So, how
did we get here? In the aftermath of 9/11, building political power was the last thing on the minds of most Muslims in the US. Harassed by the FBI, institutionally shuttered, and experiencing an exodus of scholars who were being deported or fleeing overseas, the larger part of the Muslim community went into survival mode. We didn’t—or rather couldn’t—garner capacity to challenge the structures of power that steamrolled the unjust conviction of the
Holy Land Foundation Five and those like them. Instead, safer options like relief work, interfaith, and education won the bulk of our attention, energy, and resources. While a noble, valuable, and logical reaction given the precarity of the times, the hyperfocus on such avenues to the exclusion of other forms of political and legal activism undoubtedly made space for the forces of evil to criminalize Islam, securitize Muslims, and undermine the Muslim
ummah at every turn.
Interfaith work and relief efforts were thought to be enough to avoid scrutiny and even offer political protection. Anti-Islamic sentiment was largely thought to be rooted in individual animus born of ignorance rather than political narratives fueled and funded to uphold structures of power. As such, the remedy to this hatred was sought in ample open houses and Abrahamic messaging on the front end and heart-softening and belief-boosting conferences on the back end. However, this perception was quickly shattered by the Israeli response to the events of October 7th, 2023, which horrifically morphed into the world’s first livestreamed genocide. In order to drum up support—or at least silence opposition—Zionists have since leveraged the anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim tropes they have been peddling for decades in mainstream media and on university campuses.
Now, a full year later, it's important to recognize that the dominant community-building strategy employed by the American Muslim community since 9/11 has been unable to prevent the current genocide. Our abundant relief efforts, national organizations, interfaith projects, and conferences and conventions drawing tens of thousands of attendees, have fallen short of effecting political change—at least the type needed to rein in foreign policy that would have perhaps spared the lives of Reem, or Hind, or Sidra. Politically, we find ourselves incapacitated.
When we look to Divine guidance we find that a driving force for our incapacity is our fear of misfortune and our overwhelming love of this worldly life. These vices lead many among us to be unable to fully commit to a righteous cause and, to a worsening degree, actively commit to aligning ourselves with the enemies of Islam. Allah says,
So you see those in whose hearts is disease hastening into [association with] them, saying, “We are afraid a misfortune may strike us.” But perhaps Allah will bring conquest or a decision from Him, and they will become, over what they have been concealing within themselves, regretful.
The Prophet ﷺ pinpointed our fear of losing this world as the root of our weakness and humiliation, saying,
The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their dish. Someone asked: “Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?” He replied: “No, you will be numerous at that time, but you will be scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent, and Allah will take fear of you from the breasts of your enemy and place weakness (wahn) into your hearts.” Someone asked: “What is wahn, O Messenger of Allah?” He ﷺ replied: “Love of the world and dislike of death.”
Wahn, or weakness, has multiple degrees and expressions. Sometimes it reaches the level of full-scale hypocrisy and other times it manifests as hesitation and risk aversion, particularly as a choice to appease, rather than confront, those in power. In these cases, the danger is that Satan (Shayṭān) will always provide ready-made rationales for why such behavior is necessary or even smart, and it becomes easy to convince ourselves that ingratiating those in power, befriending them, and proving our loyalty to them will put us in their good graces and eventually benefit us. Each Muslim has a personal moral duty to ensure that they aren’t succumbing to the wahn in their hearts and, in this sense, opting for the ‘easier’ path, and thus bringing about disgrace for themselves and the ummah.