Abdur Raheem Green Describes His Journey to Islam: I Couldn't Believe God Died !

Abdur Raheem Green Describes His Journey to Islam: I Couldn't Believe God Died !

by Abdur Raheem Green, formerly Anthony Vatswaf Galvin Green

(www.onislam.net*)

     Let me introduce myself and my background. I was born in Tanzania in Dar es Salaam. My father at the time was a colonial administrator in the now defunct British empire. An empire that stretched once upon a time not that long ago over one third of the earth’s surface. Now the only thing left is some islands in the Falklands and that’s all that’s left there. How things changed! How the mighty have fallen! 

     This is a lesson that Allah the Almighty tells us in the Quran to travel the earth and see the consequence. See what happened to people who came before you, who were mightier in power and strength and see what’s left of them.

     So anyway back to my father, a colonial administrator in Tanzania where I was born, and my parents named me Anthony Vatswaf Galvin Green. OK, I thought you were going to laugh! Vatswaf is a Polish name because my mother in fact is Polish.

A Catholic Education

      And being Polish she is a Roman Catholic. And she intended that me and my brother Duncan (Duncan Charles Alexander Green) would be raised up good Catholics. So almost from the day we were born we were enrolled in what is a very famous Roman Catholic boarding school. In fact it’s a monastic boarding school. That means it’s also a monastery; a place where monks live and teach. This school is called Ampleforth College. It's in Yorkshire in the north of England.

     So when I was 2 years old we left Dar es Salaam. My brother was born in London. When he was like 8 and I was like 10 we were sent off to boarding school. So from the age of 10 I was sent to the preparatory school of Ampleforth College.

     Before they sent us off to that school, I think that my mom decided it’s about time that she taught me some of the prayers of the Catholics and some of the things that they say she better prepare me a little bit for this life in the monastery, although she had married my father who was agnostic, which was not really allowed. She was only supposed to marry a Catholic but she went ahead and married my dad.

      Anyway, she considered herself not to be a very good Catholic but she was going to make up for it by sending me and my brother to the school.

     I remember one night she told me a prayer that’s used by Catholics quite often. It’s one of the frequently used prayers when they have a rosary on which they count a series of prayers and the main prayer is called “Hail Mary”.

     It begins like this “Hail Mary mother of God, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” It was the first bit when I was a nine-year child hearing my mother say “Hail Mary mother of God”:

    I said to myself “How can God have a mother?”

     God is supposed to be without a beginning and without an end. How could God have a mommy? And I sat there thinking about this mother of God and I decided to myself that well if Mary is the mother of God, she should actually be a better God than God. These were the first questions that arose in my mind.

Why Confess?

I used to ask them “Why? Why do I have to go to you to confess my sins? Why can’t I just ask God to forgive me?”

      As I went to school and as I began to think more, study more and research more, I in fact had more and more questions. We used to have to go to confession. I think, as far as I remember, we had to do it a minimum of once a year. And the priest used to say “You have to confess all your sins, if you don’t confess all of them, then confession is no good and none of your sins will be forgiven”.

      Can you imagine? School boys aged 10, 11 and all the way up to 19 or 20, do you think we will be confessing all of our sins? Moreover confessing our sins to the very people who are our house masters; in other words they are in charge of us? I assumed to figure that this was a huge spike conspiracy in order to control people by going to confess their sins.

     And then I used to ask them “Why? Why do I have to go to you to confess my sins? Why can’t I just ask God to forgive me?” After all according to Jesus, according to the Bible Jesus says that the only prayers you need is to our father (God) to forgive our sins so why come to ask a priest?

     They said to me “Well, you can ask God too if you want to but you can’t be sure that God will listen to you”.

     So I had a real problem with this. I also had a real problem with the doctrines of the church. I think also one of things I had a very very big problem with is the doctrine of incarnation “The idea that God became a man”.

Holidays in Egypt

     When I was eleven years old, my dad took a job in Egypt. He became the General Manager of Barclays Bank in Cairo, and for the next 10 years of my life that's where I spent my holidays. So I would be going to school in England and then come to Egypt for holidays.

     You see western society indoctrinates us with an equation that tells us: Wealth = Happiness; if you want to be happy and enjoy your life, you need money because with money you can buy nice cars and TV sets, go to movies and holidays and buy all those things that you so desperately need to make your life happy. This is what they are telling us the whole time, yet in reality that's not the case at all.

