The other day while I was at work, amidst a conversation about ‘changing’, my co-worker told me the reason why she didn’t see change as being worth it. She claimed that ‘even if I change, people are still gonna see me the same, so who cares’ or something along these lines and it really took me aback. Because this reason, while it is not exactly a valid reason to not change, it is a sad reality.
How many times do you see that brother or that sister that is trying, truly trying yet all he or she gets is criticism? There is a sister that starts becoming more modest. There is a brother who starts coming to Fajr. There is sister that starts to come to halaqas. There is a youth that used to be seen at the clubs but finally starts to come to the masjid instead on Friday nights but what happens? People start glaring, people start whispering, people start saying, weren’t you the guy who goes to clubs all the time?
Why are we as a community as an Ummah so unmerciful? Why? When we see Allah guiding people, this a time to rejoice, this is a time to celebrate, this is a time to say Alhamdulillah. Why can’t we give people a chance? Why do we always keep bringing up their mistakes? When someone who was drowning is trying to come up, why do we keep trying to push them under instead of helping them get up?
And for those that are trying to change, never let people become a barrier. Allah may be opening your heart to guidance, don’t let the people crumble that, keep pushing, May you see the fruit of your trials on Yawm ul Akhirah inshaa’Allah :)
*For more ‘Letters to our Ummah’, check out www.destination-jannah.com
