Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

altmuslim

Home
Muslim
What Should be a Muslim’s Response to Ongoing Tragedies? Not Despair

What Should be a Muslim’s Response to Ongoing Tragedies? Not Despair

Last updated on: August 12, 2014 at 12:27 pm by Guest Contributor

What Should be a Muslim’s Response to Ongoing Tragedies? Not Despair 2014-08-12T12:27:51-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A father and son shell-shocked in Gaza

By Hesham Hassaballa

It has been a rough summer*.* While everyone around the world was trying – as best as possible during the long and hot Ramadan — to fast and re-connect with God, the horrific images from Gaza kept coming incessantly. Next door in Iraq, the “Islamic State” continued its reign of terror and bloodshed, destroying historical relics and killing innocent people – Christian, Muslim and otherwise – with terrifying fervor. Add to this the continuing horrific civil war in Syria, the terror of Boko Haram, and attacks of the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it seems that the bleeding of the Ummah has no end in sight.

Here at home, it has been revealed that, despite assurances to the contrary, the government has indeed spied on American Muslims. That’s on top of the “terror experts,” who are nothing but, who disparage Islam and train law enforcement officers to suspect the entire Muslim community. Adding insult to injury, largely because of the terrible news from the Muslim world, the image of Muslims continues to deteriorate. Asked to rate various religious groups, our fellow Americans rated Muslims dead last.

Yup, it’s been a rough summer.

The question on many Muslims’ minds is what to do about this. Indeed, there are many responses, and I pray that no one responds by committing violence or harming anyone or anything. This is not the way of our faith, or our Prophet or our God.The other extreme — despair — must also be avoided. In fact, just like violence, it must be avoided at all cost.

God says in the Quran, “O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Do not despair of the Mercy of God … (39:53)”

Remember the Prophet Jacob, who told his sons:

“Never give up hope of God’s Soothing Mercy: truly, no one despairs of God’s Soothing Mercy except those who have no faith. (Quran, 12:87)”

It may seem bad now, but our Ummah has seen bad days before, and — by the grace of God — they have passed into oblivion. We should never despair.

In fact, to despair is to follow the path of Iblis, whose very name comes from the Arabic root balasa, which means “one who despaired.” Iblis, therefore, means “he who causes despair.” In fact, Iblis himself despaired after his arrogant and racist refusal to obey God’s command, and out of that despair came his pledge:

“Because You have thwarted me, I will lie in wait for them on Thy straight way (7:16)”

His hatred for us has come out of his despair, and thus we should actively resist, actively wage jihad, against falling into despair ourselves.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) never despaired, despite the terrible guile, hatred and violence meted out to him because of his preaching. During one of the most difficult times of his prophetic life, as he lay outside of Ta’if, in shock and legs bleeding, his main concern was whether God was angry with him:

“As long as You are not angry with me, then I do not care [what happens to me].”

But, he also said:

“Nevertheless, I would be much happier with Your mercy.”

And that mercy came almost immediately: He was soon thereafter graced with the Night Journey and Ascension to the very presence of the Beloved. The Prophet (pbuh) never fell into despair, and neither should we.Yes, it seems the constant tirades of the Islamophobes’, and those Americans who heed their filth, are gaining ground. It seems like so-called Muslims who are committing acts of evil are tarnishing our faith. But remember what God says:

“Their intention is to extinguish God’s Light with their mouths. But God will perfect His Light, despite the hatred of those who reject the truth. (61:8)”

God is in charge, and in that fact, we should rejoice. In fact, in times like these, we must redouble our efforts to get closer to God, reach out to Him and bask in the light of His love and grace. We should ask Him for respite from these terrible times, and we use the spiritual benefits gained by our fast of Ramadan to better ourselves, because:

“God never changes the condition of a people until they change themselves. (13:11)”

Yes, we should pray for all those who are suffering. Yes, we should help relieve the suffering of the victims of oppression. We should try to engage our society so that more justice can be spread both abroad and here at home.No, we should never respond with violence and evil. We should “never let the hatred [of a people towards us] move [us] swerve toward wrong and depart from justice … (5:8)” And, we should also never, ever fall into despair. Remember:

“Do not think that God is heedless of the deeds of those who do wrong. He but gives them respite against a Day when the eyes will fixedly stare in horror (14:42)”

God is in charge. In that fact, we should rejoice.

And, may the Beloved Lord our God, the Beautiful and Holy Allah, the Glorious and Magnificent HaShem bring peace and healing to our suffering and bleeding world. Amen.

Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago-based physician and writer. He is author of, most recently, Noble Brother: The Story of the Prophet Muhammad in Poetry (Faithful Word Press). You can follow Hesham Hassaballa on Facebook. Hassaballa’s column, “An American Islam,” is published monthly on the Muslim portal. Subscribe via email or RSS.

Previous Post

August 8, 2014

Rock Star Imams and Scholars - Avoiding the Pitfalls

Next Post

August 15, 2014 When 'I Don't Know' is the Best Answer

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2012 Elections 30 Dayd 30 Writers (2017) 30 Days 30 Writers 30 Days 30 Writers (2015) 30 Days 30 Writers (2016) 30 Days 30 Writers (2018) 30 Days 30 Writers 2017 Ali Asadullah Ali Eteraz Alper Bilgili Arthur Richards Asides Asma Uddin Black History Month Briefings Charles Turner Commentary Cyrus McGoldrick Eman H Aly Fatimah Popal Hajj Hajj and Dhul Hijjah Hesham Hassaballa Hisham Hellyer Ibrahim Abusharif Inas Younis Irfan Yusuf Jalal Baig Junaid Afeef Laila Alawa Laila Alwala Mas'ood Cajee Muqtedar Khan Nakia Jackson Newsmakers Parvez Ahmed Podcasts Rabia Chaudry Rafia Zakaria Ramadan Reviews Safiyyah Ally Saud Inam Shahed Amanullah Svend White The Opinionated Oncologist Visions Wajahat Ali Zahed Amanullah Zahir Janmohamed Zainab Khan

Select a Month November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the shortest verse in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

"God is love." "Jesus wept." "I am." "Rejoice always."