      My eyes were being opened up to this. I began to ask myself as I went back to school, and I must say I didn't really like school at all, I particularly didn’t like boarding school at all, so why am I at this place on the Yorkshire Moors, miles and miles away from anything and anybody, and here I am in this place.

      Why?” I began to ask myself... 

     I used to love my life in Egypt, and when I went back to England I asked myself why am I here? And I began to ask these questions: What's the purpose of life? For what reason do we exist? What do all these things mean? What does love mean? What's life for? What is it all about?

     I sat down and figured it and I said “Yea, I’m here at school in order to work hard so I would get good results in my exams, so I can go to a good university, so I can get a good degree, so I can get a good job that will make me enough money, so that when I get married and have kids I can send them back to that same expensive private school, and they could work hard and get a good degree so that they can get a good job so that when they have kids they can get enough money to send their kids back to that school”, right?

    And I then thought that’s it, that’s the purpose of life, that’s what it's all for?

    I said “No way, I can’t believe that’s all there is to life”.

Searching for Answers

     And so I began a quest. It wasn’t like “Today I’m going in a quest to the truth”. It wasn’t like that. It was just I began to think, search and look through other religions, anything that I thought might give me an insight and an understanding of what’s the purpose of life and what’s it all about.

And you believe Jesus died on the cross?" I said "Yes". He said "So you believe God died?"

     Now, when I was about 19, something very important happened. In the 10 years that I spent on my holidays in Egypt, only one person ever really had a decent conversation with me about Islam.

     I had many questions about Catholicism but when it came to anyone challenging me or questioning me, I would vigorously defend. I would become a defender of the faith, even if I didn’t actually believe in it but I suddenly became a defender of it. It was a strange paradox.

     I had many questions in my mind especially with this Egyptian, I mean after all what does he know? I’m English, we used to rule this chap's country some years ago.

"As if Mike Tyson Smacked me in the Face"

     After this conversation had been going for forty minutes he asked me a few simple questions and they stuck in my head until this day; he said

    "So you believe that Jesus is God?"

    I said "Yes".

     He said "And you believe Jesus died on the cross?"

     I said "Yes".

   He said "So you believe God died?"

    When he said that, you know what? It was as if Mike Tyson smacked me in the face with his fist! I mean I was absolutely flabbergasted because I suddenly realized the irrationality and the, I have to say it, the foolishness of what I was believing and inside myself I said “Of course I don’t believe that God died. You can’t kill God”

     And I realized that all these years I had been taught something, and I had been indoctrinated with something, and I always felt uncomfortable with it but you know it just took someone to spell it out for me in clear simple terms. If you believe this and you believe this, then you must believe that and I realized that “No, I didn’t believe that” but you know what?

    I wasn’t going to admit that to him, I said “Ha, that has been really interesting, I have to go to my cabin now, OK? bye”.

     I didn’t want to think about it and I went off and started smoking and having a coffee and writing and doing anything to think about except what the guy had been telling me. But it really had its effect. Because after that stage and as I said it was something I have always been uncomfortable with but that was a big changing point in my life.

     You can say it was an epiphany. No one if you are in a spiritual journey in quest for truth, you would have never thought or dreamed of looking at Islam. And I didn’t. I looked at every thing so I reached the stage where I was basically a hippie.

     So I was now about 19 or 20 years old and I was a hippie and by this stage I invented my own religion. This religion was bits and pieces of all the religions that I had studied and I took them together and I made my own religion.

     And therefore I started to develop this philosophy of my own religion. But it didn’t take me long to figure that this was the worst bunch of rubbish that I ever come across. I mean of all the things I’ve been through it that was the worst.

Forget Religion: How to Make a Lot of Money?

Look at that, that’s interesting. No effort, maximum money. So there got to be something there

     I said to myself forget it. Forget religion, forget spirituality, forget all this stuff, maybe there’s no meaning to life maybe there’s nothing more to life than being rich. Maybe my real problem was that I didn’t have enough money.

     Now to show you what I was thinking of in terms of the money I thought I would need to make me happy I’m thinking here yachts and private jets that’s the stage I’m going to need to move up to so you can imagine my lifestyle before that.

      So I was thinking to myself “How do I make lots of money with very little effort?” because who wants to work hard? Who wants to spend all the time working? You want money and then you want to enjoy that money. So less work and more money that’s what we need, that’s maximum enjoyment. So I thought to myself “let’s make a study of this: let’s start thinking of people who have got money in the world and let’s think how they got their money.

