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The Malaysian martial art form called silat.
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My
experience in Islam began as a graduate student in New York
City in 1998. Up to that point in my life, for 25 years, I had
been a Protestant Christian, but had not been practicing my
religion for quite some time. I was more interested in
“spirituality” and looking for anything that didn’t have
to do with organized religion. To me, Christianity was out of
touch and not relevant to the times. It was hard for me to
find anything in it that I could apply to my everyday life.
This disillusion with Christianity led me to shun everything
that claimed to be organized religion, due to my assumption
that they were all pretty much the same, or at least in terms
of their lack of relevance and usefulness.
Much
of my frustration with Christianity stemmed from its lack of
knowledge and guidance around the nature of God, and the
individual’s relationship to Him. To me, the Christian
philosophy depends on this rather bizarre intermediary
relationship that we are supposed to have with Jesus, who on
one hand was a man, but was also divine. For me, this
difficult and very vague relationship with our Creator left me
searching for something that could provide me with a better
understanding of God, and our relationship to Him. Why
couldn’t I just pray directly to God? Why did I have to
begin and end every prayer with “in the name of Jesus
Christ?” How can an eternal, omnipotent Creator and
Sustainer also take the form of a man? Why would He need to?
These were just a few of the questions that I could not
resolve and come to terms with. Thus, I was hungry for a more
straightforward and lucid approach to religion that could
provide my life with true guidance, not just dogma that was
void of knowledge based in reason.
While
in graduate school, I had a Jewish roommate who was a student
of the martial arts. While I was living with him, he was
studying an art called silat, a traditional Malaysian martial
art that is based on the teachings of Islam. When my roommate
would come home from his silat classes, he would tell me all
about the uniqueness of silat and its rich spiritual
dimension. As I was quite interested in learning martial arts
at the time, I was intrigued by what I had heard, and decided
to accompany my roommate to class one Saturday morning.
Although I did not realize it at the time, my experience in
Islam was beginning that morning at my first silat class in
New York City back on February 28th, 1998. There, I met my
teacher, Cikgu (which means teacher in Malay) Sulaiman, the
man who would first orient me to the religion of Islam.
Although I thought I was beginning a career as a martial
artist, that day back in 1998 actually represented my first
step toward becoming Muslim.
From
the very beginning, I was intrigued by silat and Islam and
began spending as much time as possible with my teacher. As my
roommate and I were equally passionate about silat, we would
go to my teacher’s house and soak up as much knowledge as we
could from him. In fact, upon our completing graduate school
in the spring of 1998, upon his invitation, we spent the
entire summer living with him and his wife. As my learning in
silat increased, so did my learning about Islam, a religion
that I had hardly any knowledge of prior to my experience in
silat.
What
made my orientation to Islam so powerful was that as I was
learning about it, I was also living it. Because I studied at
the home of my teacher, being in the presence of devout
Muslims allowed me to be constantly surrounded by the sounds,
sights and practices of Islam. For as Islam is an entire
lifestyle, when you are in an Islamic environment, you cannot
separate it out from everyday life. Unlike Christianity, which
lends toward a separation between daily life and religion,
Islam requires its followers to integrate worship of Allah
into everything we do. Thus, in living with my teacher, I was
immersed in the Islamic deen (lifestyle) and
experiencing first-hand how it can shape one’s entire way of
life.
Since
Islam is focused on the most healthy, positive way of conducting our
lives in every setting, then it is, and always will be, the only real
answer to any society’s social dilemmas. |
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In
the beginning, Islam was very different and powerful to me. It
was also very foreign in many ways and the amount of
discipline it requires was difficult to understand. At the
time, I was liberal in many ways, and was used to shunning
anything dogmatic or imposed, regardless of where it came
from! As time went on, however, and my understanding of Islam
grew, I began to slowly see that what seemed to be religious
dogma was really a lifestyle put forth to us by our Creator.
This lifestyle, I would later learn, is the straight path to
true contentment, not just the sensual and superficial way of
life that my society and culture promote. I realized that the
question is quite simple actually. Who could possibly know
better what the best way of life is for human beings than the
all-wise Creator?
From
that first silat class in New York City to the day I took my
shahadda, July 30, 1999, I had undergone a thorough
self-examination that was comprised of two major processes.
One was to question the culture of the society I was brought
up in, and the second was to question the role I wanted
religion to play in my everyday life. As for my culture, this
one was not as difficult as most people would think.
American
culture is highly influential on how we see life because it
constantly bombards us with sensual gratification aimed at
appealing to our worldly desires. In America, happiness is
defined by what we have and consume, thus, the entire culture
is geared toward the marketplace. Unless we are removed from
this type environment, it is difficult to see its drawbacks,
which are based on worshipping and putting faith in everything
but God, the only One that can provide us with real, lasting
contentment in our lives.
