Oxford Road? A thousand times. I was raised here. I’ve walked this road in every version of myself.
Child and student, employee and entrepreneur.
Failure and success.
But today, I feel like a stranger on a street that once raised me.
Not because things have changed.
Takeaways still know I like pineapple on pizza. I still go to the same coffee spots every week, and the rain still penetrates my Kuwaiti kufi and probably your jersey hijab.
Just like it always has.
Yet, Something still feels different. It's like a visible rash. The sense of belonging has now started to disappear.
Don't you feel out of place? That you don't belong. Look around you. Do you even want to belong?
Introverted, Selective, Nonchalant.
That same feeling of belonging is slowly starting to become friction. Friction of being a practicing Muslim living in the West.
Loud and impossible to ignore. It's taken over everyday interactions. Those small moments that seemed "normal" are now "strange."
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَدَأَ الإِسْلاَمُ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ غَرِيبًا فَطُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ
Narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:“Islam began as something strange and will go back to being strange, so glad tidings to the strangers.’” (Sunan Ibn Majah 3986)
The city around me hasn't changed much. Apart from an excessive amount of matcha stores opening up, and another chicken burger spot named after an American state.
It's still alive, running on ambition and noise.
But it's the noise that feels strange.
That constant buzzing, time flying by like a plane, people chasing the dunya.
That same dunya who sells you empty dreams, and false ambition.
So how do you fit in as a Muslim working towards their akhirah? Working towards something bigger and better. Permanent rather than temporary.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying 'let's let go of our responsibilities in the name of "worshipping Allah and asceticism'".
That's not asceticism, that's negligence. The way of the silly billy Sufis.
The Sufis have discouraged many people from work, earn wealth and they make them feel that work and wealth are strange. Although this has been the way of the Prophets and righteous people. The reality is that they sought comfort and preferred to sit and wait to receive their alleged 'divine grace'.
So don't be like the ones who pretend to let go of the dunya, but are really just waiting for a handout.
And at the same Time, don't be like the ones who let the warmth of this world get them in a tight chokehold.
There are some of them who embarked on new deviated ways, where they indulged in worldly passions and pleasures. Accepting to eat and drink from unlawful sources, consume alcohol, wear silk and accompany those whose purpose in life is to acquire worldly pleasures; they considered Sufism to be wearing garments and a nice turban. All this was done just so they could protect their wealth and social status.
(These statements regarding the Suffiyah were from Ibn Al Jawzi's book صيد الخاطر Captured thoughts).
it is upon you O beloved sibling, find the middle path of responsibility and religion, carrying the two just like the companions (May Allah be pleased with them). That is where true success lies.
عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ الصَّابِرُ فِيهِمْ عَلَى دِينِهِ كَالْقَابِضِ عَلَى الْجَمْرِ
Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “A time will come in which adhering to one’s religion is like grasping onto hot coal.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2260)
Hold onto the Qur'an and Sunnah whether you are on the sun or the moon. Loosening your grip could mean drifting into a lifestyle of laziness or materialism.
Your brother, Abu Mu'awiyah Ibn Farooq.
Sheikh Suliman Ar Ruhayli حفظه الله