This is not to undermine the people in the my life, or the time I spend with them. I love my family - my parents, siblings and inlaws. I love serving them, learning from them and yes, goofing around with them :) This rant is basically to shame me into studying more and taking my religious/professional goals more seriously.
My early religious training was in the Islamic faith. This, however, was a matter of birth, not choice - our early religious training is generally in faith of our parents. Later in life, our religion is usually accepted as a matter of fact. We, however, question and examine everything except our family religious traditions, particularly if we are from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.
The Qur'an, being the Islamic textbook, is a source which I read in its original language (Arabic) many times. Almost every Muslim home contains the Arabic Qur'an, but it is generally used as a mantelpiece decoration. The Qur'an is a book that nobody knows but everyone reads. As bizarre as it may sound, inspite of being charmed by the glamour of many sins, Muslims take pride in the Qur'an. We hypocritically revere and idolize the Qur'an because although we claim that its source is Divine, we are indifferent to its message.
Alhamdulillah, Allah rescued me from this state of ignorance. Alhamdulillah, I can recite the Qur'an with some fluency, I can translate many words of the Qur'an from memory. Alhamdulillah, I can do tafseer of most of the Qur'an with a few supporting verses and ahadith. Alhamdulillah, I consider myself very lucky. I do not hesitate to state that a vast majority of Muslims today are oblivious of even the basic pillars of Islam and requirements of faith. But Allah has been very generous to me; He endowed upon me the blessing of knowing and understanding His Deen; living with and studying under renowned scholars, possessing scores of authentic and unbiased literature on Islam. But in turn, have I proved myself a worthy adherent? Did the comprehension, books and teachers rectify my life? How well am I serving Allah? How well am I serving humanity? What am I doing with my life?
I still shudder when I see the news, the blood-curdling slaughter, rapine and destruction, the tales of incest, rape and other vile obscenities that make headlines everyday. I get more weirded, angry and disgusted everyday. Living in the West, one would think that I would be impressed, by the technological advancement, the sky scrappers and the foods. But I am replused. I hold the Western society in abhorrence. It stands for drunkardness, debauchery and oppression. Alhamdulillah, again I have a chance to change all of that. I am privileged to earn a degree in political science. I can go to Law School. I can work for justice. But I am not! I am taking these favours for granted. Shame on me!
My early religious training was in the Islamic faith. This, however, was a matter of birth, not choice - our early religious training is generally in faith of our parents. Later in life, our religion is usually accepted as a matter of fact. We, however, question and examine everything except our family religious traditions, particularly if we are from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.
The Qur'an, being the Islamic textbook, is a source which I read in its original language (Arabic) many times. Almost every Muslim home contains the Arabic Qur'an, but it is generally used as a mantelpiece decoration. The Qur'an is a book that nobody knows but everyone reads. As bizarre as it may sound, inspite of being charmed by the glamour of many sins, Muslims take pride in the Qur'an. We hypocritically revere and idolize the Qur'an because although we claim that its source is Divine, we are indifferent to its message.
Alhamdulillah, Allah rescued me from this state of ignorance. Alhamdulillah, I can recite the Qur'an with some fluency, I can translate many words of the Qur'an from memory. Alhamdulillah, I can do tafseer of most of the Qur'an with a few supporting verses and ahadith. Alhamdulillah, I consider myself very lucky. I do not hesitate to state that a vast majority of Muslims today are oblivious of even the basic pillars of Islam and requirements of faith. But Allah has been very generous to me; He endowed upon me the blessing of knowing and understanding His Deen; living with and studying under renowned scholars, possessing scores of authentic and unbiased literature on Islam. But in turn, have I proved myself a worthy adherent? Did the comprehension, books and teachers rectify my life? How well am I serving Allah? How well am I serving humanity? What am I doing with my life?
I still shudder when I see the news, the blood-curdling slaughter, rapine and destruction, the tales of incest, rape and other vile obscenities that make headlines everyday. I get more weirded, angry and disgusted everyday. Living in the West, one would think that I would be impressed, by the technological advancement, the sky scrappers and the foods. But I am replused. I hold the Western society in abhorrence. It stands for drunkardness, debauchery and oppression. Alhamdulillah, again I have a chance to change all of that. I am privileged to earn a degree in political science. I can go to Law School. I can work for justice. But I am not! I am taking these favours for granted. Shame on me!
