Do not Forget

During Ramadan, my family and I ( as well as millions of viewers) followed closely the TV program By Amr Khaled : "3ala khota el habib". The program narrated the sira (story) of the prophet Mohamed Peace be upon him beautifully, and from a different angle. Amr Khaled kept on relating it to us, now. It is not just a story to tell, he would say. And he is right of course. His life was not in vain, it was for us. For us to learn the message, and for us to follow. And also for us to maintain.

Over and over, Amr Khaled would urge us all, move, do something, don't just sit there with your hand on your cheek, crying and saying: wow how great. Do something! He would say over and over. I really felt for him, he was getting very frustrated, and was trying to hold on to the hope. He has to . there has to be hope. This is ummat Mohamed PBUH we are talking about, Moslems, Islam.

This is not the way we are supposed to be. This is not what the prophet PBUH fought for I think. The status of the Islamic nation. We need to rise again.

It saddens me to see, that there is not even the sense of belonging to the ummah among a lot of Muslims. I remember talking to a friend, and we were discussing the current issues, and I was saying: the ummah is in a tired state. and she started laughing: helwa ummah de. She actually found it funny the use of the word. That is how far a lot of people are from recognizing what we are.

Most people do not see Islam as part of their identity. They feel their identity comes from belonging to a country, a political party, a profession, or even gender. A lot of people, when asked to describe themselves, would go like this; I am a mother/Egyptian/teacher/friend/worker/activist/feminist/whatever etc etc etc, and rarely does the word Muslim come into the description. If you are a devout Muslim, just that word should describe plenty about you. If we are really As Muslims should be. Not as they are thought of now. Unfortunately, for a lot of people, the word Muslim, gives only the impression of a veil, or praying, not to mention people who view Muslims as barbaric terrorists. I remember a story about when ..someone .. don't remember… went into Andalus, and they recognized the homes of the muslims by the cleansiness of the bathrooms. This is but a small thing, but it is important. We are a million of these little things put together. We are lacking a big part of what we are, that is why there is little sense of the umah's identity.

I remember watching the program, and amr Khaled would keep on asking: are you gonna do something? Plz do something. I remember feeling that we should indeed do something. Something for Islam. Something for our ummah. After all that the Prophet PBUH has done for us, what are we gonna do? Then when I came back from omra, I got caught up in daily life and routine, and did not think much of it anymore.

But I was kind of reminded of my promise. And I am sure a lot of you promised something similar some time or the other. To try to make a difference.
Have a role. If you have forgotten , it is not too late to pick it up again. Sometimes I think: what can I do , really? How can I possibly make a difference?

But I believe, if I really want to , same with anyone, if I really have the will, God will show me a way.

I pray I see the day, where the ummah is strong and proud again. Sami yusuf's new album has a very nice song with that title : My ummah. Very touching lyrics.

There has to be hope, we can not let the prophet PBUH down. Not if we really belong to his ummah.