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Just stop complaining

By Nayala Rehmat

Something I personally can’t stand is ‘self pity’, particularly when I see it in the Muslim ummah. Frankly many of us Muslims are so good at it that we’ve got ourselves in to such a habit we know nothing else. If it’s the sad state of personal affairs or national and international problems, we Muslims know how to wallow in our own self pity. If anyone wants to learn the art of self pity then please look to the Muslims we seem to be experts in it!

We criticise the lack of opportunities for our youth here in Britain, we criticise the poverty many Muslims live in, here in Britain and elsewhere across the world. Yet what do we actually do about it? Very little.  We look back at the height of the Islamic empire and high culture when Muslims were the leading philosophers, scientists and technological innovators, and then we compare it to our situation now and we truly begin to feel dejected. Once the most highly educated sophisticated and wealthy (morally as well as materially) peoples in the world.  Now in Britain the Muslim community is nearly always at the bottom of the ranking in terms of education, employment, health wealth and influence.

What we’re good at is blaming America and Israel for all our problems. We are particularly good at believing in conspiracy theories which lay all the blame with Israel or the Americans. The American and Israeli governments may have a lot to answer for, but frankly they are not the only ones to blame. In fact we need to look a bit closer to home; we need to look at the Muslim Ummah and our actions.

“What ever good happens to you is from Allah; and whatever misfortune smites you is because of your own action”.

Surah 4 verse 79

Self pity and dejection are aspects of human nature, we all get depressed. However the despair and hopelessness that Muslims seem to be falling prey to have no place in the Islamic ethos. We have been given guidance by the Qu’ran and the model of the Prophet peace be upon him. In times of great hardship the Prophet, peace be upon him turned to Allah and the Qu’ran with great hope. We need to follow this example. There are certain characteristics which the Muslim people have been endowed with due to the philosophy of Islam; hope is one of the most valuable characteristics a Muslim could possess. In times of great hardship hope in Gods plan and hope that anything anyone, any group or any nation throws at us will be because Allah has willed it so, are very important and powerful attributes we Muslims should possess. However with hope comes responsibility, one cannot just have blind hope we need to take action too.

“Verily Allah does not change a peoples condition unless they change their inner selves”

Surah 13 Verse 11

One of the reasons why the Muslim world fell in to depravity and enslavement by the Europeans is due to its passiveness. Muslim leaders became self-satisfied, proud and pompous they became so drunk in their own wealth that they became passive. We need to change that. We cannot improve our situation until we endeavour to strengthen it ourselves.

We as Muslims living in Britain need to become proactive we need to move out of the ghetto mentality and engage in our communities and our nation. We need to become an intelligent educated and versatile community. We need to become more active and take with both hands the halal opportunities that this society has to offer. This means changing the very mentality of our community which is so ingrained in un-Islamic cultural practices which hinder our development and success.

We need to begin by education, we need to educate ourselves and our children first in Islam, ‘if we do not know where we come from we will never know where we’re going’. (Maybe an overused cliché but you know what I mean!) The Qu’ran needs to be taught to our children, youth and adults (Alhamdulillah it is never too late to learn) in a way that it is not a chore but a beautiful melodious blessing. As well as the Arabic we need to encourage our children to understand the words and the meaning of the Qu’ran so that they can practice their religion. This is fundamental, sadly too many of us recite the Qu’ran without really understanding a word of it. Thus we need to improve our mosques so that they are not just ‘elderly Muslim men’s clubs’, but that they are the centre of Islamic teaching in the Muslim community and cater for the whole Muslim family. We need to make them female friendly so that no woman feels un-welcomed. In the days of the Prophet peace be upon him, mosques were not just places to pray in, but they were the focal point of a range of community activities. We need to get back to this and at the same time the mosques and their Imams need to represent the modern day realities and needs of the Muslim community.

We also need to encourage and support our children in mainstream higher education, this includes daughters and sons. Here I am not just talking about pressuring children to become doctors, lawyers and accountants. But we should encourage our youth to enter all the halal and much needed careers we Muslims fall short in. Too often daughters are neglected when it comes to support with higher education and careers. This is unfair and un-Islamic, if we are to become a strong and influential community it is absolutely crucial that young Muslim girls are supported to fulfil their potential too.

From the above practices will come the re-affirmation of a strong and versatile identity, which is what we need to be able to confidently assert our values and principles in a multi-cultural and multi-faith society. The British media and press as well as the mainstream society often look with shock and fear at the number of young British born Muslims who are turning away from mainstream British culture and are donning the headscarf and the beard and turning towards an Islamic lifestyle. However this does not mean that you have to turn away from British values completely. One can be a British Muslim and still maintain a strong affinity to your city or town. Despite the constant negative coverage by the media there are many Muslims who feel like this. 

We also need to start a dialogue about subjects we as Muslims face within our own communities as well as issues which arise from living in Britain as a minority. We need to openly and fairly discuss forced marriages, unfair treatment of women, domestic violence, racism, crime, drugs, health problems and the lack of education and employment opportunities. These as well as all the other problems that are often swept under the carpet or left aside with hope that they will solve themselves need to be discussed and debated. These discussions should not be merely academic but real genuine solutions need to be found so that we as a community can move on from the problems and grow.

“Surely Allah enjoins justice, kindness and the doing of good to kith an kin, and forbids all that is shameful evil and oppressive”

Surah 16 verse 90

We need to tackle these issues head on. The Qu’ran and the Sunnah give us all the guidance that we need, we need to look to them and assert ourselves.

We Muslims are already on the path of ‘renewal’ and ‘rejuvenation’, where we are able to confidently merge true Islamic principles with our ‘Britishness’.  We should remove any self pity and continue our efforts to build a peaceful, strong and influential British Muslim community. 

The author is Head of the Women’s Affairs Team at IACN and is a student of History and International Relations at the Nottingham Trent University.  Click here to comment on this article.