TRUTH

     

Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim (I begin this post in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious & Most Merciful)

     For most of us, the religion (way of life) we adopt is usually the religion of our families. Rarely is it that one chooses a different path than them. It’s what we’ve always done. It’s what’s familiar. It’s what’s comfortable. Who has time to seek truth when you can just accept the truth passed down for generations? You trust your mother and/or father will pass down information that will be useful to you and will help you in life. They’ve made it through generations with this same religion. It appears to be what has helped them survive and even helped them sustain us. This is what we think when we adopt their religious beliefs and values. 

     After experiencing my first real “traumatic experience” in life, the Sustainer of life saw it fit to strip me of everything that I thought brought me security and safety. I experienced several losses back to back to back. There was losing my marriage (which I did not and still don’t view as a loss, but it was still something I grieved), the potential loss of my children (spouse sought full custody), my parents (they disagreed with my decision to divorce due to their own traumatic experiences. So I had to temporarily cut them off due to the negative impact of communicating with them during this time), and the loss of my financial stability due to the spiteful nature of my ex-husband. There was also the loss of my mind. I’ve made all of these decisions in life and they got me far most of the time, but in this season I began to no longer trust myself. People kept telling me every decision I made from this point forward was wrong. Ladies and gentleman, it is in these moments when you have nothing left to cling to, you cling to the Creator of life. I could not even rely on myself. I had nothing left to rely on except the Power of God. It is frightening to just let go and I am still struggling with this. May Allah help me. 

     As my life spiraled out of control, not only did I begin to question myself, I began to question everything. Where did I get my beliefs from? Why did I even get married? Why do I attract men with narcissistic tendencies? Why can’t my parents give me emotional support? Why don’t they know how to give me emotional support? What happened to them in life that caused their behaviors? After all of these questions started flowing and I started to receive answers that I believe were inspired by The All Knowing. I began to realize that in this season, He was attempting to get me to challenge my own thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions. Were my thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions right? Allah is the Greatest. 

     One final question I had for myself began to revolve around my religion. After all of the back and forth in my head I came to the conclusion that my decision to become a Muslim and practice Islam stemmed from my desire to please my father. I considered myself a “daddy’s girl”. Everything I did in life was ultimately to please him…also my mom, but mostly him. This scared me. Well this makes me just like all the other Christians and the like who only cling to that identity/faith because that’s what their family practiced. I’m doing the same thing! At least that’s what shaytan (the devil) wanted me to believe so that I can denounce my faith once and for all.

     I remember a month prior to my separation seeing a brother I knew on Twitter. I had followed him for years. He was a Muslim the entire time I knew him. He even married a Muslim woman. Now all of a sudden his bio read “Proud Christian”. I messaged him. “Salaam, brother how are you? What made you convert to Christianity?” He explained he had gone through a horrible divorce and it made him question everything. He said that he still fasts for Ramadan and loves Islam, but the divorce was a very “dark period” for him which caused him not to believe in anything anymore. I was saddened for his decision. In my head I thought “Dang, he let shaytan win!”. Now since I’m going through the same thing I can empathize with him and see how one can head down that road. Life altering situations make you question everything, but that’s exactly what it’s supposed to do!!!! :) This is where truth seeking starts, but not everyone is built for it. 

     Because here’s the thing - truth is the truth, no matter what. I repeat - truth is the truth, no matter what. A truth can never be a lie. A lie is the opposite of the truth. Do you understand that? How do we know what is true? You test it! What does Allah/God do to us when we experience loss and trials? He tests us to see if WE ARE TRUE! Allah is asking me right now, “Do you really believe or did you just blindly follow Islam because you were pleasing your father? Do you really believe in Me? If you are a true believer, it will be revealed to Me in how you handle this trial. Will you denounce Me or remember my goodness and my promise?” 

     I studied Islam and I studied it hard. I didn’t flat out accept what my father said as true. I was open to the idea of it because I trusted his advice and he was very influential, but the rest was left to God and I thank Allah for guidance. See, it doesn’t matter how you are introduced to the truth or even who presents it to you. There are no perfect people on this earth.  So all advisors are going to be flawed. But the truth is the truth no matter who tells it. Just like a lie is a lie no matter who tells it.  

