Be the change!

لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّـهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ ۗ وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّـهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا 

فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ وَالٍ 

For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah. Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.

Everything good and bad that we encounter in our lives is decreed to happen but those who understand the Message of Allah can comprehend the wisdom behind the trials and tests of life to an extent. For example, those who argue about the issue of destiny do not take any pain to understand that ultimately everything is in the Hands of Allah and one can never get hopeless if he has faith in the Mercy of Allah. 
This is where we need to understand the importance of being steadfast on deen and the power of dua. This is the point where one needs to acquire the knowledge of the Quran and the traditions of our Prophet to know the spirit of Islam. It is indeed a vast arena and indeed it is full of wisdom. 

We, due to our lack of understanding and knowledge of the Message of Allah, tend to have a very restricted vision, a tunnel vision of Islam. We see things as either black or white or we paint them all in the shades of gray. It does not work like that. 

When we study Islam, which is impossible without the in depth study of the Message of the Quran and Hadees, we start getting a beautiful vision of life and afterlife. We start understanding things better and more clearly. We do not become extremists in our thinking rather we understand that those who implemented the teachings of this beautiful religion were human beings just like us. They too made mistakes, they too had difference of opinions and they too fell short of their duties sometimes. Islam has not come to make angels out of human beings rather Islam is purely a natural way of life. 

It teaches us a simple lesson, do your best. 

While doing that we can fall short and in that case we must turn to Allah and seek guidance from His Message, the Quran and the wisdom which He sent through Muhammad, His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his descendants. 

In short, the only thing we need to understand as human beings and as Muslims is that we need to keep ourselves steadfast on the path of guidance and righteousness. We must always stand with Truth and Justice. We should maintain restraint and peace. 

Once we say that we believe in Allah and His Messenger we must try our best to follow the commandments of Allah. 

Prayer is the only obligation that we as Muslims should take care of daily. Prayer is the line of control that sets a border between belief and disbelief. Once we have declared that we are Muslims and that we believe in Allah and His Messenger then it is an obligation upon us to follow the commandments of Allah in our life. We may fall short of our duties but we must have this in our hearts that every time we fall we have to rise again and seek the help of Allah to guide us and keep us steadfast on our deen. 

Even while doing things that require us to sacrifice the safety of our homes and routine life we should make sure that we do not neglect this duty. It helps us in ways we cannot imagine. A praying Muslim is even stronger and there is a certain grace and awe that he adorns due to his prayers. He is showing humility in front of the Most High and in turn Allah gives him strength and elevates him in the eyes of others. Allah puts fear in the hearts of his enemies and this person feels strength of iman to fight the falsehood. 

Today’s scenario of injustice and oppression is indeed saddening and many innocent people have gone through unimaginable pain and hardship through the hands of those who have no heart and no conscience. In these hard times we must hold on to the rope of Allah more firmly and increase our prayers and duas. 

We should focus more on the quality of our prayers and our connection with Allah. Keep making dua in every situation. Talk to Allah. Try to be regular in your prayers and not to miss them intentionally. We are taught by our Prophet the fear prayer even at the times of war. So there is no excuse for missing prayers. We are asking Allah to help us and He will help us when we will help ourselves through a stronger Faith.
  
And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good. (26:69)

Now is the time to turn to our Creator, Allah. Now is the time to open the Quran and understand the Message of Allah to seek strength and invoke Allah to send His help. Allah helps those who help themselves. 

And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives. (53:39)

I pray that every one whether a Muslim or a non- Muslim gets the Guidance from Allah and becomes the standard bearer of Truth and Justice in these trying times.