JESSICA'S PERSEVERANCE ESSAY

What we are going to talk about in this article is perseverance and the ability to overcome adversity in life. The strength to rise above negative outcomes. This is important because there are many grim things going on in our world today, and many brutal realities in the future to come. According to the American Psychological Association, a third of adults are too stressed to function. So people need a message of how to persevere over dark times. When presented with so much negativity, it can be easy for one to lose hope. But there have always been dark times, and there has always been people available to struggle and survive through them.
We are not trying to minimize peoples’ suffering. We’re not claiming to have any cute, nice neat answers. We’re simply trying to provide a framework for how to struggle through and perhaps even triumph in difficult times.

WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN LIFE?

In discussing this topic, it’s important to understand what is important in life? Many people in the modern world and the West have a misconception of what life is even supposed to be. When I went to school, I was told that life was all about pursuing happiness. I'm not against happiness but if your end game in life is to be endlessly happy, then you're going to be disappointed, because no one's happy all the time and nobody gets heaven on Earth. We need to have a practical, real understanding about what life is and what life is not, what brings results and what does not. Many of the great religions and philosophies of the world say that this life is a test rather than a paradise.

MY OWN STRUGGLE WITH CANCER

I'm someone who had cancer when I was 29. I went through one of the most aggressive treatments for the cancer: surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. The chemo made me sick for days on end and I lost my hair. I had to find something to give me a foundation, to give me a foundation to live my life so I wasn't just endlessly sitting around feeling despair about it. My cancer was like a hydrogen bomb going on in my life, and I looked around to see what was still there. For me what gave me a spiritual foundation for dealing with suffering was Islam.

MY JOURNEY TO ISLAM

Islam makes sense to me. There's a lot of misconceptions about Islam in the West. People think it's the religion of the beards and the bombs. But the core theology is that there is no God but God, and that the purpose of life is serving God. Islam mean submission in Arabic. Muslim in Arabic means one who serves God. So, life is all about serving God and your life has meaning as far as you serve the will of the Almighty. The Quran contains a message about the nature of God. It gives people a moral framework for living their lives. Some people can look down their noses at that, but how helpful are those people going to be for you in a crisis? What are their answers for tragedy? The Quran describes God as the compassionate and merciful master of reality. But the Quran also says we need to fear God, as He is more powerful than any other force on this world. He is the Lord of billions of worlds. And just as He made us, he can easily replace us. While I understand that other people reading this have different religions and views, I want to discuss Islam as a message offering a realistic framework for life. And classical Islam was a force of tolerance in the Medieval world.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVING A DISCIPLINED LIFE

In terms of being able to live in difficult circumstances, it’s important to have a disciplined structured life. For example, let’s look at the general of an army. Is he going to tell his troops, “You’re all going to be happy and no one is going to die!” No. That’s a good way to get everyone killed. Life has a purpose and a cost. Just like being in an army, there are ways to be victorious in battle, and then there are ways to be destroyed completely. If one spends a good part of their time drinking, doing drugs, partying, and pursuing meaningless sexual hookups, this is not going to lead to a good situation. These are all ways to damage your ability to make decisions, and even become addicted to someone who is terrible for you. This is a reality. This happens to people all the time. Which is why it’s important to make disciplined, logical decisions about who you spend your time with and what you spend your time doing. It’s important to have a consistent schedule. Wake up early. Get exercise. Eat well.

To extend the military analogy, it’s also important to understand the difference between petty vengeance and real justice. Justice is necessary in situations when people are being oppressed and the oppressor cannot be reasoned with through calm, peaceful conversation. Sometimes fighting is necessary in these situations. There is a concept of jihad in Islam. It means to fight. This isn’t just a jihad against obesity or dirty dishes.
But at the same time, it’s also important for people to try and control their anger, to not lash out at innocent bystanders, or people who don’t deserve it. Also seeking revenge against people who have wronged you can create a cycle of violence that also damages the person seeking the vengeance in the first place. Fighting through words or actions should always be a last resort. Peaceful dialogue should always be the first resort. Most of the time, it’s best to leave judgment to a higher power, or to the authorities responsible. Forgiveness is important for moving on with your life and spending your time on the things that are important, instead of wasting it on people who don’t matter.

GOD DRAWS THE LINE IN THE SAND

Above I talked about what not to do. So, what should you spend your time doing? In Islam, the answer to that is serving God. Giving to charity. Fighting oppression. There is the Almighty and then there is people. He is master of reality and the universe. He is the Lord of truth, time and nature. He controls nature’s laws. These laws cannot be sued in court, or jailed, or changed by a vote in a committee. God is billions of years old. If you don’t like it, what are you going to do about it? You can have all the money in the world, but you can’t add a single second to the day.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow, God’s laws remain the same. And God’s universe is billions of years old. We are mere dust on the scales compared to the Almighty.
He's the One who draws the line in the sand. And we want to be on the right side of that line. We were put here to follow His commands. You can say you don’t like him. It doesn’t matter. God is the reason that you are here in the first place. Today we live in a “selfie” culture of “me.” But life isn’t all about the individual and their ego. It’s about something much great. It’s about a higher power. A higher purpose. God can help you. Miracles can occur. But there is no guarantee things will turn out the way you want. You may plan, but God plans too, and he is the ultimate planner. The important thing is being on the right side of his plan.

