Define Yourself

We must define ourselves in life because all our attitudes and actions, what gives us meaning, depends on who we are. Allahﷻ made the laws that run this universe, including our world. They include the laws of physics which we call natural laws, but those are not the only ones. There are others, equally powerful, non-negotiable and inescapable, that govern and determine the success, influence, and happiness of human life. Those who learn those laws and operate according to them, can have as much success, influence and happiness as they wish.

Are we Spectators or Players? The difference is skin in the game. Spectators can watch, scream encouragement or abuse, wear T-shirts and caps, and discuss the game, but they have no impact on the outcome. They don’t decide who wins or loses the game, because they have no skin in the game. They don’t bleed for the cause. They don’t invest time, money, sweat and tears to help their side win. They just scream from the stands. That is our situation today. We don’t want to invest. We don’t want to bear inconvenience. We don’t want to stand in the street in rain or sunshine to make our voices heard. We want someone else to do it for us. We want someone else to lose their job, get doxed, get brutalized by the police, even go to jail for our cause. But we don’t even want to be seen with them. Yet we want our cause to win. Well, all I can say to you is, ‘Good luck’. Because you are going to need a lot of it. Allahﷻ created a world of cause and effect. Those who benefit from a rise in share price are shareholders in that firm. Not those who read the Financial Times but have no money in the firm. Invest in yourself, in your family and in your society if you want influence.

If you want power, start contributing. It is like a tweet by someone against BDS and the boycott campaign. It said, “I want to boycott everything made by Muslims. Can someone please send out a list?” Remember, we came to give. Not to take. Our teacher taught us, and we were supposed to teach the world. But we forgot the teacher and his teachings and started learning from others. We didn’t even have the sense to ask, ‘Who am I learning from? What is his interest in me? Why would he teach me anything to benefit me?’

In the life of every man and woman comes a time when a window opens, and they have a unique opportunity to make an impact and influence others. To succeed we need to anticipate, prepare for the opening and act with courage when our window opens. Our window is open now. Once the window is shut, our life is over, even if we remain alive. To live is not merely to draw breath. That’s to survive. To live is to create a legacy of honor.

We hear two statements from well-meaning but confused people regarding politics. ‘I am not interested in politics’ and ‘Politics is dirty.’ Well, guess what? As someone said, ‘You may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.’ It is like a deer saying, ‘I am not interested in the wolf.’ If the deer wants to survive and thrive, there is only one way; get interested in the wolf to influence him in its favor. That is what we must do with politics. Become interested, contribute, participate and become influential. As for politics being dirty, that is true as a description of the current state. But that doesn’t mean that it must necessarily remain that way.

Anything dirty remains dirty for one reason only and that is because those affected by the dirt choose to remain with the dirt. If those affected by dirty politics do what they do when they encounter dirt in anything else, the dirt will go the same way. So, let us complete that statement, ‘Politics is dirty’ and add, ‘but we are going to clean it.’ Believe me, it will happen. It is waiting to be cleaned. That cleaning can’t happen without us getting our hands dirty. But once we start washing, both the fabric of politics and our hands, will become clean. Politics is the art of influencing. Allahﷻ sent us to influence.

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ

A’al Imraan 3: 110 You are the best community ever raised for humanity—you encourage good, forbid evil, and believe in Allahﷻ.

Allahﷻ did not tell us to sit still and get used to corruption and suffer oppression in silence. It is not a sign of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly corrupt society. Allahﷻ told us that our job is to clean society from all kinds of evil and to promote all kinds of good. Good governance comes at the top of that list. Society can only be cleaned by insiders. By citizens. Participating in society does not mean only living in the place and buying and selling things. To participate is to be interested in the welfare of the place. That means investing time, energy, money, talent, and all kinds of resources to help to do whatever is necessary to ensure good governance. It means to cooperate and collaborate with others to make this happen. It means to make societal change both our long-term and short-term goal. We can and must move from a position of deciding which of two bad choices is the least harmful, to deciding which of two or more good choices is the most beneficial. It can happen but not without participation. We must play the game. Not just watch from the sidelines and brainwash ourselves that we can do nothing.

What is the role of Muslim citizens who live in democratic countries? Should they participate in government, from voting, to standing for election to discharging their responsibilities in different capacities in local and national government? Or should they abstain from doing any of these things. And if they should abstain, then how are they to ensure that their rights, needs, and issues are represented and addressed by a government that they did not elect or show any interest in? We have multiple examples of what happens when you refuse to participate in governance. None of them, good. It is not about political parties but about being interested in and being willing to contribute to the nation. We must understand that working to ensure good governance is the most important part of citizenship. That is the secret of power. Not merely casting our vote, important though that is, but standing for truth and justice, advocacy of worthy causes, helping the weak, volunteering our time and talents for the benefit of society and putting our money and effort where our mouths are when it comes to helping others. We, the people of the nation, through the ballot box have delegated the authority to run the nation to those we elected. But we retain responsibility for their success or failure. I recall my favorite quote, “We get the government we deserve”.

