Patience in the face of Injustice

I try swallowing the lump that has formed in my throat, and bravely attempt to rearrange my face to appear impassive, trying not to betray my emotions. Tears threaten to spill out of my eyes any second now as I try and hold back the urge to cry out in anger and despair. Thoughts of rebelling flit through my head, but vanish just as quickly as they’d appeared. Me a rebel??? Come on who am I kidding...that isn’t my kind of thing, and besides who and what would I be rebelling against, and what would I be gaining from doing so?

But still the anger remains, against people, against society and culture and the injustice that I see clearly evident and directed at me. ‘It’s not fair!!!’…is constantly echoing in my head. I feel grief and immense sadness at the situation I find myself trapped in. At the unfairness, unjustness and hard-heartedness of people, and how no-one cares, they’re all so busy leading their own lives to even give me a moment’s thought. In my sorrow and grief I feel I’m the only one suffering and that my trials and tribulations exceed everyone else’s. I dig myself deeper and deeper into a hole of darkness and misery…

As depressing thoughts swim through my head I suddenly remember the ayah ‘Innallaha ma-as saa’bireen – Surely, Allah is with those who are patient’ (Surah Al Baqara: verse 153). Immediately I begin feeling guilty and slowly the anger seeps out of me. How could I have been so ungrateful??? How could I have forgotten all the uncountable favours and blessings Allah (SWT) through His infinite Mercy had bestowed upon me?? Alhamdulillah, I still have parents, I have a roof over my head, and I am ALIVE, SubhanAllah, which is much more than hundreds of thousands of fellow Muslims out there have! ‘Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?’ (Surah Ar-Rahman) flickers through my head. I feel like a total loser for my ingratitude towards Allah.

There are so many Muslims out there in worse conditions than us. In moments of remorse and grief we tend to forget that. Be grateful to Allah for all that He has blessed you with. There are people out there who would love to swap lives with you. No matter how unjust people are to you, no matter how they treat you exercise sabr (patience), you will come out stronger and be the ultimate winner. To be patient and forgiving even when one has the ability and right to be angry is so much more rewarding and Allah truly loves and is with the patient ones.

May Allah grant me first of all the tawfeeq to do amal on what I have said. May He grant me, you and all of us the ability to exercise patience and be forgiving and not let anger overtake us. And may Allah keep us steadfast on Deen and Iman and not lose faith. Ameen.

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It’s not fair!’…is constantly echoing in my head. I feel grief and immense sadness.