the fallacy of doing something and the constant guilt tripping by some

[muslim brother]

most of us are in no position to change world events
most of us are in no position to influence any president,prime minister ,army etc
in fact the brutal truth is that most of us have little influence in our own families and communities
we will not be questioned by allah about events and situations outside of our control
yet many "prominent" and "influential" muslims and orgs constantly fail to realize this,or at least accept it.

this in my mind is tantamount to stupidity and just a vying for popularity and whatever cause seems to be in vogue.
i know for a fact that many u.k muslim orgs and individuals are competing for power and influence at the moment.i know this.

most fail to address local issues,as this will lead to less focus on the more "popular" causes

it is as if no one wants to tackle or speak about child grooming,local drug dealing,spouse abuse,etc
because this will mean tackling "your own people"..this will make you unpopular

we are going through great trials..
most of us cannot change world events...but trying to will keep you popular ,online and offline

 

[noraina]

An interesting point is that in Western nations, a lot of the Muslim communities are quite fragmented and disjointed, a lot of people have become disillusioned by the whole idea of an 'ummah', there's not much unity left.

And the truth if, we can't unite and help one another on the smaller-scale, within our communities, even within our own families, then how on earth would we be able to unite and help our brothers and sisters in Yemen, Syria, Kashmir ect on a much larger scale?

Actually, a lot of Muslims here have settled in considerable numbers, are well-educated and could have a lot of influence if they chose to. I have seen a lot of Muslims doing so much ma'sha'Allah, but there' just not that joint effort to make that more effective.

 

[anatolian]

we will not be questioned by allah about events and situations outside of our control

Salam Aleikum. Of course. However, we must chose our side and what is outside and what is inside of our control is all up to our efforts.

There is a Sufi story. When Nemrud prepared the fire for Ibrahim a.s. they saw an ant bringing water in it's mouth to the fire. They asked how it can put out the fire. The Ant said "at least my side is apparent.."

 

[muslim brother]

the muslims of u.k have a lot of problems.
internal are many,rarely discussed or resolved,the details are disgusting

so the overfocus on foreign affairs is a more popular option.
in bradford alone and keighly,next door there have been murderers killing own daughter in law
and others raping young white girls..in gangs of 10 to 15 individuals..
drug dealers in very expensive cars and most of the community will not say anything.
yorkshire and batley even now has youngsters whove left islam

 

[anatolian]

We must do both

 

[muslim brother]

We must do both

we must do what we can and that which is most effective.

the muslims of the u.k are now so obsessed with foreign affairs,some have become blind to local problems.
the u.k muslims need a new direction and focus
i truly believe most orgs and institutions have lost the plot

u.k muslims need to refocus their energies and efforts.

 

[muslim brother]

i will add,i know a lot of people..a lot of orgs,a lot of scholars too
i also have a lot of media contacts.
if i truly wanted you would see me on t.v ,on debate programmes and a lot of events

but why not?
because i truly believe in working from the inside out,and i abhor power struggles and publicity.
and i repeat there are major issues in u.k muslims and orgs.i do know whats going on.but will not get involved or be used in the u.k muslim infighting.

 

[Eric H]

Greetings and peace be with you AHMED PATEL;

we must do what we can and that which is most effective.

I like this story.....

An old man was on his death bed, Someone asked him to give some wise counsel before he departed:

"When I was young I wanted to change the world and solve its problems, As I got older I realized that perhaps I should lower my sights, I thought I would be better served in changing my country as time went on I realized that people of country could not be changed. I decided to change the people of my town , but they also did not wish to change, When I reached my old age I thought I would try changing my Family, here also I found my endeavours go to waste, try as I might my family members would not change.

"Now that I am on my death bed, I have realized that if I had sought to improve myself, and removed my own defects, then perhaps my family members would have been influenced. Then seeing the behaviour of my family people of my town would have been influenced. By seeing the spiritual change and improvement of the people of my town, the people of my country would have been influenced. And perhaps through the people of my country the world may have been influenced."


Nine years of voluntary work with Street Pastors, gave me the opportunity to speak for fifteen minutes in front of the chief inspector of police, the police commissioner for Hampshire and many others, just a couple of days ago.

First of all we have to earn the right to speak, if we hope to influence change.

In the spirit of praying to 'One God'

Eric