Hal min nasiray yansurna
By Aziza

Every Muharram I hear the call of Imam Hussain “ Hal min nasiray yansurna” Is there anyone there to help me and when I hear it I wonder, am I answering his call or am I too busy in my own life to think about what my Imam would like me to do?

Imam Hussain stood up against Yazid because he was an oppressive, tyrant and unjust ruler.  He used to distort the truth about Islam, he used to oppress his people and commit atrocities against them. The universal call for help was directed at us, his shias. So was Imam Hussain calling us to help him fight oppression?? If so then how do we answer his call?

Although there is no Yazid today, injustices are happening all around us.  Truth is being distorted and fellow human beings are being oppressed.  With the amount of injustices happening around the world….wars, illegal occupation of lands, economic exploitation of the poor, illegal trade practices, I wonder what can I do to make a difference?  I can’t stop the war in Iraq, I can’t create a state for the Palestinians, I can’t end the suffering of the children in Uganda and Sudan.  I can’t end the suffering of the natives in my own country of Canada. I can’t improve the livelihood of children in China who are forced to work under abhorrant conditions to meet the insatiable consumerism of the west.  I don’t have the political clout to do any of the above so how can I end the oppression?

I believe that the ends are not in my hands, they are in the hands of Allah (swt) however the means are in my hands.  I may not be able to change the state of the world but I can definitely take a stand against the oppression happening around me so how do I do that?

For one, I can speak up against the injustices by means of a pen.  Our resident alim, syed muhammed rizvi of Toronto often refers to it as “jihad of the pen”.  I can write to politicians and head of states to express my concern about the injustices and ask them to intervene.  I can write letters to the editors of newspapers expressing my concern when these stories of injustices make it into the newspapers. 

I can also take a more direct stand in some situations.  I can stand up against child labour by not buying from companies who are known to operate sweat shops in developing countries.  I can refuse to spend my money in those stores who are known to directly support oppressive regimes.  I can refuse to shop in those stores that are known to underpay employees and drive the minimum wage down.

Does all this ever make a difference to the world or to those businesses who economically oppress people to increase their profit margin?  Maybe, maybe not, but like I said earlier, the ends are not in my hands; they are in the hands of Allah (swt). Every time I start wondering if any of these little actions I take will ever make a difference in the world, I think about this story from the time of Prophet Ibrahim.

Namrood lighted a huge big fire into which he was going to throw Prophet Ibrahim.  This fire was so huge that birds flying above it were getting burnt.  There was a small lizard there who was picking up spits of water in her mouth and throwing it into the fire….the other lizards were laughing at her and telling her that her spits of water will make no difference to this huge big fire.  In reply she said that I know it won’t make a difference but at least on the day of judgement I can stand in front of Allah and tell him that I did what I could to try and save your prophet.

These actions that I take often seem like spits of water that probably won’t stop the fire of oppression raging around us, but if I don’t do anything, how am I going to face my creator and my Imam Hussain (as) when he asks me on the day of judgement “How come you never came to help me when I called you?”