Chapter
14
WHY
I AM MUSLIM NOW
Abdul-Kareem
Al-Aadami By Muhammad
“For ALLAH,
He is my Lord and your Lord,
so worship ye Him:
this is the Straight Way.”
HOLY QUR’AN 43:64
¨
ONE ASPECT OF ISLAM THAT I LOVE
is that it is not a compartmentalized religion: if you are a Muslim, you have to strive to be a Muslim 24 hours a day, seven days a week in what you say, do and think. ISLAM is not something secondary in life, but primary and central to the believers, the only reason for living.
“We have indeed created man in
the best of molds,
then do We abase him (to be)
the lowest of the low—
except such as believe and do righteous deeds:
for they shall have a reward
unfailing.”
HOLY QURAN 95:4-6
I have found in ISLAM a
certain optimism I love¾mankind
is not doomed to be “terrible sinners”.
ALLAH has created us so that we are able with His help to make ISLAM the
reason behind almost all of our actions.
The examples of Muhammad, Jesus, Abraham, Moses, and the rest of the
Prophets (peace be upon them all), are sufficient to demonstrate this.
“Truly man is to his Lord, ungrateful;
and to that (fact) He bears
witness (By his deeds).”
HOLY QURAN 100:6-7
Mankind on a whole may be ungrateful,
but with the examples Muslims have of Muhammad (may the blessings and peace of
ALLAH be upon him): praying at night until his feet cracked, suffering the
indignities and insults of some of the Makkans, rejecting the Makkans’ offer of
worldly items for him to stop preaching ISLAM¾Muslims
have the best example.
“Ye have indeed in the
Messenger of ALLAH
a beautiful pattern (of
conduct)
for any one whose hope is in
ALLAH and the Final Day,
and who engages much in the
praise of ALLAH.”
HOLY QURAN 33:21
ISLAM is about bearing witness that there is no God except ALLAH alone in all of your actions and stopping bearing witness against yourself by your deeds that you are ungrateful to your Creator.
I made Shahada (if I
recall correctly since dates are of little importance) in March of 1996, but I
made Shahada today as I do every day.
Except today the only witnesses are ALLAH and some of the Angels to my Salat (prayer). Each day, as my experience and knowledge of ISLAM
grows I find that my appreciation of what:
“La illaha
illALLAH, Muhammadur rasulALLAH.”
“There is
no God but ALLAH
Muhammad is
the Messenger of ALLAH.”
means increases. Today as I am writing this, my first Ramadan has begun, this being the first
day. May ALLAH forgive me, but today I
also damaged the exterior of my parent’s car accidentally. This was my first test of Ramadan since I had to, of course, tell
them the truth, however painful that was.
Another of aspect of ISLAM which I am fond of is the ability in such
situations to be able to keep life in perspective.
“‘. . . To ALLAH we belong,
and to Him is our return’”
HOLY QURAN 2:156
Lose a job, wreck a car,
get a “B” in physics, the ultimate reality is that all of those are insignificant
in comparison to how we try to serve ALLAH in our lives. We must always know
that
is the highest knowledge.
On the Sunday when I made my Shahada I would have to say that the most overwhelming emotion I
had was nervousness. Whenever I have a
completely new and different experience I feel this way, even though I
rationally know that in all likelihood everything is going to inshaALLAH work out fine. I made my Shahada in front of a class being taught about the QUR’AN and in
front of a Muslim from my school. I
remember asking two questions to the shayk teaching the class before saying Shahada. One of them was about why Muslims have to eat only halal meat,
because I did not understand why the animal had to have ALLAH’S name pronounced
on it at slaughter¾this
was a question which I had been wondering about the whole 14 months previous
that I had been studying ISLAM. The
other question was about free will and predestination in ISLAM. As far as the free will and predestination
question, right now I resolve not to give myself a headache, ALLAH knows the
reality of that situation, and I cannot change the laws of the Universe either
way even if I did know how it functioned.
