Your Inner Peace Will Kill You!


 Summar Hamdy

Life is tough, and I do excuse people who’re trying to take their breath out of its struggle every once and awhile by getting closer to God, some of us find peace right away, some of us take time to do, some of us don’t, but does it mean that God hates those who can’t find it more often?!

Inner peace vs. God’s anger?

“I pray, I act good, and I don’t hurt anyone; still I have big crises in my life” we usually say, as we only connect to God to get what we want. Otherwise, we think that God isn’t pleased with us to the extent that some people turn their heads to Him wondering why He stopped ‘pampering’ them?! It’s like we’re no longer serving God but God is serving us. This is when we begin to blame God for crises we face instead of trying to fix them.

Am I cursed for not finding inner peace?

To write this piece for you, my dear reader, it took me no inner peace at all, it took eagerness and a lot of thinking. I was pushed by the agony of the insisting desire for changing this world, the burning inner teasing out of people ignorance, the tears and the anger of seeing people giving up the battle field and choosing to relax while our world is falling apart. Am I cursed by God for not having more inner peace? If we think this way then we must be following our guessing about God, not knowing Him by evidence and proofs. We only worship God to find some temporary inner peace. But I’m sorry to tell you this,  inner peace isn’t why we’re here from the first place. God says:

And your Lord would not have destroyed the cities unjustly while their people were reformers.” [Qur’an (11:117)].

Inner peace, or the opium of people?

How can you have inner peace when you see your boss molesting your co-worker?! Or when you see a co-worker of yours stealing from the company?! How can you have inner peace while Africa is starving, Iraq is under bombing, Gaza is under siege, and Palestine is occupied?!!! How can you have inner peace while cancer is spreading, domestic violence rates are increasing, rape crimes are no less than before?!!!

You are a human, if you witness a problem, you WILL NEVER have inner peace until you give it a hand and do something, that’s how you’re designed. We’re doing the same mistake all over again, we take idols out of our tools, we create statues to worship out of helpless stones. Inner peace in itself is never the goal, neither is happiness nor money. Inner peace is a pass, a stage, something we earn. Join Yoga classes, pay more for your therapist, sleep under the trees for 10 days, go camping for 3 months, try and try and try to find it, you’ll never find it until you move, until you act, until you change something.

Inner peace is earned!

Umar ibn El-Khattab is one of the top Muslim just-rulers the world ever known. He was known by his body’s strong building, but when he became the ruler, he became thin, with a darker skin, and fed on bread and oil only. He couldn’t sleep at night for that he used to sneak down the streets to check on people and hear from them about their conditions under his rule. Umar struggled his entire life to reach a fair stage of justice, in which a poor mother could be served by Umar himself to feed her kids.

Once upon the time, an ambassador named Hurmz came to visit Umar but didn’t find him in his house. He asked the people about Umar, they told him to find Umar in the mosque, Hurmz found Umar sleeping in the mosque, and started to ask:

– Where are his guards?

= People replied: he has no guards, no ruling house.

– Hurmz said: he must be a Prophet then!

= People replied: he’s following the Prophet’s footsteps, that’s all.

Umar didn’t need guards, he had that earned inner peace because of his justice, may God be pleased with him.

Don’t let your inner peace kill you

In Islam, we know we must submit to God, in peace and in war, in the time of earning inner peace and in the time of beating the inner agony which comes out of our desire for changing. We Muslims find great inner peace during praying 5 times a day, and when we call for Allah, The Creator of Heavens and Earth, yet we know that inner peace in itself isn’t the ultimate goal.

No peace for those who decided to be silent while they could’ve spoken.

No peace for those who stood against activists when they felt a threat against their own benefits.

No peace for those who reconized dilemma coming towards their community, but walked with the flock, went home for the sake of their inner peace, and they will face a greater agony just few years later!

Peace be upon those who get an often inner agony and struggle inside, in order to make our world a better place of peace!