Many of us will have heard this quote, but it always gives a lot of hope. Ibrahim ibn adham (ra) said;

لَوْ عَلِمَ الْمُلُوكُ وَأَبْنَاءُ الْمُلُوكِ مَا نَحْنُ فِيهِ مِنَ النَّعِيمِ وَالسُّرُورِ لَجَالَدُونَا بِالسُّيُوفِ

“If the kings and princes knew what we experience of spiritual contentment and happiness, they would come and fight us for it with their swords”.

In light of everything happening in the world (both east and west), it’s easy to become despondent at our weakness and failings. There is no doubt we need to do more for our brothers and sisters and I hold my hands up first on that. May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings with respect to their rights over us.

But one thing that nobody can do, regardless what is done to the minds and bodies, is to extinguish the light of Iman. It might sound very Ertugrul-esque, but on a serious note that is the truth.

Though I can’t speak for others from this position of comfort, islamically, even someone suffering immensely, his one resistance that nobody can steal from him is that he has the Shahadah in his heart. And that Shahada itself is what separates him from the loftiness of being in perpetual bliss, gazing at his Lord, compared to one who will be wretched for eternity due to his disbelief and oppression.

In fact, the additional tests they go through whether it is being displaced, coerced to sin, imprisoned etc, are all tests decreed by Allah to raise their rank in the akhirah. By default, they are given the honour of being even closer to Allah and his Rasul (saws).

The above doesn’t mean we settle for it as we are commanded/obligated to protect the honour of the ummah of the Prophet (saws) in every way we can, but in the *end* with Allah, the believer does not lose.