The Ninth Dimension: Why Activism Belongs in Our Wellness

We have been witnessing so many hard things locally, nationally, and internationally. That leaves us asking deeper questions, like ‘how are you, really?’ or ‘what can we do at a time like this?’ It’s become challenging to navigate our roles in this chaotic time, especially with the lingering uncertainty that anything we do will make a difference. Despite this uncertainty, many of us still feel an urge to do something. We persist. Because something in us insists we must.

That something inside of us can be connected to our overall wellness. In my last blog post, I wrote about how the eight dimensions of wellness and the different parts of our wellness that we need to tend to feel balanced and grounded in our well-being. At some point, I thought we needed a 9th dimension, activism, to describe this part of us that insists we must act. But through reflection, I realized that what I was really discovering was a deeper definition of spiritual wellness.

Last year, I tried a new form of activism by becoming a delegate for the Democratic Party in Washington. My history in activism has had ebbs and flows, swinging between burnout and hope. The last few years, I have been mostly in the ‘I am taking a step back’ mode. Given the crisis happening in Gaza, I knew I couldn’t stay in the ’step-back’ mode any longer. I felt called to act in a new way, and this opportunity practically fell in my lap.

As I reflected on this experience, I noticed something that surprised me. I remember having a moment where I said to myself, ‘Oh, this is what has been missing.’  It fulfilled my responsibility to help those who were marginalized. This is what made me feel more complete and whole when done alongside the other dimensions of wellness.

This ‘aha’ moment made me relook at the definition of spiritual dimension. It is defined as ‘Expanding our sense of purpose and meaning of life.’ That is a brief definition and leaves it up to personal interpretation. When I have been looking at it for the past few years, I have only defined for myself by focusing on acts of worship like prayer, dhikr, fasting, studying Arabic, studying tafsir (translation of the Qur’an), or the seerah (the life of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him). Until now, I overlooked the connection to spirituality. For Muslims, spirituality also has a relational and justice-oriented nature to it.

There are two hadiths that I hear often that demonstrates this point:

‘The believers in their mutual mercy, love and compassion are like a body, when one limb is in pain, the rest of the body joins in insomnia, fever and restlessness.’ (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 6011, Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 2586)

On the authority of Abu Saeed al-Khudree (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” (Sahih Muslim)

Our faith tells us that we are one body. We have such a deep relation with one another that when one part of the ummah hurts, we all hurt. We cannot ignore that feeling, and we are drawn to act on it.

So, where does this leave us? Personally, I have come to understand that activism is essential to my overall wellness. Without it, I felt incomplete. But with it, I’ve also faced burnout. Taking action does take a toll on one’s mental, physical, and spiritual health in many ways. What I have learned repeatedly is that we must find balance. As I wrote in the last blog post, we can only achieve balance by tending to each dimension of wellness in a way that feels fulfilling for you.

So, I leave you with the following reflection question: How are you tending to your whole self, and how does being involved in a cause close to your heart fit in that?

Note: hadiths were sourced from https://sunnah.com