Being
a social scientist by trade, much of my professional time is
spent trying to address the social ills of our society. As I
learned more about Islam, I came to the conclusion that many
societal ills are based on unhealthy social behavior. Since
Islam is a lifestyle focused totally on the most healthy,
positive way of conducting our lives in every setting, then it
is, and will always be, the only real answer to any
society’s social dilemmas. With this realization, not only
did I decide that Islam was relevant to my everyday life, but
I began to understand why it is so different from other
religions. Only Islam provides knowledge and guidance for
every aspect of life. Only Islam provides a way to achieve
health and happiness in every dimension of life—physical,
spiritual, mental, financial, etc. Only Islam provides us with
a clear life goal and purpose. And only Islam shows us the
proper way to live in and contribute to a community. Islam is
what everyone needs, and what so many who have not found it
yet, are searching for. It is the path to purpose, meaning,
health and happiness. This is because it is the straight path
to the source of truth and real power—Allah.
It
was only until I actually became Muslim that I realized just
how encompassing the Islamic lifestyle is. Literally
everything we do has one underlying purpose – to remember
Allah. The lifestyle provides us with the way—not just the
understanding—but an actual method of constantly remembering
our Creator in as simple an act as greeting someone, or
getting dressed in the morning, or waking up from sleep. Islam
shows us that by remembering Allah, everything we do becomes
focused on Him, and thus becomes an act of worship. From this,
our energy, our thoughts, and our actions all become
redirected away from unhealthy and useless causes and focused
on the source of all goodness. Thus, we are continuously
tapping into His divine strength, mercy and grace. So, by
remembering Allah constantly, we become stronger and healthier
in every aspect of our lives and not distracted by
self-defeating thoughts and behaviors.
When
I finally broke the news to my family that I had become Muslim, almost
all their concerns were related to cultural differences |
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There
still remain some minor aspects of Islam that have proven to
be somewhat difficult adjustments for me. Nevertheless, I
thank Allah everyday for the ease to which he has allowed me
to make the necessary changes in my life so that I can
continue to live in America and still be, Insha-Allah, a good
Muslim. As a white, middle-class American, many cultural
aspects of Islam are quite different from the way in which I
grew up. In fact, when I finally broke the news to my family
that I had become Muslim, almost all of their questions and
concerns were related to cultural differences—marriage,
social life, family, etc. They were much less concerned about
my general beliefs about God and religious practice. For my
family, friends, and co-workers, becoming Muslim was not seen
necessarily as a negative change, but it has required a great
deal of education about Islam.
Because
acquiring knowledge is a critical component to a Muslim’s
development, having a teacher who has taught me how to apply
Islam in everyday life has made all the difference in managing
whatever difficulties I have experienced from my reversion.
Having someone knowledgeable you can turn to whenever you have
questions is a wonderful support that every new shahadda
should go out of their way to find. Islam is not a religion
that can be rationalized, in the way that Christianity and
Judaism are. It is a clear path that must be followed just as
Allah has laid out for us through the Qur’an and the lives
of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW), his companions, and the
saints of Islam.
In
this day and age, in this society, discerning the path can
often be difficult, especially when we are constantly faced
with questions and doubts from people who on the surface may
not be hostile to Islam, but whose general lack of faith can
have a harmful effect on someone who bases everything they do
on their love for Allah. It is also not easy being in an
environment where we are constantly bombarded with sensual
temptations that are seen as ordinary, common aspects of
everyday life. But when we have the support of a
knowledgeable, experienced teacher, who is able to apply the
universal teachings of Islam to his life, then the truth
becomes clear from error, exactly how Allah (SWT) describes in
the Qur’an. From this, we are able to understand how to
apply Islam correctly to our own lives, and Insha-Allah,
receive Allah’s many blessings. The ultimate test, however,
of anyone who claims to have true and right knowledge, is to
look at how they apply it in their own lives. If their actions
support their teachings, then and only then should we look to
them for guidance.
My
journey to Islam has been a life-altering experience. It is
one that with every passing day makes me more and more
appreciative and thankful to Almighty Allah. The extent of His
mercy can only fully be understood from the perspective of a
Muslim—one who prostrates regularly and submits their will
to that of the Creator.
I
look back at my life prior to Islam and reflect on the
different ways I sought guidance. I think back to all the
different ideas I once had of who God really is, and how we
can become close to Him. I look back now with a smile and
perhaps even a tear because now I know the truth. Through
Islam, I know why so many people who do not believe have so
much fear inside them. Life can be very scary without God. I
know, because I once harbored that same level of fear. Now,
however, I have the ultimate “self-help” program. It’s
the self-help program without the self. It’s the path that
puts everything is in its proper place. Now, life makes sense.
Now, life is order. Now, I know why I am here, where I want to
go, what I want my life to be, how I want to live, and what is
most important not just to me, but to everyone. I only hope
and pray that others who have not found the path yet, can feel
the same that I do. Ya arhama rahimeen wal hamdulillahi rabbil
aylameen……
*Reprinted
with the permission of the author.
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