When the World Shakes

In the last few months, there's been a heaviness in the air.

A feeling of uncertainty gripping most of us as we watched world events unfold each day.

Between the war in the Middle-East, geopolitics threatening economies, and Al-Aqsa mosque being shut for 40 days, the world felt very unstable.

And though we're passing through a moment of relative relief — a ceasefire, Al-Aqsa mosque reopened — but that quiet unease hasn't fully lifted. And I think most of us know why.

We have a collective sense that we're living through something significant. Some historians describe periods like this as the 'Fourth Turning'; a recurring civilizational pattern where societies go through a crisis of reset before a new era begins. Whether or not you accept that framework, the feeling is real and the events in the past few years seem to prove it.

So the question is: how do you get on with life when everything around you seems to be falling apart? How do you manage your day to day? Your energy, focus, and time when things seem very unstable?

It's easy to panic. It's easy to hide and hope ‘this too shall pass’. But I want to argue that these moments of instability are also powerful moments of growth. Both on a personal level and on the level of the Ummah.

At a personal level: the shake you needed

Moments of instability and uncertainty shake your very foundation. The assumptions and mental models you've built your life around suddenly feel fragile. Your dreams, desires, and the insatiable demands of hustle culture, they all become less important. And what you're left with are basic, essential questions:

These moments of disruption are invitations to wake up from our ghafla (heedlessness). They remind us that we are slaves of Allah, and that His decrees will run by us whether we're prepared or not. They bring us back to faith, family, and community, and away from ego, consumerism, and the constant noise.

The opening of surat al-zalzalah comes to mind as I write this:

The personal tremors we feel in times like these are small quakes compared to the ultimate shaking that awaits us before the Day of Judgement. But they serve to wake us up and invite us to make tawbah, make amends with people, and to honestly reassess what stays in our lives and what needs to go.

At an Ummah level: the diagnosis and the cure

What we're witnessing at a civilizational level is painful. But the Prophet ﷺ already gave us the diagnosis and cure.

When asked about a time when the nations of the world would descend upon the Muslims like hungry guests descending on a dish, he said the reason would not be our small numbers. It would be because of 'wahn'. When the companions asked what is wahn. He ﷺ said:

Wahn is what happens when an Ummah which is entrusted with the Divine Manual (the Quran), and the Perfect Example (the Sunnah), neglects both in favor of comfort, status, and this dunya. The Ummah that has the Quran and the Sunnah as blueprints for humanity’s flourishing, turned away from it.

But that same diagnosis holds our cure, but are we willing to take the medicine? Are we willing to loosen our grip on this world and serve Allah truly? Are we willing to give a portion of our time, wealth, and lives for His cause?

If the answer is even a tentative yes, that is where the turning begins.

So where does this leave us practically?

I know these are hard times, especially for those who are directly tested. But let's not fall into despair. Let's renew our intentions, do the work in front of us to improve ourselves, our families, and Ummah, and trust in Allah's promise:

May Allah grant us clarity when the world confuses us, steadiness when it shakes us, and the wisdom to plant seeds of good even when everything seems to fall apart. Ameen.

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