Walking away from pieces of our faith
Many Muslims, like myself, hopped on planes leaving our families, friends, communities, and lives behind. We travelled to a faraway land to be able to practice our faith freely. I wanted to practice Islam in it's whole sense, not the hybrid Islam that we need to do in order to survive in North America.
Happily, I felt freedom in Qatar, where I can pray easily and freely, and I can cover without being challenged. I can excuse myself to pray and not have it become the most bizarre circumstance ever.
I can eat what I want, without fear of pork and/or alcohol being in my food.
It's amazing - but I experienced greater freedom in Qatar than I did as Muslim women in the West. I remember being asked by another Western Muslim here "why do you wear the abaya" and I simply responded "because I can".
We have a common narrative in North America that where Islam doesn't fit with our North American culture - then we, Muslims, need to change it.
It's silly, the faith is meant to be preserved, it's not meant to be changed on the whims of people. Imagine what people 100 years ago would have changed, or a hundred years before that? We wouldn't have a faith left if we had always changed what we didn't like in our generation or time.
Now, that conversation has arrived on the shores of Qatar, basically if Islam does not fit with what we perceive as a first world modern identity, then we need to discredit our sunnah, our Quran, our tafseers, everything - so we can hopefully fit the hollywood standard of modern day society.
I see this conversation more and more with youth. With globalization, everyone in all corners of the globe are having the same discussions, thoughts, and ideas. And honestly, that is a pretty great thing.
But we need to assess how Muslims can enter that global conversation, or sphere, without feeling - well... that they need to be less Muslim.
The faith has benefits that sometimes need to be practiced in order to be reaped. But the further and further we walk away from elements of our faith, the further we get from ever experiencing those benefits.
I can only relay this personal story to convey this message. The night prayer, aka Qiyaam Ul Layl, was something I thought was reserved for the sheikhs, Imams and scholars of the world. Five prayers seemed like more than enough to me, I am just a "normal" Muslim after all.
As I got older I happened to to have a conversation with someone that told me to try it. They said Qiyaam prayer delivers a sense of peace with which no other physical action could deliver.
They made a good sell and I decided to try it. I remember waking the first night, super excited to be taking on this journey and ecstatic to reap the peaceful benefits and solace this prayer was known to deliver. Thus, at midnight, I woke and prepared for the prayer. After the prayer, I concluded it was just a prayer, disappointingly there was no magnificent effect.
Still, I remained committed to the prayer, day after day, week after week, and month after month.
Finally, it reached a point, when I finally felt it, a sense of true solace that joined me with every night prayer. I hadn't quite experienced anything similar... ever. I would actually look forward to performing the prayer. This peace transcended into my regular daily life as well, and began to slowly change me as a person. Simply put, it beat any exotic vacation, spa treatment, etcetra.
During that period, I distinctly remember getting an email from a friend I hadn't spoken to in years. The email was quite simple "Dear A - I had a dream about you that you were really truly happy - and I felt I needed to get in touch. Your truly, Z."
Thus, once we begin the journey of abandoning aspects of our faith, we also bid farewell to the benefits those things brought us, whether we recognized them or not.
So before you walk away from aspects of your faith try them out, wholly and sincerely, first. What a shame to throw out a bag of treasure without ever looking at first :)
Sorry it should be Right not write. (Sorry for my poor English, if any other mistakes as well please forgive me).
The creator will know who's write and who's wrong.
I can see very knowledgeable and educative way of communication over hear.
My education is to please my creator and love Him. I have no business in winning with a Human who has no guarantee of His life.
Therefore I suggest people will use their wise knowledge to correct themselves.
When ever I start praying. The world affairs disturbing me during the prayer. I am battling to come out of the same.
Advanced points to be spoken after successfully completing the beginner level.
modata: I like discussions - you know that .. My point was that to say that Muslims cannot be good muslims and practice their faith in the West is not true.
Hey Brit sorry missed your reply; in the midst of a great seaside vacation with family but still can't stay away from Qatar and ql lol... Hey I feel we're talking about different aspects of the same thing...i fully agree with you there's devout Muslims in the West and its much harder for them and requires an additional measure of devotion and may god accept their worship... But my point is about how well religion and culture mix... Not just me, it's the way of the world right now to mix religion and culture...i feel the lines have been blurred into obscurity... Most folks bias against a culture often spills over into that culture's predominant religion and vice versa... Most westerners think the abaya and full black veil is an islam thing when its actually cultural... Many Muslims think the Christian faith itself is messed up in allowing pork and alcohol and fornication when in fact Christianity clearly forbids it and its the culture that has made it acceptable. So yes, if I'm inadvertently mixing the two, you'll have to excuse me and take it as a sign of the times we live in... Just discussing Brit, not arguing; I like and respect you enough to not do that :-)
Dear Canadianrunaway,
You are in the correct path and please continue. May Allah bless you.
