FOR NEW MUSLIMS: BE A REAL MUSLIM

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Permalink Reply by Maryam on April 10, 2009 at 5:14pm

jazakAllah khair for posting, bro !

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Permalink Reply by AbdulHamid on April 22, 2009 at 3:38pm

Wow! Thank you for posting this. I have a bad habit of learning everything I possibly can about something, which I've been doing with Islam for the past year that I've been muslim. I do need to just focus on being muslim right now, especially as new to the order.

Thanks again.

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Permalink Reply by Jamila on April 27, 2009 at 5:39pm

Dear friend,

I am very pleased that you ask me this question and I will try to respond in the most sincere way. Sorry if it takes time but I will come to the point. First of all, I would say that I don’t really feel that I missed something not being raised in a Muslim family. Everything that happens in our life appears in an appointed time ordered by Allah’s will. (Sorry for my english because I am not sure about all the words.) The Shaykhs of this Tariqat are teaching us that all souls (believers and unbelievers) are in a state of Islam, in complete worship near Divine Presence. What I understand is that no soul never stops worshiping because this worship maintains this soul alive. This is for the heavenly realm. But it takes a different manifestation in the world of dunya. I sincerely think that it is not because you are momentary an unbeliever in the world of dunya (which is indeed a very brief passage in the life of the soul) that you are an unbeliever in heaven. No one knows the Grandeur of Allah and its decision towards people. One must not forget that dunya is the world of illusion and it is a false, momentary world. If Allah wants you to experiment unbelief during your passage to dunya, that’s his decision. My concern is to show the exact same respect to everyone and that is the strong belief of this tariqat. I have known many people who had access to Qur’an, hadiths when they were young but it didn’t make them better persons. I have personally suffered from extremely bad mannered Muslims and I strongly prefer the company of non-muslims that have compassion and behave well. I have personally suffered from the actions of people that see themselves as Muslims because they where born in a muslim family. But the eyes of their heart where not opened. They don’t care about anyone, they manipulate people to get what they want and they don’t care even if you are muslim. And they keep acting extremely badly, with arrogance, pretending they know what it is to be Muslim. (But be reassured: that is not what I feel about you, you are a Muslim from the heart!)

I feel that my soul was always in contact with the invisible world. And I will frankly tell you that I didn’t really choose to embrace Islam : I think that it is Islam that has chosen me! My Shaykh was guiding me from the day where I was born, (even before that, in the Day of Promises when Allah has appointed each soul to his guide) pulling me slowly up to the place where I belong. And this place is Islam. And the Shaykh has to follow what is written on the Preserved tablets. And it was written on the Preserved Tablets the very day where I would receive faith in Islam and the amount I was about to receive.

But let’s talk about my childhood. I was raised in a Christian family and I always felt a strong attraction towards Prophet Jesus because his message was pure and on the right path. I had a very strong faith when I was young. But I was always having a problem with the fact that Jesus was considered to be the son of God. And I was absolutely unable to understand what was the point of him dying on a cross to save humanity. But I had a strong belief in his message and felt that there was a certain amount of truth there. It was something precious that I felt was pure and untouchable: like the poverty of the Christ, its generosity towards the poor, the prostitutes and that He had given his life to the service of Truth. So the Love of Jesus can easily bring you to the love of Islam and its Prophet (saw) because it is so close! Allah gave the Injeel to Jesus and he was one of his messengers. He confirms what is true and what is false in his Qur’an. So, the followers of Jesus, in the time of Jesus, where the Muslims of that time. If you remove the falsity of affirming that Jesus is the son of Allah and that he pretended to be so, and that he died crucified on a cross, then you have a well guided messenger of Islam that carries the light of prophecy of Sayyidina Muhammad (saw). The message of Islam carried by Jesus was engraved in my heart when I was young, and Jesus was the prophet that RasulAllah (saw) felt the closest to. Isn’t he going to come back in the end of time to kill the Dajal, the worst enemy of human kind? At that time, Allah will make the truth about his messenger Jesus. As far as I am concerned, for sure Jesus is well guided on Siratal mustaqeem.

So, if you have access to the message of the Injeels (or any other sacred Book that Allah gave us), and your Shaykh is guiding you, inspiring you on what is true and what is false, from the very beginning, then you don’t really miss something: it just takes a different form. (For the practices of Islam [ablution, prayers, fasting, etc], this is another question, and of course you don’t know that you have to do these things in order to get purified, and you don’t do them because you don’t know that you have to do them. But it is Allah’s decision what he wanted you to live and what was your path towards the remembrance of your Muslim reality. And indeed, in that meaning, the term « revert » is perfectly used. You start to remember and the desire to go back to your origins puts you in action.

So, if you have access to a real messenger of Allah, and then you read a lot about the lives of the saints in any « apparently » other different religion than Islam (I am a big fan of Ghandi and he really helped me to come closer to Islam) , then you start to compare their actions and sayings and you realize that those sincere servants are all working for the same boss, which is Allah and that they are all surrendering in a state of Islam under his command because they have abandoned their egos to serve Him. It is just that Allah has put them in different stations where He wanted them to be. So by reading and searching about other religions, while your Shaykh is inspiring you to be careful about the information you are receiving, you can surely be guided to the Truth of Islam. One after one, the veils that block your sight from the reality of Islam will be removed according to Allah’s will. Even if there is a mix with some false interpretations or beliefs, if your heart is touched by the Light of Faith and sincerity, Allah will put you in the spiritual house where you belong.

So to answer your question concerning the teachings of Islam and adhith that were missing in my life during the 36 years were I was not « officially » a Muslim, I would respond to you like this. Allah has created me and assured my sustenance, both physical and spiritual, when I needed it, during all my life. If not so, I would not be here talking like this. It was when I was sufficiently transformed and ready to receive the Light of truth, which is faith in Islam and all the knowledge that it opens, that Allah bring me to the shore of Truth. Because of that particular flavour that Allah gave to my path towards Him, each day, I feel that I am showered by a river of benediction and tajjalies that I am not sure every « born muslim » feels. I received faith in Islam at an age where I was able to be aware and conscious of the unbelievable perfection of the religion Allah had appointed to us. And that is indeed a precious gift. So now, it is a real pleasure to discover the lives of Sahaba, of Prophets and walis. It is of an inexpressible bliss to go into sajda and to be able to realize and feel why sajada is the natural state of my soul.

Slowly, sowly, Allah is teaching me what I have to know to serve him. May He be patient with me, with all of us.

Wa min Allah at-tawfiq. Bi urmatil-Fatihah.

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Permalink Reply by Nadege on October 17, 2011 at 2:29pm

I am not a muslim yet but I do want to convert however I am worried about what my family will think and say. Is it better to convert first and then talk to my family or the other way round ?

I don't know where to find the strength to convert. If anyone has advice for me, i'll be very grateful.

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