From birth we are told to fear the Higher Being, to be scare of His abilities. We are told that in His Hands lies our fate. But we’re also reminded time and again that He is loving, caring. He showers on us blessings and gifts, beyond what we can ever imagine. So why the need for fear? Reverence, I feel, is more apropos.
Man is the greatest of creatures, yet our shortcomings are obvious. We consistently lack the ability to think outside the box of our perceived existence. In our attempts at understanding and coming to terms with it, we personify Him. With this, we hope to form a stronger bond. Most liken him to a Father of sorts, the best of all parents, of all guardians.
He, like our earthly father, gave us life and sustenance, smothered us in undying and unconditional love. We were always assured of His guidance. And yet, being the rebellious children we are, many decided to fight against the folds of His loving embrace. The simple rules He put down for us were nonchalantly broken, kin turned against kin, and we abandoned our adoration of Him for more tangible pursuits and cares.
Too oft, I feel, hardliners and proponents of strict interpretations come to the conclusion that the only way to be obsequious towards God is through a variety of scare tactics, guilt-ridden speeches, and other forms of persuasion that I can only come to conclude as religious propaganda. These methods toss me into a mire of confusion. So many sects and arguments of this way or that way or neither way have left me wondering why to bother at all.
Why must we insist on complicating our faith? There is a Book to follow along with associated guidelines and examples, and a mere five times a day we are to press our foreheads to the ground. Granted, the influences of society and media has greatly penetrated almost every aspect of our lives, but I am of the belief that those who wish to draw the line know where to do so.
Continuing, there seems to be an inherent misunderstanding on the part of a good number of our society that the simple act of worship is sufficient. Very little attention is paid towards intention. The niyat of an action is the basis for its acceptance. Conversely, the things others are so quick to label haraam or forbidden are often innocuous occurrences when view from this very angle.
When we are secure in our faith, only then can we properly practice it. But so few allows us to question it, immediately brandishing us as blasphemous beings that have no respect for their religion as soon as we utter a single word of doubt. All most anyone seems to care about is converting. Converting, converting, converting. Nobody seems to recall anymore that charity starts at home. Everyone assumes that simply because a person has been born into Islam, the knowledge and ideologies of its preaching were magically ingrained from the start.
So stack up your rankings on how many have become Muslim with each coming year, but don’t leave out the number we’re losing to apathy, to confusion, to ignorance. A Muslim in name is not a Muslim in faith. To quote Galileo: “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” Oh you who believe-- wake up. Understand your religion for yourself; do not simply follow the words of others.
We put too much trust in how another is dressed, how another appears to act, how another goes about their business. This is how we come to judge them and their adherence, but we forget that when the time comes, we shall stand alone, and only one Judge will have His say then. We push aside those who may be better than ourselves simply because we perceive their supposed faults in a harsh light when instead we should accept them with open arms, and hold discourses on any and every query they may have. We should work together in our attempts to come close to God.
Man is the greatest of creatures, yet our shortcomings are obvious. We consistently lack the ability to think outside the box of our perceived existence. In our attempts at understanding and coming to terms with it, we personify Him. With this, we hope to form a stronger bond. Most liken him to a Father of sorts, the best of all parents, of all guardians.
He, like our earthly father, gave us life and sustenance, smothered us in undying and unconditional love. We were always assured of His guidance. And yet, being the rebellious children we are, many decided to fight against the folds of His loving embrace. The simple rules He put down for us were nonchalantly broken, kin turned against kin, and we abandoned our adoration of Him for more tangible pursuits and cares.
Too oft, I feel, hardliners and proponents of strict interpretations come to the conclusion that the only way to be obsequious towards God is through a variety of scare tactics, guilt-ridden speeches, and other forms of persuasion that I can only come to conclude as religious propaganda. These methods toss me into a mire of confusion. So many sects and arguments of this way or that way or neither way have left me wondering why to bother at all.
Why must we insist on complicating our faith? There is a Book to follow along with associated guidelines and examples, and a mere five times a day we are to press our foreheads to the ground. Granted, the influences of society and media has greatly penetrated almost every aspect of our lives, but I am of the belief that those who wish to draw the line know where to do so.
Continuing, there seems to be an inherent misunderstanding on the part of a good number of our society that the simple act of worship is sufficient. Very little attention is paid towards intention. The niyat of an action is the basis for its acceptance. Conversely, the things others are so quick to label haraam or forbidden are often innocuous occurrences when view from this very angle.
When we are secure in our faith, only then can we properly practice it. But so few allows us to question it, immediately brandishing us as blasphemous beings that have no respect for their religion as soon as we utter a single word of doubt. All most anyone seems to care about is converting. Converting, converting, converting. Nobody seems to recall anymore that charity starts at home. Everyone assumes that simply because a person has been born into Islam, the knowledge and ideologies of its preaching were magically ingrained from the start.
So stack up your rankings on how many have become Muslim with each coming year, but don’t leave out the number we’re losing to apathy, to confusion, to ignorance. A Muslim in name is not a Muslim in faith. To quote Galileo: “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” Oh you who believe-- wake up. Understand your religion for yourself; do not simply follow the words of others.
We put too much trust in how another is dressed, how another appears to act, how another goes about their business. This is how we come to judge them and their adherence, but we forget that when the time comes, we shall stand alone, and only one Judge will have His say then. We push aside those who may be better than ourselves simply because we perceive their supposed faults in a harsh light when instead we should accept them with open arms, and hold discourses on any and every query they may have. We should work together in our attempts to come close to God.