And when the ignorant (mockingly) address them, they merely say: “Peace”.
Qur’an (25:63)
Tag: peace
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I seem to be reaching out into a void that thrusts hoards of doubt into my heart about what I feel or believe to be important or real about my faith. Naively, I believe that there’s others out there that think it worthwhile to consider principles instead of rituals. Some that may be inclined to question the status quo through the realisation that just because everyone subscribes to a specific version of Islam doesn’t make that authoritative. Especially when the blurring of the lines between cultural practices and the Sunnah is such that the two cannot be clearly distinguished any longer.
I’ve always been an outsider. Despite knowing that accepting the mainstream views about most things would bring me the acceptance that I crave, my idealism won’t allow me to. So I’ve chosen a solitary path that forces me to dabble between sanity, and insanity. Sincerity and hypocrisy. Faith and disbelief. And every single time, as if addicted to the pain of isolation, I’ve consciously chosen the more difficult path. The unpopular one. The one that most shy away from because they’re afraid to question self-proclaimed authoritarians and would much rather be safe and go with the flow without questioning.
I’ve tried many forums to share my views or express my thoughts, and each time the only commonality in response has been the vacuous silence that offers no comfort nor alternative views. Just a silent restrained complacency that boils my blood in search of the truth. When I see how blindly so many accept the statements of the Ulama, it reminds me of the Christian church that forbids any questions to be asked about their belief system and threatens to excommunicate anyone that dares ask for logic behind the Trinity, or the second coming, or the miraculous birth of Jesus (pbuh).
Is this what we have become as Muslims? Ritualists without purpose except that purpose that the learned ones allow us to have? Have we forgotten how to seek the original truth rather than pursue the regurgitated truth of generations of cultural contamination? Or am I a borderline infidel that believes that principles are more important than practices and that context is more important than unquestioned imitation?
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I always admire those that chose Islam later in life more than those that were born with it, not because I’m ungrateful for the blessing that Allah has bestowed on me by raising me in a Muslim home, but because there’s a wisdom and a value in making a conscious choice that I may never realise.
To me, being born in a Muslim home was like receiving the gift of Islam. And like most gifts that are treasured, they’re seldom questioned, or appreciated for more than just being gifts. So the inherent value of the gift often escapes most of us. Islam is more a blessing than it is a gift. And blessings, to be appreciated, has to be understood and valued based on the realisation of what life would be like without such a blessing.
Someone that was previously employed and now has no work to earn a living can relate to this. That job when it was available, no matter how tedious or trying, was a blessing. But the realisation of how much a blessing it was only dawns when it is no longer there.
I think it’s the same with Islam. When we’ve had it with us all of our lives, it’s easy to take it for granted. And given how insular the Muslim community has become, it’s nearly impossible to witness the gravity of this blessing unless we venture outside our communities and engage with those that are godless. Witness the lack of purpose, the hopelessness, the depression and the destitution of a life without meaning, and then realising the true beauty and blessing of the gift of Islam becomes a tangible reality rather than a just a gift that we received but didn’t earn.
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Humility and inner peace go hand in hand. The less compelled you are to try to prove yourself to others, the easier it is to feel peaceful inside.
(via maryamrshad)
