Sufferings of the Ummah

َلَنَبۡلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىۡءٍ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡخَوۡفِ وَٱلۡجُوعِ وَنَقۡصٍ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡأَمۡوَٲلِ وَٱلۡأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٲتِ‌ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ ∞ ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَـٰبَتۡهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ۬ قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيۡهِ رَٲجِعُونَ ∞ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ عَلَيۡہِمۡ صَلَوَٲتٌ۬ مِّن رَّبِّهِمۡ وَرَحۡمَةٌ۬‌ۖ وَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُهۡتَدُونَ∞

And definitely, we will test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives, and fruits (crops), but give glad tidings to the patient ones. Those who, when afflicted with calamity, say: “without a doubt! To Allah we belong and without a doubt, to him shall we return.” They are those on who are the Salawat (who are blessed & will be forgiven) from their Rabb, and they are those who receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided ones. 

Every other day, you turn the news on and like every other broadcast you’ve seen; the endless reports of bombing in Gaza, Israel, Iraq, and any other Muslim land under attack never seems to diminish. But what I find amusing is our response to suck news every single time. We gape helplessly at the screen, blink our eyes in disbelief and feel sorrowful for a moment, but as soon as the horrible images of blood and death pass by and our favorite TV show airs, we forget about the sufferings of our Muslim brothers and sisters across the ocean and watch with shameless pleasure. We can never feel their sufferings and we can never fully empathize with them because we live such pampered lives and have not suffered like them. 

But I ask you, what has lowered the Muslim Ummah from being the most respected nation to grace the earth to being the most humiliated people, the most weak and vulnerable, so defeseless… what caused the decline of our Ummah? Did the kuffar really just aim their arrow at a strong and sturdy army or did they aim to cause disorder into an already crumbling nation?

I believe that the Muslims have caused this adversity upon themselves. We have failed to follow Allah’s commandments. We have lost our trust in Allah’s book just like the nations before us; we have become a nation of doubt, questioning the Quran. Just look at the youth of today and their questions. What do they ask about most of the time? “Is it haram to…” If they truly believed in Allah’s book without any doubts, there would be no need to ask doubtful questions. And because of the generation falling into doubt and Muslims claiming to be Muslims but not practicing their deen, the Ummah faces a fast paced decline and such unimaginable humiliation. We are treated worse than animals and are denied our basic rights where ever we go. We’ve become so vulnerable and unable to fight for ourselves. 

We have lost all the Izzah (dignity, honor, respect) our forefathers so valiantly and bravely fought for upon the Muslims lands whose soil has been fertilized by their blood in hopes of protecting and preserving the next generations of Muslims. If they were to witness the happenings of today and see our condition, imagine what their reactions would be… They’d probably die from a heart attack on spot. Is this what they sacrificed their lives, time, tears, and blood for? So their children would turn away from Islam and question Allah’s book and disobey his commandments?

We have given them the chance to attack us we have opened the doors for our Ummah’s destruction. The same nation that suffered humiliation under the hands of Hitler has now become the oppressor. The oppressed became the oppressors. Has not history repeated itself? The saying is no myth. The tables have turned and now, it’s up to the Muslims to turn the tables again and through dua’a, repentance, and patience through seeking help directly from Allah and not the people of the world who are not going to do anything to make it better for us. We need to work on reviving our deen and reinstalling Imaan in our hearts and tighten the rope of connection with Allah, our Creator, only then will we be successful.