      So I started thinking so let's start with Britain. OK lots of money there no problem but too much work, what the industrial revolution? Oh no way, all those satanic mills, those dark mills and all that industrial stuff, no forget about that.

      America and the American dream? What’s in the American dream? You are in the gutter and you struggle in a rat race and you make it to be a self-made millionaire so that’s definitely too much hard work.

     The Japanese they got also lots of money but all what they do is work, that’s why these days they say that the Japanese are workaholics.

     And then it came to me “those Saudi Arabians” they have been sitting on their camels going “Allahu Akbar” and they got all this money, that’s the one. Look at that, that’s interesting. No effort, maximum money. So there's got to be something there.

Reading the Quran

I looked back and said to myself “If I have ever read a book that’s from God, this is it”

     So I said to myself “OK, let me think about this; of course, what’s their religion, what's their holy book, yes the Quran, let me have a look at this Quran, there got to be something interesting there and that was really what motivated me to go down to the bookshop and I took a translation of the Quran and I really believed it had to be that way because I was really just approaching the Quran out of curiosity just to see what I had to say.

      I was coming with an open mind. I wasn’t looking for truth, I wasn’t looking for something like that. I was just curious to see what this book had to say. Was there something? That’s all, otherwise I think I would have never looked at it. So I took it down and began reading the Quran.

     I’m a pretty fast reader and I remember very clearly I was in a train. I was going from where I was living across the river Thames to Victoria train station. I remember very distinctly I was sitting in the train next to the window and reading this translation of the Quran. I looked out of the window.

     I looked back and I said to myself “If I have ever read a book that’s from God, this is it” and that really I could say was the moment that I realized and I believed that the Quran was from God. It was always my habit that I just didn’t read about things but I tried to practice them as well. You can read all the time like you look at an apple that looks and smells nice but you don’t know how does it taste. You have to taste it...

     So that was it. So I used to go home and I used to try to pray, I didn't really know how to pray. I remember seeing our cook in Egypt I used to remember see him pray. I sort of try to remember what he used to do.

     I remember he really used to impress me, this simple man and the beautiful way he used to pray comparing it with the rituals that Catholic church used and I was always impressed by it so I tried to imitate it and this went on for a while.

     And then one day I found myself in a bookshop that was part of a mosque with all these books on Muhammad and prayers. I was looking to all this and I thought “Wow fantastic, look at all this stuff” and a guy came and asked me “Excuse me, are you a Muslim?”

      I thought “Am I a Muslim? What does he mean by that?”

     I said to him “Listen, I believe that there is only one God which is Allah and Muhammad is His messenger”

    He said “You are a Muslim!”

    I said “Oh, thanks!”

    He said “It’s just about time to pray, you want to come and pray?”

    It must have been Friday prayer because the mosque was full in the mid of the day and I didn’t know about Friday prayer then but I went and prayed and I was pretty confused and I thought I was doing the moves wrong all that time.

     But I remember afterwards that everyone was surrounding me and everyone there wanted to teach me the whole of Islam in five minutes! I remember walking out of that with a feeling literally like I have been given a shower in the inside, like I was walking on the clouds. It was quite fantastic.

     In spite of the fact that I already entered into Islam then, it really took me another two years before I was really able to start practicing properly. It was really actually very hard to give up my former way of life and the things that I used to do. Allah taught me some hard lessons and I don’t regret them. I look back now and learn some very good lessons from these days. But they were the two most miserable years of my life.

     Why?

What really changed me brothers and sisters was a very simple thing: I started to pray five times a day

     Because I knew the truth and I wasn’t following it. Actually, that’s the worst condition a human being can ever be in, because if you are ignorant, they say ignorance is bless. Actually ignorance itself isn’t bless but it means when you don’t know something you stay in a state of innocence. But when you know something and you don’t live according to what you know you can’t live with yourself. It’s terrible. It’s a horrible condition.

     That’s what happened to me for about two years but alhamdulellah I came back to Islam. I would always say that I’m Muslim but people didn't take me seriously. I was there in a party, drinking wine and telling people about Islam! And they say “Yea? Really? That’s fantastic, tell me more”

     And I would say “No, I can’t I’m tired” I was drinking too much and then I would black out. That’s my condition that I was in. But alhamdulellah Allah walked me out of that and guided me.

