The state of the Ummah

When Muhammad (saw) visited Taif to give dawah, he was pelted with stones, so much that his shoes became filled with his own blood.

He didn’t blame the people of Taif, rather he asked Allah for Mercy and complained about his ‘weakness’.

At the battle of Uhud, when the Muslims were dealt a heavy blow by the army of the Quraysh, the Muslims didn’t accuse the Quraysh for the losses, they instead observed that the fault came from the disobedience of fifty archers who left their post.

Looking at the Ummah today, we have blamed everyone for our problems. We have blamed the West, we have blamed the East, we have blamed every cardinal point for our problems.

The one thing, or people we have refused to blame is ourselves.

The state of the Ummah today reminds us of the hadith of the Prophet which Thauban (ra) reports:

"It is near that the nations will call one another against you just as the eaters call one another to their dishes." Somebody asked: "Is this because we will be few in numbers that day?" He said: "Nay, but that day you shall be numerous, but you will be like the foam of the sea, and Allah will take the fear of you away from your enemies and will place weakness into your hearts." Somebody asked: "What is this weakness?" He said: "The love of the world and the dislike of death." (Abu Daud)

We wonder why this happens considering how the ranks of Islam are swelling every year, and the Hajj numbers are increasing. The truth is, we have reduced Islam to a bunch of rituals. We have reduced Ibadah to a to-do list where we strike out the things we’ve done, without it have any spiritual effects on us.

We have failed in our priorities.

The Kiswa (covering) of the Ka’abah costs up to 6 million dollars to make. Imagine how many people are freezing to death because they have no warm clothing. Let’s not talk about the starving.

We can't begin to mention places where there is suffering. We'd exhaust a huge chunk of the world by the time we finish.

But we forget what Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) said:  I saw the Prophet doing tawwaf (circumbulation) around the Ka’aba saying “How sweet/ good are you and how sweet is your scent. How great are you and how great is your sanctity. By the One who the soul of Mohammad is in His Hand the sanctity of a believer is greater with Allah than your sanctity” [Ibn Maja]

We need to start contributing to the growth of our deen, individually, or we haven’t even seen the worst.

“Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” [13:11]

May Allah give us the will to do what needs to be done.

The mistakes are mine and Allah knows best.