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Question: What is in our hands to do?

January 4, 2022

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What Can We Do About the Ummah's Reality?

Peace be upon you, my brothers. Whenever we discuss the corruption of Muslim lands, the spread of vice and immorality, and the rulers' disregard for their people, a group of brothers always asks, "So what can we do?"

What is required of you, my brother, is to turn your frustration with these conditions into a driving force to reform yourself, those for whom you are responsible, and strive to reform your society to clear your conscience before Allah. You may not like this advice because you see it as ineffective, but let me ask you: what kind of result are you expecting? You will say, "Change in reality."

The Ultimate Goal: Obeying Allah, Not Worldly Results

Assume that reality does not change. Isn't the most important thing to obey your Lord, Glorified and Exalted be He? It is unreasonable for Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, to see you in this bad situation while you are preoccupied with sins or trivial matters, and then you say, "What can I do?"

Even if reality does not change, what is required of you is reform and forbidding evil, perhaps Allah will have mercy on you if punishment descends. Allah, the Most High, says: "But when they forgot the warning they had received, We rescued those who forbade evil and seized the wrongdoers with a terrible punishment for their wickedness." If this does not satisfy you, know that you have a problem; because your highest goal is not Allah's pleasure, but you want to see tangible worldly results. Nevertheless, I tell you: reform changes reality, and the people of injustice feed most on our frustration, despair, and hopelessness.

Shortcomings in Our Daily Lives

You may say, "This talk about sins and evil is for those who commit major sins, but what about us, the people of religion? What should we do?" Look at our reality:

Severing Family Ties: Poor relationships and feuds. If one of us reads a verse about maintaining family ties, he says to himself, "O Lord, except for my brother, I will not forgive him, exempt me from this." Then we ask, "What should we do?"
Immorality in Disputes: More than thirty verses in the Quran about the etiquette of divorce and warnings against harm, and our Lord, Glorified and Exalted be He, warns against using divorce rulings to cause harm and calls it mocking His verses: "And do not prevent them from marrying their former husbands if they agree together in kindness. That is what Allah's servants are commanded with. Whoever transgresses beyond this, it is the wrongdoers who harm themselves. And do not take the verses of Allah in mockery." Nevertheless, during divorce, we see lies, harm, scandals from both parties, and incitement from relatives, then we say boldly, "What should we do?"
Professional Integrity: Employees justify their lack of work proficiency with low salaries, and business owners cheat people out of their wages, forgetting that "the merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful."
Etiquette of Disagreement: When we discuss a political issue concerning the Ummah, our hearts harden against each other, so we slander, accuse, attribute motives, and become biased, and we do not prepare for discussion with evidence and persuasion.

Shortcomings in Upbringing and Family Responsibility

Hijab and Modesty: We see a girl wearing tight clothes that reveal her body and calls herself a hijabi, and her father, brother, and husband watch this, then they talk about the corruption of the country and ask, "What should we do?"
Wasting Time: We drown in social media (WhatsApp, Facebook) and neglect our children, we do not have the patience to read an educational or historical book with them, and when they grow up and do not obey us, we lament and say, "What should we do?"
Elections and Interests: Some of us vote for representatives who approve of corruption, legalize the forbidden, and prohibit the permissible, just to be a "mediator" for them or to raise their family's name, then they complain about the loss of the country.

War with Allah: Usury and Mediation

There is unprecedented leniency towards usury, even though Allah has declared war on its people: "Therefore, announce a war from Allah and His Messenger to them." Nevertheless, those who buy a car or a house with usury see themselves as better than others because they do not drink alcohol, despite usury being one of the great sins.

Similarly, we support injustice and its people, and we feed our children cowardice instead of teaching them to forbid evil and to fear none but Allah, then we wonder about the solution. Even in our call, hypocrisy enters; we care more about the number of "likes" and shares than the sincerity of our work for Allah.

A Rule in Dealing with Oneself

Our Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Humiliation and belittlement are decreed for those who disobey my command." Take this as a rule: if you want to think ill of someone, think ill of yourself, and beware of thinking ill of Allah and assuming that we are "righteous" but Allah has not given us our right (far be it from Him, Glorified be He).

Yes, there is good in us, but do not boast of this good to Allah: "They favor you by saying, 'We have believed.' Say, 'Do not favor me with your belief. Rather, Allah favors you by guiding you to believe, if you are truthful.'" Al-Hasan al-Basri said, "The believer combines goodness and mercy, and the hypocrite combines evil and security."

Conclusion: The Path to Empowerment

We must know that our sins contribute to the state of humiliation we live in, so let us be ashamed of ourselves and refuse to contribute to this humiliation.

Every time we talk about this, someone says, "Leaving sins is not the solution, the solution is in jihad," and another comes to refute him, and we enter into verbal battles that waste the issue; so no one fights, and no one leaves a sin. If we want Allah to bless our societies with jihad and empowerment, let us first fight ourselves to deserve this honor.

Please, let no one say after today, "What can I do?" For we have much in our hands, but the matter requires determination and sincerity with Allah.

Peace be upon you.