CAUTION ON GURUS AND MAGICAL CURE ALLS

Many people have become more interested in spirituality during the pandemic. However, I would caution people not to let so called gurus take advantage of them out of desperation. Yes, there are people who are suffering. Yes, there are people who need answers, who are desperate for some kind of solution to fix their problems. But it’s important to have a concept of consumer reports. If something is too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. Is a higher power going to fix your debt problem because you paid someone $79.99? Can the good will of the Almighty be bought for a cheap price? I think not.

PSYCHEDELICS ARE NOT THE ANSWER

And also, despite the rising popularity in psychedelics lately. I highly discourage people from using magic mushrooms, ayahuasca, and LSD. Using these things is a complete roll of the dice. You cannot possibly predict what effect they will have on your brain. I have personally seen people make their mental illness worse or even get their kids taken away. Drugs are not a magical solution. The Almighty has the answers. Drugs are not a shortcut. They are not a 5 second solution to enlightenment. They are a trick. Drugs are a complication that can potentially make bad situation far, far worse.

GUIDANCE THROUGH A HIGHER POWER

The most successful program for combatting addiction is AA. Their 12-step program has a core focus of overcoming addiction by serving a higher power. So, you have to ask the question of why is the Almighty going to help you? Why do you matter to the Supreme lord of the universe? You matter as much as you submit yourself to His plan. And there's a limit to how much you can figure out things on an intellectual level. Sometimes you need to make a decision in the fog of War. There's religious guidance from the Almighty. I'm not saying that if somebody becomes a Muslim and prays five times a day that they're magically going to have a perfect life. No. Someone can still have a bad life, poverty, see their children die, and experience war, adversity, starvation and disease. And yes, there are people who can be bad Muslims. It happens all the time. We’re only human. The Quran tells us that God will test us with something of hardship, but he gives good tidings to the patient. So, submitting to God can make things better rather than worse. It can give a person the strength and patience they need to deal with their test here on Earth.

HISTORICALLY, ISLAM PRODUCED RESULTS

Islam is what works for me. And obviously, since I think it’s the best religion, I’m not going to say that all the other ideas out there are equally good, or that all religions are true, or that you can build a bear the religion that works for you. Some ideas are objectively bad ideas. And as a Muslim, I think Islam is the best religion for everyone. If I didn’t think that, then I obviously wouldn’t actually hold my faith in high regard. Believing that all religions are true is actually a contradiction, because some of these theologies contradict one another. That doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t tolerate one another’s differences. Absolutely they should. Agreeing to disagree is the only way we’re all going to be able to co-exist together peacefully.
But this postmodern notion that one can build their own truth, or that all religions are the same is a form of nihilism, because if nothing is objectively better than anything else, then nothing matters. And this doesn’t give one much of a foundation at all.
I invite those reading this to do their own research, to see what has worked in history and what has not worked. In the 7th century, the Arabs embraced Islam and soon they presided over one of the most powerful empires in history. It gave them a foundation. It gave them science, art, and culture. It produced results.

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND MALCOLM X

In the 20th century, the Nation of Islam did more for the oppressed and impoverished African American community than any other group in America. Yes, we know some Muslims will claim that this was not a valid form of Islam as they worshipped a person. And yes, we know that there are some controversies about the Nation. We are not going to get into all that. But what is important is to look people who were living in the intercity, who lived in areas dominated by drugs and crime. The Nation came in with principles of living a disciplined life. Principles from the Bible and Quran. These neighborhoods were cleaned up and transformed.
Malcolm X is also a powerful American individual who was transformed by Islam. He lived a life of crime. But when he found Islam in prison, it forever changed his life, and he became one of the most influential voices in the 1960s Civil Rights movement.

ISLAM TODAY

Why did the golden age of Islam end? Why did the Muslim world end up in a bad state currently? I can’t claim to have the definitive answers for this, but empires rise and fall in so much as they follow the will of God. Perhaps the medieval Muslim world lost power because Muslims were drifting away from the beliefs that originally made them successful.
However, we cannot say the glory of the Islamic golden age is completely lost, because many of the world’s most beautiful and prominent mosques are being built today. Not in the past, but today.
In the end, all I can say is what has worked for me, and what has worked historically. But I invite you to have an open mind, pursue the truth without bias, and seek guidance with a sincere willingness to learn.