For Tayssir Safi – may Allah make me worthy of your love
and for Imam Zaid Shakir – may Allah grant you al-husna wa ziyada, ameen.
i hear claims of justice and ethics in every voice
and so i have taken it upon myself to listen
for those voices could be the voice of Khidr
and to say
to God
and to my selfish self
and to my friends and family
and to others who will hear
that we should not disbelieve in our Creator
or abandon the prayer
or abandon the fast
or drink alcohol
or talk about other people behind their backs in a manner that they would find displeasing
or leave the remembrance of God
or leave the Qur’an
or disrespect the Messenger of God, upon him and his family be blessings and peace
or disobey the Messenger of God, upon him and his family be blessings and peace
or eat unlawful meat
or eat food that will harm our spiritual state
or not be sensitive to the needs of others
or mistreat our parents
or mistreat our siblings
or mistreat our spouses
or mistreat our children
or mistreat the homeless asking for change
or forget about those who are suffering and oppressed
down the block
across town
in the woods
in Guatemala
in Egypt
in Gaza
in Pakistan
in Somalia
in Kashmir
in Chechnya
in China
in Syria
in Myanmar
in Chicago
in Oakland
in Washington D.C.
in Rio De Janeiro
in sweatshops, brothels, refugee camps, occupations, reservations, prisons, torture chambers, or even their own homes
and not forget that we have a responsibility as voters, consumers, taxpayers, givers of charity, and volunteers
to look into every moment and every word and every silence and every stillness and every action
and say “inni kuntu min al-dhalimeen [truly I am from amongst the oppressors]”
and to know that even if we become a mufti and shaykh al-tarbiya
this process will remain
and to hold fast to those who don’t just say this truth
but live it
and speak boldly from a similar realization
in order to free themselves from the Fire
because life is short and there is so much to do that we haven’t done
out of concern for all humanity, animals, earth, and sky
for the sake of clarity in a confused world
for the sake of grasping at shukr
for the sake of knowing that we are all
at every moment
in need of Allah’s Mercy
and that even if we were to become the qutb
there is still the chance that a hidden injustice
committed before we die
could cause Allah to turn away from us forever and ever
for none of us are guaranteed the Garden
and so we say
“Not yet, not yet”
and take ourselves to account
with every ounce of effort we have
striving for the maqam of mujahada and muhasaba
knowing that it will never be enough
and we will always miss something or forget something or make some mistake
and so we plunge ever deeper into the haqa’iq of raja’
which is the only thing that keeps us from dying on the spot
in the the hal of khawf
at the tajalli of al-‘Adl
A Mercy Case 
D, I see a certain desperation in your words at all the injustice there is in this world. I have also seen that trend in your posts in other forums. I can understand that since I went through a similar phase when I went back to Pakistan. There was so much that needed to be done, and so many people who needed help. And so many people who were corrupt, or standing in the way of that help. At the start all of it overwhelmed me, although I was very happy to be back home and among people and things I love.
But when I started seeing all the things that need fixing, I got overwhelmed. Especially when forums like Facebook and online news were also bombarding me with all that was going wrong in the rest of the world. But you cannot afford to let yourself be overwhelmed. If you do that, you become useless in the fight to make things a little better for people every day, since you feel so helpless yourself. Being overwhlemed distracts you since it shows you all the things you should be doing to help others. But when you get stretched so much you cannot make a difference in any thing. You have to concentrate on one or two things that you can do to make active difference. And then filter out all the other noise. Yes, still be a good human being. Give people help when they ask for it. Still protest at the wrongs of the world. But take a tiny step backwards from it all so that you can truly concentrate on the one or two projects you have chosen to make a difference.
And spend less time on Facebook or the internet in general. Not only do they distract, but the bring back the feeling of being overwhelmed.
al-salam ‘alaykum. Thank you for your concern. But I think you have misunderstood what this post is about. It is about witnessing how Allah is aware of everything, and will deal with everything with perfect justice, and how that means I cannot close my eyes at all, but rather simply work as hard as possible while hoping only in the mercy of God and not the efficacy of my work. May Allah make it easy for all of us, ameen.
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