UNSPEAKABLE TRAGEDY AND THE CONDITION OF OUR UMMAH
I think there’s a place in the human mind where we hide when there’s nowhere left to go. And perhaps
there’s a part of the human heart where we relive forever unthinkable tragedy. However, for the
people in Syria and Palestine today, that tragedy is not just an image of the mind or heart; it is the only
reality they know.
As I stand helplessly watching the carnage in these lands, I too find myself unsure of where to go. I
look for a place inside my mind, a place where I can make sense of the senseless and imagine that it
isn’t really happening. I drift between sadness, anger, depression, and back, but in the end I return to
one relentless question:
Why?
Why is this happening to us? Why are we suffering all over the world? Why are we so helpless to
stop it? Why are we so politically powerless in the very country we are citizen to? Why do we
scream at the top of our voices, writing letters and calling representatives in the White House, only to
have them continue mantras like: “Israel has a right to defend itself?” Why are we at this point? Why?
We have to ask why.
We have to stop and really examine where we are as an ummah (nation) and what we have become.
There was once a time when Muslims were revered in the world, a time when we were loved by our
friends and feared by our enemies. Today we have become the most targeted, vilified, and hated
group in the world. In a recent Gallup poll, more than half of Americans said their opinion of Islam is
“not too favorable” or “not favorable at all”, and 43 percent admit harboring at least “a little”
prejudice against Muslims—more than double the percentage reported towards Christians, Jews or
Buddhists.
However we are not just hated. In many places, we are being tortured, killed, and stripped of our
belongings. Where we are not physically targeted, we are stripped of our rights, falsely accused, and
even falsely imprisoned. In fact, the widespread hatred of Muslims has become so deep that anti-
Muslim rhetoric has become the accepted bigotry of choice. It is so accepted that it is even used by
some people to get ahead politically.
This situation that we as an ummah find ourselves in was described in detail more than 1400 years
ago. The Prophet Muhammad said to his companions (radi Allahu `anhum): “The people will
soon summon one another to attack you as people, when eating, invite others to share their food.”
Someone asked, “Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?” He replied, “No. You will
be numerous at that time: but you will be froth like that carried down by a torrent (of water), and
Allah will take the fear of you from the hearts of your enemy and cast al-wahn into your hearts.”
Someone asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what is al-wahn?” He replied, “Love of this dunya and
hatred of death.” [An authentic hadith recorded by Abu Dawud and Ahmad]
Just as the Prophet predicted, the people have indeed summoned one another to attack us just as
someone invites others to share their food. In this hadith, the Prophet also describes us as
becoming like the froth on the water. If you watch waves flowing in the ocean, you’ll see that the thin
layer of froth on the top is completely weightless and with little substance; the slightest breeze can