My Journey to The GOD Alone Path
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Salaam everybody,
A brother at another forum asked me to tell him my story concerning my journey to GOD Alone. After I posting my story there, I realized that I have been a member here for well over two years and I have never posted my story here. oops
Well for any who may be interested, I am posting it now for the first time.
When I was still a sunni, I was always bothered as to why the so-called muslim world was at the bottom of the barrel. How is it that we possess the Quran, and yet we are extremely backwards, decadent, downtrodden and stepped on...not to mention so hated by others in the world? Why the division and lack of unity?
I was always an avdent reader of Islam and Middle Eastern politics. I have many books in my library. Two of my favorite writers as a sunni were the Algerian Mohammed Arkoun and the Iranian Ali Shari'ati. I was always into reading books by muslim thinkers and intellectuals. In fact, I was quite a staunch sunni until I read Rethinking Islam for the first time by Mohammed Arkoun. I read it a second time and it changed my views and thought patterns concerning Islam, muslims and muslim political affairs. It was due to this new thought wave that I was no longer a fundamentalist type muslim.
However, through all my reading, pondering and discussions with others, I still could not find an answer to the muslim dilemma. I was once a part of a community who now go by the name of A.S.M. (American Society of Muslims) This community is headed by a thinker name Warith Deen Mohammed, son of Elijah Mohammed who was the founder of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam. While listening to a lecture by one of W.D. Mohammeds Imams (Faheem Shuaibe) one day, he said something that was pretty profound for me. He gave a parable about roofing and floors. He said that when one has a problem with the tiles on their floor which needs repaired, the people don't merely go over it. They strip the floor entirely and lay down a brand new foundation. He said in order for us to fix the muslim dilemma, we have to strip the floor so to speak. We have to unlearn many things we hold true and dear and be willing to sift through it all and lay down a new foundation on which to build the new muslim ummah.
Unfortunately, this was mere lip service as he still sought to etsablish this muslim strength based on Quran and sunnah.
Anyway, I had a reached a point in my life where I truly dreaded going to the mosque to listen to the same old dry kutbahs about following the prophet's sunnah and how if we do follow it, all of our problems would just go away. I hated going to the mosques, I hated wasting my friday afternoons going to their jumahs and I hated listening to those same old sheep-and-cattle kutbahs. I got tired of hadith and sunnah, I got tired of the prophet said this and the prophet forbade that, etc. Too many problems, loose ends and unanswered questions.
I finally made a decision. I was going to make an attempt to strip the floor. I decided that I would try to learn what GOD expects of me and what it is that I and the muslim world is doing wrong. When you have a structure, such as a building, that is weak and unstable, you cannot fix it if the weakness and instability stems from the foundation. You have to knock it down and establish a new and much stronger foundation. This is what I sought to do.
I made the decision that I would go back to the foundation of Islam, which is the quran. I decided that I would study nothing but the quran and try to figure out what the heck is going on. I told myself that I would only follow hadith that I felt agreed with the quran. Because of this new endevour, I wanted to make advancement in my Arabic studies because I did not want to pursue this endevour while relying on translations. But I also new the dangers of depending on Arabic language studies as taught by "muslim world". I wanted to do this independent of them and their influences.
Although I was already studying Arabic at that time, I was learning by attending Arabic classes every wednesday and sunday at the mosques. I used to attend Arabic Language and Taleem classes at the mosque. So I Decided to go online to find as many useful resources as I possibly can to continue studying on my own, without the interpretation and influences of the "muslims".
Now we come to the milestone of my journey to this path I am now on. While searching for Arabic language resoures on the internet, I came across httpwww.inet.ba/~hardy which is brother Zlatan's website. To this day, I have always looked up to Zlatan as a big brother and I am always grateful and appreciative of the time I met him and started corresponding with him. At the time he had an Arabic language page at his website. However, this wasn't all that he offered on his website. He also had plenty of articles and links to http//www.free-minds.org The Arabic resources weren't the only thing that attracted me to his site. It was the THEME of his website which is the study of monotheism and the quran alone. I took very careful note of that.
