Friday, February 19, 2010

Answers

A lot of Muslims are caught with the impression that Islam can answer everything. Therefore, if they have certain doubts about Islam practices and so forth, they quickly assume that since Islam can't answer these questions, surely Islam is imperfect, and therefore, it is not true.

If only they know that even though Islam is perfect,the Muslims are not. The Muslims may be the messengers, the representative of Islam, but in the end, they do not contain the very essence of Islam themselves.

I can just suggest this:

1) Believe all you want. You want to doubt God? Sure, be my guest. But I would say that never, ever blame what our actions are to somebody else's life. Why do we decide the very fate of our souls to be decided by some other people's actions? Don't throw away your beliefs due to some other human errors. It is noble for us to doubt God, if in your mind, by doubting God, you are in a path to discover the God.

2) Do not read all of those things that are available to you, if only what you read is only to affirm to your ideas. You read just for the sake of "Oh, I read/learn that thing already. The book sucks". You don't even actually being honest in reading it.  I am terribly amazed by my friends who read Bible just for the sake of falsifying and finding its errors, only. Why can't they realize that Injil and Torah, the two main components in the Bible , though for us Muslims are distorted, contains the very essence of morality that we all believers of religion can agree upon? Sure, read Bible however you want, it's not a problem, but it just saddens me that our narrow minded way of judging things distort many possibilities that may arrive from our open mindedness. I wish that Christians and non- Muslims in general read our Holy Quran with the intention of knowing us Muslims from our primary source, to see us beyond the terms of jihad and war, to acknowledge us as the people of Love, to see the very fact that we Muslims carry on the message of monotheism that has being brought by our Patriarchs and beloved Prophets of Allah. If I want them to do that, I must begin it myself. If I want evolutionists to read creationists' book on evolution, to see our sides of argument without being cynical, sceptical and narrow minded, we the creationists, who believes that our God created human from the clay, not primates, should also respect the evolutionists' ideas and perceptions.

3) I myself do not need every answers. I couldn't be bothered about the detailed ideas of God or how the God is. In that way, I am a little bit agnostic. It is enough for me as a Muslim to believe in the beautiful verses of Al-Ikhlas , one of the shortest ( yet represent 1/3 of Quran in essence) in defining my God. The God is the same, but people perceive it differently.

4) Read al-Quran. Some people shouted here and then that they doubted Islam and its practices, but for me, even if a Catholic doubted their faith, I would ask him to read his Bible again and again firrst. I would ask him to read the books of Thomas Aquinas, the letters of St Paul etc. Then I would ask him again on whether he is still in doubt or not. Sometimes, people doubt things because they are "bored" and have nothing to do. It is sad actually. If you want to doubt, doubt with conviction. Doubt in full faith. Doubt with reasonable reasons. Then people around you would never actually look you as somebody "who didn't do any homework, yet blatantly said things erroneously". If you doubt Islam because it didn't allow zina ( fornication)  for example, how can people look at you seriously?

5. Guidance. Give guidance to others as much as you can ( without going overboard and creating things untrue) and be prepared to receive guidance. Sometimes people think that what they have is enough already. They should realize that youth is the age when we can learn many things, and at the same time, commit many mistakes. When we are old, we may still learn, but the room for error has been sized down. When we were a child, we may commit mistakes, but most of the time, we don't really learn from those many mistakes, only a handful of them.

6. All this words that I said today are mostly directed to me in actuality. I realize that I am an imperfect person, though created in perfection. I need guidance. I need people to help me. Some may think that what they have is enough, in knowledge, in wisdom, in faith. Little did they realize that as we age, we may regret on what we spent during our youth.

And God, whom I used to doubt and I know very well that I still doubt you sometimes, help me overcoming these things. I may be a sinner deemed for Hell in your Book of Fate, but I am begging for your Light now. Because for a chance is all it needs, yet a lifetime it takes to change.

" "O my people, this first life is a temporary illusion, while the Hereafter is the eternal destination." Quran 40:39)

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