The increasing devaluation of Muslim blood on a daily basis makes my heart sink; it feels like I am dead. My body seems like a straw in the crowd. Sometimes it feels like all this bloodshed isn’t even real, like it isn’t the blood of Muslims. I think this is a dream, that this world is nothing. If anyone has the right to live in this world, it’s only the oppressor. Even the religious scholars and pious people blame me, saying that all this is because of me. But sadly, they don’t understand that I am already dead. I am like a corpse lying on this earth. If someone could bury me in this ground, I would be grateful. My soul just keeps wandering in the air, causing me pain.
I am a writer, call me defeated or dead, it’s your right. People! I also want to be happy. I want to be as indifferent as my rulers. How peaceful must be the life of a ruler, where one sees and hears nothing beyond oneself and one’s family. But I am tired, not because of you, but because of my own soul. I wish someone would kill my soul.
You might know that sometimes a person dies before actually dying. Similarly, when one person dies, the whole society starts to die because of them, forming an insensitive society. Sometimes, I strengthen myself and become a stone-hearted person. Then I feel alive, but then my being alive makes me feel that society is dead. Whether my heart becomes soft or turns to stone, in both cases, society suffers. Just look at us, are we Muslims? How insignificant my thinking is that I view today’s Muslims’ faith with doubt, which also harms the Muslim society.
We have tried to hide Islam in caps, prayer beads, mosque minarets, Eid sweets, sacrificial meat, and long robes. And in our attempt to bury it further, we all, scholars, teachers, doctors, muftis, imams, and scholars, are helping others. So much is happening; Muslims are being humiliated in different ways every day, and the honour of Muslims is being put to sleep and comforted. Does anyone have the courage to mention jihad today? No, instead, they will be honoured by dying at the hands of their own Muslim forces. It will be called terrorism and extremism. Our enemy has succeeded; they have managed to label jihad as terrorism. Muslims are being taught peace and trapped in the web of love while countless bodies are falling.
Who is the terrorist? Are the bearded men portrayed as terrorists in dramas and on channels the terrorists? Your mind is lost! By God! Your thinking is being shaped to see these bearded men as terrorists. Just look at your clean-shaven, well-dressed rulers, if you have time, look at your writers, if you have time, look at your journalists and doctors.
If it occurs against the Rohingya in Myanmar, or in Gaza, Palestine, or Baghdad, Iraq, what is it? When Muslim women in Ghouta, Syria, or occupied Kashmir are violated, or when Bosnian Muslim children are cut into pieces by machines, what is it? And if even a single firecracker goes off in Europe, why am I blamed? Is there no value for our blood? Their roads, their cats and dogs are valued more than our bodies. Where are the Muslims? Are Muslims supposed to be like us, like me? Where is the problem? Why is it not being resolved? The armies of all our Islamic countries, by the grace of Allah, their performance and faith are a question mark! I feel like a corpse, a walking, eating, drinking corpse because life is something in which one lives and proves their existence. Perhaps I feel like this because I am an insensitive corpse that anyone can treat however, they wish.
I have a question for you too: am I the only corpse, or are you going through the same thing? I am afraid of such a life. If you are experiencing the same, then let’s die for the oppressed, helpless, and innocent children, sisters, and brothers in Rohingya, Gaza, Ghouta, Yemen, and occupied Kashmir. Otherwise, their heartbreaking cries and screams have reached the heavens, and it was in response to these cries that this unseen virus, Corona, came after us. For a while, everyone was paralyzed with fear. Such a wave of fear spread that the busiest streets of New York, Paris, and London became deserted. Mosques and other places of worship had to be closed, entry to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina was forbidden, and the annual pilgrimage was banned because death was in sight. Everyone prayed fervently, but as soon as the pandemic was controlled, our actions inclined even more towards disobedience. The catastrophic scenes in Gaza have not ended yet, but our ruling elite announced a holiday across the country to remind us that it was on this day that we became a nuclear power. But what can I do when I look at the message of the Quran, a shiver runs through my body because my Allah SWT says:
وَمَالَكُمْ لَا تُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاءِ وَالْوِلْدَانِ الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْ هَـٰذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ الظَّالِمِ أَهْلُهَا وَاجْعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيًّا وَاجْعَل لَّنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ نَصِيرً
And what is [the matter] with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children who say, “Our Lord, take us out of this city of oppressive people and appoint for us from Yourself a protector and appoint for us from Yourself a helper?” (Sura Nisa:75)
Try to understand the ground realities. Divine help neither came during the time of Spain, nor to save the Ottoman Caliphate, nor to prevent the establishment of Israel, nor to stop the apocalyptic scenes in Gaza. It did not come during the time of the Babri Masjid, nor during the times of Iraq and Syria, nor during the massacre of innocent Muslims in Myanmar’s Rohingya, nor during the time of Gujarat, nor for Kashmir. Yet, people continue to call for divine help while sitting in their homes and mosques. Divine help came in the Battle of Badr when 313 faced 1000 on the battlefield. Divine help came in the Battle of the Trench when the beloved of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), tied two stones to his stomach and dug the trench himself, and descended onto the battlefield. Divine help came in Afghanistan when hungry and thirsty Muslims, in a state of destitution, descended onto the battlefield.
Wearing expensive clothes, amassing wealth, sitting in luxury air-conditioned cars (using products made by the same disbelievers), with the desire to bow and kiss people’s hands, with the desire for applause and admiration, sitting on the pulpits of mosques and cursing, waiting for divine help? Satisfied with the system of the tyrants, and then waiting for divine help?
Instead of striving to establish the system of Allah and His beloved Prophet (PBUH) on Allah’s land, just reciting na’ats, (Appreciation of the Messenger) holding Milad gatherings, or rotating prayer beads a million times, and waiting for divine help? Confining the universal religion to a few acts of worship and waiting for divine help? Instead of making oneself and other Muslims warriors, becoming caretakers, filling the belly, growing fat, and waiting for divine help? Staying away from jihad for the sake of Allah and the spirit of martyrdom, and watching the oppression and tribulation on Muslims, praying “Oh Allah, drown the enemy. Oh Allah, destroy the enemy. Oh Allah, help the oppressed. Oh Allah, guide the enemies, and if there is no guidance in their fate, then drown them,” and being content with such prayers, swallowing food and sleeping soundly, waiting for divine help? Putting everything on Allah and withdrawing oneself, waiting for divine help?
Fearing and avoiding descending onto the battlefield, waiting for angels to descend from the heavens to help Muslims? In such a situation, only punishment will come, which we are already suffering in the form of unwise rulers, malevolent officers, hoarding, profiteering, lying, short-selling, adulteration, selfishness, and other economic and social evils! Awaken from the slumber of ignorance, turn to our gracious Lord with knowledge, character, and continuous struggle, and seek help.
I urge you to read my plea carefully so that you may join me in this appeal. Also, pray for my troubled heart that my Lord saves me from being ashamed before the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on the Day of Judgment. Ameen.
Thursday 6 June 2024