Along with studying the Arabic language, I also read the articles on his site and read the links that he has on his site. It was through Zlatan and his website that I was introduced to Free-Minds.Org. I was reading article after article on the many fallacies of hadith and sunnah. I found a new world...one which I Never thought I'd explore. It did not take me long before I started to realize the foundational problem of the muslim dilemma. I went on an intense and very focused study and journey into hadith and sunnah and this new way of thinking (God Alone and Quran Alone).
I eventually learned of Rashad Khalifa and started going to http//www.submission.org and reading the articles that they have. I remember reading Quran, Hadith and Islam for the first time by Rashad Khalifa. As someone used to following the sunni way of thinking, this book was very easy for me to agree with and it has answered alot of questions for me as well as address the whole philosphy behind hadith and sunnah. You want to know what made my convictions even easier to stand by? I approached just about every muslim aquaintence that I knew with this new information and you can all guess their reactions to this. That made it all the more convincing.
I eventually introduced my wife to this concept but she wasn't quite open to it at first. In fact, she made fun of me and told me that I was going through another one of my many phases or changes. (Indeed, in my search for answers to certain questions I have walked many roads before reaching this one).
I gave her an article on hijab to read from free-minds.org and then I gave her another one from submission.org. She then started visiting these websites and doing her own research. At the time, she was a teacher at the Islamic sunday school. She removed her hijab and she was given an ultimatum. Either re-donn the hijab or she can no longer teach there. She and I both challenged this ultimatum as well as the hadith and sunnah position which they could not handle. They told us we were no longer welcomed in their community. (This is the A.S.M. by the way, supposedly the most liberal and free-thinking of the sunni world).
That's pretty much it in a nutshell. I just continued to study and read the quran alone. The more I studied, the more the truth of this particular situation became very clear to me. And here I am today. I have fully rid myself of anything that has to do with hadith and sunnah. I have changed many views since being on this path....many of which would definately cost me to get lynched and killed in the muslim world. I am quite comfortable with the position and views that I have now. I change views and understandings due to my constant search for truth. I may be right, I may be wrong. But I have full confidence that as long as I remain humble and sincere, GOD will teach me whatever it is He wills for me to know.
That's pretty much it...my GOD Alone journey in a nutshell.
Peace,
Damon. -
Peace Damon,
You and your wife are quite brave to go through with what you believe in and challenge the current flawed system... you guys have my respect. Thank you for sharing your story. May God continue to help and support both of you.
Nadia
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peace be upon you Damon,
I have often wondered if the example of Abraham building the house/structure/establishment from its foundation was a parable. Interesting example, considering we are urged to follow his example most often. Is The God trying to tell us something? wink
In any case, nice story brother.
Wakas
"The goal is to strip away the inessentials, to reveal the true form of thing, like a sculptor." - paraphrased from Bruce Lee
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Salaam People,
Peace Damon,
You and your wife are quite brave to go through with what you believe in and challenge the current flawed system... you guys have my respect. Thank you for sharing your story. May God continue to help and support both of you.
Thank you dear sister Nadia. Needless to say, those we used to call friends and bethren in the faith now look at us with total disdain. As far as they're concerned, my wife and I are Kuffar. roll
peace be upon you Damon,
I have often wondered if the example of Abraham building the house/structure/establishment from its foundation was a parable. Interesting example, considering we are urged to follow his example most often. Is The God trying to tell us something? wink
In any case, nice story brother.
Hhmmm...that is interesting Wakas. I never looked at it that way. By the way, one of the articles that I read during the early stages of my personal journey was an article called The Intelligent Approach to Islam written by a certain someone here. wink
I found that article to be more than helpful and very informative.
