It’s as though the essential Protestant ethos based on the notion that God dwells in each of us and must be served here first has prevailed even in the Muslim world. And then western Existentislism pushed this ‘self-absorption’ even further even to the way we see ourselves.
No need for churches or congregations then for us Christians (but we still want to have our weddings, christenings etc blessed in the church, thank you) and so our societies atomise. And as this happens social activism becomes more difficult to create and motivate. Most British Christians now are more devoted to their pet dog or their local shopping mall than to their local church.
So, if Muslims want to see what ultimately awaits them and their faith as they work away diligently on their own stairway to heaven they only have to consider the state of the Christian church in the West.
Great essay. I do think part of the struggle too for some is not whether to be an activist, but how?
What I’ve seen hold some people back has been not a lack of desire to help but a feeling of helplessness. I do think too this has roots in the neoliberalism you wrote about here-the belief that we are on our own, individuals, renders the individual feeling inadequately equipped against a larger systemic force orchestrating a genocide.
Subhanallah! What a great post. I would really like if you could focus on this epidemic of Selfish Islam that is now maligned within the Ummah, when and where did it come from?
I am from Nigeria and throughout this Genocide it didn't matter who i interacted with, family, friends and work colleagues were all completed disconnected spiritually from it, i was even engaged in an argument with someone who claimed that it was simply a struggle for land between the palestinians and the israelis and had no religious conotations, such ignorance! May the Almighthy guide us to be the change we want to see in our respective societies.
Thank you for this reminder. What pops up in my mind is that as Muslims we are called to help and support the ones nearest to us first, before we extend the range. This may look like mentally preparing our kids at home for what they might encounter in the outside world. Or being active and of service in your own neighborhood.
Whilst I appreciate your point of view, I would argue that an obligation for activism is appropriate with some of the people some of the time but it is certainly not a prescription currently for the whole Ummah all of the time.
There is the following Hadith
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Soon the best property of a Muslim will be a flock of sheep he takes to the top of a mountain, or in the valleys of rainfall, fleeing with his religion from tribulations.”
and also from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), which says that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “Which of the people is best?” He said, “A man who strives in jihad for the sake of Allaah with his wealth and his self.” He asked, “Then who?” He said, “A believer in a mountain pass who worships Allah and leaves the people alone.”
Thus, if being amongst the tribulations of this world disrupts our own equilibrium and infects our souls with similar tribulations like anxiety, hatred, anger etc, it can be better, in order to maintain our connection to Allah Almighty and protect our faith, to remain away from the fight.
This is not a cop out and it is certainly not neoliberalism to focus on the way in which Allah Almighty has tasked each of us, as individuals, to struggle with our own nafs (the "Greater Jihad") as they appear uniquely in each of our lives. We are not all tasked with fighting the big worldly fights with Donald Trump, Netanyahu or any other current despotic world leaders. For some the most important task is to settle a dispute with a family member, a neighbour or even a stranger who bumps into you on the tube or simply to attempt to control negative and destructive thoughts i.e. for most of us the struggle should be much closer to home.
"The Ummah" is a connection of spirit, not an intellectual instruction or order telling people how they should think or behave......it is a natural meeting of minds and hearts, like a flock of birds or shoal of fish.............when the time is right they all move in the same direction either to avoid danger or move towards sustenance and comfort, instinctively, without thinking, planning or scheming. The heart of each bird or fish is constantly with Allah, and yet they still move together. Similarly, when muslims and other sane people saw the destruction in Gaza, we all moved internally condemning Israels' behaviour in our hearts and these feeling have not gone away. These collective feelings are real and are having very real and positive effects in the world and will continue to do so, Inshallah. We have all been shown truths that perhaps we hadn't fully realised before and which cannot be forgotten, but Allah has not given many of us the means and ability to resolve these big injustices in the world. For some the changes may seem too slow which is perhaps harder for them to deal with, but we need to remind ourselves that Allah does have a plan for the benefit of all....................
There is a Hadith Qudsi, part of which says that one of the first people to receive judgment will be someone who died believing he was being a martyr but Allah Almighty drags him on his face into Hell saying that he lied and really died for the sake of others so that they would think him courageous.
This is a very sobering Hadith. Thus we must constantly examine our own individual hearts to make sure our actions are genuinely coming as a directive from Allah and not from our ego for some worldly benefit or simply on the instruction of others.
Whatever is happening in the world today and no matter how awful it appears, the fact is that we are all heading for very difficult times in the not too distant future, either from climate change and it's repercussions or from global wars due to diminishing resources. I do believe we are approaching the end times when each of us will be tested to our absolute limits. Whatever way we as individuals able keep our faith strong, either through external jihad or through internal jihad and prayer..........we must follow that path with all our hearts and minds for as long as Allah tells us to do so. Inshallah we will ultimately be successful and meet with other kindred spirits and loved ones in the worlds to come.
Great piece Mashallah. I was an activist for about 10 years of my life but my mistake was thinking I was a Marxist and forgetting Islam. As a result I associative activism with Marxist ideology and when I left that cult I left my activism. Since then I have struggled to engage in activism again mostly because what I see even amongst Muslim activists is huge amounts of ego as once again neoliberal ideology creeps in and we think of the self before anything else. The question becomes how do we move away from the western leftist model of activism that is built on the ego and move towards an egoless one? I don’t think the answer is simple given that western ways of being and western hegemony abound. May Allah guide us because I like many others have no clue how to proceed forward.
It’s as though the essential Protestant ethos based on the notion that God dwells in each of us and must be served here first has prevailed even in the Muslim world. And then western Existentislism pushed this ‘self-absorption’ even further even to the way we see ourselves.