     What really changed me brothers and sisters was a very simple thing: I started to pray five times a day. I promised Allah that I would pray five times a day, even if I don’t know that I would do any thing else, but I would do that. And I took it really seriously. The prayer when it’s said properly is something that itself will change your life.

 Now I know you are going to ask me another question and actually there are two questions that you are going to ask me so I will answer them before you ask me.

The first question is: How does it feel to be a Muslim?

     Compared to how it was like before. I would tell you honestly how it’s like. Imagine you find yourself in a building and like any building it’s full of obstacles like chairs, tables, lamps, stairs all in this room, and then if we made it pitch-black that you can’t see a thing and we left you here and you started to find your way out, imagine I try to find my way out. I’m going to bang myself, hit myself, fall over, you are living in this dark place.

     This is like disbelief. This is like the state where you are out of Islam. You are in this dark place. You don’t know really where you are going. You don’t know where you come from and life is full of obstacles, and it keeps throwing things at you and you don’t really know how to cope with them. Islam is really like you opened the door, then you stepped outside and you are in the light. Suddenly you could see, understand and everything is clear. This is what it’s like.

    You could also say it’s like the difference between death and life, between really being alive and being dead because this is Islam. It brings the light, the peace and tranquility to the heart, so it’s a beautiful thing. This is how I could really compare Islam.

I know the other question would be: What did your parents say?

       I have to say honestly that me and my parents alhamdulellah have a better relationship now that I’m Muslim than we ever had before. I mean if you really would be able to get them to be honest and tell them how they really feel, they would have admitted without a shadow of a doubt that Islam has given me responsibility. It has ordered them to treat me with so much respect and they would have to admit that Islam is something that’s been good for me and also good for my relationship between me and them.

     We get on really well alhamdulillah. (HSH)

Source : http://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/my-journey-to-islam/contemporary-stories/454098-i-could-not-believe-god-died.html

*OnIslam.net is an independent website that emerged out of an initiative by the team that created and run IslamOnline.net for the past 10 years, after the idea had been embraced by a group of people with experience in the field of civil society work in Egypt. This project was launched in August 2010 (Ramadan 1431 A.H.) under the umbrella of Mada Media Development Association, a non-profit civil society institution born in Egypt with a global outlook.

Remember our Eid ul Adha is not a Eid of victory. It is the Eid of sacrifice (Adha)

Remember our Eid ul Adha is not a Eid of victory. It is the Eid of sacrifice (Adha)
The Story of Prophet Ibrahim's attempt to sacrifice his son (celebration of Eid ul-Adha)

Most of us know the story of Prophet Ibrahim's (Abraham) sacrifice and we say that it was a test by Allah (subha'anuhu wa ta'ala). But do we really understand what Ibrahim went through? Do we appreciate what it was like to be Ibrahim?

Can we grasp in thought what happened? Why is it that we regard Ibrahim as the father of faith? The patriarchal figure of the three major world religions, i.e. Islam, Christianity and Judaism. What was it that he achieved?

Ibrahim (saw) is distinguished in the Qur'an with the title of khalil-ul-Allah (the intimate friend of Allah). In surat an-Nisa, Allah says : "For Allah did take Ibrahim for (an intimate) friend " (4:125). He is also described in surat an-Nahl as a model: "Ibrahim was indeed a model. Devoutly obedient to Allah, and true in faith, and he joined not gods with Allah " (16:20).

Ibrahim was born among the star- and idol-worshipping people of Chaldea, in the home of Azar, his father, the idol-maker of the tribe. Ibrahim was among the kuffar, but not of them, like a spring of tawheed (monotheism) arising out of the swamp of shirk (polytheism). The Quran tells us in Surah al-Anaam : " Lo ! Ibrahim said to his father Azar: Do you take idols for God? For I see you and your people in manifest error? " (6:74).

From the revolt in the house of Azar, his father, Ibrahim went on to challenge the polytheism of his people. Indeed Ibrahim is known as history's great idol-smasher, as the founder of monotheism and the crusher of ignorance.

