Salam To All: Long Introduction
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That was very interesting. I think that there is nothing wrong with engaging in Sunni ways as well as long as the individual sets in their heart the reason why they are engaing in a certain practice. My family is Sunni as well and in order to remain united with them I will follow traditional sunni ways, but with the understanding that I am doing so in an effort to remain united in the love of Allah. I really enjoyed your post.
Thank you for the warmth. I'm glad you enjoyed the post despite its length ... )
Peace.
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III. Personal ?Awakening?
My father died under mysterious circumstances in Paris, possibly for his political views, in 1986 while I was a second semester freshman in the University of San Francisco on an academic scholarship. I was in no frame of mind to continue school after that, and dropped out, trying to bury things I was afraid to face about a number of things I did not wish to acknowledge, and trying to reinvent myself. I broke all contact with my family and survived by doing ?odd? jobs that paid me just enough to keep my head above water.
During that unforgettable journey, I came face to face with a great number of things and people that eventually lead me to an event that was to change my life for good, eventually bring peace in my heart, and perhaps made me a better person to myself and those around me.
I will talk about that most incredible event in my life, an event that defies easy classification as either ?terrifying? or ?ecstatic?. A series of moments and intensely inseparable spiritual, intellectual, physical experience somewhat ?out of the blue? that led to my real, willful submission to Allah at the age of 20 in 1987.
My friend Chris was teaching me to surf in Ocean Beach, San Francisco. I was having incredible difficulty with the ice cold water gnawing at every inch of my body right through the wet-suit, and trying to stand up on the board without any success. After wiping out and hitting my head against the board for perhaps the 20th time, suddenly I felt like an integral part of everything around me.
For those few, indescribably vivid moments I could no longer distinguish anything other than an ecstatic sort of super consciousness outside of myself as something apart from me or my body. I WAS every molecule of all the known and unknown elements that surrounded me with immense clarity. It became abundantly clear to me that everything was deliberately engineered and created by Allah, my heart was filled with compassion, and I empathized with everything and everyone. My spirit, intellect and every cell in my body acted as one and reassured me that everything is alright and worthy of the love Allah has graciously accorded me in this life.
Chris dragged me ashore. Back on the beach, I just broke down, totally overwhelmed by the beauty and love around me, and cried the purest tears of gratitude to Allah for dispensing such grace upon one of his many creations, and submitted willfully to Him as his grateful slave. The Holy Quraan made perfect sense to like never before. Since that day I have been a ?submitter?.
WOW! THats the exact same thing that led me to the Quran!!! Thats amazing that someone else has had this happen to him...
398 And when the human being is afflicted with adversity, he implores his Lord, turning in repentance to Him. But then, when He grants him a blessing from Him, he forgets his previous imploring, and sets up equals with God, in order to mislead others from His path. Say "Enjoy your rejection for a while; for you are of the dwellers of the Fire."
3949 So when the human is touched by adversity, he implores Us, then when We bestow a blessing upon him, he says "I attained this because of knowledge I had!" Indeed, it is a test, but most of them do not know.That is one of the verses that made be realise the Quran was divine because it was exactly what happened to me... I even set up equals to God and shamefully put a lie to my experience (
All praise is to God.
Al
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peace Sohel,
Re modifying posts
Please see the forum rules/guidelines
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?board=2.0
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=8177.0Thank you Wakas, useful stuff before I become more familiar with this amazing place. I'm quite familiar with the website and have been using it as a resource for a while now, but the Forum is a totally new community for me.
The Forum rules are virtually identical to the other Forums I also frequent, and that's wonderful ... )
Peace, Sohel.
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WOW! THats the exact same thing that led me to the Quran!!! Thats amazing that someone else has had this happen to him...
398 And when the human being is afflicted with adversity, he implores his Lord, turning in repentance to Him. But then, when He grants him a blessing from Him, he forgets his previous imploring, and sets up equals with God, in order to mislead others from His path. Say "Enjoy your rejection for a while; for you are of the dwellers of the Fire."
3949 So when the human is touched by adversity, he implores Us, then when We bestow a blessing upon him, he says "I attained this because of knowledge I had!" Indeed, it is a test, but most of them do not know.That is one of the verses that made be realise the Quran was divine because it was exactly what happened to me... I even set up equals to God and shamefully put a lie to my experience (
All praise is to God.
Al
Dear Al,
Needless to say, I am deeply touched and my heart is filled with the sort of warmth only such kinship can call forth. Allah is indeed the Dispenser of such divine grace ... thank you for sharing.
On a lighter note, no offense intended here ...
http//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/ET202.jpg
We are NOT alone ...
Peace, Sohel ... peace
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Peace and welcome, Sohel.
Thanks for sharing your story and expressing it so eloquently. Your future as a novelist is evidently bright.
Regarding your "Personal Awakening" during the surfing incident, was it the hit on the head that triggered your experience? If so, were you conscious or unconscious? I'm curious because I've had galvanizing experiences similar to what you've described, both conscious and unconscious.
Peace,
Tay -
Peace and welcome, Sohel.
Thanks for sharing your story and expressing it so eloquently. Your future as a novelist is evidently bright.
Regarding your "Personal Awakening" during the surfing incident, was it the hit on the head that triggered your experience? If so, were you conscious or unconscious? I'm curious because I've had galvanizing experiences similar to what you've described, both conscious and unconscious.
Peace,
TayPeace unto you Tay and thank you for the warm welcome and kind words.
I have no idea how my or what 'novel' will turn out to be by the end of the process, but personally as a reader, I am not really satisfied about the way I write 'nonfiction' or 'fiction' for that matter. The styles, rhythm and flow vary quite a bit, and I tend to end up with a piece of Swiss cheese full of technical and other holes. Luckily, the cheese has not gone stale past its expiration date yet. Anyway ... )
With regards to your question about the surfing incident, I can only describe those moments in a water as a state of 'super consciousness' before Chris dragged me back ashore. He later described me as somewhat 'unconscious' but definitely in a state of daze with my eyes half closed and kind of 'fluttering', before I was overwhelmed with those amazing sensations of pure elation that resulted in some heavy tears on the beach.
I remember a deep sense of 'contraction' initially which weirdly fused into a sense of awareness and wonder coming from everything surrounding me. The fusion followed its own unique sense of time, and later 'unified' all 5 senses and more so to speak. The Sunlight reflecting off everything surrounding me was intensely vivid and as clearly delineated and defined as an exquisitely detaled Japanese watercolor sort of painted by the divinely inspired subjects of the painting themselves. There was a strange, almost comforting calmness about it all.
Of course the accumulative effect of repeatedly banging my head against the board and wiping out amidst the freezing water played its part in triggering the event. Later I met many fellow 'cold water' surfers in Northern California from Half Moon Bay to Mendocino who had their their own unique 'unifying' experiences, leading to a variety of life choices and skills.
Hope this clarifies the matter for you a little ... )
Peace, Sohel.
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Sohel ~
Allah bless you, man. that is all i can say. your relationship to Islam sounds a lot like my own. i also lost my father as a kid, and he also kind of opened the gates for me to religious study.
i think you will love it here, S. welcome.
Peace Sohail,
welcome
Looking forward to your point of views
Peace and thanks to Ayani and D'argento for the warm welcome. Looking forward to get to know the both of you better in this gathering ... )
Also ...
... I remember a deep sense of 'contraction' initially which weirdly fused into a sense of awareness and wonder coming from everything surrounding me.
Perhaps the word 'constriction' would have been the better word ? ... hmm
