Change Occurs at Home

I am all in for raising voice against injustices and violence. People have fought for rights since the beginning of the mankind and the process is never ending. The reason why people of all kinds and genders will have to keep fighting for their rights at intervals is because we have been fighting our battles in a wrong way all along.

What is happening in United States is not the first time; we in our lifetime alone have seen numerous such protests for different causes but the results of such protests are not long lasting; these are short term solutions. We neglect the most important weapon required to win a battle which is BATTLING OWNSELF, which is also heavily emphasized by our religion too (Jihad Bin Nafs).

Do you believe that everyone on the roads of USA and those sitting behind the desks raising their voices against racism actually mean it? Not at all. A huge fraction – if not majority – is simply cashing the situation for personal gains; be it monetary or political benefits. And accepting support from these black sheep will never further your cause, in fact, it will do the opposite because these sheep are not loyal; today they stand with you and tomorrow with someone else; their stance shifts on a whim as soon as they sense a greater interest. And these people aren’t necessarily out of your clan; they exist within your clan too. Those black men and women either participating in violence and looting or adopting silence over it are damaging the whole cause.

I have always said that during a fight, more than the opposition, you have to keep a close eye on the enemies that exist within. This not only happens in the bigger battles between countries; we all know the purpose of Intelligence Agencies and what spies are meant to do. But, the similar course of action happens around us all the time which weakens our strength of fighting.

How did the British managed to rule over us? It wasn’t their strength alone but the traitors amongst us paved the way for them. If you are aware of the intentions of British and you purposely become an ally for the sake of immunity and benefits, you are a bigger criminal than the enemy.

For example, If you fight against racial injustice and succeed to overcome it, now you have to prove by your actions that it was indeed a racial injustice rather than an individual one. What I am trying to explain is that most of the time, a person will complain, yell, fight for his/her rights but when the tables turn and now the same person becomes responsible for giving rights, he fails to do as he becomes the same crooked person as his predecessor.

Is all black community oppressed in USA? No, there are black people who used racial card to achieve greater heights and instead of using that power and resources to fight for fellow black people, they used it all for own luxury, comfort and benefits. And this is not just about black people. This happens everywhere. Be it corrupt doctors, politicians, police, lawyers etc. Most of them fight against the injustices but never ponder upon the evil that exist within. Even Gender rights; how many women who played women card have actually done something practical for the benefit of other women? The whole feminism movement has turned into the same power game.

If you work in a company and are not happy with the management, you fight against them and if succeeded, you replace the management; but if instead of amending the wrong practices, you adopt the same for benefits, then your whole fight was just a selfish trait and not for the greater cause.

It is a common notion that politicians do not fight for injustices; they simply want to have a bite of the apple. Unfortunately, this malpractice is not limited to politics, it happens in society, in our homes, in our offices; it happens everywhere. Hardly a few are loyal to the cause, mostly are just to get a bite of the apple.

I once heard – don’t know if it’s true or not but it is significantly a strong message – that Adolf Hitler once said that if you are not happy with the laws, get up, fight to get to the top and change them. But the thing is that if you do get to the top and change the laws for the benefit of your own or the group associated with you only, then another group will emerge to fight your oppression and this tug of war will never end until someone gets to the top and make changes for the greater good for all selflessly.

We Muslims have faced this issue so badly in the modern age. A fraction of people using the name of Islam for own benefits tarnished the whole image of Islam and then we had to fight a lot to reclaim the glory and it wasn’t done by violence or looting, it was done by actions; showing the true peaceful and compassionate teachings of Islam to the world; all by pure practical actions.

The Change Occurs at Home. If you are an evil person and are participating in a fight, your presence is just for own sake and if you succeed in possessing the power, you will exploit it which will cause further damage in a time to come. So before hitting the street, look in the mirror and have a conversation with the devil beneath you; defeat it first and then step out of your house to make the real change.

Remember, you were not born with RIGHTS alone; you were given equal responsibilities too. Your right is someone else’s responsibility and someone else’s right is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Now ask yourself, how many times have you done justice?