ahmed_indian
to Allah we belong
:salam2:
mashallah we have so many revert muslim stories, can we share stories of born muslims but started practising Islam later to get motivation. let me start with mine:
***********
i, sameer ahmed or ahmed_indian as known on TTI born some 25 yrs ago in a middle class family in conservative muslim society. As in most of today's societies, here too Islam was more of culture. Praying jumuah and fasting plus avoiding wine, gambling, and not hurting others are thought to be enough to enter jannah. we were not given much Islamic knowledge at home nor at school which was secular. i think the first spiritual experience was at age of 10 when we came back to live in our grandparents home which is in muslim locality.
i cant recall what inspired me to buy a book on how to make salah. was it the hearing of azaan or ... ? well, me and my brother started to learn and pray salah. attraction towards Islam increased when my grandparents came back to India and my grandmother started telling us about Allah, fruits of jannah, hell, day of jugdment, etc. she taught us surahs and zikrs as well. i remember going to the masjid for jumuah and did zikr on the beads after prayer.
Then we migrated to saudi arabia and got busy with studies, tv, games, etc. there was time for hours of movies and games but not for namaaz or Quran. making 2 rakats of friday prayer was like holding a big rock on the head. time passed and i completed my schooling and decided to take a year break. i turned 17 and ramadan was about to start and bought some Islamic books. seems that was a turning point in my life. by that time i did not even properly know 5 pillars, etc. i came across prophet's life, science knowledge in Quran, hadiths, etc. the more i studied, the more heart was inclined towards it. the mind was confused....sometimes prayed and sometimes not, sometime recited Quran and sometime not, avoided anger and left uncontrolled too. three more years passed like that and ramadan came again.
in this ramadan, i studied Islam more. and came across articles on sins and how a youth who was listening to music died in car accident but could not say "la ilaaha illallah". perhaps this was another turning point in my life. the heart was restless.what if i too died now? it was as if i could see myself dying today and tomorrow was Day of Judgment. the paradise and hell were almost in front of my eyes. that was one of the most difficult spiritual period. one side was pulling me towards Allah while other towards this world, movies, music, girls, chatting, etc. there were two different voices, one saying "how will you pray whereever you maybe? you are shy, how will you talk about Islam? its not easy to be a good muslim in this age, still you are young to have fun,etc" and other voice was shouting "be a stranger, its just a matter of few years, paradise have everything you desire, help Islam, love Allah, etc." it took maybe 3-4 months to get out of this.
the time went on with knowing about Allah and His message. then after sometime, joined Islamic forums (and TTI too) which gave me lots of inspiration and knowledge. may Allah bless you all. its not that i have become pure and sinfree. i have not mentioned by sins, faults and shortcomings because we are not allowed. there is still a long way to go.i want to write much more but let me close it with the following dua:
“O our Lord! Forgive me and my parents and all the Muslims on the Day when Reckoning will take place.” Surah Ibrahim
mashallah we have so many revert muslim stories, can we share stories of born muslims but started practising Islam later to get motivation. let me start with mine:
***********
i, sameer ahmed or ahmed_indian as known on TTI born some 25 yrs ago in a middle class family in conservative muslim society. As in most of today's societies, here too Islam was more of culture. Praying jumuah and fasting plus avoiding wine, gambling, and not hurting others are thought to be enough to enter jannah. we were not given much Islamic knowledge at home nor at school which was secular. i think the first spiritual experience was at age of 10 when we came back to live in our grandparents home which is in muslim locality.
i cant recall what inspired me to buy a book on how to make salah. was it the hearing of azaan or ... ? well, me and my brother started to learn and pray salah. attraction towards Islam increased when my grandparents came back to India and my grandmother started telling us about Allah, fruits of jannah, hell, day of jugdment, etc. she taught us surahs and zikrs as well. i remember going to the masjid for jumuah and did zikr on the beads after prayer.
Then we migrated to saudi arabia and got busy with studies, tv, games, etc. there was time for hours of movies and games but not for namaaz or Quran. making 2 rakats of friday prayer was like holding a big rock on the head. time passed and i completed my schooling and decided to take a year break. i turned 17 and ramadan was about to start and bought some Islamic books. seems that was a turning point in my life. by that time i did not even properly know 5 pillars, etc. i came across prophet's life, science knowledge in Quran, hadiths, etc. the more i studied, the more heart was inclined towards it. the mind was confused....sometimes prayed and sometimes not, sometime recited Quran and sometime not, avoided anger and left uncontrolled too. three more years passed like that and ramadan came again.
in this ramadan, i studied Islam more. and came across articles on sins and how a youth who was listening to music died in car accident but could not say "la ilaaha illallah". perhaps this was another turning point in my life. the heart was restless.what if i too died now? it was as if i could see myself dying today and tomorrow was Day of Judgment. the paradise and hell were almost in front of my eyes. that was one of the most difficult spiritual period. one side was pulling me towards Allah while other towards this world, movies, music, girls, chatting, etc. there were two different voices, one saying "how will you pray whereever you maybe? you are shy, how will you talk about Islam? its not easy to be a good muslim in this age, still you are young to have fun,etc" and other voice was shouting "be a stranger, its just a matter of few years, paradise have everything you desire, help Islam, love Allah, etc." it took maybe 3-4 months to get out of this.
the time went on with knowing about Allah and His message. then after sometime, joined Islamic forums (and TTI too
) which gave me lots of inspiration and knowledge. may Allah bless you all. its not that i have become pure and sinfree. i have not mentioned by sins, faults and shortcomings because we are not allowed. there is still a long way to go.i want to write much more but let me close it with the following dua:“O our Lord! Forgive me and my parents and all the Muslims on the Day when Reckoning will take place.” Surah Ibrahim
,