Right now, I see it more that ALLAH has power over all things, but if He
delegates some authority to human beings he still has power over their
authority¾if
He did not want them to make decisions He could make it so, and thus in this He
really has power over all they do. The
keyword is “over”. ALLAH’S authority supersedes any we might have. ALLAH knows best.
When I made my Shahada I would have to admit that it was
not too emotional for me. I accepted
ISLAM based more on reason rather than emotion, for I had studied it by getting
several books from the library, reading the QUR’AN, and lots of Hadith. When I accepted ISLAM my attitude was more
like the following: “La ilaha ilALLAH, E=mc2, George Washington was the first
President of the United States, and Tokyo is the capital of Japan.” To me it was another fact, another knowledge
gained. Of course, at that time I
realized that “La ilaha ilALLAH” was by far the most important piece of
knowledge, but ALLAH knows that for me I am usually stoic in personality. Once in a while there being something which
causes me to go emotional extremes, e.g. if I am angry I am furious, if I am
happy I am completely overjoyed, etc.
It was when I am a witness at other Muslims’ Shahada(s) that I actually feel the emotional aspect to what it
means to know la ilaha ilALLAH.
As a general rule, it seems to me that some of those who have
the most emotional Shahada(s) are
those who have messed up the most in the previous part of their lives. Shahada is a time
of repentance and forgiveness from ALLAH.
When I made Shahada I do not
recall having too heavy of a conscience, which might partially explain my
attitude towards it (ALLAH best knows if I should have had a heavy conscience
for how I had sinned). In many ways I
admire those Muslims the most, who in their non-Muslim lives had lived the
farthest away from ISLAM. When they know that which is in direct antithesis to
ISLAM from direct experience, it seems to make them appreciate the guidance of
ALLAH a lot more. It causes them to be
even more grateful. The stories I hear
about people from many different walks of life embracing ISLAM¾an 86 year old
grandmother, a 17 year old with a troubled history, prison inmates, former
atheists, Muslims who came to the U.S. and went apostate but came back to the
ummah, athletes, writers, former
Nation of ISLAM
members. This is some of what puts into
me heartfelt devotion to ISLAM, and the feeling that ALLAH can put light into
my heart as well as into the hearts of all who seek reality.
From ISLAM I have learned that God can easily judge between
the differing parties: those who claim
that what they believe is the truth¾for
God being the Truth is the best Knower of Truth, the best Judge of those who
claim to know some of truth.
“Or do they say, ‘He is possessed’?
Nay, he (Muhammad) has brought
them the Truth,
but most of them hate the
Truth.
If the Truth had been in
accord with their desires,
truly the heavens and the
earth,
and all beings therein would
have been in ruin Nay.
We have sent them their admonition,
but they turn away from their
admonition”
HOLY QUR’AN 23:70-71
I have read books critical
of ISLAM, visited world wide web pages claiming problems with ISLAM. In the ones I have read, I have found that
they can take things out of context, play translation gymnastics, or do not
know enough about ISLAM to realize that there is information which demolishes
their claims. Even reading the morning
newspaper I can find misinformation about ISLAM (e.g. that it says in the
QUR’AN not to shave one's beard¾when
in actually it is in ahadith). When I
was learning about ISLAM I looked at what people were saying about ISLAM in the
media, and what my acquaintances were saying about it. Then I read from the QUR’AN and Ahadith,
both sufficiently explained to me the psychology of why people were acting in
such a manner and sufficiently refuted their claims¾at least to
me. If people had to misinform about a
religion, it was in my thoughts that perhaps they had to do so in order to
prevent people from actually giving a true glance at it, in fear that perhaps
they would embrace it.
Some of the main attributes of ISLAM which caused and cause
me to see it as truth, have to do with the descriptions of embryology and other
scientific phenomenon in the QUR’AN, the Shari'ah, and the many statements in
the QUR’AN and Hadith which seem a little too rational to be coming from some
illiterate in seventh century Arabia¾like
I had been taught at school. When I was
first reading the QUR’AN one of the statements which particularly hit me was as
follows:
“It is not their meat (of the
sacrificed animals)
nor their blood, that reaches ALLAH:
it is your piety that reaches Him:
He has thus made them subject
to you,
that ye may glorify ALLAH for
His guidance to you:
and proclaim the Good News to
all who do good.”
