Finding the True Path
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Peace,
I was born into a sunni family but I did not practice religion except little. One year while I was watching coverage of the annual pilgrimage I was really touched, as if I was beckoned.
I always was a believer in GOD and I was concious of the fact that I was less than an ideal servant to Him. However, this emotional experience suddenly caused me to resolve to change and be a better servant to Him.
So I undertook the study of Quran and Hadith. I listened to radio programmes that provided tafseer and read a lot of Hadith, I learnt as much as I could. During this study some Hadith made me uncomfortable and uneasy due to inconsistencies. For example, if I grazed myself when I shaved whether my ablution would be invalidated. I think my approach was more blind obedience than logical and rational, after all this is what faith is right?
One one radio programme one of the Scholars was urging that one of our duties is to spread the message, so I decided to share what I know on discussion boards. What I noticed is there were some people who were claiming to be muslims yet they were not following Hadith. And, these people were being treated unfairly, the submitters they called themselves seemed rather evasive in the face of questions and this made me really suspicious of their intentions.
The Submitters were quoting from the Qur'an which was very different translation to mine i.e. 1746, so I argued at length and joined the submitter bashing. However, I began to read the quotes carefully and checked it against mine and began to see things are not what they seemed to be.
This is one quote he provided that made me think very carefully
We have cited in this Quran every kind of example, but the human being is the most argumentative creature.
Also,
You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.
What was remarkable is that when I began to listen to these people and give them consideration, others my so called brother suddenly changed against me, once amicable relationships turned sour which in turn made suspicious of the motives of the traditionalists.
Some began to make interpolations and with little or no evidence began to ascribe labels such as "hypocrite", "zionist agent" etc... which was an eye opener indeed.
Hence, I investigated this verse and tried to understand more
We place shields around their minds, to prevent them from understanding it, and deafness in their ears. And when you preach your Lord, using the Quran alone, they run away in aversion.
I found out that the Rashad Khalifa translation of this verse was indeed correct and the secterian translations were false, I verified this learning a little of Arabic grammar from a course book, compared many other verses and challenged both views to comb for any points I may have missed. I came to the conclusion that this verse was distorted by traditional translators.
However, I have not come to the conclusion that Dr. Khalifa was a messenger of GOD, some proofs were astounding as in Appendix 2, whilst I was near to accepting it as truth. I am not sure I understand the probabilities involved in the numerical claimed miracle. It seems rather complicated although some are simple.
What I am clear now is that the Qur'an is perfect, complete and fully detailed and soon I began to discover that Dr. Khalifa translation had errors like any other translation. So now with the grace of GOD I am striving to learn from the Quran going right down to the Arabic and focusing my studies in establishing the correct principles according to Qur'an. Salat, Zakah, Hajj there is a lot to learn and purify ourselves from additions to the Quranic decree.
May GOD guide those who are humble and who are sincere in seeking the way to Him.
regards,