No need for churches or congregations then for us Christians (but we still want to have our weddings, christenings etc blessed in the church, thank you) and so our societies atomise. And as this happens social activism becomes more difficult to create and motivate. Most British Christians now are more devoted to their pet dog or their local shopping mall than to their local church.
So, if Muslims want to see what ultimately awaits them and their faith as they work away diligently on their own stairway to heaven they only have to consider the state of the Christian church in the West.
Do they really want to be that powerless?
Thank you so much David, beautifully explained.
Great essay. I do think part of the struggle too for some is not whether to be an activist, but how?
What I’ve seen hold some people back has been not a lack of desire to help but a feeling of helplessness. I do think too this has roots in the neoliberalism you wrote about here-the belief that we are on our own, individuals, renders the individual feeling inadequately equipped against a larger systemic force orchestrating a genocide.
Jzk - thank you for your thoughtful comment. And I agree that helplessness is part of the problem. We probably need to organise workshops on activism.
Subhanallah! What a great post. I would really like if you could focus on this epidemic of Selfish Islam that is now maligned within the Ummah, when and where did it come from?
I am from Nigeria and throughout this Genocide it didn't matter who i interacted with, family, friends and work colleagues were all completed disconnected spiritually from it, i was even engaged in an argument with someone who claimed that it was simply a struggle for land between the palestinians and the israelis and had no religious conotations, such ignorance! May the Almighthy guide us to be the change we want to see in our respective societies.
Thank you for this reminder. What pops up in my mind is that as Muslims we are called to help and support the ones nearest to us first, before we extend the range. This may look like mentally preparing our kids at home for what they might encounter in the outside world. Or being active and of service in your own neighborhood.
MashaAllah, beautiful. Thank you mr. MUuhammad Jalal.
Whilst I appreciate your point of view, I would argue that an obligation for activism is appropriate with some of the people some of the time but it is certainly not a prescription currently for the whole Ummah all of the time.
There is the following Hadith
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Soon the best property of a Muslim will be a flock of sheep he takes to the top of a mountain, or in the valleys of rainfall, fleeing with his religion from tribulations.”
and also from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), which says that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “Which of the people is best?” He said, “A man who strives in jihad for the sake of Allaah with his wealth and his self.” He asked, “Then who?” He said, “A believer in a mountain pass who worships Allah and leaves the people alone.”
Thus, if being amongst the tribulations of this world disrupts our own equilibrium and infects our souls with similar tribulations like anxiety, hatred, anger etc, it can be better, in order to maintain our connection to Allah Almighty and protect our faith, to remain away from the fight.
This is not a cop out and it is certainly not neoliberalism to focus on the way in which Allah Almighty has tasked each of us, as individuals, to struggle with our own nafs (the "Greater Jihad") as they appear uniquely in each of our lives. We are not all tasked with fighting the big worldly fights with Donald Trump, Netanyahu or any other current despotic world leaders. For some the most important task is to settle a dispute with a family member, a neighbour or even a stranger who bumps into you on the tube or simply to attempt to control negative and destructive thoughts i.e. for most of us the struggle should be much closer to home.
"The Ummah" is a connection of spirit, not an intellectual instruction or order telling people how they should think or behave......it is a natural meeting of minds and hearts, like a flock of birds or shoal of fish.............when the time is right they all move in the same direction either to avoid danger or move towards sustenance and comfort, instinctively, without thinking, planning or scheming. The heart of each bird or fish is constantly with Allah, and yet they still move together. Similarly, when muslims and other sane people saw the destruction in Gaza, we all moved internally condemning Israels' behaviour in our hearts and these feeling have not gone away. These collective feelings are real and are having very real and positive effects in the world and will continue to do so, Inshallah. We have all been shown truths that perhaps we hadn't fully realised before and which cannot be forgotten, but Allah has not given many of us the means and ability to resolve these big injustices in the world. For some the changes may seem too slow which is perhaps harder for them to deal with, but we need to remind ourselves that Allah does have a plan for the benefit of all....................
There is a Hadith Qudsi, part of which says that one of the first people to receive judgment will be someone who died believing he was being a martyr but Allah Almighty drags him on his face into Hell saying that he lied and really died for the sake of others so that they would think him courageous.
This is a very sobering Hadith. Thus we must constantly examine our own individual hearts to make sure our actions are genuinely coming as a directive from Allah and not from our ego for some worldly benefit or simply on the instruction of others.
Whatever is happening in the world today and no matter how awful it appears, the fact is that we are all heading for very difficult times in the not too distant future, either from climate change and it's repercussions or from global wars due to diminishing resources. I do believe we are approaching the end times when each of us will be tested to our absolute limits. Whatever way we as individuals able keep our faith strong, either through external jihad or through internal jihad and prayer..........we must follow that path with all our hearts and minds for as long as Allah tells us to do so. Inshallah we will ultimately be successful and meet with other kindred spirits and loved ones in the worlds to come.
Great piece Mashallah. I was an activist for about 10 years of my life but my mistake was thinking I was a Marxist and forgetting Islam. As a result I associative activism with Marxist ideology and when I left that cult I left my activism. Since then I have struggled to engage in activism again mostly because what I see even amongst Muslim activists is huge amounts of ego as once again neoliberal ideology creeps in and we think of the self before anything else. The question becomes how do we move away from the western leftist model of activism that is built on the ego and move towards an egoless one? I don’t think the answer is simple given that western ways of being and western hegemony abound. May Allah guide us because I like many others have no clue how to proceed forward.