Activism comes in many forms, just like we do.

Not all of us see ourselves as activists. I certainly don’t, but there are undoubtedly injustices in the world that require our collective advocacy. Leaning into our natural talents, inclinations, and sensibilities is crucial to avoid broadcasting our ideals in a flaccid or performative manner.

Those of use with artistic leanings might use writing, music, and photography to call attention to the causes we are passionate about. Some of us are technologically savvy. We can leverage our skills to build solutions or interrupt operations. Legal experts, medical personnel, and mental health professionals all have amazing opportunities to build and maintain movements in the service of justice.

And while all of this is true, activism does not require that we have specialized training or skills.

It’s my belief that those of us who pray have perhaps the greatest chance at shifting both policies and paradigms. And by prayer, I am referring specifically to the act of soliciting Divine assistance through public ritual.

Just look at those neatly ordered rows of men.

Islam has an unmistakably martial quality to it. Many of our contemporaries shy away from this, preferring to lean into mealy descriptions of Islam as the religion of peace. Even the most passing survey of the lives of our prophets and messengers, may God bless them and give them peace, will make plain the turbulence, hardship, and adversity that was visited upon them and their followers. An insistence upon Islam as some kind of gateway to nirvana is a false promise without historical precedent.

Rather, Islam is about resistance and resignation. We resist the things that are displeasing to God, and we resign ourselves to His Decree. Neither one of these options comes easy, and the martial aspect of Islam is where we find the strength and confidence to fight ourselves and others. If we are to experience any peace at all, it is only in the growing awareness of our ultimate powerlessness and the inescapable sensibility of trusting the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

The prayer times established by God track the position of the sun. These times are non-negotiable and we prioritize the prayer above every other consideration. We put off sleep, work, entertainment, meals, and even family time. When prayer is due, it’s due.

When we pray in the company of others, there are protocols to be observed. The first among these is that we should select a leader. We follow that leader, even if he makes a mistake. We do not break rank. We demonstrate solidarity in the human experience when we allow that our leaders may err.

This is powerful stuff.

And I offer that praying publicly and consistently is the highest form of activism. Every cause will benefit from a regular demonstration of humility, discipline, and accountability. Every family will benefit from committed leadership and modeling, and every community will be strengthened through an overt respect for the Divine.

While this is true for all people, I am calling on Muslim men specifically to rediscover the martial quality in our ritual prayer.

Muslims are recognized primarily through those of our women who have taken the uniform of Islam, the hijab. These women have become our unwitting shock troops, advancing into the vacuum left by men who have abandoned a great many responsibilities, among them public prayer.

Dust and Tribe is calling on all Muslim men to pray at work. Pray at school. Pray in the parking lot on the way to buy groceries. Step out of the movie and pray in the lobby. Pray at the airport. Do not cower. Do not hide. Let every co-worker and classmate witness and mutter about your foot in the sink and your head on the ground. Do not let your embarrassment before men outweigh your obligation before God.

There is no God but God.

This is our covenant, once taken, forever honored.

Fathers! Allow your children to grow up seeing you pray everywhere. Sear the image of the praying father on the side of the road into the consciousness of your offspring. Do not sequester your prayer. Do not make it an exclusively private affair. Forbid that your children should imagine that prayer is reserved only for the mosques and sanctuaries.

Teach them that prayer is the sanctuary.

Whatever other forms our activism might take, let the honoring of God’s commandments be our intention and public prayer the mark by which we are known.

We would love to hear about your experiences with public prayer in the comments below.

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