Picture a bridge that’s broken and people walking on it (unaware of the danger) keep falling into the water below. It’s like a never-ending cycle of accidents. At first, the obvious thing to do is to rush to the water and help those who have fallen. Saving lives is urgent and important. But if we step back and think about it, rescuing people one by one isn’t enough. The real problem is the broken bridge itself. If we don’t fix it, people will keep falling, no matter how hard we try to save them.
As much as protests, rallies are important, we should never be comfortable thinking that it’s the only way or that our job is done. We must realise that it’s the bridge that needs to be fixed, eventually.
Here, we must clarify that we are not against protests, rallies, boycotts, and social media campaigns. We participate, appreciate and will continue to be a part of them openly. But with that said, our priorities remain intact. We must be the ones repairing that bridge. It is to connect people with the religion of Allah.
Imagine for instance, Israelis get a serious moral hit and all of them including the prime minister decide to end their lives due to their guilty consciousness. Palestine is liberated, Gaza is free and Al-Aqsa is ours again. An enormous sight of relief spreads across the Muslim ummah, we all celebrate, be grateful and everything.
Now, here’s the thing: one week down the line—what will happen? Won’t all of us fall back to our old lifestyles? Won’t we be still drowned in corruption? Won’t we be still divided as the Ummah. Will the biggest, most severe wrong happening on the face of this planet—shirk vanish just like that. The answer clearly is a no.
There are always short-term and long-term solutions to things. As much as short-term approaches are required and necessary, we cannot undermine the long-term solution that needs to be worked on. Sure, working that way might not give us instant results, the victory may seem far-sighted but it will surely come.
So, we need to focus on a long-term solution: repairing the bridge. It’s a big job, but it’s the only way to stop the accidents for good. But even as we work on fixing the bridge, it might feel like our efforts aren’t making much of a difference. It’s frustrating, like trying really hard at something but not seeing any results.
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