HOLY QUR’AN 22:37.
If the
QUR’AN was from any other than ALLAH I would not expect such a statement since
the religion of Arabia, if it was like many pagan religions, might believe that
their gods could be sustained by meat and blood. I had trouble thinking it could be a concept from the Jews of
Arabia since when I read the Pentateuch I do not recall reading a single
statement in regards to animal sacrifice which says something to that
effect. Since many non-Muslims have
tried to argue that the Pilgrimage merely comes from what the pagans did, I did
and do not see why they think that the influence would not be greater and come into
effect in all areas of ISLAM such as sacrifice (i.e. why does it not say that
ALLAH drinks the blood, and devours the meat?). They were discredited in my eyes since they seemed to ignore the
aspect of ISLAM which minimizes the importance of rituals, which are what I
would guess would be the integral part of the pre-Islamic pagan religion.
“To ALLAH belong the East and
the West:
whithersoever ye turn,
there is ALLAH’S
Countenance.
For ALLAH is All-Embracing,
All-Knowing.”
HOLY QUR’AN 2:115
When I read a little about Zoroastrianism and other
religions I began to identify with the Muslim idea that some religions
throughout history have been in a constant battle with monotheism versus
polytheism. Many times the polytheist religion destroying the previous order,
e.g. Paganism destroyed the monotheistic order that Ishmael (peace be upon him)
had set up in Arabia with his father (peace be upon him) and enveloped some of
the monotheist rituals in relation to the Kaba. When I started reading the Bible in regards to how the Israelite
prophets worshipped, ISLAM being a continuation of the religion of the
Israelite prophets, rather than a different tradition, became apparent (e.g.,
Exodus 40:31-32, Genesis 17:3, Exodus 3:5, etc.). The story about Abraham (peace be upon him) almost sacrificing
his son, and the Muslim view that it was Ishmael (peace be upon him) who was to
be sacrificed, was something which also convinced me that ISLAM was right in
certain matters where the Bible was contradictory, i.e. “take thine only
son...,” when Abraham's only son at that time was Ishmael (peace be upon him)
who could have been sacrificed.
Another aspect of ISLAM that I saw as wonderful was how it
dealt with issues like racism:
“O mankind!
We created you from a single
(pair)
of a male and a female,
and made you into nations and
tribes,
that ye may know each other
(Not that ye may despise each
other).
Verily the most honoured of
you in the sight of ALLAH
is (he who is) the most
righteous of you.
And ALLAH has full knowledge
and is well-acquainted (with
all things).
HOLY QUR’AN 49:13
Also:
“All mankind is from Adam and
Eve,
an Arab has no superiority over
a non-Arab
nor a non-Arab has any
superiority over an Arab;
also a white has no superiority
over black
nor a black has any superiority
over white
except by piety and good
action.”
¾The Last Sermon of Prophet
Muhammad¾
(May the peace and
blessings of ALLAH be upon him).
(See Appendix)
I guess one could say that from an early age I was very prejudiced
against prejudice. I recall that even when I was eight years old I couldn't
stand it if someone mentioned a person and said in connotation with them
something like, “that black kid”¾ I
wondered why any one even has to mention what the color of someone's skin was
at all. When I heard adults mention the
color of someone's skin, or heard on television someone doing the same I was
annoyed¾I
thought it was stupid.
“Thanks to spectacular advances in molecular biology
and genetics,
most scientists now reject the concept of
race as a valid way to divide
human beings into separate groups.”
¾“Biologists Reject
Notion of Race,” The Denver Post,
October
20, 1996, Page 37A.
The Prophet
(may the peace and blessings of ALLAH be upon him) knew that the only division
between people was between those with piety and those without—something I think
that I knew from before my reversion to ISLAM.
It was another evidence for ISLAM in my view, since it was really only
human beings who could invent divisions based on race, not God.
¨
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