The Ummah is Mostly Asleep - Wake Up, My Brothers and Sisters
As-salamu alaykum. Read to the end if you are under 40, especially if you live in Arab or North African Muslim countries. I’m Egyptian and it hurts to watch Arabs and North Africans drift from the deen more and more. Corruption is everywhere, and the media pushes harmful things. They’re trying to change our religion and silence the truth by jailing sheikhs, scholars, and anyone who speaks Islam honestly, because the truth threatens their system. I’m not only talking about one leader - I mean many rulers across the region. Every day knowledge is being taken away from the Ummah and ignorance grows. My father is imprisoned in Egypt for speaking out against the regime. I don’t fully agree with how he did it, but I believe he spoke truth. Our countries aren’t truly living by Islam anymore; they’ve become a mix of liberal ideas and emptiness, a place for hypocrites who want both dunya and akhirah on their own terms. I’m not even 25 yet and I see people my age far from the deen. Music, zina, drugs are normal to many, except for a small portion who truly fear Allah and try to follow Islam. Twisted ideologies spread and most follow desires. The media echoes whatever the rulers want. They push propaganda trying to strip us of our Muslim identity. Those who really know see how easily people are swayed by media. We live on top of thousands of years of civilization, but without our deen that means little. I’m tired and keep asking myself: will I live my whole life like this? Will I ever see the Ummah united? Will I see the Caliphate? It hurts to witness what we’ve become and feel powerless to change it. My father is denied basic freedom; he sees sunlight rarely and that’s considered his best treatment despite his background. If that’s how he’s treated, imagine the sheikhs and scholars who spoke the truth. I’m away from Egypt and I’m afraid to speak openly because I worry they might harm my mother or family back home. My fellow Muslim youth and brothers and sisters, we need to wake up. We complain about addictions, fitnah, zina, drugs, yet many of us are lost in worldly desires and unaware of what’s happening. The Ummah is being stripped of knowledge - a very bad sign. Soon those who preach truth or live by sharia will be isolated. The Prophet ﷺ warned that when scholars are taken away, people will follow the ignorant and go astray (hadith in Bukhari and Muslim). We keep saying “end times,” but what will we actually do? I’m not judging - I was lost too and Allah woke me up. What if the whole Ummah woke up? What if Allah sends guidance and revival? Remember our true purpose. Umar ibn al-Khattab reminded us that we were honored with Islam, and if we seek honor elsewhere we will be humiliated again. I’m writing this after Fajr. I’m exhausted and want to sleep but can’t. I’m sick of what we’ve become and the feeling of helplessness. Note: this is not mainly about my father. By Allah, I have only seven dollars in my bank account right now and I’m unemployed because of visa issues, but I trust Allah will provide. Worldly things don’t matter to me like they used to, alhamdulillah. To my brothers struggling with addictions - as an ex-addict, remember: every time you give in, you’re giving ground to forces that oppose our deen, whether it’s cultural imperialism, liberalism, or other harms. When you give in to porn, drugs, or alcohol, you’re aiding what weakens the Ummah. Boycott your addictions for the sake of the Ummah, just like people boycott products for a cause. Allah says He will not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves (Qur’an). Wake up, people. I pray whoever reads this finds awareness and hidayah and that Allah guides our hearts back to Islam. I ask Allah to give me patience and strength to act on my intentions and be useful for the Ummah. Wassalamu alaykum.