For the Muslim, the Believer, there is no room for despair. As long as we hold on to the rope of Allah, and with the conviction that He is there and He is aware, there is really not much to fear – come what may!
This is, of course, not to say that the fear we feel is necessarily a manifestation of weakness of faith, no; but it is to say that we must never allow fear to paralyze and sap us of our energies to be and do good, in spite of.
Fear is a natural reaction, and even the people of yesteryears, while in the presence of their Prophets, and even with enough experience to stabilize and assure them of Allah’s help, having witnessed the direct manifestation of His Will against their enemies – even they experienced fear and uncertainty in the face of earthly matters or events that threatened immediate consequence to life and limb.
Take Musa (AS) and his people during the oppressive regime of Fir’aun, for example. Musa (AS) had shown and proved to them, through the help of Allah, the powerlessness of Fir’aun, in the presence of all observers, and that those with Allah are ultimately triumphant. But when they undertook the exodus with Musa (AS), they were indeed engulfed with fear and nearly overcome with despair when they saw Fir’aun and his legions fast approaching, with only one thing on their minds.
Musa’s (AS) response, so succinctly, so beautifully, and so assuredly declared, with absolute conviction, was this: “With me is my Lord, He shall guide me!“(Qur’an, 26:62)
And guided he was. And saved. And made inheritor of the land, with his people. And the oppressor was made to perish right before the eyes of the oppressed, and made a lesson and an example of for posterity. For us!
While we do not live with prophets or messengers during these our times, we have the conviction that our Lord, Allah, The Seer, The Hearer, The Omnipotent, The Omniscient, the very same one who came to the rescue of Musa and his people, among many others, is Ever-living. And to Him we must place our reliance, even as we put forth our meager efforts, sincerely, and work and strive for justice and stability on earth.
And work and strive we must. We cannot afford to be passive. We must be active. We must get involved. For evil will only become triumphant in the passivity of good. Those who bear ill-will toward humanity will only prevail while the good folks remain inactive, or fail to work as hard, or harder. Get involved. Do what you can. Never underestimate any contributions you make toward the betterment of mankind and life on earth.
For to be an activist is to do the work of the Prophets of Allah. To stand up for the poor and the downtrodden is to engage in Jihad. To stand up to injustice is to engage in Divine principle, and be the representative, the khalifah that you are meant to be, of Allah on earth. “O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah…” (Quran, 4:135). And while we are at it, sincerity, the love of Allah, the love for His creation, and the desire to do good, must be our guiding principles.
And when the trials and tribulations intensify, and just when things become seemingly overwhelming and threaten to become unbearable, and you feel yourself pushed to the edge and ready to throw up your hands and give up – tighten up more, my dear brother/sister, and, with the certitude of the believer and the firmest of convictions in the help and guidance of Allah, like Musa (AS), declare:
“With me is my Lord, and He shall guide me!“
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