After the Sunset

I recently attended my first Ijtema and was requested to write a short piece about my experience relating to Islam Ahmadiyyat. I agreed and thought to myself, “What shall I write about?” Then it occurred to me, “I will write a piece on what is Islam to me and why I choose to live my life through Islam.” I am writing this passage out of the inspiration and desire to please God and the hope of bettering the world and myself. Therefore, before I begin this piece, let me start out with saying, “Peace, in the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds…”

There is a passage in the Holy Qur’an that I cherish dearly. It states, ‘Did you then think We had created you without purpose, and that you would not be brought back to Us?’ (chapter 23: verse 116). I take great inspiration from this verse because I grew up in a world where so many things seemed hopeless and false. Although I was blessed with many opportunities as a child, I came from a family where faith was not strong and drugs had taken over my elders’ lives. As a result our values lacked balance and structure. There was no one around that we could look up to as a leader, someone who could guide the young in our family. My mother had to play the role of both a mother and a father, and did a good job in both roles.

As much as people hate hearing it, the absence of a positive father figure in the African-American households has a huge impact. I felt this absence, but I was also in search of my own balance and growth. I was angry and depressed at many things inside, and spent my entire life striving to keep my focus on finding the truth and being successful in life. I could feel that I need something to lift my soul.

Years ago, as an adolescent, I read about a man that really intrigued me. There were short passages in our school’s history books on a man whose analysis of Blacks in America - and America itself - was considered too radical and out of control. He was known for quotes such as, “By Any Means Necessary” and “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.” I grew very interested in the life of this man - Malcolm X.

I read his autobiography, and realized that my life was very similar to Malcolm’s. Like Malcolm, I was in search of answers to better my community and my knowledge, and to find a path that will make me better. I questioned everything because nothing made sense. I felt games were being played on my life and the lives of others in society, especially through religion. I did not feel free growing up in a system that controlled and affected the lives of my family and peers. I felt as if I were locked-down in a societal prison.

I attended the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) church as a child. My mother would send me to this church for thirteen years of my life. I learned a lot from attending the church as A.M.E. was the first major religious denomination in the Western World that had its origin in sociological rather than theological beliefs and differences. However, I was still discouraged due to the history of Christianity and the New World slave trade.

I found Holy Qur’an as a book full of inspiration, motivation, and facts on life. The further on I read the more life began to make sense. I was able to answer my own questions. Everything in this book was common sense and there is no other book like it. The Holy Qur’an is not a book of fairy tales, it is a manual that focuses on God and develops your spirituality. Once I read the Holy Qur’an and X’s autobiography, I felt as if I were being taken back home spiritually.

The more I have studied, the more experiences I have gained, and the more people I have met, I have come to the conclusion that Islam is the true guidance. It gives us knowledge, tolerance, respect, love, paradise, freedom, unity, universality, spirituality and Allah. Islam is not a religion; it is a way of life. Some may disagree with me, but to me this is Islam.

Through Islam, I have become anxious to learn and seek the truth. Islam taught me the importance of education, and the difference between institutionalized knowledge and universal knowledge. I have become more in-tune with my soul and myself. I gained the true knowledge on why our bodies are temples. It is through Islam that I see women as spiritually equal to men, and to be respected.

Islam has also contributed to my love of traveling. Ever since I have entered Islam, I have met some interesting and intelligent people. Islam attracts and unites intellectual, universal, and caring people that are in search of spiritual development.

No matter what your race is, what land you are from, what language you speak, or what your struggle is, Islam is the REAL REVOLUTION. It teaches you how to love others and most of all how to love yourself. I have had tough times in my life and have made numerous mistakes. However, Islam taught me to get up, not to even think about failing. Through Islam, it is impossible to fail.