The Lost Shepherd.
SubhanAllah! I recently watched a short animated clip of 7 minutes and 19 seconds titled The Lost Sheep by Lukas Rooney (I am also attaching the link of it so that those who are interested can watch it https://youtu.be/52gD_Y8bJms?si=FhBzsM6kWBN0Dhyy) )
But as I sat with it, I realized for me, it wasn’t about a lost sheep. It was about a Lost Shepherd!
The story follows a three-legged lamb (yes one leg was missing of that lamb) who cannot keep up with the flock. Left behind, he wanders into the wilderness. But the good shepherd doesn’t ignore him. He noticed. He searched. He risked his life, and carried the lamb on his shoulders back again, and empowered it by making a wooden support for his missing leg!
SubhanAllah! That is what a shepherd does, he guides, he protects, he keeps the flock together, he empowers. He knows his herd, each one by name. He does not lose sight of the weak, because the strength of the flock is measured by the safety of the most vulnerable. And it is no accident that every Prophet of Allah (peace be upon them all) was once a shepherd. It was Allah Al-Hakeem’s wisdom to teach them patience, responsibility, and care for those entrusted to them.
The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said,
“Every one of you is a shepherd, and every one of you will be asked about his flock. The ruler (imam) is a shepherd over his people, and he will be asked about them…”
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)
A true shepherd isn’t praised for the ninety nine that stayed safe. He is remembered for the one he brought back which was vulnerable, and was the target of the predators.
Now look at our Ummah today,
Gaza is bleeding under bombs, children pulled from rubble while so called leaders release statements instead of liberation.
Sudan drowns in civil war and famine, families wandering from one camp to another. Yes, muslims are killing muslims in Sudan (read about it, Sudan needs our attention as well).
Yemen starves in silence, abandoned to conflict and neglect.
Kashmir is another zone of injustice and restlessness.
And the list stretches on Rohingya, Uyghurs, Somalia, Afghanistan, lambs upon lambs, vulnerable, and easy targets for the predators.
SubhanAllah! Here lies the painful truth,
we have 57 Muslim nations, yet not a single shepherd, walking the path of siratal mustaqeem!
On the Day of Judgment, it is not the lamb who will be asked why it limped. It is the shepherd who will be asked why he left it behind.
What this Ummah aches for is not empty slogans of unity or shows of strength. It aches for that shepherd, that leader who guide as per sirat al-mustaqeem, who rule by Allah Al-Hakam’s (The Legislature) commands, who will not rest until the weakest of the flock are safe.
Until we find such a shepherd, the lambs will not just wander, they will be taken by wolves, slaughtered, or made to wander into another new nation state.