Give Up Your "Good Muslim Life"
وقالوا ربنا إنا أطعنا سادتنا وكبراءنا فأضلونا السبيل
There is a saying that I like, “give up your good Christian life and follow Jesus.”
More than ever, as the oppressive global system sheds its skin like a snake, Muslims need to adopt that mindset, too. They need to jump from the realm of performance to the the realm of the Real.
What does that mean? Well, it entails shedding off layers of social conditioning of what being a “good Muslim” looks like. A “good Muslim” signals their piety through ritual observance, following the consensus of scholars and showing visible markers of piety to be deemed an accepted member of the league of “the Good.” It is a comfortable, safe and “respectable” life.
However, doing all of this does not necessarily mean one is a good person before God. Perhaps that person is good before society, but not necessarily before God. Society, nor convention, was never the litmus test for what is deemed'“good.” In fact, quite the opposite. Ones’ soul is in greater peril when one gets too comfortable with the idea of themselves as part of “the good ones” or “the saved ones,” seeking validation from creation and not the Creator.
When one finds themselves conforming to the majority opinions of the day, or when one follows group think and the same, cyclical knee jerk reactions to world events, then one must truly reassess their lives’ trajectory and pull themselves out of the depths of darkness, before it is too late, because tomorrow is never guaranteed.
It is enough to truly read and understand the Qur’an and what Prophet Muhammad stood for (and indeed, all the prophets, peace be upon them) to realize the fullness of the emancipatory message of God for humanity.
God does not like it when Muslims are weak and subservient to the opinions of a tyrannical clerical class, even if their stances constitute the “majority.”
God does not like it when we sacrifice our dignity and moral compass, for some temporary false comfort and security.
God certainly does not like when use Islam as a fig leaf for our cowardice and complacency.
The Prophets were not sent to appease the majority. They were sent to call on the individual, and break the tyrannical grip of their times’ popular practices and beliefs.
The Qur’an was essentially revealed to upend the status quo, not to affirm it. In Surat Al-Ahzab, 67, we are told that the disbelievers will lament on the day of the judgement, “And they will say, “Our Lord! We obeyed our leaders and rulers, but they led us astray from the ˹Right˺ Way.” Relatedly, the Beloved of God, the final messenger said to his companions: “There is something which I fear for more for my people more than the dajjal (the antichrist)” and he repeated that 3 times, before he was asked, “what’s that?” and he replied: “the misguiding scholars.”
This implies not only the religious scholars, but the mainstream “official” consensus in society generally, such as the falsehoods spewed by political leaders, doctors, academics or politicians. We essentially live in a time where misguidance is endemic, and it is couched in “goodness” and “truth.” This a matter of a strategic, knowledge-driven warfare, and Muslims are none the wiser. They think that if they keep being “good” and invisible, that they will be “saved” by Allah in the end for their helpless good intentions.
This is not a call for anarchy.
It is a call for an internal revolt. After all, Islam’s message is one not for the collective, but for individual transformation—the collective follows suit.
One must smash the idols du jour such as politically correct opinions and choosing silence in face of all sorts of tyranny. This process of transformation will leave you suffering, struggling and alone, yes, but not for long. The growing pains will be hard at first, but then you will relish in walking alone with Alone. You will find secret joys in the glad tidings of being a stranger in a strange time. Elect to feel estrangement in this world and not in the next.
This road will leave you will callouses on your feet, but their reality is comfortable, beautiful loafers. It will seem dusty, prickly, cold and grey, but its reality is rainbows, birds and light upon light. Smash your very self at the altar of the Divine and walk away from all pretenses, attachments and obsessions. To truly, meaningfully, tread the path less taken one must pray the janaza prayer on this world and flee unto the One.
Do not be like those who were led stray by the choke-hold of the high and mighty and regretted it before it was too late. Walk away from the false pretense of that “good Muslim life” and tread the brave, defiant path of Muhammad ﷺ, his brethren Prophets and the free truthtellers (as-siddiqin).