Why do organisations like MPACUK want me to do more?

Why should I take some time out and try to make a change to the norm? Why should I try to change the world? What can I do that hasn’t already been done before? What difference will a few minutes of my time make?

MPACUK want ME to activate and change my mosques. They want ME to try and tackle Islamophobia. They want ME to speak in defence of the Muslims massacred in Iraq, Palestine and elsewhere. They want ME to speak out in defence of Muslims held in captivity without trial. Isn’t that the job of activists? Do they really expect us all to become activists? Why don’t they just carry on doing it so that we can just get on with our lives? Don’t They understand?

I am a professional at work. My colleagues are envious of my expertise and knowledge. I am certainly good at what I do. I get up early and am punctual. I drive to my office and try to keep everything organised. I squeeze as much out of my day as possible using time management skills. At the end of the day I commute back to my home just in time for tea. I would consider myself successful. That is my work. Don’t they understand?

I also study part time. I am studying a subject that always interested me. I am enjoying gaining new knowledge and am getting high marks in my exams. I even scrape by with acceptable results in the areas that don’t interest me much so overall I am glad I will be better off with a certificate of higher education. It will advance my career. Those are my studies. Don’t they understand?

On certain days of the week I attend the gym or swimming pool. I also take part in a weekly five-aside match with my friends. I am not that great but I do it for the exercise mostly and it is enjoyable. I make sure I keep Friday nights free though. On Friday evening I take my wife out for a Meal. We join a couple of friends and visit a good quality restaurant. My wife thinks I eat too much but I love my food. That is my social life. Don’t they understand?

I learnt about Islam at mosque. I was taught to read the Holy Quran. I learned to pray Salah and I can observe the fasts during Ramadan. I have memorised a few Hadith and a few Surahs from the Quran and I will try my best to go and perform Hajj at least once in my lifetime. Isn’t that what Islam is all about? At least I make sure I perform my Friday prayer every week. That is my religion. I keep it separate from my daily life. Don’t they understand?

I don’t have time for anything else. My life schedule is busy. That is my mentality. Don’t they understand?

It all seemed clear to me. I thought I understood …….but something happened to change all that. I never thought it could happen to me. Someone close to  me died suddenly at a very young age. I was shocked. It wouldn’t even register at first. This was my life that been turned upside down. My sense of being had just been ripped to shreds. I kept on asking myself “Why?” and “How?”. At first I was angry with the doctors who were not able to save the precious little life. Surely they could have done more. I wanted to sue them.

Next I turned my anger on those that were close to me. Why had they let this happen. Why were they not more responsible? I was mourning for weeks. I could not concentrate on work. I stopped socialising and withdrew into a reclusive depressed existence. I was sure that nobody in the world had suffered more than I. This was surely the worst case of loss that anyone had suffered.

I was refusing to even eat properly. It was when I walked past my living room that something caught my eye. What attracted my attention was the image on the TV. I was looking at the body of a Palestinian child being carried away from a weeping and hysterical mother. I was suddenly awakened from my own sadness and for the first time in my life I watched the images in front of me in a different light. Instead of the routine cursory glance and feeling of distance I was suddenly quite aware of the amount of needless suffering going on in that region.

Again my first reaction was anger. Why were politicians letting this happen? How could such murder be committed? How could lives be ruined like this without intervention?. Why were families being torn apart just so that someone could have little more land? Next I started thinking about those that elect these leaders. How could they be so stupid to let such incompetent and greedy people rule them? I was also angry that most people in the West were not doing enough to help the poor Palestinians. I was thinking that at least the Muslims should have been doing something. There were hundreds of mosques. Couldn’t they form some sort of alliance. Couldn’t they apply political pressure? Surely they should at least be activating Muslims to do something?

That is when it dawned upon me that I was just as guilty as those “others” whose shoulders I was trying to lay the blame on. It was not the job of others but was really my own responsibility. There was much that could be done if we all worked together. We would only need to put in a few minutes each if we collaborated and used our numbers to effect change.

Unfortunately it took a personal tragedy for the plight of others to start meaning something to me. I thought I understood. Don’t let yourself be lulled into such a state of mind only to be awoken by a shock to the system like me. Just reflect on what you have and what you take for granted. If it was all suddenly taken away from you by force, how would you feel? Would you lose the will to live? Never let it come to that for yourself or for others.

Activism and striving for justice is not something separate. As a Muslim it is part of our daily existence. Only now I understand what the Mullah meant when he said Islam was a way of life and not just a religion. I now understand how numb my heart was to the suffering of others. The fallacy of separating my social life, my working, my studies and my religion is fast dawning on me. Only now does the saying of the prophet (SAW) mean something to me when he said that “you are not a true believer until you desire for your brother what you desire for yourself”

I had been blind, deaf and dumb yet I thought I understood. I thought I knew better. All this time I thought it was them who didn’t understand.

Only now I am sure that I was wrong. I understand that I never really understood. I also fear that there are too many others who are still asleep or deluded like I was. I fear that it will take something drastic to make them see the light. To them I plead “Please listen to the likes of MPACUK”. Every little effort does help the greater cause. Without the concept of the Ummah we have no life.

May Allah give us all the true understanding of his deen, Ameen!

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