Btw: Good and Bad is everywhere. It's all about personal behavior.
(Prophet Mohamed Sallalahu Alhiwasallam turn quickly soon after the prayer to home and walked very fast) The companion were wondering usually prophet Mohamed Sallalahu Alahiwasallam stay's some time after prayers but why today left early. Then the companions found Prophet Mohamed Sallalahu Alahiwasallam remember something that he had to give Sadaka of a small broken peace of Gold which was kept in his house. To give away the same for a needy the Prophet Mohamed Sallalahu Alahiwasalla went home fast.
(This is what Islam ) Do it for your self.
Protect your self. Allah will protect Islam.
Ata is perfectly right, here nobody would ever think / dare to punch a fellow human being ...................
Mufti is always like that, needs to be guided at his each & every comment ........ Thanks QL Team, watch him closely ..............
Very well said, Mohdata!
mohdata: You are mixing culture and religion - in my opinion. As I said, I have met many a good muslim in other countries where it is much harder to practice your religion - a case in point being Ramadan. In England , the fasting lasted for 18 hours last year. It was not made easy by shorter working hours either..
I will only say that Muslims in the West were not sent there at gunpoint...if a land is not amenable to following true Islam, you do not go there and find an alternative...I personally call a spade a spade, have seen the Western way of life, and the truth is that even if I want to believe what Brit says; Islam (or any religion) and the western capitalist culture just don't mix... Muslims and other religions will always be mocked by those who live by greed, consumption and riches...capitalism and god don't gel well...i say don't go where you'll never belong and don't go so far that you one day find yourself unable to return...I've passed over the option, more than once, of settling down in the us/uk because I don't care about career and money and rather choose my home based on how well I can or am willing to integrate... And to that end, it's only the gcc where I feel at home, even more so than my own country... Oh well..
Thank you for the clarification Morane.
@Shuaibh and @mohd ali 99, Qiyaam al-layl means spending the night, or part of it, even if it is only one hour, in prayer, reading Qur’aan, remembering Allah (dhikr) and other acts of worship. It is not stipulated that it should take up most of the night.
Tahajjud means specifically praying at night, and some scholars limited it to prayers that are offered at night after sleeping.
qiyaam al-layl is more general than tahajjud, because it includes prayer and other actions, and it includes prayer before and after sleeping.
Tahajjud is exclusively praying, and there are two opinions concerning it. The first is that it means praying at any time of the night, which is the view of the majority of fuqaha’
Canadianrunaway - Well compiled article. Yes, living in the middle east does make it easy for a muslim to practice his/her faith as compared to other parts of the world. But I would agree with britexpat - At the end of the day, It is up to us, no matter where we live, to practice our faith in the best way we can and be a good person.
Mohdali99 - There is a difference b/n tahajjud and Qayyam ul lail prayers primarily being Qayyam ul lail prayers are normally offered in the month of Ramadan (usually in the last 10 days) whereas Tahajjud prayers can be offered anytime throughout the year. To offer Tahajjud salah you have to wake up 1-2 hours before fajr. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
@ QL Team: I live in a democratic country and have first hand experience of it. I am unlike those who aspire for citizenship of those very countries which they criticize day in and out.
BTW if you don't intend to have a discussion on the thread , why to post it then?
Is there any difference between tahajjud and qiyaam al-layl? Can anyone explain me ..
You make some valid points, but I must also disagree with some of it. Living in Qatar and the GCC makes it “easier” to practice Islam. I have met many Muslims who came to the region and learnt a lot about the true aspects and began to actually live it. However, I also have some very good friends who are “practicing” Muslims , living in Canada, USA and UK. They are free to practice their religion and also participate in the society there. There are NO restrictions and in many ways, the society there embraces all cultures and religions. The mistake many Muslims make is to see themselves as not a part of that society. At the end of the day, It is up to us, no matter where we live, to practice our faith in the best way we can and be a good person.
Canadianrunaway, absolutely right said. The whole Gulf region is the region where every faith irrespective of being a muslim can live peacefully and can bring-up our children in Islamic-friendly environment. I have visited all and worked in 3 GCC countries. We are having a relaxed and tension-free life here, ALHAMDULLILAH.
Nice write up. Care to remove some line breaks?
Mufti Shahid - please give it a rest. People are allowed to have opinions - even if they are different than yours.
Sounds like you are trying to put the Canadianrunaway in a cage, because that user is freely expressing their own opinion and you are trying to shush them. Learn about democracy before you try to become an authority on it please.
Canadianrunaway: Just a suggestion, if you are not able to practice your faith freely in Canada, why don't you give up the citizenship and go to the country where you can practice it freely.
I know democracy and freedom doesn't go well with some people. They like to live in cages.
Regarding Islamic reformation, don't pronounce your judgments, our faith is not monolith. It can adjust with any culture whether American or Indian or Indonesian.