Edition #10, March 27th, 2021

Assalamu’alaykum, First name / friend, may peace be upon you.

We boast our wealth and think this is all there is to life—competing one another in who ends up having the most money, the fanciest cars, the biggest mansions and the most heirs. Our entire education is based around and for the fact that at a certain inevitable point in our lives, we must surrender ourselves to society and spend majority of our waking hours trying to earn as much money as possible. As children, we are groomed to “fit in” better. We bend and twist our beings as much as possible in order to mold ourselves into a person “worthy” of a place in society. We are pit against each other in this endless race of securing the topmost seat in the social hierarchy.

This world that we cling to so fiercely, it doesn’t really belong to us. We are told this multiple times in the Qur’an and yet, for some reason, we continue to grasp onto this temporary life. Everything around us, be it our homes, our family, our possessions, all of it will eventually leave us, or we will leave it.

More often than not, we find ourselves compromising on our cultural, religious and moral values for the sake of “keeping up”. We choose not to indulge in anything that may reveal the things we believe in. Rather, we begin to despise our roots because society tells us that our beliefs are derogatory.

How is it fair that we must abide to things that publicly reveal our identities, when our identities are the very things that alienate us from the crowd? You can spot a hijab-wearing woman from a mile away and know immediately that she is Muslim. You will know right away that you’ve come across a Muslim man, as he bows and prostrates.

Being a practicing Muslim in a world that continuously accuses our religion of monstrosity and savagery is extremely difficult. Our beliefs are questioned and mocked, and people call it “freedom of speech”. The media jumps at any opportunity to call us terrorists and criminals. Sometimes, entire governments stop us from practicing our beliefs.

Amidst the horrors that surround us in our daily lives, we must remain steadfast and tighten our hold on the rope of Allah. Islam acknowledges the hardships you face on a regular basis. Allah sees how hard you try to be better for Him. 

He hears you whisper alhamdulillah after you sneeze. 

He notices the way your stomach grumbles with hunger when you fast. 

He feels your anxiety as you notice that you’re the only Muslim in the room. 

He watches over you lovingly as you go about your day despite encountering one obstacle after another. 

He sees the tears you hold back and the way your heart sometimes aches. 

For all that you do to make Him happy, He declares to you and promises:

“For them will be the Home of Peace with their Lord. And He will be their protecting friend because of what they used to do.” (6:127)

The Lord of the worlds, the One who maintains the galaxies above us, the One who sustains every single planet out there, the One who watches over billions and billions of beings, the One who directs the wind, the One who allows the leaves to fall and waves to rise and the One who monitors every single one of the millions of cells within every single form of life.

Allah handles plenty of things already but, He takes care of you too. He loves you in ways that you understand and the ones you don’t. I want you to imagine us tiny little specks in our ginormous, never-ending universe. We’re pretty much invisible, right? However, to Allah, we are significant and what we do is significant. In this unimaginably gigantic universe, He adores and cherishes us, protects us and helps us. For everything you do for His sake, He has the greatest of rewards in store for you. Hang tight!

“As for those who believe and do good, the Most Compassionate will [certainly] bless them with [genuine] love.” (19:96)

Yours,

Abeer Abbasi.

and all of us a part of the AlSalam Masjid Youth!

- Our Writers Squad -

 Anum Tayyab - Summer Siddiqui - Abeer Abbasi - Maryam Altaf