There are numerous verses in the Qur'an which describe how Ibrahim argued against idol-worshippers, his rational arguments against skeptics and those who worshipped celestial bodies, how he deals with unbelievers, how he preaches to his people. For instance, in surat al-Baqara Allah says : "Hast thou not turned thy vision to one who disputed with Abraham about his Lord, because God granted him power ? Abraham said : ` My Lord is He who giveth life and death.' He said: `I give life and death.' Said Abraham : `But it is God that causeth the sun to rise from the East : Do then cause it to rise from the West.' Thus was he confounded who (in arrogance) rejected Faith. Nor doth God give guidance to a people unjust." (2:258)

In another example in surat al-Anbiya : "We bestowed aforetime on Abraham his rectitude of conduct, and well were We acquainted with him. Behold! He said to his father and his people, `What are these images to which ye are (so assiduously) devoted?' They said, `We found our fathers worshipping them.' He said, 'Indeed ye have been in manifest error -- ye and your fathers.' They said, 'Have you brought us the Truth, or are you one of those who jest?' He said, `Nay, your Lord is the Lord of heavens and the earth, He who created them (from nothing): I am a witness to this (truth). And by God, I have a plan for your idols -- after ye go away and turn your backs.' So he broke them to pieces, (all) but the biggest of them, that they might turn (and address themselves) to it.

They said, `Who has done this to our gods? He must indeed be some man of impiety! ' They said, `We heard a youth talk of them: he is called Abraham.' They said, `Then bring him before the eyes of the people, that they may bear witness.' They said, `Art thou the one that did this with our gods, O Abraham?' He said, `Nay, this was done by -- This is their biggest one! Ask them, if they speak intelligently!' So they turned to themselves and said, ` Surely ye are the ones in the wrong!' Then were they confounded with shame: (they said) `Thou knowest full well that these idols do not speak!' (Abraham) said, Do ye then worship, besides God, things that can neither be of any good to you nor do you harm? Fie upon you, and upon the things that ye worship besides God !

Have ye no sense?' They said, `Burn him and protect your gods, if ye do (anything at all)!' (21:51-68)

As usual, when falsehood is defeated on intellectual grounds it resorts to plotting and oppression. The response of his people to his da'wa is given in surat al-Ankabut : "So naught was the answer of (Ibrahim's) people except that they said : Slay him or burn him " (29:24) Ibrahim could have given up his message and his beliefs to save himself from the fire of Nimrod. Nut he chose martyrdom. He chose to die for Allah's message to live. He chose to step into the fire of ignorance and tyranny in order to save humanity from the fire of ignorance and tyranny. So he was cast into the fire.

But Allah had a different plan for Ibrahim and he was unhurt by the grace of Allah (ta'ala): "But Allah did save him from the fire. Verily in this are signs for people who believe " (29:24). Allah also says: "We said `O fire! Be cool and a means of safety for Ibrahim' " (21:69). His miracle did not refrain the idol-worshippers from continuing for very long years their plots, persecution, abuse, cruelty and isolation against Ibrahim but he remained uncompromising, unshakable in his beliefs, patient in his suffering, gentle in his manners until he made his Hijra (he migrated) to the lands of Aram and Canaan. He left the land of his fathers to become a stranger in the land of promise.

It was indeed a land of promise. A land where Ibrahim continued a lifetime of struggle, da'wa, movement, bearing alone the heavy responsibility of the mission of Tawheed (monotheism) in an age of darkness, oppression, prejudice and ignorance. Ibrahim did not have children. And through- out his century of Prophethood and service of God, as Ibrahim grew older, his desire to have a son grew stronger. The now old Prophet Ibrahim desperately longed for a son but his wife Sarah was barren. "O my Lord! Grant me a righteous son!" (37:100) was his call to Allah.

Against every expectation, Allah fulfilled his promise of making Ibrahim the seed of a great line of Prophets, the root of the great universal religions. "So we gave him the good news of a forbearing boy" (37:101). Allah brought mercy to the agedness, loneliness, hopelessness and anguish of his trustworthy Messenger. For Ibrahim, Ismail was not just a son for a sonless father, he was the end of a life of waiting, the reward of a century of suffering, the fruit of his life, the hope after despair and the young boy of an old father.

Ismail being the promise of future generations was in some sense the whole world for Ibrahim.

So there was joy and rejoicing in Ibrahim's house as Ismail was quickly growing under the sun of his father's love. But Allah decided that it was not to remain so. Ibrahim was to be tried once more. Ibrahim had a vision in which he was commanded by Allah to slaughter his only son.