Changing society is not instant coffee. It won’t happen overnight. We have the example of the Seerah where with Rasoolullahﷺ at the helm and the best of all generations at his command, it took 23 years. Societal change is running a marathon. It is about the long haul. We must convince ourselves that our society needs change and that nobody else is going to do it for us. And get used to working for the long term and stop looking for instant rewards. Take the case of all the Sahaba who died before Fatah Makkah. Not one of them saw the victory of Islam. Musa’b ibn Umair, Abdullah bin Jahash, Sa’ad bin Mua’ad, Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib, Khadeeja bint Khuwaylid, Zaid bin Haritha, Ja’afar bin Abi Talib (RA), and many others didn’t see the victory of Islam, but they didn’t get tired, lose hope, despair, or stop or even slow their efforts for Islam. They continued with undiminished energy and dedication. And Islam was victorious because of them, and Allahﷻ is their witness.

مِّنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا۟ مَا عَـٰهَدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ فَمِنْهُم مَّن قَضَىٰ نَحْبَهُۥ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَنتَظِرُ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا۟ تَبْدِيلًا

Ahzab 33: 23 Among the believers are men who have proven true to what they pledged to Allahﷻ. Some of them have fulfilled their pledge ˹with their lives˺, others are waiting ˹their turn˺. They have never changed ˹their commitment˺ in the least.

Allahﷻ praised them and called them, ‘Ar-Rijaal’ – Real Men. People of honor who were true to their word and didn’t break their pledge. Our pledge with Allahﷻ is for life. Our Aakhira is the reward for that. How can we get tired? How can we give up when Rasoolullahﷺ never gave up and his Sahaba never gave up? He is our example and to that we must remain true.

Allahﷻ honored the Sahaba and said about their attitude in a time of danger:

وَلَمَّا رَءَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٱلْأَحْزَابَ قَالُوا۟ هَـٰذَا مَا وَعَدَنَا ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَصَدَقَ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَمَا زَادَهُمْ إِلَّآ إِيمَـٰنًا وَتَسْلِيمًا

Ahzab 33: 22 When the believers saw the enemy alliance, they said, “This is what Allahﷻ and His Messenger had promised us. The promise of Allahﷻ and His Messenger has come true.” And this only increased them in faith and submission.

We must realize that our task is to establish in our lives a system based on the worship of Allahﷻ and obedience to His Rasool, focused on benefiting all humanity. We must change the present system based on predatory capitalism and the worship of the self, to a system based on compassion and social responsibility. This takes time and sustained effort and investment of all our talent and resources in something which we truly believe is worth it. It is a generational project for which we must volunteer to go into the foundation to be buried, known only to the One to whom is our return. On our shoulders will stand future generations who will take it forward and see our vision to its fruition. But do we have a vision? That is the real question. This is what Rasoolullahﷺ had and his Sahaba understood and shared with him and that is what gave them the energy to continue in the face of apparently unsurmountable odds to keep contributing everything with unwavering sincerity and enthusiasm. That’s how they won, and history is witness. What are odds when the Creator of the Universe is with you?

In democratic societies citizens delegate authority. Not responsibility. If those to whom authority was delegated fail, it is the duty of citizens to take back the authority and delegate it to better people. We must realize that to give ourselves good government is our responsibility, not anyone else’s.

In conclusion I would like to state clearly and unequivocally that Muslims living in democratic countries must participate in government in every way knowing that it is entirely in keeping with Islam to do so. They must participate because Islam orders them to support all that is beneficial for everyone, Muslim or otherwise and to do that in a way that showcases Islam for the rest of the world. Muslims must participate in democracy, because it is only by participation that can we ensure that our interests are addressed, and our needs met. We have seen many examples of what happens when we don’t participate. We are used and discarded. That must not happen again.

That is the key. YOU MUST GO TO VOTE. Whether it is raining or not, whatever the situation is, you MUST GO AND VOTE. Remember this is the only opportunity that you have in a democracy to be heard, to influence your own future and to protect yourself from those who wish to hurt you. Remember, a party is not elected by the majority of the population of the country but by the majority of those who cast their vote. This is the key to modern democracies and the reason why we must vote. If you don’t enroll yourself and don’t go and vote, then don’t blame anyone else for the result. You are responsible, and you will pay the price.