     Now, one thing’s for sure, I am certain there is a God and He is Good. The proof of his is existence lies in my own existence.  A Christian sister-friend of mine read to me from the  Book of Job and one of the questions God asked Job while he complained of his situation was “Explain to me how thoughts get into your head, since you know everything!” I paraphrased it, (you can read more in Job 38:36), but the simplicity and complexities (even unexplainable ones) are proof of God’s existence. Somebody gave me thoughts. I claim them as mine, but they are not my own. They are inspired and guided by something. If I connect with the All-Knowing, I can be inspired with knowledge, not of everything, but of that which is necessary and beneficial to me. 

     So, I know there is One Supreme God. This much is true, but how do I know the religion of Islam is true? There are other religions that claim to believe in this One God, why not choose the path of Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion that believes in One Supreme Being or why follow any religion at all? I have to look at the way of life these religions promote - because that is what religion is - it’s a way of life. Christianity is too broad for me. It’s so broad that there is no rationality in it for me. We have some level of guidance in the Holy Bible, but as a whole, many Christians do not outwardly let alone inwardly follow the guidance. The Bible states “You shall not eat the pig because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, and is unclean to you. You shall not touch their bodies; they are unclean to you.” (Leviticus 11:4-8). Yet every Christian and their mama eats pork and every Pastor has some excuse as to why this statement is untrue. But sir/ma’am, it is written in YOUR BIBLE, that you claim to believe in. And every sister/cousin religion such as Judaism and Islam believe this, but you are the only set that doesn’t. Make it make sense. Then there’s the conflation of Jesus (peace be upon him) being God and this whole Trinity thing. Again, your sister/cousin religions do not hold this belief, but you are the only monotheistic religion that believes this and nowhere in the Bible does it mention the Trinity. Check for yourself. It’s not there. So how is it true? 

     In any case, this is not meant to bash Christianity or any other religion. I actually believe in the Bible as a revelation of God. I believe it so much that I believe it when it says not to eat pork and that there is only one God. So I may be more of a Christian than an actual Christian one can argue. I accept that most of what it says is true, although it has been corrupted. My point in speaking on it is to show how one should seek truth. If the Bible is one of the primary sources of God, who gives man the authority to add something to it or take away something from it? Yet, a lot of Christians blindly follow their pastors or other “followers” words or interpretations of it. Evaluate truth for yourself. Study it. Don’t be afraid to challenge one another. 

     There are hypocrites in every religion, but I do not judge the religion by the people, I judge the religion by its tenets, truisms, and practicality or ability to be followed and practiced in everyday life. So forget the theology of it, in a practical sense, the way of life prescribed for humans in the Holy Quran to me is the most perfect, ideal way of life. Even though it is an ideal, it isn’t a far-fetched reality. It’s possible to achieve if you strive for it. Also, it makes you hold yourself accountable. If there are no action items to follow, how can you hold yourself accountable? For example, if there is no dress code, how do you know if you are dressing properly? I honestly love the fact that Islam gives me an actual dress code. Dressing modestly as a hijabi is so freeing to me! I don’t feel like a captive to capitalism, fashion trends etc. I save more money since I don’t spend my money on hair, nails, make-up and endless clothes. Besides the dress code, I’m encouraged to eat to live, to do things that benefit me as a person and others. God knows our needs better than we do. I think of the Quran as an instruction manual for life. Since I can’t always count on my way or the way of society to be correct, I can always count on the Word of God and His instructions to be true. 

    In case it has ever been questioned I want to reiterate - La ha illaha il Allah ir Muhammadan Rasul-Allah. I bear witness to the truth that there is no God except the One True God and that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is His last messenger. I believe in angels, all of the unseen and the Day of Judgement. I believe in ALL books of Allah - The Torah revealed to Moses, the Gospel reveled to Jesus, Psalms revealed to David, and the Quran revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon them all). I believe in the existence of all prophets from Adam and Abraham, down to the last one - Muhammad (peace be upon them all). I believe in heaven and hell. I believe in the Divine Decree or Will of Allah (pre-destination). I believe I am following the best path to God - Islam. 

     I challenge you to dig deep and think of your beliefs, thoughts, and perceptions of life. What do you believe? (You can even go further into specifics like what do you believe about love, marriage, family, religion, money etc…)  Where did you get these thoughts from? Did they come from society, your family, significant other, and/or friends? Test them. Are they true? Are they working for you or against you? If it’s working for you, how do you know? If it’s not, how do you know? Who are you? Who have you become? Do you like him/her? What do people think of you? Is it true? What parts of you do you want to discard? What parts do you like and want to remain? 

     May God inspire the readers of this to be enlightened with the truth as it pertains to their lives and with knowledge that is necessary and beneficial to them. Ameen.