Are you passive or pro-active?

[Mohd Poad Abdullah]

Are you passive or pro-active?


By: Amr Khalid


Are you a passive person? When you see something wrong, do you try to
fix it or do you move on justifying to yourself that for sure someone
else will address it? When you're walking down the street and you see
something on the sidewalk and you know that someone might slip on it,
do you pick it up, or do you look the other way as if you didn't see
it? When you see someone smoking in a non-smoking area, do you kindly
bring the persons attention to what he's doing wrong, or do you just
cover your nose, or leave the place? When was the last time you
participated in a public poll or in elections? Remember the last time
you saw someone double parking and you knew that he's going to cause a
traffic jam, did you go and ask him politely to park somewhere else so
that the traffic flow wouldn't be disturbed? Or did you just say to
yourself, "Isn't there an officer around here to see this?" and then
you just walked away. Why are we so passive? Why do we always believe
that "someone else will do it"? Why don't WE take an action? I'll tell
you why, because if it doesn't directly affect us, then why should we
care? Or, "we won't change the world, so why should we care?" Right?
Isn't that the reason? That should not be how a Muslim (One who
submits to God) should think, that is not how a Muslim should act. As
inheritors of of the final message of God, the Muslim community should
be an example of ONE body; if one part is not functioning it affects
the rest of the body.

Do you think for example that as long as you don't do drugs then your
safe? Think again, because your duty isn't just to prevent yourself
from taking drugs, but to help prevent it on a larger scale as much as
you can. How many people are robbed by addicts that are desperate for
money to buy drugs? How many people are killed by addicts? Those that
were robbed or killed, they didn't do drugs, but it still affected
them indirectly. This does not mean that if we see wrong we should get
aggressive and force people to do what's right? Of course not. Our
Lord, The All Mighty says, "Invite (all) to the Way of your Lord with
wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are
best and most gracious: for your Lord knows best, who have strayed
from His Path, and who receive guidance." (Quran 16:125). We must
maintain the balance between "taking an action" and "being wise and
not offending people".

The Dangers of being passive:

- God the Almighty says in the Quran: "And fear tumult or oppression,
which affects not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong: and
know that God is strict in punishment." (Quran 8:25). See how God the
Merciful is warning us that misconduct doesn't just affect the ones
that do it, but it has a wider range.

- The Companions asked the Messenger of God, "Will we be destroyed
even if the righteous ones are amongst us?" Prophet Muhammad replied,
"Yes, if corruption increases." It was also reported that God ordered
Angle Gabriel to destroy a village that had become extremely
corrupted, but Gabriel asked God, "O God, in this village is your
servant that constantly prays to You", God replied, "Start with him!
For his face never changed with disapproval to what had been going
on." Because this righteous man was passive, he too was punished with
the sinners.

- Omar ibn Al-Khattab said, "If a sin is committed in private, it only
harms the one that does it, but if it is committed in public and no
one objects and changes it, it will harm everyone!"

- The Messenger of God said, "Either you enjoin Good and forbid Evil
or else God will send His punishment to you, and you will supplicate
to Him, but He won't respond."

But why does Islam stress so much on taking an action against what's
wrong? The Messenger of God , gave us a great example to demonstrate
the importance of this Islamic behavior. "The likeness of the man who
observes the limits prescribed by God and that of the man who
transgresses them is like the people who get on board a ship after
casting lots. Some of them are in its lower deck and some of them in
its upper deck. Those who are in its lower deck, when they require
water, go to the occupants of the upper deck. The occupants of the
lower deck said to themselves, 'If we make a hole in the bottom of the
ship, we shall not harm the ones who are in the upper deck.' If they
leave them to carry out their design they all will be drowned. But if
they do not let them go ahead (with their plan), all of them will
remain safe." This example shows us the importance of thinking of our
community as one body. It might seem that such a concept is alien
somehow. The reason we might feel that is not because it really is an
odd concept, but because we have drifted so far from the spirit of
Islam where a person feels responsible for the whole society and we
have become rather self-centered.

Examples of those who took an action and weren't passive:

- The believer in the Family of the Pharaoh

espite the Pharaoh's severe opposition to the message of Prophet Moses
one of the royal family members embraced Islam. God says, "A believer,
a man from among the people of Pharaoh, who had concealed his faith,
said: 'Will you slay a man because he says, 'My Lord is God?- when he
has indeed come to you with Clear (Signs) from your Lord? And if he be
a liar, on him is (the sin of) his lie: but, if he is telling the
Truth, then will fall on you something of the (calamity) of which he
warns you: Truly God guides not one who transgresses and lies!'"
(Quran 40:28). How did God reward this believer's action? God
continues, "Then God saved him from (every) ill that they plotted
(against him), but the burnt of the Penalty encompassed on all sides
the People of Pharaoh." (Quran 40:45). God protected him from all the
conspiracies they had planned. God does not abandon those who struggle
for his cause.

