for mankind to set right by it both their religion and their worldly affairs? “As for thief, both male and female, cut off their hand.” Do we believe that this verse is truly from the Qur'an? Then how much then will we ignore it? What then is our law?”
This is just an example I am relating. We have no excuses. The time has come to speak the truth and end this act of spinelessness. We are on this earth for a reason, not for treason and if we continue on this path we will fall like the people of Thamud, Ad, Al Rass, like the people in the time of the Prophet Lut (AS) to name a few.
So what is the matter with us? Be proud of what we are, be proud of what we must recite, what we must relate and stand firm with the truth whether the creation likes it or not and remember …..Worship the Creator not the creation.
WE WILL REMAIN WEAK AS LONG AS ISLAM COMES SECOND.

If we want to move on

No human is above criticism. Criticism is the main way in which we improve. One of the reasons that countries like the United States have so many more achievements than the Arab world is because they allow for constructive criticism and because people want to constructively criticize.

One of the obstacles in the Arab world is that people have not learnt how to constructively criticize and most only want to destructively criticize because they are power hungry, selfish, jealous, and those in power don't want to be criticized and certainly not destructively because it exposes what they feel is their  incompetence where in fact it is not. 

 

It is opinions that make the world we live in today, as well as faith and ideas and every person is entitled to a say in how they feel will improve the way they live. Courage is to criticize and this, if tackled in the right manner, makes people generally feel positive about the future. It gives them hope which is what they need. Without hope, there is no strength.

Today we are facing trials and tribulations, disputing amongst ourselves, when we are all fighting for the same thing, we just don't realize it yet. We look upon ourselves as victims of a divide-and-conquer strategy, demoralized however if we look at the picture realistically, we only have ourselves to blame. Why? Because we allow others to run our affairs, we bend over backwards into submission thinking that its the only way to survive when in fact it is not. 

It seems we respect opinions of others who have a greater say in our affairs even when they have never set foot on our soil guiding us on how to run our affairs, how we should live and the policies we should adhere to when they don't even understand us, if at all. How many reading this think it is the correct way of running our affairs when we have the greatest role models that have walked the face of the earth as examples?

The Prophets of Allah (SWT) are the greatest men that ever lived. They are the real role models for humanity. Their hearts were the purest, their minds were the wisest, and their deeds were the most righteous. Where have we lost our way?

The Prophets used to confront the particular problem with society directly and upfront which people at the time, like today, don’t like. But they were persistent and they eventually despite the hardships they went through, succeeded. In this day and age, like people of the past, they seem to think that it is wrong for anyone in particular a “loyal” person to criticize government or any ally, for that matter, and that it is better to talk in ridiculous superlatives about leaders and historical figures.

Many today prefer to deal with hypothetical problems that are irrelevant and don't even exist yet fail to confront the issues at hand. Every corner of the world has certain problems, however everyone deals with their problems differently and we should respect others decisions and not interfere in their affairs.

We have been blessed with the greatest role models, yet we have failed to learn. Ignorance has solved nothing and arrogance leads to misunderstandings, and we like everyone else have the right to deal with issues our way and I can only blame us if we allow others to dictate.

We fail to hesitate when confronting and pointing out other society mistakes and problems, yet we have major issues when confronting our own.  The easiest thing is to tell people what they want to hear while neglecting what they don’t want to hear. How does that set the standards of society? Society becomes superficial, deceiving and in my opinion, dangerous, like a bubble about to burst at any moment. We need to get back in touch with reality and admit the problems we face today are in a way our own creation.

Human nature, people in general naturally don’t like someone telling them that they are wrong and prefer to be around people that make them feel comfortable however the question I feel the need to raise is where is the truth if any in that? And where is the loyalty to oneself or to the person or people in question in lying just to make them feel comfortable? How does that solve problems? How does that develop the nation? How does that affect people that are not in position and would appreciate a say.

I disagree with those who prefer to live in a façade, the only way to combat and fight for what you believe in is by being honest and truthful to your beliefs and opinions. The only way to combat the problem at hand is to face them and not avoid them. Avoidance has never solved anything, reality and confrontation has.

What an unfortunate time we live in. If we want to be true to Allah (SWT) and to ourselves and if we want people to change for the better we have to first talk about the wrongs in our society not others regardless of who we constructively criticize and to be truly loyal we must first be loyal to the truth. If we can't do that then we live with no loyalty in life at all... where is the loyalty in lying? Where is the loyalty in deceiving ourselves and others along the way?

We have a problem today where we say one thing yet do another. We all claim to believe in Allah (SWT) yet in order to truly mean it; we must follow the law of Allah (SWT). How many people do that today? Not many unfortunately, we have lost our roots, and even when some of us would like to, society does not allow it. There will always be people that have a problem when they say one thing yet do another and that’s when it allows others to question our beliefs and our faith and draws up borders and disputes between us.

What a world we live in, what an era and time where we have lost our way. We constantly claim in the name of our religion, yet if we want to be true to Allah (SWT), Islam and to ourselves and if we want people to change for the better we have to first talk about the wrongs in our society not others regardless of who we constructively criticize and to be truly loyal we must first be loyal to the truth. If we can't do that then we live with no loyalty in life at all... there has never been loyalty in lying.

 

If we want to move on, don't look at the beginning, don't look at the middle, look at what will happen if we change ourselves, in the end...