Just ten days ago, we saw Hosni Mubarak step down from as president of Egypt. A few weeks before that, Tunisian president Ben Ali fled his country in the face of burgeoning protests by his people. Today, these popular movements have spilled over into Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Algeria. While these events fill us with incredible hope and joy for the future of our Ummah, we must continue to pray and support our brothers and sisters who are struggling under intense tyranny.

On February 9, this website called for a global night of qiyam for Egypt. Alhamdulillah, the community responded; pledges poured in from Canada, Englad, Malaysia, Mecca, Egypt and across the United States, demonstrating our community’s capacity for unity in prayer through times of trial. Individuals, families, organizations, masajid and even other websites rose to the call; we ask that Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala accept all of your efforts, and continue to utilize us all for good. We would especially like to thank the Muslim American Society (MAS), Islamic Circle on North America’s Young Muslims (ICNA’s YM), and the Muslim Students Association of the U.S. and Canada (MSA National) for echoing this call to prayer and mobilizing their membership from across the country.

This weekend, it is time once again to make a pledge to stand with our brothers and sisters. On Saturday, February 26, we ask each and every one of you to organize a qiyam program to pray for the people of Libya. Reports from eyewitnesses, despite the state-enforced media blackout, speak of hundreds being killed in just a few days. This is more than enough reason for us to stand with our hands raised in the night, praying for the safety, victory, and liberation of the Libyan people.

At least 500 have died so far.

We recognize the entire region is erupting with similar struggles, so please include them in your du`a’ (prayer) as well. The media has not focused on the Libyan struggle in the same way it focused on Egypt; these qiyams can also be utilized to raise much needed awareness in our communities. Let us use these gatherings as a place to pray for the people of Libya, to share their story and to honor their struggle for human dignity. Once again, we ask that you please take pictures of the qiyams. These images give hope at a time when hope is needed.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ described our ummah as a single body which ails as a whole when a part of it is afflicted. Feel this pain, and respond to it. Make the intention, sign the pledge (leave a comment under this post), and spread the call for a global qiyam far and wide, using every internet tool at your disposal. It is easy to fall into negligence when a struggle is prolonged and the media hype is not present. The response of iman is not based on media, it is based on principles. It is to stay the course, and be steadfast with patient perseverance.

Let us have another qiyam, for another nation of oppressed people, and let us renew the intention to change what is within ourselves, so that the Almighty may change the condition of our people. May we strive to make this qiyam even better than the last one, and may Allah (swt) ennoble each of us by using us for His sake. May He liberate our brothers and sisters in Libya and may He grant victory to all of the oppressed. Ameen.

“Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said,”When is the help of Allah ?” Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.” (Qur’an, 2:214)

Paris (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

There is one point in this book that has been playing in my head over and over ever since Algeria and Egypt went head-to-head at a soccer match that seems to have been taken way out of proportion. With two Muslim countries bashing each other, cursing each other, even physically harming each other, I feel the need to shove them all into my Sunday school classroom and teach them a lesson or two. Many people have been giving excuses for either side, stating that their lives are rough, they are in so much poverty, and who knows what else. But honestly, it is from what our own two hands have reaped. This book, The Purification of the Soul by Jamal al-Din M. Zarabozo brings to light the state that the Ummah is in currently. Sure, Shaykh Zarabozo was not talking about the current feud over a mere soccer tournament, but it fits here hand in glove. He says,

“…the problems faced by the Muslims are the result of the actions that they themselves are performing.”

Even more so, the Shaykh mentions Ibn Al Qayyim’s commentary on the following verse:

“Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand…” (Qur’an, 40:51)

Ibn Al Qayyim says, “This verse means that whoever has a shortcoming in his faith will thereby receive a correspondingly lesser amount of help and victory from Allah. If a believer suffers any form of affliction from his enemy, it is due to his own sins.”

The actions that are taking place in Egypt, in Algeria, and even here—halfway across the world—are a signal: a signal to tell all Muslims to wake up and see the state that this ummah is in. We complain about the injustices that are being done against us, from the oppression of Israelis against Palestinians to the oppression of governments against veiled women, yet we don’t realize that we are part of the problem. Yes, the oppressors play a major role, but we can’t do anything about that. Rather what we can do is purify ourselves.

In the Qur’an, Allah says that when the Muslims went into the battle of Badr they were,

which can be translated as “a contemptible little force.” Compared to their enemy, they were nothing in number. Nonetheless they won the battle. Why did they win this battle? They won because of their taqwa (faith in God) and their lack of sins. A famous letter written by Omar ibn Al-Khattab to Saad ibn Abi Waqas further clarifies this issue. He said:

I order you and the soldiers who are with you to be aware of Allah under all circumstances as taqwa of Allah is a better weapon against your enemy and a stronger strategy in battle. And I order you and those with you to be very much on the defensive against any sins, more than your enemies are, for the sins of an army are more feared than their enemies. Verily, Allah helps the Muslims due to the sins of their enemies. If it were not for that we would not be able to overcome them for our numbers are not like theirs and our power is not like theirs. If we are equal in sins to them, they will be able to overtake us due to their (military) power. If we were not aided by our virtue, we would not be able to overcome them due solely to our power…And ask Allah to help yourselves in the same way that you ask for help against your enemies.

Now I ask – ummah, where has our virtue gone? Have we secured ourselves against our enemies? Imagine the ocean of sins that we seem to be drowning in, so much so that we cannot even play a simple soccer match without turning it into a battlefield. Any blood that is shed is only worsening our situation. It’s about time we invested our lives in purification. We need to purify ourselves so that our state can change, so that our situation will change. Remember:

“Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” (Qur’an, 13:11)