I have always thought about this and finally I came upon this hadith:
Abu Hurayrah relates that God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: God is good and accepts nothing but what is good. Indeed, God commands the believers with what He commands the Messengers and says: O Messengers! Eat of the things good and pure and work righteous deeds [Surah al-Mu'min: 51] and says: O you who believe! Eat of the things good and pure that We have provided for you. [Surah al-Baqarah: 172] Then he mentioned a man who had traveled on a long journey, his hair disheveled and discolored with dust. He will raise his hands to the sky saying ‘O Lord! O Lord!’ but his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, and his clothing is unlawful. How then can he be answered? [Sahih Muslim]
How can we expect God to grant us everything we desire when we are involved in harmful activities behind the scenes? For example; asking people to pay you interest, paying taxes that support regimes that kill innocent people, living lavishly and wasting resources when there are people in the world who are in dire need. Just because I dress appropriately, pray, fast, etc…doesn’t mean God is going to answer my prayers. People in the west need to break free from their bubbles of luxury and realize that if we want God to help us, we have to help others as well.
I think American Muslims need to wake up. We need to serve more than we do complain. And this is a reminder to myself first.
