By Shamsi Ali Al-Nuyorki
This is not the first long night, nor the first darkness that seemed like the end of everything. It is the scene of Mecca on the night Prophet Muhammad (SAW) left it in darkness, alone with an unseen conviction. The polytheists (mushrikoon) thought the call to Islam (da’wah) was over, yet it was only the beginning.
So it was at the Battle of Badr, few in number, poorly equipped, but the heavens were full of promise. The scales tipped, and history learned that truth is measured not by quantity but by steadfastness.
Then came the Battle of Uhud, bringing wounds, spilling blood, and shaking some hearts. Some said it was the end. Yet it was only a long lesson in patience and hard training to rise again.
Then came the Battle of the Trench (Khandaq). When all the forces of disbelief gathered and Medina was besieged from every corner, hearts pounded and the believers were shaken. Victory that day was not in their hands but in their hearts, firmness amid hunger, patience amid fear, and digging a trench in hard ground with soft, trusting hearts. When the hypocrites said, “Allah and His Messenger promise nothing but deceit,” the true believers answered, “This is what Allah and His Messenger have promised us.” The siege turned into wind; the coalition broke, and Islam stood firm.
All we see today is like a summer cloud, thick in appearance but quick to disappear. Did people think, when the Tatars swept through Muslim lands, that Islam was diminished? Instead, the ruins rose uncompromising fighters, the Tatars fell, and Islam endured.
Was not Jerusalem held captive for centuries, with people saying, “It can never be freed”? Saladin then came, not with thunderous speeches but with a long caravan of faith, reclaiming the holy land before its walls were rebuilt.
Thus the pattern repeats. Darkness deepens, the clashes intensify, then suddenly… light again. Know, the darkest moments of night are the moments before dawn arrives.
Allah’s promise of victory is not a slogan but a recurring law. Every attempt to break it has failed, and every generation that thinks it is the last is merely a link in the chain.
What is required of us is not only to change the course of history, but to stay steadfast with the caravan of Islam, not drifting onto tempting side‑paths, and not abandoning the caravan when the burden grows heavy. Walk with the caravan, even when tired, for the essence is not in arriving quickly but in never turning back.
And the dawn is closer than you think!
This is the year of reckoning. A tyrant attacks here, then is attacked there. The price of past bloodshed will be paid. So never say a tyrant has mastered those who are less tyrannical. Instead say: this is the year of reckoning, and your Lord never forget!
As long as there is a tyrant whose evil is certain and a believer whose faith is certain, the state will change, and the earth will change!
For us in Muslims in America, especially those of us in New York City, more particularly those who lived through the tragedy of 9/11 and the wave of Islamophobia that followed, it often feels as if the da’wah movement has been buried. Islam has been interred by the so called “terror attacks,” with the faith being blamed as the inspiration for that evil violence. Yet, in just over two decades, New York City is now led by a Muslim. To many, that seems impossible and bewildering. But is anything impossible when Allah wills it? We are happy and proud that our brother Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York just a week ago.
So my friend, be certain, this is the year of reckoning, and the dawn is closer than you think. Keep your heads up, do not despair from the mercy of Allah!
Have a great weekend to all!
Director, Jamaica Muslim Center & President, Nusantara Foundation