mood: Staaaaarving now!
craving: FOOD lol & cheesecake.. =p
Salam Alykom my brothers and sisters. Hola to all my non-muslim readers out there. I hope everyone is having a FAB Sat. :)
I received a private message from an anonymity named Jim Glass. Mr. Glass had a few questions regarding Islam. I will try my best to answser your questions. :)
"I wish you would tell me why you are Muslim... Have you studied Christianity?"
First of all- I know it's been repeated many, many times- but how many really know the meaning of Muslim? If you look it up in the dictionary, you'll find that Muslim actually means
submission to one God. Islam was the last monotheistic religion to be revealed by God to Mohammad, after Judaism and Christianity (those religions revealed to other great Prophets, Moses and Jesus).
Mr. Glass, I'll tell you why I'm Muslim. As a young girl, sitting in the pews of a Catholic church, I often looked at the priest standing in front of us all, telling us that Jesus (this great, great man) died for our sins. He died to save mankind. Jesus was God's son. I switched my gaze to Jesus hanging from the cross above the priest's head- his head sunken, wreathed in a crown of thorns, nails through his hands and feet with a cloth barely covering his private parts. If Jesus was God's son, I wondered, why would God allow him to die? Wouldn't fathers do anything to save their sons from dying? So why did God sacrifice His son so easily to the Romans?
Wait... the priest said that "We believe in one
Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.". Did that mean that Jesus was God, too? How can God (who is Jesus) sacrifice His son (who is Jesus); is that considered self-sacrificial? Suicide? And before Jesus who did Moses pray to? Jesus wasn't alive, so the only answer is God.
I confused myself with these kind of questions for as long as I could remember. I tried to read the Bible and it didn't register like it should have. What was wrong with me? I began to search for a little bit of truth. I read on Judaism, Christianity and finally, Islam. Islam, it seemed, clicked. Everything made sense. It wasn't like Catholicism, forever twisting words into something that didn't make sense, forever changing the words in the Bible. Islam was an easy path to follow: God was the All Mighty, the Magnificent, the Merciful. He was One. No partners, no sons. He revealed religion to great men, who believed in
ONE GOD. Mohammad was chosen to spread Islam, to be the last Prophet. A kind of last chance for us to be at home with a comfortable mindset, with no twisting questions. God equaled
One, not two.
I found myself at ease with that thought. And so I started to believe in Islam, a religion that finally made sense to me.
"Do you approve of the 911 attack that killed 3000 some of whom were from the Muslim faith?"
I remember 9/11 clearly. I watched replays on the news of how the plane crashed into the Twin Towers, devastating our nation. Like any other human being, I was terrified. What kind of maniacs would do such a thing? I obviously didn't approve, nor did any other Muslim with common sense. Ever since then, the US has gotten the impression that all Muslims are terrorists. No, that isn't the case. They're called EXTREMISTS. They're found in every religion. Judaism has the Zionists. Christianity has the Ku Klux Klan. Islam could surely have a group of extremists too, right? It's isn't unheard of. But why were Muslims being grouped together like this? All Arabs, Muslims... considered terrorists! Of course, because of this American tragedy, all Arabs, were from then on, stereotyped.
"What do you mean about "saving" the world? Killing all the infidels?"
There's a verse in the Quran that states that killing one person, is like killing all of mankind. In Islam, homicide is prohibited.
"...if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.." 5:32
Every human being has the right to live. So it is for all religions, because they have given us rights.
Again, the Muslims who claim they're going to "save" the world are extremists. No one can save the world, except by God's Will.
"Also, as a woman do you not feel bad about how Islamic men treat you?"
The media portrays Muslim women as oppressed, insignificant beings compared to Muslim men. They feed us the idea that the men make them cover, that they beat them every day and that they're not allowed out of the house. Fortunately, that isn't the case.
When the Quran was revealed to Mohammad 1400 years ago, Muslim women got their rights along with a religion to follow. If you follow Islam, just like if you follow Christianity or Judaism, you will always follow the laws of God. Those laws are: to treat women with respect and love. Islam gave me just that. Here's a quote from a Christian lady.
We Western women have been brainwashed into thinking that you Muslim women are oppressed. But truly, we are the ones who are oppressed; slaves to fashions that degrade us, obsessed with our weight, begging for love from men who do not want to grow up. Deep down inside, we know that we have been cheated.
-Samantha Carter
God says in the Quran: ‘O mankind, We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another (not that you may despise each other). Verily, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the one who is most righteous” (Quran 49:13).
Mr. Glass and all others out there that have questions, I hope I answered your questions. I pray that you doubt Islam no more. It takes someone special to come and ask questions, I think it's the beginning of your journey. There is no compulsion in Islam. We are here on earth for only one purpose and that purpose is to be slaves for God. Ask Him for forgiveness.
final whisper: So you see, as a Muslim woman, I’ve been liberated from a silent kind of bondage. I don’t answer to the slaves of God on earth. I answer to their king.
-by Yasmin Mogahed
A letter to the culture that raised me. :) GREAT READ. :)
A big thanks to my beautiful daughter for brainstorming with me on this entry. Always a pleasure to talk to you about our religion, Amber. :) :) :) I love you.
