Solution to the World's Problems

Allah says: "Inna Allaha la yughayru ma bi qawmin hatta yughayru ma bi anfusihim" (13:11). Allah says in Surat 13, Ayat 11: "indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people, until they change what is in themselves".

So knowing this, and if we want to see change in society, we first have to change what is in ourselves, in order to fix the world's problems. It starts with us, within ourselves. We have to purify ourselves and turn towards the Imam of our time, Imam Mahdi, ajal Allahu Ta'ala farajahu ash-Sharif. Once we do this collectively as a society, then we pray and we wait for the reappearance of our Imam who's prophesied to come and fill the world with justice, just as it was filled previously with injustice [Translation in Turkish].

So we shouldn't just make empty calls, saying we wish for the reappearance of our Imam. But we have to mean it with our hearts. Sincerely wish for him to come and help us, and guide us back to the true path of Islam. It is a difficult path to work on ourselves, and that is why it is called Jihad Al-Akbar, the greater Jihad. It can be done, but we have to have persistence. We have to have consistency, and we have to have Du'a. [Translation in Turkish].

Some people think in order to make a change in society, that we need to yell at people, we need to shout at people, we need to curse at rulers, or governments and all these other things. We have to go in front of their embassies, and shout at them, and yell la'nas on them, and curse at them. However, this isn't the case at all. And we have hadith Al-Qudsi, hadith from Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, to Rasul Allah, that shows us the method how to change things in the world. Rasul Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa alihi, said that Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala, said: "I am the Lord, there is no one else but Me to be worshipped. I created the rulers, and I have control over their hearts, in My hands. I shall establish kind rulers, over people who obey Me, and I will establish cruel rulers over the people who disobey Me. Beware, and do not waste your time swearing at the rulers". Instead, we turn to Allah in repentance, so that Allah changes the state of the rulers' heart and makes them be kind to you. [Translation in Turkish].

So we need to take example from the story of Prophet Yunus , alayhi as-salam. While Yunus left his people to meet the punishment that was promised to them by Allah, the companion of Yunus, his name was 'Ubir. He warned the people, when they saw Allah's punishment arriving, that they needed to repent before it was too late. [Translation in Turkish].

So he advised all those people there, when they saw the punishment coming. He said, cry and beg Allah for forgiveness. Even separate the babies from their mothers, the young animals from their mothers, so that all of them cry for Allah's help. They all went out collectively wearing coarse clothes. They put ropes around their necks. They put dust on their heads, in the display of humility. They cried and they wailed for Allah's forgiveness. They begged Allah to forgive them. And promised that they would follow the one that Allah had sent to them before, the one they rejected before. They said, now we will follow Yunus. [Translation in Turkish].

So Allah pardoned them, Allah forgave them, and He took the punishment that was destined for them. He changed it, and took it away from them. We see in the Qur'an, Allah says, in Surah Yunus: "why has not there been any group of people that might believe, so that it might benefit it, except the people of Yunus, when they believed. We remove the punishment of disgrace and this and the life of this world. And we promised, and we provided for them for a while" (10:98). [Translation in Turkish].

So this is similar to what we have to do with ourselves. We have to do this. Similar, follow the path of people of Yunus. Crying and begging Allah for His forgiveness. To end the punishment of ghaybah, the occultation of the Imam to hasten the reappearance of Imam Mahdi, ajal Allahu Ta'ala farajahu ash-Sharif. But we have to ask ourselves, how often do we mention the Imam's name? How often do we cry for the absence of the Imam? How often do we pray for the reappearance of our Imam? If we want to change this world, if we want to have change in this world, this should be our top priority. Purifying ourselves, asking Allah to help us, praying for the reappearance of the Imam, and clinging to the path of the Imam. [Translation in Turkish].