We all love heroes. But we do not live in a mythical land of dragons and monsters. We all love champions, but our age and culture do not lend themselves to chivalry. Alas, we live in the age of public confessions. We have survivors. They get their 15 minutes of fame, and we get to love them. And, of course, we have all manner of competition—in sport and in business—because everyone loves a winner, right?
We spend money on books and classes that tell us how to become survivors and winners. We spend time and money—sometimes a lot of it—going to sporting events. We may make going to the Olympics a priority over going to hajj, hoping to take on a patina of victory ourselves simply by being there.
We respond to the person who takes on the tests in life and achieves mastery over them. Whether it is by becoming a stronger person after a terrible experience or by beating all opponents on the field; all of us appreciate the time, the sacrifice and the emotional endurance it takes to come out on top. That is, we appreciate success in every arena except Islam.
Being in the presence of one we perceive to be (Allah knows best) a devout Muslim makes us uncomfortable. We tend to avoid going to places where we know such a person is likely to be. We prefer not feeling as if we have to moderate our dress, our behavior, our eating or drinking around them. And should we pray, just because they’re there?
We dislike having the devout Muslim remind us of how to be stronger in our Islam. Devout Muslims are not loved by us. They are not emulated by us. They are labeled old-fashioned, misguided, out-of-step, crazy, fanatic. Muslims men who go to the masjid for fajr prayer—as Muslim men are supposed to do—have their names put on suspected terrorist lists. It’s an open secret, is it not, that this happens not just in America and other Western countries, but in Muslim countries as well?
The next time we want to spend an hour or two watching survivors, millionaires or athletes, we should ask ourselves why we would rather expend so much of our personal resources on those who offer us a glimpse of success in this brief life. Isn’t the success of our souls in the timelessness of the hereafter more important? If the answer to that last question is yes, then we should think about giving up our survivors and winners in favor of those who will remind us to remember Allah.
