لماذا تدمن التفكير و الله و لي التدبير

و لماذا القلق من المجهول و كل شئ عند الله معلوم

اطمأن فأنت في عين الله الحفيظ

كفالته بلا حدود

و عطاياه لا تمنعها سدود

قل بقلبك الله معي

االله ناظر الي

شاهد علي

تعش مرتاحا عند الله محفوظ

I got this via sms and every now and then, I read it over and just breathe in.

Every Sunday in Hyde Park, people can take up a corner and speak their minds in Speaker’s Corner. I didn’t stay much because I had to checkout of the hotel, so I stood for few minutes.

I’m open minded about my religion, that is I need to make sense of what I’m receiving, I need to believe in it and I guess that is a problem because I do get lost about things I don’t understand, about things I need to take as is, I don’t mind discussing aspects of my religion as long as it is not insulting or mocking.

I hate the way Islam is represented nowadays as a religion of terror and violence. So many examples of our Prophet Mohammed “عليه الصلاة و السلام” forgiveness and kindness, in the early days of his calling and after Islam prospered across nations and yet people seem to neglect this fact.

Why am I saying this?

There were two men standing representing Islam, one of them looked like “راعي غنم” holding a crocked stick and walking around WTH is that all about, it’d be perfectly fine if you were actually one and had a herd following you! Our prophet called for “حسن المنظر”, it’s not about wearing baggy clothes and letting your beard go wild, tidy it up a bit. The other one related all the world’s problems to alchocol. I might have not stayed longer but all he kept asking people was “what is your religion?” and whatever the answer, if it was not Islam he’d reply “Oh, so your religion is Alcohol”!!!

Is this what Islam is about, No Alcohol. What about let’s say, start at the beginning, the five pillars of Islam!!! And we’ll go from there.

I think to myself then, “Maybe you should’ve said something”. Yeah right, first I have to gather courage to speak in public and not be passionate and emotional and get worked up Maybe next time.

I’m observing the way of life here and how people interact, it is not perfect but it is certainly better than how we do it. I can’t help thinking this is what our religion calls for, I like that in Islam we have “الدين المعاملة” and when our prophet said “انما بعثت لأتمم مكارم الأخلاق”, but we don’t practice it, we call for it, but don’t actually make the effort to carry it out.

There was a time when people embraced Islam because they lived amongst Muslims and they saw their way of life. Now … no comment …

Don’t you think if Allah wanted all of us to be Muslims and perfect, then he’d simply say “كن فيكون”.

Publish Bug Update:

So it seems the problem is back!!!

]]> http://www.bloggylife.com/2010/01/29/thoughts-on-islam-2/feed/ 9 http://www.bloggylife.com/2009/12/06/thoughts-on-islam/ http://www.bloggylife.com/2009/12/06/thoughts-on-islam/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:45:23 +0000 Bloggylife http://www.bloggylife.com/?p=3770 Out of the many issues my friend Oryx and I discuss, this is one of the recent ones, “Islam”. How it is viewed and understood.

Islam in our day, is just defined in bulletins kind of way. Islam means we have to pray, fast, wear the hijab, etc. And even those are not carried out, we were born Muslims, thus Islam. Our prophet is Mohammed “عليه الصلاة و السلام”, we pray five times a day, fast in Ramadan, read the Quran now and then.

Islam is so much deeper, Islam should be translated in our behaviour, what use is it to pray and have no “أخلاق” at all, do you think it’s better for a woman to wear a hijab and not pray or to not wear a hijab and pray?

See there are so many factors and we are in no position to judge and criticize. I for one do that sometimes, like if I see a woman wearing a hijab and a second-layer of skin clothes, I say “مو أحسن لو تفسخ الحجاب” but then again if another woman wearing a “3abaya” will look at me and criticize me for not wearing one or wearing jeans or make-up.

What I mean, that in an individual, Islam is not about the outer shell as much as it is about the inner one. That’s my point of view. Individual behaviours and actions should be ruled according to the person’s intent “النية”

It’s so easy to judge others from our point of view, because that will make us right thus makes us feel better about ourselves and then we don’t have to look at our mistakes and our “تقصير”.

To me being a Muslim, is in the way I treat others, it’s in the moments I hold in my anger where all I want to do is bash the person in front of me , it’s in the simplest form of thanking GOD while I’m in my car looking at people crammed in a bus under the heated blazing sun , it’s in setting my mobile alarm for Fajer prayer, it’s in stopping to pray in a masjid on a girl’s day out, it’s in admiring the beautiful sky, the way I’m dedicated to my work, my struggles to be a better Muslim in a more religious way.  I have a long way to go, in other words, I’m not ready to face GOD yet when I die, I’d have nothing to present, not enough to stand-up for me. So many wrongs to make right.