Peace,
Damon. -
Salaam Damon,
Thanks for sharing your story. For some reason I thought you had before...? ? Maybe that's through discussions that you shared bits and pieces. On the other hand, I think my story 'dissappeared' with the old board. I'm not sure if it's still accessible.... on the internet and in my mind that is! lol
You've been through a lot to get here, and for as long as you're alive, there's a lot more to go through... but that can only be a good thing. D
Peace.
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Peace Zenje,
You've been through a lot to get here, and for as long as you're alive, there's a lot more to go through... but that can only be a good thing.
I hope so.
Peace.
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Peace Damon,
Wait, you get called Kufr too? )
It is interesting that the muslim world measures a woman's piety by a head covering. The story of you and your wife standing for the God is inspiring. I love our stories!
You almost inspired me to tell mine. Inshallah, I will soon.
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Peace Damon
My sincere humble respect for you and your wife. You have done something brave. May God reward you according to your deeds.
Regards
Noah -
Peace SalikhaDC and Noah,
Thanx for the replies. Something else happened during this journey that really ticked me off. I asked coordinator of the school if he could ask the Imam to let me give a small lecture during sunday Ta'leem. At first, they said they will see if they can work me in and schedule it, which was taking waaaayyy too long. Then they finally gave me the okay and gave me a date to give my talk, but it was inconveniently cancelled and they could not (would not) give me a different day to give my talk.
These guys are something else. They completely reject this message without having ANY reason to reject it. My wife and I were told by the Amir of the mosque that there was woman who had given a talk there a year before my wife and I came to them. According to them, she was from the submission.org persuasion, but her talk wasn't on number 19 it was only about hadith and sunnah. He verbally admitted to me and my wife that after she gave her talk, she told everyone that she was open to questions. He and his son said that they specifically remember that NO ONE had ANYTHING to say!! No questions, no rebuttals, no refutations!!
The message is clear and yet they reject for no valid reason.
By the way....
You almost inspired me to tell mine. Inshallah, I will soon.
I'd love to hear your story.
ONE.
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Peace Damon,
I always enjoy reading your posts, you are a very wise and well-balanced individual. I was also a Sunni although I never took Hadith and Sunnah too seriously, maybe because my parents said that some were fake (although they still followed them!)
I first found submission.org, then Edip's site at 19.org. I then realised that many people at submission.org thought that anything Rashad Khalifa did was infallible. This, of course, leads to the idolization of humans.
Anyway, thanks for the story and may God continue to bless you.
Mr. Mister
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Peace
Thanx for the replies. Something else happened during this journey that really ticked me off. I asked coordinator of the school if he could ask the Imam to let me give a small lecture during sunday Ta'leem. At first, they said they will see if they can work me in and schedule it, which was taking waaaayyy too long. Then they finally gave me the okay and gave me a date to give my talk, but it was inconveniently cancelled and they could not (would not) give me a different day to give my talk.
First, i wouldnt even DARE to ask for such an appointment over here. I would find myself stoned to death if i told people that they are into diolworshipping, and it may be a good idea to turn that ship around.
These guys are something else. They completely reject this message without having ANY reason to reject it. My wife and I were told by the Amir of the mosque that there was woman who had given a talk there a year before my wife and I came to them. According to them, she was from the submission.org persuasion, but her talk wasn't on number 19 it was only about hadith and sunnah. He verbally admitted to me and my wife that after she gave her talk, she told everyone that she was open to questions. He and his son said that they specifically remember that NO ONE had ANYTHING to say!! No questions, no rebuttals, no refutations!!
The message is clear and yet they reject for no valid reason.
I could come up with a lot of answers, but heres one from someone that knows better than i do;
27 God has sealed upon their hearts and upon their ears, and over their eyes are covers. They will incur a great retribution.
6112 And We divert their hearts and eyesight, as they did not believe in it the first time; and We leave them wandering in their transgression.
Im not hearing you LALALALALALALA Puts fingers in ears
and Salikah, please do tell yours )
ONE.
