Hi Solara.
I am a fourth year student,struggling with university and life in general.I come from a semi-practising family who were taken aback by the sudden surge in my religiosity during the final year of high school.
Over the years, a 'halaka' here and 'bayaan' there helped me gain some rudimentary understanding of the Islamic Sciences such as Usool al Fiqh,Tafsir etc. Constant reading of the Qur'an coupled with the sincerity that Islam instils in a believer led me to question the foundational claims of the religion itself.A few months prior to my first seep of alcohol I decided to go through the standard material handed out in Street Dawah and Islamic Awareness Weeks.
The stark difference in the levels of critical analysis Muslims employ in intra-Muslims 'ikhtilaafs' in one hand and inter-faith issues on the other,amazed me,to say the least!I soon realised the foundational claims of Islam are not as solid as they seem from the inside.
Eventually I mustered up the courage to read The God Delusion and surprisingly whilst reading the book I came across the various Youtube channels debunking Islamic claims.Almost a quarter into 2012 I stopped making my life harder,i.e gave up praying.
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Nowadays I am enjoying Islam more than ever before.I still go to Jumua'ah,recently helped out the local mosque with 'iftaar' and still listen to good recitations of the Qur'an.As the old saying goes "Old habits die hard".I feel more connected with the Ummah too.I am a cultural Muslim now,like (almost) everyone around me.The only difference is that they did not put themselves through the torture of living a 'pious' life and then rejecting the faith altogether.
I have learnt a lot from the years spent inside the practising community.I have a met and befriended a lot of good human beings,learnt to sacrifice for the greater good and most importantly have had the opportunity to enjoy a lot of ethnic dishes which I would have never come across.
Owing to the fact that Islam was never forced upon me I do not carry any ill-feeling towards it.Although I completely understand why a lot of ex-muslims are loud and proud about their atheism.
Islam did not gain the importance it has, in one generation.Neither is it going to go away all of a sudden.It is going to take the blood and sweat of parents who are going to raise a generation devoid of Anjem Chowdhurys,Nouman Ali Khans,Faraz Rabbanis and Ayaan Hirsi Alis.
It is my conviction that the most efficient way of saving society from the evil grip of fundamentalism is by getting more cultural muslims/closet atheists involved in organizing and leading the cultural aspects of religion.This is me.I believe every problem has a swifter solution when dealt with 'hikmah' and good 'akhlaq'
I dream of a day when Islamic Studies will be of the same importance to mankind as Egyptology is today.A discipline,people will master without any unjustified hate or love for the culture being studied.
Thank You CEMB for providing a platform for me to get these words off my chest.If there is a heaven I believe the ones who run this site will be the rightful residents of that place.
Finally I want to thank the authors of the Qur'an.If it wasn't for the following verse I would have never been posting here.Thank you!Whoever you may be!
"O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you swerve, and if you distort justice or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do." [Sûrah al-Nisâ’: 135]
Topic: Hello everyone!