Attacks, Death threats and Deaths- Muslims Under Attack

The string of stories outlining death threats, attacks and even deaths on Muslims in the West these past several weeks seems unparalleled to previous years. I work with hate crime and incident victims from many different minority communities and these past several weeks have been one shocking incident after another. That is why when I saw this posted on facebook profile of a friend I was not surprised to see how small things like this create the atmosphere for things as outrageous as a senior being attacked and killed while leaving with his three year old grand-daughter from the Mosque, or a person setting fire to a mosque in Tennessee, or the suing of the British army by a Pakistani soldier due to bullying or this discrimination in Chicago, or the Mayor that circulated a hate-laced email directed toward Muslims and Islam, or...you get the drift.

I am sure it was some similar right wing Christian group that was preaching their "love" when they posted this all over the parked cars and distributed to people attending the Palestine Picnic in Irvine.

During this month of Ramadan, a Muslim has but one thing, that is faith in God. It is taught by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, a Muslim scholar from 13th century, that the Prophet taught sabr (patience, forbearance, fortitude), which enabled a man to face hardship with dignity and to accept times of ease without becoming arrogant.

Its remarkable, because Jawziyyah lived during a time of intense turmoil, when Muslims were reeling from the Mongol invasions. He studied under Ibn Taymiyyah and was also a contemporary of Ibn Kathir.

Jawziyyah said that "Patience, or patient perseverance, is obligatory, according to the consensus of the scholars, and it is half of faith (iman) {the other half of faith being marriage?}...Patience is mentioned in the Quran some 99 times. The relation of patience to iman is like the relation of the head to the body, and the one who has no patience has no iman. Allah has commanded patience for the Believers in the following ayah-"O you who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer..." (2:153). Patience is also been made a condition for a person's entering Paradise and being saved; on the Day of Judgement Allah will say- "I have rewarded them this day for their patience and constancy: theyare indeed the ones that have achieved bliss..." (23:111)"

In his book "Uddat as-sabirin wa dhakhirat ash-shakirin" (Patience and Gratitude) patience is defined by the scholars as "a good human characteristic or a positive psychological attitude, by virtue of which we refrain from doing that which is not good. Amr ibn Uthman al-Makki said "Patience means to keep close to Allah and to accept calmly the trials He sends, without complaining or feeling sad." Al-Khawwas said that "patience means to adhere to the rules of the Quran and Sunnah" and another scholar said "patience means to referain from complaining" while Ali ibn Abi Talib said that "patience means to seek Allah's help."

Given the current saddening news coming from all directions, does this mean there is this idea of "turning the cheek?" Certainly a question that crosses my mind as I feel helpless to assist my brothers and sisters practice their religion here in the US, after many came to find they have the capacity to do exactly that.

Al-Jawziyyah goes on to explain that Man has two opposing forces that push within them. One is a driving force that pushes toward action (fight reflex) and the other is the "restraining force" (flight). We know in modern psychology that the "fight or flight" reflex is an immediate manifestation of our chemical/hormonal responses triggered in the brain.

However, given these circumstances the "fight or flight" reflex is not a visceral response, rather is a triggered implicit response that sets into motion what I term "stick your head in the sand like an ostrich" response. Where identity of being a "practicing Muslim" is subconsciously suppressed. I think part of this response is also this idea of "appologizing for those 'Moslems'" syndrome. Physical manifestations presented include the removal of the beard, less frequency to the Mosque, not praying at work, not speaking about politics or religion, extreme things including the use of "non-ethnic names" and removal of Hijab or self isolation and marginalization.

My observation is that the "fight" reflex takes on a different sort of response. Psychologically it manifests in two different sort of forms- activism and/or self marginalization/isolation. Activism also has two forms- one where people become "civically engaged" with the system seeing that they have an invested interest in making the society they live in a better place, the other being a divested "us against the world" perspective where a dichotomy is set up to prove that we are not wanted here, that the message of Islam is a threat and that we need to double our efforts to engulf ourselves in things that are visibly and socially Muslim. This also manifests further in the second process which seems contradictory- self marginalization and isolation- but the act of this process requires great lengths of discipline, strictness and "Amish-like" diligence.

According to Jawziyyah, patience was a key process to "essentially harness the driving force to push us towards good things, and the restraining force to hold us back from actions that may be harmful to ourselves or others." If you haven't guessed I am of the "civically engaged" opinion. The battlefield, to Jawziyyah, was the heart of man, where the two forces "reason and religion" versus "whims and desires" battle themselves out.

Allah has forbidden Muslims from complaining to one another about the tests, trials and tirbulations faced in day to day lives, however, he has not commanded Muslims to not turn to Him and bring forth our complaints- we find Yaqub (Jacob, peace be upon him) saying "my course is comely patience" (12:83), but his love and longing for his lost son Yusuf (Joseph, peace be upon him) made him say "How great is my grief for Yusuf" (12:83) and even our Beloved SAW when enjoined by God sabrun jamil (sweet petience) obeyed and would pray "Allah, I complain to You of my weakness and helplessness."

As Muslims we need to stop complaining to one another. Stop complaining in the parking lots of the Mosques, in our living rooms, and over the dinning tables, and through the emails. Instead Jawziyyah goes on to describe how a Muslim should conduct themselves through times of adversity and situations beyond our control.

These trials fall under two types- adversity beyond one's control and adversity caused by the actions of another human being. The above listed things are caused by other humans, and as such we are commanded to. As patience is fard (obligatory), God has provided us "with ways and means of obtaining and strengthening the quality of patience, for He has never instructed us to do something without providing us with help and support to do it, and ways and means of achieving it."

Jawziyyah states the following as "ways of strengthening patience"- knowledge, action and establishing a strong motive for "reason and religion".