Are you afraid for your children and what might happen to them? Listen
to your Lord, "And let those fear who, should they leave behind them
weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful
of (their duty to) God, and let them speak right words." (Quran 4:9).
Fearing for your children is not an excuse, in fact God tells you that
if you fear for them, then speak right words and fulfill your duty to
God. He will protect them.

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- The believer mentioned in the Quran, Chapter 36 (Yaseen)

God sent three Prophets to a village. Can you believe that? Three
Prophets at the same time for just one village. Of course one would
think that that is more than enough. No, that's not how a Believer
should react. A man came from the other side of the village to show
his support to the message. He didn't react passively and comfort
himself with the fact that there were three Prophets already No, he
took an action! God says, "Then there came running, from the farthest
part of the City, a man, saying, 'O my people! Obey the apostles. Obey
those who ask no reward of you (for themselves), and who have
themselves received Guidance'." (Quran 36:20,21). Then what? They
killed him! They killed the man that came to support the Messengers.
But God never forgets those who struggle for his cause. The Almighty
says, "It was said: 'Enter the Garden.' He said: 'Ah me! Would that my
People knew (what I know)! For that my Lord has granted me Forgiveness
and has enrolled me among those held in honor!'" (Quran 36:26,27).

- Solomon's Hoopoe (Hud-hud Solayman)

Solomon , a Prophet and a King had amongst his Kingdom a bird, a
Hoopoe. This Hoopoe proved to be more passionate about God's religion
than many human beings today. When it saw a kingdom worshipping the
sun, what did it do? Did it say "I'm just a Hoopoe, what can I do?"
Did it say "No way, this is too big for me, did I see anything? Nope I
didn't see anything"? Do you know what the Hoopoe did? It approached
these people and investigated what they were doing, gathered the
information and flew back to Jerusalem to tell Prophet Solomon . God
says "But the Hoopoe tarried not far: he (came up to Solomon and)
said: "I have compassed (territory) which you have not compassed, and
I have come to you from Saba with tidings true." (Quran 27:22). It
told Solomon all about what it had witnessed, and that Hoopoe was a
main reason that the people of Saba got an opportunity to know and
accept the true religion of the One and Only God. (Sigh) If only we
had a couple of those Hoopoes today. If only Muslims today would have
the same enthusiasm for the religion of God as the Hoopoe had.

- The Ant

There wasn't just a Hoopoe that took action, the Quran also give an
example of an ant. When Prophet Solomon was marching with his army and
was approaching a colony of ants, the queen ant jumped into action and
called out, "O ants!! Get into your habitations, lest Solomon and his
hosts crush you (under foot) without knowing it!!" (Quran 27:18).
Since Solomon had the gift of understanding the speech of animals, he
heard the cry of the Queen ant. God tells us, "So he (Solomon) smiled,
amused at her speech.." (Quran 27:19). Thus Solomon was able to avoid
harming the Ants. If we compare ourselves with this ant, who will turn
out to be more passionate and dedicated to the welfare of their fellow
beings?

-The Companion Al-Habbab ibn Al-Munzir (rAa)

This companion demonstrated to us how one could object and at the same
time maintain the highest levels of courtesy and politeness. Before
the Battle of Badr, Prophet Muhammad told the Muslim army to camp in a
certain place. Habbab saw that there is a more strategic place that if
the Muslim army camped at, would give them an upper hand in the
battle. He didn't say "Well if the Prophet said so then why should I
say otherwise?" he wasn't passive, and at the same time he wasn't
rude. How did Habbab present his opinion that contradicted with the
opinion of the Messenger of God ? He asked, "O Messenger of God, is
your opinion based on a revelation from God, or is it war tactics and
strategy?" The Prophet replied "No, its war tactics and strategy." So
Habbab proposed, "Then this is not the most strategic place to camp."
Prophet Muhammad accepted his proposal, a proposal that was one of the
main factors that led to the victory of the Muslim army in this
critical battle.

Time for Action:

Brothers and sisters, no one will clean the mess that is around us
except us. If we turn away from it, we are just leaving it for our
children, and it will get worse. If we want our Ummah back in shape we
have to have a positive impact on life, we all have to contribute.
Let's stop being passive.

Don't underestimate the impact you could make. If you are sincere in
changing yourself and your surroundings then call unto God with
humbleness and He will assist you, and if He assists you, nothing
could go wrong.

Dear Brothers and sisters, our Ummah needs every single one of us. God
didn't say that He doesn't change the condition of "a person" until he
or she changes "him or herself", No. God said, "Verily God will never
change the condition of a people until they change themselves" (Quran
13:11).

I'm just hoping that you will take a step forward. Let the step be as
big as you decide, but please, please, don't just stand there when
things get worse. Please take a step forward.



Amr Khalid is an Egyptian Muslim activist and preacher. The New York
Times Magazine, in reference to Khaled's popularity in Arab countries,
described him in its April 30, 2006 issue as "the world's most famous
and influential Muslim televangelist. Amr Khaled has also been listed
among the world's most influential people by Time Magazine.

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