How to develop Spiritual Resiliency in the face of an Ummah Calamity

Assalamu'alaikum,

We are witnessing a genocide & a humanitarian crisis unfolding in front of our eyes in Gaza.

We feel angry, numb, and helpless.

As Productive Muslims - what do we do?

Yes, we can make dua, protest, donate, lobby, educate, boycott, and run social media campaigns. However, we also need to think long-term. We must channel our short-term outrage to long-term development and eventual victory insha'Allah.

If history has taught us anything, we know that our Ummah can never be defeated; it may weaken, but it rises and becomes stronger than before.

The question is: What's our role in that rise?

One of the challenging aspects of dealing with calamities like these is that our brains are hijacked by the 24/7 news cycle with all the bloody images and videos. And when the news cycle stops, we forget and move to the next calamity or significant world event.

In 2021, during the last major Gaza crisis, I wrote an email titled "The Salahuddin Within You."

I made a plea in that email that we should channel the pain we are feeling as an Ummah to awaken the Salahuddin inside us by becoming better versions of ourselves: spiritually, physically, and socially.

As we witness in horror the events unfolding in Gaza today - I'm worried that we'll see a repeat of what we saw in 2021: outrage, protests, donations, and then we will go back to our slumber and sleep until the next major event.

Yes, we need the short-term outrage and the world to hear that we won't sit in silence as we see our brothers and sisters suffer (again). At the same time, let the painful memories from the events today burn in your memory and be a catalyst for you becoming a God-centered, purpose-driven, spiritually intelligent person who's an engaged citizen in the Ummah's success.

What does that mean? It means three things:

1. Have an abundance of hope - never lose hope in Allah's victory. Please read the remainder of surat AlBurooj that I started this email with to see the message of hope in the Quran.

2. Be God-centered/Hereafter focused - put your spiritual goggles on and recognize that there's ultimate Hikmah (Divine Wisdom) in what's happening, even if we cannot fathom it. Don't let the TV pundits and social media trolls put fear and doubt in your mind.

3. Have sincere intentions and work hard - what can you and your children do to be a reason for the Ummah's success and rise again? How can you develop yourself and your children - spiritually, physically, and socially - to be a reason for Allah's victory for our Ummah.

May Allah SWT give victory and tranquility to our brothers and sisters in Palestine, ease their pain, accept their martyrs, and help us become reasons for the Ummah's rise and victory and not the reason for the Ummah's failure and loss. Ameen.

Sincerely,

P.S. Below is an excellent article written by one of our certified partners on ten things you can do given the situation in Gaza: https://hakeemblog.substack.com/p/feeling-paralyzed-by-the-news-on?r=2ixo4m&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web