APM: Finding Hope, Fighting the Tide, and Old Chestnuts

Allah

FINDING HOPE

The internal and external hardships of life are becoming increasingly more difficult.

When it feels like your world is spinning uncontrollably and you’re flung into the void, desperate for gravity but can’t get a foothold, remember that gravity is dependent, just as you are.

Every creation needs Allah. Therefore, finding hope is finding Allah and clinging tightly. So tight that we leave no space between.

Many struggles are self-induced. But many are not.

Rejoice! Allah supports them both.

Allah forgives and bestows mercy for whatever we’ve wrought. Not only does He turn it to nought, but He also turns it to good. And Allah strengthens us to face the world in all its shades.

So, beware the space between. Surely, it will wear you out and leave you hopeless.

So, leave no space between, and you will nurture boundless hope.

The Prophet (s)

FIGHTING THE TIDE

The idiom “Only dead fish go with the flow” is only partially accurate.

Fighting the tide is not always the way. But neither is passive conformity.

And sometimes, what seems like going with the flow is, in fact, fighting the tide. That’s because the dominant culture is antagonistic to our nature, and swimming in an artificial stream actually wears us out.

Our responsibility is first to assess whether the flow is good or bad. Hence, the departing question should be: What’s the nature of the flow? Does it align with the higher good?

And if you discern that you must resist, know that negative flows can be overwhelming, especially when one is not sure-footed in stepping against powerful currents.

To learn how to secure your step, you must become intimate with the prophetic path. But you must be under no illusions about the arduous nature of the way of God’s Messengers: “And so We have made for every prophet enemies—devilish humans and jinn—whispering to one another with elegant words of deception” [6:112].

Even then, there’s no greater course than walking in the footsteps of the Prophet (s). Because to walk in his footsteps means walking with God. And walking with God gives us the strength and resilience against any opposition.

Should you find yourself sailing alone against the current, trust that Allah will support you as He supported His beloved Prophet. And when in doubt, always remember the most precious words of the Prophet (s) to Sayduna Abu Bakr (ra), his beloved companion, when they were being hunted and sought refuge in the cave of Mount Thawr: “Do not grieve, Allah is certainly with us” [9:40].

So set sail, knowing that Allah is with you, and that the prophetic stream provides the most harmonious flow for your nature, which leads to harmony with God.

Old Chestnuts

It has been more than two months since the drums of war began beating for Iran. And the reason for the drumroll: freeing the oppressed women from the Muslim barbarian clerics and their minions.

It’s such a worn-out Western banality. These old chestnuts can only get legs when backed by powerful PR. And the shameless Western press continues to oblige.

Since then, the US and Israeli regimes have been waging a war of aggression against Iran.

The lesson we must learn is that corporations, governments, and empires wield significant power, and it’s our duty to counterpunch.

We must educate, mobilise, organise, agitate, and build social movements to bulwark the populace against any entity that’s antithetical to our well-being.

And if we don’t, we will lose our agency, and every day, for the rest of our lives, we will be driven to and fro like cattle from our pens.

Until next week, InshaAllah

Zaahied Sallie

Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme

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