What can I offer?

Assalamu alaikum. The world we are living in is desperately in need of help, things are going off-track and the human race is oblivious of the dangers ahead. We are so much engulfed in our daily chores that we seldom remember our responsibilities as the vicegerents of Allah (SWT). We are experts when it comes to discussing people's faults and mistakes but always in the dark when it comes to our own dark lives.

Amazingly, the true believers are those who will sincerely blame themselves first before looking outside the window. Pay attention to the common discussions in the lips of people today you will be astonished that all they have to offer is apportioning blames to others for the present predicaments of the Muslims. When it comes to helping the deen of Allah, we are always quick to shoulder the responsibility on the wealthy category least forgetting that Allah has equally provided us with something out of His mercy that we can use in serving His deen. 

Few weeks back a concerned Muslim called me from Abuja and was passionately perturbed by the current situation of the Muslims in the country (Nigeria) and nay the world at large. In his passionate submission, he was asking if we could engage some of our leaders and suggest for them some possible solutions to curb the unfortunate denigration of the Muslims. He said, we should advocate for a national Islamic body or if there is, then such things as; political wing (to discuss and oversee political issues between Muslims and non-Muslims), an Economic wing (wherein our team of experts will be fully engaged in seeing to it that an Islamic financial institution is set on track, an institution where legitimate means of earning will be encouraged and the elements of usury will be completely wiped off), educational wing (whose purpose should be to ensure that the proper knowledge of Islamic teachings and cultural civilization is disseminated amongst Muslims and non-Muslims alike) and the list could fill an entire scroll. 

I paused for a moment to analyze the situation and dissect what was discussed. My humble submission was that all these are possible but unfortunately not with these crop of so called Muslim leaders (I stand corrected). Most of them either wittingly or unwittingly have detached themselves from anything that will move Islam forward or even better the condition of the Muslims. All they care about is their bank accounts and what they have in reserve for their children, nay most of them have mortgaged their hereafter for a miserable price. Once they are there they shamefully hide their Islamic identity because they are afraid of being branded as fundamentalists or fanatics. So personally,  I have removed these so called privileged category who have failed to help Islam and the Muslims in their positions from the equation because Allah said: 

" O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islam), Allah will bring a

people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the
disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allah, and never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the
Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is All Sufficient for His creatures'
needs, All Knower". Q:5:54. 

This is it! Now the bigger gist is, what can I in my little capacity do to help the deen of Allah? Most I be a governor, a minister, a senator, a director or a business mogul before I can help Islam? No! but this is the biggest deception of our times. Yes, we have wealthy people that can actualize Islamic banking system, we have wealthy people that can sponsor Islamic awareness programs on media outlets, that can sponsor the poor category who can not afford basic education but the truth of the matter is, very few are interested in benefiting mankind for the sake of Allah. Now what about you and I?

Wallah! there are always opportunities for us to contribute our quota to the awakening. In our own little capacity we should be able to use what Allah has given us to propagate His deen, to help those in need, to be truthful and God fearing, honest and agents of positive change wherever we are. Today we have easy access to the internet, we facebook, we tweet, we chat on blackberry messengers and 2go, we organize people for parties, but we have never thought of using all these tools to present the image of Islam in its original and pristine form. Instead we use all these things to celebrate and publicize our disobedience to Allah. We don't know that we can actually "Islamize" them to earn Allah's pleasure.

My honorable brothers and sisters in Islam, we too can make a huge difference only if we are willing to. We have to re-introduce modesty in our lives and set our priorities right. In short, we need a total ethical reorientation. We have the potentials of becoming better Muslims no matter our material status. in fact, our success lies in helping the Deen of Allah, as Allah said: "O you who believe! If you help (in the cause of) Allah, He will help you, and make your foothold firm". Q:47:7

May Allah recruit us among His selected army of positive change, an army that will preach and practice the true message of Islam where peace and justice will be the slogan.