Eid Mubarak
Salam everyone,
Its been so long since I've updated and I dont know where to start. Actually, I cant even remember when I wrote my last entry haha. Of course I have a lot of things to rant about, but I think today I'll keep it positive. This may actually end up being a multi part entry and the most personal entry I have written thus far.
Firstly, I wanted to articulate some reflections on Islam. July marked the one year mark of my shahada and I must say it feels great to be Muslim. I feel that Allah has blessed me with this Deen and gave me the ability to discern the truth for myself and has given me the strength to keep my faith strong. Today however, things really hit home. It was my first EId and I felt like I was reborn again. I went to Masjid Al Rahman, the place I took my shahada, and it was almost like a homecoming of some sorts. The brotherhood, the community, and the positivity that flowed through that hall was both renewing and breathtaking.I came out of the Masjid speechless, I didnt know what to say, what to think, I almost wanted to cry. I felt like a burden was lifted from my heart and that I was a new person, that my life took a new beginning, Islam became real to me. One of my good friends and fellow revert, Sam, came to visit last weekend and as always he had some positive and inspiring words to say. These words however, were not relayed to me, but to someone else and I happened to be listening. He said that, and I loosely paraphrase, that Allah is one, and that he does not need anything from us. Similarly, he had no reason for creating us besides to worship him. Our life is a blessing, it is a gift from Allah. What other reason for one to exist than to worship God and God alone? Why are we here? I dont think anyone could give you a logical answer that you would buy, besides worshipping Allah, devoting your life to submitting to him. Of course, we all know this, but hearing Sam say it just added some additional value to it, a reminder if you will, of why we're here. I think a lot of Muslims forget that fact. SO many of us get caught up in aspirations for money, power, fame, and fortune, that we forget about the deen. We spend our entire lives studying to become doctors and engineers, lawyers, etc. and we forget that first and foremost we're muslim. So many people forsake so many aspects of the deen for the sake of success, success in the dunya. We strive to get good grades because we want to get into a good med school, we want to get in a good med school because we want to make good money, what will we do with our money? what will we do with our MD? Will we use it for better Islam? or will we buy a 500,000 house, send our kids to private school, and drive luxury cars? What does that mean to Allah? When you die you dont take any of that with you, I think it represents a spiritual void. So many brothers and sisters are so smart and intelligent, but I think they're using it for the wrong ends. Brother Gerald put it best, we were talking on the way back from Eid prayer, he said that he wanted his kids to know what it was like to struggle. He said that his family didnt need a million dollar house, they dont need the most expensive toys and presnets, and they dont need to go to a private school, if they can get the same education from a good public school that they could from a private school, they dont need it. This brother was on point, he articulated everything I felt about this world, and about life, and about how I wanted to raise my children. And for those of you who dont know, Gerald is a BIG DAWG(my hopkins brothers know what that means haha) but you would never know because he is so modest, and its a quality that I admire. My shift at work is about to end and I guess I should try to bring this entry to a close, this is only Part I though, stay tuned for part two. Its time for a change, a self revolution, an internal paradigm shift. I need to start putting actions with my words. I need to devote myself to submission of Allah, I need to wage Jhiad Al Nafs. I need to struggle to better myself and to separate myself from this Dunya. I need to learn to judge myself before I judge others. I need to exercise this truth that Allah has blessed me with, let it come to fruition, so that I may spread the light Islam. It is a hard and long process to get to that point, but I feel renewed, I feel reborn, I feel empowered, and inshallah, nothing can stop me....
Its been so long since I've updated and I dont know where to start. Actually, I cant even remember when I wrote my last entry haha. Of course I have a lot of things to rant about, but I think today I'll keep it positive. This may actually end up being a multi part entry and the most personal entry I have written thus far.
Firstly, I wanted to articulate some reflections on Islam. July marked the one year mark of my shahada and I must say it feels great to be Muslim. I feel that Allah has blessed me with this Deen and gave me the ability to discern the truth for myself and has given me the strength to keep my faith strong. Today however, things really hit home. It was my first EId and I felt like I was reborn again. I went to Masjid Al Rahman, the place I took my shahada, and it was almost like a homecoming of some sorts. The brotherhood, the community, and the positivity that flowed through that hall was both renewing and breathtaking.I came out of the Masjid speechless, I didnt know what to say, what to think, I almost wanted to cry. I felt like a burden was lifted from my heart and that I was a new person, that my life took a new beginning, Islam became real to me. One of my good friends and fellow revert, Sam, came to visit last weekend and as always he had some positive and inspiring words to say. These words however, were not relayed to me, but to someone else and I happened to be listening. He said that, and I loosely paraphrase, that Allah is one, and that he does not need anything from us. Similarly, he had no reason for creating us besides to worship him. Our life is a blessing, it is a gift from Allah. What other reason for one to exist than to worship God and God alone? Why are we here? I dont think anyone could give you a logical answer that you would buy, besides worshipping Allah, devoting your life to submitting to him. Of course, we all know this, but hearing Sam say it just added some additional value to it, a reminder if you will, of why we're here. I think a lot of Muslims forget that fact. SO many of us get caught up in aspirations for money, power, fame, and fortune, that we forget about the deen. We spend our entire lives studying to become doctors and engineers, lawyers, etc. and we forget that first and foremost we're muslim. So many people forsake so many aspects of the deen for the sake of success, success in the dunya. We strive to get good grades because we want to get into a good med school, we want to get in a good med school because we want to make good money, what will we do with our money? what will we do with our MD? Will we use it for better Islam? or will we buy a 500,000 house, send our kids to private school, and drive luxury cars? What does that mean to Allah? When you die you dont take any of that with you, I think it represents a spiritual void. So many brothers and sisters are so smart and intelligent, but I think they're using it for the wrong ends. Brother Gerald put it best, we were talking on the way back from Eid prayer, he said that he wanted his kids to know what it was like to struggle. He said that his family didnt need a million dollar house, they dont need the most expensive toys and presnets, and they dont need to go to a private school, if they can get the same education from a good public school that they could from a private school, they dont need it. This brother was on point, he articulated everything I felt about this world, and about life, and about how I wanted to raise my children. And for those of you who dont know, Gerald is a BIG DAWG(my hopkins brothers know what that means haha) but you would never know because he is so modest, and its a quality that I admire. My shift at work is about to end and I guess I should try to bring this entry to a close, this is only Part I though, stay tuned for part two. Its time for a change, a self revolution, an internal paradigm shift. I need to start putting actions with my words. I need to devote myself to submission of Allah, I need to wage Jhiad Al Nafs. I need to struggle to better myself and to separate myself from this Dunya. I need to learn to judge myself before I judge others. I need to exercise this truth that Allah has blessed me with, let it come to fruition, so that I may spread the light Islam. It is a hard and long process to get to that point, but I feel renewed, I feel reborn, I feel empowered, and inshallah, nothing can stop me....