What a shame we don’t know this

What a Shame We Don't Know This

I'll never forget I was in the sixth grade and I sat down and my math teacher came up and he asked everybody in the room, what is the date in the hijri calendar today? Silence. We knew it was the 2nd of February and Allah knows what year — but we didn't know what was the hijri date. And he looked at us and he said, this is the sign of a colonized people. You don't even know the date in your own calendar.

You've been made to forget your role models. You've been made to forget your language. You've been erased. You've been wiped. What's left? You've come like an empty illiterate person and a software has been installed into you — and everything that Allah sent down is not in that software.

If you don't know the date, how do you know what happened in history? How do you know what today means and how do you know where you came from?

The Month That Actually Means Something

On the 31st of December every year, you see huge celebrations. We know the day. You can't sleep at night because there's explosives happening in the air outside your window. January 1st is just a day like any other day in the year. Nothing actually happened between December 31st and January 1st.

But something did happen in Muharram. It means something.

The Great Events of Muharram

Our beloved Messenger ﷺ migrated from Mecca to Medina. Yes, something happened this month.

Ibrahim ﷺ was saved from the fire. Yes, something happened this month.

Yunus ﷺ was saved from the wave. Yes, something happened this month.

Ayub ﷺ was healed from his sickness. Yes, something happened this month.

Nuh ﷺ was saved from the flood. Yes, something happened this month.

Musa ﷺ left Fir'aun behind and was liberated. Yes, something happened this month.

The Month of Liberation

This is the month of liberation. This is the month of freedom. This is the month where Allah reminds us that history repeats itself like a cycle.

That the Uighurs in China and the oppressed in Gaza and those struggling in civil war and strife — it's a reminder that one day they will be free. The Dutch colonized Indonesia for 300 odd years but they lived to see the day in which they were free.

Every tyrant will fall. Every pharaoh will drown. And every oppressed person will be liberated.

This is the sunnah of Allah — and Muharram is the reminder that it will continue to repeat itself until we meet Allah.