We seem to be living in an age of outrage.

An age of activism, an age of resistance.

It’s about time.

My goodness, I’ve been an activist for going on 30 years! I’ve been resisting for about that long too. I’ve made no secret of the fact that yes, in addition to trying to tell a good story, I definitely have an agenda with my literary pursuits!

I want to humanize Muslims!

I write stories that show we’re just like everyone else, we have happy stories and we have sad stories.

I want to make it harder for them to ‘other’ us and slaughter us and in the process I want to write something that all children (and grownups) can benefit from.

Like I said I’ve been at this for almost thirty years now!

But the problem with activism is that it’s exhausting! The problem with rage and outrage is it’s exhausting.

You have to pace yourself!

And…you have to pick your battles!

And…in the process you have to restrain yourself at times from focusing on piddly little stuff vs focusing on the big picture.

I recently scrolled through my twitter feed and saw a video showing Trump’s pathetic attempt to toss a coin during the Army vs. the Navy football game. Many retweeted that how could a man who can’t even ‘properly’ toss a coin be POTUS?

Really?

You’re going to include this in your disqualifying statements?

The risk of getting so petty is that it actually undermines the legitimate arguments you can make about Trump’s unfitness for office. And in doing so you give credence to the nefarious forces out there who argue that it’s all a witch hunt. That in our eyes, Trump can do no good.

What has always amazed me regarding my understanding of God’s justice is that if someone does even the smallest good deed, no matter who they are, God will not fail to recognize the good deed and reward it.

Even ‘evil’ people will reap a reward for any good they do. God is sublime. He is above all petty politics.

It might seem as though evil people triumph in this world but it is very possible they are actually being rewarded solely in this world and once the door closes on this world, once death claims them and they enter their graves, the punishment will begin.

I believe that God is just, and on the Day of Judgment, He will set everything, all the unbalances we see happening before us, aright in such a way that even those condemned to hell will not be able to complain of the least injustice.

The veil will be lifted and we will finally see clearly what is right and what is wrong.

In the meantime, those of us who resist, who are striving with our might and main for a better society, writing stories that can uplift the human condition (as pompous as that might sound) need to focus only on what we can control.

I follow the news but I do not despair at it because I know that global happenings are not within the realm of my control. Instead I marvel at the way people can be misled and duped! (I used to always wonder how society could go along with past atrocities like the holocaust and the slaughter of the native north Americans, now I see it happening to the Uighurs, Rohingya, Yemenis etc. and it boggles my mind.)

I am but a humble writer.

All I can do is write and tell stories, stories with purpose. It is not much in the grand scheme of things, but it is what I focus on.

There is a hadith that says that God likes best that action which even if it is small is done consistently.

We’re not talking about grand gestures, the kind that are immortalized in epic Marvel movies pitting good against evil.

We’re talking about the daily striving done, outside the spotlight, that is so very hard to sustain, and yet critical in really changing a society.

Our daily prayers for example, take a few minutes five times a day to perform, and we are required to perform them on time, every single day.

It’s all about patience and perseverance.

And making sure that in the process of seeking justice, we in turn do no injustice to others, for if we did, then we would be to blame.

There are some who believe that people who believe that war is inevitable have no business writing for children.

I once witnessed an activist I admire deliver a speech on this very subject.

But during the speech, their talk turned dark, they spoke of how they had the choice of walking out of the hall, and just leaving without speaking on the subject they had been asked to address.

I frowned when I heard that.

And then they asked the audience if they believed if war was inevitable.

I put up my hand.

Then they asked if there would ever be a time without war. I put up my hand again, even though I was obviously contradicting myself.

And then the speaker looked at the audience and said that the people who’d put up their hands saying that war was inevitable had no right to be writing for children. Because they had no hope.

Afterwards I saw the activist walking out of the hall and I called to the person, when they turned around I saw tears in their eyes.

And I thought to myself, this person has been fighting for so very long, I think they had burned themselves out.

I ignored the tears. (It’s best in such a situation not to call attention to them!) And I spoke to the person about other matters we had in common until they calmed down, and their spirits had been lifted.

And at the end they smiled and we parted on good terms.

And I said a little prayer for them.

Those of us who resist, who activate, run a very real risk of not seeing progress in our lifetimes.

We need to be resigned to that.

Burnout can actually be a sign of arrogance. Where I might think the entire struggle is only upon myself as an individual pitted against the world–and I’m tired.

Nonsense!

We are not alone!

And anyways we need to continue on whether or not we are rewarded with change in our lifetime, for change might come from those we impact. We never know when what we say will send out ripples into the world and inspire the next person to pick up the struggle.

We are only one person against the weight of the world. And we each of us have limited time on earth to effect change. God will not hold us accountable for what we cannot control.

And that is both good and bad.

Think of it.

Hitler was only one person too.

On his own he could not have accomplished all the evil he dreamed of, he needed to convince his accomplices. By using racist Eugenics arguments he was able to get his minions to do the unthinkable.

From what I understand even Hitler will only be responsible for the evil he himself preached, ordered and perpetrated.

In Islam we believe that each person is only accountable for themselves, what we say and what we do.

We believe that God multiplies each good deed we do by hundreds or thousands but punishes each bad deed only once.

From what I understand Hitler will not be responsible for the actions of his followers or for duping them. They will be responsible for their own actions because (like the conclusion of the Nuremburg trials) there is no such thing as ‘just following orders’. Hitler’s followers too were each individuals and they each had a choice, as did he, to do what was right or do what was wrong.

And even though it may seem as though the world is skewed towards evil, never forget there is a lot of good too.

Look for it.

Seek it out so that it gives you hope. Hope to keep striving. To keep calling people to their higher nature so that they fulfill their higher purpose, to do what’s good and right.

In the course of my life it has been my privilege to meet so many wonderful people who are so much better than me. I take inspiration from them even as I hope others can take inspiration from me.

And in the process I know very much that I am not alone.

There are many who are striving as I am, and we wouldn’t live our lives in any other way.

Patience my friends.

Patience and perseverance.

With both of them, if God wills, we shall prevail.

If not in this world…in the next.