It’s always a continuous prayer of mine “اللهم اني أسألك حسن الخاتمة” and for my soul not be taken unless I’m ready, in my life there was this one perfect moment that I was ready to go, I felt within my heart, that it is so pure, I asked GOD to just take me, but here I am still, and I didn’t get this feeling again.

I know one should be ready at all times but again this is one of my struggles. One should balance “الدين و الدنيا”, I for one, is still caught up in “الدنيا”.

I believe if people spent more time focusing on themselves and discover what Islam is truly, we would be in a better place.

What is your opinion about Islam? What does it mean to you?

remember that …

“ان الله لا يكلف نفسا الا وسعها”

ألا بذكر الله تطمئن القلوب

It’s the way she prayed that brought some serenity to her surrounding. I just wanted to back away and watch her because she looked so peaceful so focused. I itched to ask how she does it, how does she manage to reach this level of soundness

All her moves in the ritual prayer was carefully carried out, so slow, so focused

Where as in my case, I prayed and all my thoughts where occupied with the damn email filter problem. exit code, it must be a programmable error, but no updates were installed lately, some files may have gotten corrupt, some settings need to be set to handle such glitches …

How can one isolate themselves to be totally into our daily rituals

I thought, GOD is standing in front of the both of us as we pray, but I believe she is doing a far better job than I am

Most will tell you to release everything and focus, imagine the situation you are in and you are going to face GOD and be in his presence. I don’t know but even if it works for a few seconds I am then distracted

I guess I have to work harder

To me the latter are often stronger Muslims than the former.

Most of us who were born Muslims get our teachings from our parents, school, etc. Or that’s what it’s supposed to be. Most of our knowledge is what is given to us. Mimicking actions. We don’t actually go & search, further educate ourselves. Prepare for potential questions and inquires from non-Muslims who seek to become one or others who want to demolish and question the essence of our beliefs.

It saddens me, the way we practice our Islam here. I am not a religious person. I’ve a really long way to go. But there are basics one should not detour from and ignore. We don’t realize that our actions reflect directly on our religion, even if it’s not related what so ever.

Simply, praying (عماد الدين). Once we were in Starbucks and it was prayer time, so we prayed in one of their rooms

( وَلِلّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ ).

The sad thing is that all the rest of the coffee shop which was packed to its fullest, men & women, didn’t move. As if the man calling for the prayer (اذان) was just another unheard familiar ritual.

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم: انما بعثت لاتمم مكارم الأخلاق

ان الظلم ظلمات يوم القيامة

How does this translate into our life routine? Think about it. They way we treat each other and other people. The way we behave like we were these untouchable superior beings.

I was taking a course and this Filipino woman was talking to me. She was surprised why we don’t have nude beaches, as her husband was about to take her swimming top off another Filipino told her it is not allowed here. Why isn’t allowed here was her question. Why don’t you eat pig meat or drink wine. She was saying that she attended a private party here in Kuwait and Kuwaiti-Muslim men were drinking & partying. So simply I said, in your religion, you must have rules and regulations you do not abide to or practice right, don’t you have to go to church or fast for a day for example. What you see doesn’t necessarily mean that this is our religion, our religion forbids all that. If you want to know more about Islam go and read about it from our books, how it is supposed to be not how it is right now.

My IELTS teacher once asked me. Do you think Islam is practised here? The way the girls are in malls. You know even in England girls don’t walk around like that. I am surprised that you don’t appreciate that Quran is written in Arabic which is your native language, I have to struggle to understand its meaning. Do you know that I teach basic Islamic teachings to Muslims. Finally he told me, he’s thinking of going back to England and becoming a (داعية)

Just some quotes to ponder:

“Al-Hamedellah Allah showed me Islam before HE showed me Muslims”

ذهبت للغرب فوجدت الاسلام و لم أجد المسلمين
ذهبت للشرق فوجدت المسلمين و لم أجد الاسلام

My attempt here is a daily struggle between myself & I. Maybe it is Ramadan but deep down I know it is not. Which kind of makes me happy. I do retain my basic Islamic practices and teachings all year long, but in this holy month I go the extra mile in hopes to redeem myself into becoming a better Muslim and keep it for a life time. Insha’Allah I succeed.

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