By: Arthur K. Richards
Dear Family of Believers,
Can we be honest with ourselves and admit how lost we have become? We are losing luminaries one after another. It seems like every day that passes, we hear about yet another giant being taken to their Lord.
With each of these losses, it seems they are replaced with more and more mischief and filth. I can't tell you how many times I sit with my family, and we discuss the next big scandal that has broken the Muslim news circle. While we are mourning the loss of guides, we mourn the harm misguiders have caused too many around us.
We need to be honest when we cannot carry the banner of the Prophetic legacy. It's not impossible to do it, many have, and many will continue to do so, like this beautiful and blessed man Sh. Seraj Hendricks, May God enter him into His paradise and have mercy upon him and grant patience to his family during this difficult time.
The path to God is filled with thorns, it is not an easy path. You must battle yourself, battle others, but the point is, you're not supposed to give up the battle. In a podcast today, I listened to the ethics of warriors and how everyone down to the Samurai created these codes. Yet, it wasn't the LAW that kept them all straight; it was their identity.
Their identity as soldiers, Samurai, and Muslims, kept them straight and led them to such immense guilt when they messed up. To all of you, our code is a noble one, and the LAW alone is never going to keep us in line. It's our identities as Muslims, as servants to the Divine, and I urge you to remember that identity when next you're about to slip.
Remember the giants that we are losing and have lost. Remember that noblemen have walked this Earth. And that even after our Prophet ﷺ has been taken, noblemen continue to walk in his blessed path. They show us the way. Don't dishonor the beloved, don't dishonor the men and women that follow his direction.
A reminder for myself first and foremost as I require these words more than you. Al-Fatihah for Sh. Seraj Hendricks.
