Sura (chapter) 11, ayat (verse) 4: reads, “To Allah is your return, and He has power over all things.”
Many of us reading this writing are in the throes (a very difficult or painful situation) of trying to make sense of the Nov. 5, 2024, election. What in the world just happened, and how do we recover? The first thing we must continuously do is remember that Allah is always in control; ALWAYS!
NOTE: Allah is the Arabic name for G_d, our Creator. Millions of Christian Arabs call our Creator by the name Allah. Allah is not the “Muslim G_d.” Allah is actually saying “The G_d!”
G_d is always in control. Whenever fear or difficulty confronts believers, Muslims recall sura (chapter) 2: ayat (verse) 156, “Who say, when afflicted with calamity: ‘To Allah We belong, and to Him we are returning.’”
The help and mercy of Allah is always nearby, even in our most difficult moments. Allah well-equipped us with intellect and reasoning, supported with sound hearts of faith that are rooted in our strong belief in Him; all the essentials for getting us through difficult situations. Tuesday’s election — for many of us — was and is a difficult situation … and Allah is always in control.
Let’s remember that every knock is a boost; and every setback — if we keep strong faith in Allah — every setback is actually a repositioning for bigger and greater things. When engaged or engulfed in difficulties don’t look outside at others; begin with a serious self-evaluation. Ask yourself, “How in the world did I get myself in this bad situation?”
Confront your input into you being a victim. Before pointing fingers outwards, begin with pointing inwards and accepting accountability for your role, no matter how small, in you being in a compromised situation. Tuesday’s election proved that Democrats need tutoring in messaging — mainly interpreting the message and the targeted audience of their opponents — then countering accordingly.
American democracy took a serious blow on Nov. 5. Anytime a convicted criminal, habitual liar, xenophobic (anti foreigners), and a misogynist (abuses women) can win both the general and the electoral college vote; American democracy is in serious trouble. But don’t fret over it, because Allah is in control.
When the majority of American voters support such a person often fear, or even worse, phobias are ruling the day. Whenever the majority of voters support a man who during a presidential debate blatantly lies against a minority sector of our nation (our Haitian brothers and sisters) saying, “They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats…” then best believe that fear and phobia have stolen our democracy.
Fear is just fear, the state of being scared; whereas phobia is worse. According to the dictionary a phobia is an extreme or irrational fear of, or aversion to something. Phobia makes folks irrationally terrified about groups of people or some issues that they don’t fully understand.
In 1988, during the Bush versus Gore election, the fear-phobia tactic was the “Willie Horton” factor; the image of this bad black man killing white folks, a race card successfully used by George W. Bush. Willie’s guilty deeds were not the main concern of many white voters; it was his black face that scared them to the polls.
Trump supporters say their two main concerns are the border and inflation: “illegal” immigration and the cost of living. The first Europeans to this part of the world were illegal immigrants motivated by an immoral “manifestation destiny,” that fueled murder, deception and mayhem on Native Americans. Further, they built a nation by illegally importing involuntary immigrants (enslaved Africans).
Illegal immigration continued for decades by knowingly allowing cheap Mexican laborers to cross the U.S.-Mexican border, but now that our country is strong, all the sudden this same form of immigration is a problem. When we allow fear to override our good senses and our intelligence, those fears develop into phobias, and phobias may make us forget that Allah is always in control.
Regardless of one’s political affiliation, or if you’re ultra-conservative or extreme liberalist, Allah is always in control. In Al-Islam we are taught to avoid the extremes of any group, issue or situation. We are to be the balanced community.
It is phobias that push conservatives to be against women’s rights, critical race theory and other progressive thinking. The conservatives cloak their phobias by saying they are protecting “state’s rights,” the same two words used by the Confederate states in their efforts to maintain U.S. slavery. The Confederates forgot that Allah is always in control.
As we continue to evaluate this election let us first evaluate our individual selves, remembering that Allah is ALWAYS in control. Not a single one of us is completely guilty or completely innocent when fear and phobia dominates our electoral process.
Donald J. Trump didn’t win; fear and phobia won. Likewise Kamala Harris didn’t lose; American democracy lost … nonetheless, we must continue working with faith because, ALLAH IS IN CONTROL — ALWAYS!!
