A week ago, I had to get the oil changed. As I was checking out, the man at the register asked me," Have you ever read the Bible? Or thought about becoming a Christian?" Usually this is towards the middle of a conversation, but this time it begun with it. I told him, " I have and it just didn't make sense to me." I explained a bit further. He said he understood, but he could never worship idols the way I did. Obviously he had a warped understanding of what Islam is. I clarified.. we worship Allah, Al ilah, The Diety... the Creator and Sustainer of the Heavens and the Earth, and all that is in it. The All Merciful, The All Seeing, The All Hearing, the Creator of Jesus, the only Diety worthy of worship.
After he asked a few more questions. and I answered, he asked that I should meet his wife and stay in touch. I hope I do get to meet her.
During English class, we were talking about the Rennaisance. The teacher was explaining that when King Henry viii decided to seperate from the catholic church (mostly so he could get a divorce without the pope's approval), calling the new church, "The Church of England", and created protestantism. She explained that although they kept alot of catholic rituals, they didn't have saints, or include Mary(ra) in their churchs. They were "purifying the religion, so it was just you, God and Jesus." Right, you God and Jesus. I spoke up... that it is blasphemous even according to Christ's teachings. Christ told the people to worship God, he himself called out to God, Allah(swt) niether begets, nor is he begotten. Why would you call out to Christ instead of calling out to the God of Christ. She saw my point...she moved on.
Reflecting on these experiences, it seems like maybe they understand the concept... but for some reason aren't responsive to the call. It's almost alien and foreign to them. Anything other than Tawheed , worshipping only and only Allah(swt)... relying on Him for my needs, believing that only He has the power to grant me something or deny me it, yielding that if only He was pleased with me and everyone in the world were not that I would be okay- anything other than that... it would eat at my conscience and my soul. I could not pray to Jesus(ra) to save me, or Mary(ra) to redeem me, or Ali(ra) to help me, or Muhammad(pbuh) to grant me what I desired. My soul would not accept it and my heart would condemn me. Like a foreign object found in the body, it would be rejected and my soul would pound the walls of such a hypocritical shell. When I know that none can save me if Allah has forsaken me, and none can forsake me when my Lord has saved me... then there is no way that even the tip of my finger would accept pleading to anyone other than Him and Him alone.
It seems like such a simple concept. It's amazing how its been corrupted... I don't understand because the awesomeness of Allah (swt)'s power and ability is apparent in everything around us and everything inside us. and we don't even see all of it. Why must people set up limitations for Him?
Verily, He guides whom He wills. May He guide us, and keep our footing firmly on the straight path to lead us to Jannah, and His pleasure, ameen.
(april 05)
After he asked a few more questions. and I answered, he asked that I should meet his wife and stay in touch. I hope I do get to meet her.
During English class, we were talking about the Rennaisance. The teacher was explaining that when King Henry viii decided to seperate from the catholic church (mostly so he could get a divorce without the pope's approval), calling the new church, "The Church of England", and created protestantism. She explained that although they kept alot of catholic rituals, they didn't have saints, or include Mary(ra) in their churchs. They were "purifying the religion, so it was just you, God and Jesus." Right, you God and Jesus. I spoke up... that it is blasphemous even according to Christ's teachings. Christ told the people to worship God, he himself called out to God, Allah(swt) niether begets, nor is he begotten. Why would you call out to Christ instead of calling out to the God of Christ. She saw my point...she moved on.
Reflecting on these experiences, it seems like maybe they understand the concept... but for some reason aren't responsive to the call. It's almost alien and foreign to them. Anything other than Tawheed , worshipping only and only Allah(swt)... relying on Him for my needs, believing that only He has the power to grant me something or deny me it, yielding that if only He was pleased with me and everyone in the world were not that I would be okay- anything other than that... it would eat at my conscience and my soul. I could not pray to Jesus(ra) to save me, or Mary(ra) to redeem me, or Ali(ra) to help me, or Muhammad(pbuh) to grant me what I desired. My soul would not accept it and my heart would condemn me. Like a foreign object found in the body, it would be rejected and my soul would pound the walls of such a hypocritical shell. When I know that none can save me if Allah has forsaken me, and none can forsake me when my Lord has saved me... then there is no way that even the tip of my finger would accept pleading to anyone other than Him and Him alone.
It seems like such a simple concept. It's amazing how its been corrupted... I don't understand because the awesomeness of Allah (swt)'s power and ability is apparent in everything around us and everything inside us. and we don't even see all of it. Why must people set up limitations for Him?
Verily, He guides whom He wills. May He guide us, and keep our footing firmly on the straight path to lead us to Jannah, and His pleasure, ameen.
(april 05)
No comments:
Post a Comment