SEARCHING HUMILITY
Humility is a cardinal attribute for thriving coexistence. Arrogance, its opposing vice, cannot coexist with the fear of God.
Just as none but God is due our worship, none but God is due our fear. This state is elemental when cultivating humility, courage, and proximity to God.
Practising humility is also an essential step when seeking God’s guidance. Only when we recognise our powerlessness and absolute impoverishment can a power supremely more significant than ourselves work in our lives: ‘And He causes those given knowledge to realise that this Revelation is your Lord’s Truth, so that they may believe in it and humble their hearts to Him: God guides the faithful to the straight path’ [22:54].
So, what are humility’s characteristics?
During the prophetic dispensation, one of Allah’s sunnan (traditions) was that before he sent a messenger, he would bless the people with affliction and adversity so they may grow humble and become receptive to the truth.
Here are a few Quranic markers to determine the presence or absence of humility :
ARISE AND WARN
It was time. The Lord of the worlds had willed so. And, thus, the final prophetic public office began: ‘O thou enshroudeth in garments. Arise and warn’ [74:1-2].
Previously, the Prophet (s) secretly spread his message. With his (s) probation over, Allah charged the Prophet (s) to go out boldly, shun all abominations and proclaim the truth to the world.
Fourteen hundred years later, we find ourselves residents in a post-truth world. One where many sully truth to an obscene degree, and like the Prophet (s), we must render it perspicuous once more. It is incumbent on us to go forth and be witness-bearers and truth-tellers. This moral imperative, in the age of genocide and double-speak, could not be more urgent.
Francesca Albanese, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has taken up the prophetic mantle. With truth and moral clarity as her weapons, Albanese has tirelessly and fearlessly fought against the most powerful people and organisations to restore justice, equality and dignity to the oppressed Palestinians.
Albanese’s unwavering commitment to the Palestinian cause has birthed a damning exposé of the actors benefiting from the Palestinian genocide. Her report ‘From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide’ has led to the United States disgracefully sanctioning her in a vindictive display and abuse of power.
In a poignant address, an embattled but defiant and graceful Albanese reminded us this fight is not about her. She questioned what type of solidarity we are lending to the Palestinians. Is it only the good-feel type or the type that causes discomfort to our persons?
Will we follow the Prophet (s), shed our comforts and walk into the coalface, which Francesca Albanese demands of us?
Three verses in the Quran provide us with an unfailing formula for activism. I call them the ‘Activist’s Verses’: ‘Whoever accepts guidance does so for his good; whoever strays does so at his peril. No soul will bear another’s burden, nor do We punish until We have sent a messenger. When We decide to destroy a town, We command those corrupted by wealth [to reform], but they [persist in their] disobedience; Our sentence is passed, and We destroy them utterly [17:15-16], and ‘Those who reject Our signs, we will lead them step by step to ruin while they perceive not’ [7:182].
When we draw a parallel and view these verses more broadly, we can apply them to any form of activism and make it our strategy and hope.
What do God’s messengers bring? Truth, right? So if we act as messengers and proliferate the truth universally, we can convert or accelerate the collapse of our enemies. When truth becomes ubiquitous, falsehood must fall.
These verses demonstrate that rejecting the truth when it is omnipresent and obvious will trigger your ruin. The activist’s goal, therefore, must be to relentlessly disseminate the truth and bear witness to accelerate the defeat of their foes.
The Israeli genocide has not only made victims of the Palestinians, but also of the truth.
The battlefield is fierce, but remember, Allah tells us Hell is the abode of those who turn on their heels, and I don’t want to be disgraced, certainly not for that reason.
So, comrades, arise and warn, and bear witness against injustice wherever you see it. If we do, we will speed up the ruin of those who sow it.
Genocide! What is it good for? Capitalism. Obviously! Just ask Francesca Albanese.
Until next week, InshaAllah
Zaahied Sallie
Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme
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