I will always remember when my son, Khizar, was born.

His cries, his tiny body in my hands, the relief, and the joy I felt - that immense feeling of joy - are all intimate moments which I will always remember and will forever be mine.

I remember changing his first nappy and watching him for hours and hours as he slept. I remember how my priorities changed, forever, and that they only thing that mattered was him.

But I remember a sadness too. A sadness which still plagues me. A sadness that will never go away - because of Islam.

This is hard for me to explain as I don’t often talk about how much pain I feel about the Ummah, because I feel that my sadness would overwhelm me, but I will try.

When I held my son for the first time I cried for two main reasons.

One, I had tears of joy, that this beautiful child, whose arrival we had been preparing for what seems like an eternity, was finally here.

But I cried for another reason too - in that moment of happiness, when I saw my wife and child, I could not stop thinking about what Muslims around the world must have gone through and are going through. While I had amazing doctors and midwives looking after my wife and child, there were other Muslim women who are forced to give birth at checkpoints. There are Muslims who have to fear for their families because of drone strikes or soldiers or poverty or all of these fears and more.

In that moment of happiness I felt such a pang of sadness that it made me cry more. Here I was in the happiest moment of my life - and there were others from my Ummah who went through/are going through/would go through this exact same scenario but with trepidation.

And I feel this every single day whenever I am with, or think of, my wife and child. While we live in peace and try our hardest to give Khizar the best life possible, there are millions of Muslims who have to try their hardest just to keep their child alive. And often their best is not enough.

You see, this feeling is because of Islam. Islam has taught me that the Ummah has rights over me. That in such turbulent times, when my brothers and sisters are oppressed, I must prioritise defending them from injustice. That I must prioritise their struggle for freedom. That I must prioritise the Jihad.

I am grateful to Allah for the fact that I can’t stop thinking about the Ummah. That no matter where life takes me, I will never lose focus on what matters - the Jihad for our Ummah’s freedom.

I write this blog because I hope to remind you that if you neglect the Ummah you will never be truly at peace because you are actively denying Allah’s Command to be a part of the Jihad to stop oppression. Your faith will always be lacking because you chose to ignore the cries of the oppressed.

My other reason for writing this is because I’m a poor communicator, and in case I am unable to properly convey to Khizar the importance of the Jihad then at least he can read my words and understand just how much I love him and how I love the Ummah & the Jihad even more. I also hope he can understand that he, too, should love the Ummah and work (not just pray or give charity) for their freedom.

And so, I work. I try to stand up, and even though I stumble and have so many faults, I will keep working for the Ummah because it is the only way to find peace and stop the cries of the mothers of our Ummah.

I pray that you will also develop a stronger bond for your brothers and sisters, and will work for their freedom.