Why should Ibrahim, whose entire life was devoted to Prophethood, to Jihaad, to removing ignorance, to laying the foundations of tawheed be tried once again?

Is it because man should not rest? Is it because man should not be deceived by 100 years of Jihad and victories? Is it because he should not think of himself without weakness? Is it for the fact that whatever we fix our eyes upon in this world will blind us? And finally, is it because the higher the spiritual height we reach, the greater is the danger of falling?

It is not possible to convey in words what it must have meant for Ibrahim to be commanded by Allah (swt) to sacrifice his only son Ismail. The magnitude of the pain does not allow the imagination to enclose it. It inspires fear and trembling.

How can Ibrahim take his beloved son, the fruit of his life, the joy of his heart, the meaning of his living and staying, his Ismail, and hold him on the ground, put a knife to his throat and kill him?

If it were only the slaughter of Ibrahim at the hand of Ismail, how easy!

But no! The young Ismail must die and the old and aged Ibrahim must remain!

Ibrahim, the steel-like idol-smasher must have felt torn apart!

Within him, there must have been a war, the greatest jihad. Which war? The war between God and Ismail! The difficulty of choice!

Who should Ibrahim choose?
Love of God or Love of self?
Prophethood or Fatherhood?
Loyalty to God or loyalty to family?
Faith or Emotion?
Truth or Reality?
Consciousness or Instinct?
Responsibility or Pleasure?
Duty or Right?
Tawheed (Monotheism) or Shirk (Polytheism)?
Advancing or Remaining?
To Become or To Be?
And finally, God or Ismail?

What should Ibrahim choose?

Ibrahim did not choose immediately. He doubted and wavered under the crushing force of pain and anguish. Only after the third vision did he finally decide to carry out Allah's command. This is reflected in the hajj ritual of stoning the three idols representing Iblis(Satan) who tempted Ibrahim to disobey Allah.

When a 'truth' enhances one's earthly life, most people become seekers of truth. But when a truth opposes life and leads to problems, loss and dangers the seekers of truth are few in number. Iblis works wherever he finds traces of fear, weakness, doubt, despair, envy selfishness and even great affection towards someone or something. Iblis sometimes blows logical reasons, intellectual and religious justifications to achieve his ends. For instance we may imagine that, under the powerful crush of his pain and distress, Ibrahim could have used many justifications. Perhaps the meaning of dhebh (slaughter) is just metaphorical and means kill your 'ego'. Perhaps 'Ismail' might be a general noun and not Ibrahim's son. Perhaps 'slaughter Ismail' actually meant 'slaughter the love of Ismail'.

Ibrahim could have also tried many interpretations of his vision. But Ibrahim, khalil-ul-Allah, the intimate friend of God, had faith in Allah and he knew that Allah (ta'ala) demanded the sacrifice. Abraham's conscience would make a mockery of all these logical justifications and reasons.

Ibrahim chose the Love of God over the Love of self, Prophethood over Fatherhood, Loyalty to God over Loyalty to family, Truth over Reality, Consciousness over Instinct, Responsibility over Pleasure, Duty over Right, Tawheed over Shirk. He preferred Advancing to Remaining. Ibrahim chose God and gave up Ismail.

On the grounds of Mina near Mecca, an amazing and frightening conversation between a father and a son took place. Ibrahim said to Ismail : "O my Son, I see in a vision that I offer you in sacrifice. Now see what is your view ? " (37:102)

What frightening words for a child to hear! Ismail could have kept silent. He could have asked Ibrahim to refrain. But Ismail had also faith. He submitted to Allah's will. Realizing his father's distress, Ismail gave him these comforting words: "O my father! Do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah so wills, patient and constant " (37:102)

Ibrahim had consulted his son who willingly offered himself to Allah's command. The choice of Ibrahim was sacrifice. That of Ismail was self-sacrifice: Martyrdom.

This gave Ibrahim strength. Ibrahim tied his heart to God, he took the Ismail of his life in one hand and the knife of his faith in the other and he walked until he reached the place of sacrifice. Ibrahim was suffering while believing and at every moment it was possible for him to retract and turn back. Yet he laid Ismail on the ground, putting his face away from him to give strength to his crushed soul and paralyzed hand. And so he slaughtered Ismail. But, by Allah's grace, the knife did not cut. Ibrahim received a sheep and was called by Allah:

"O Ibrahim! You have confirmed the Vision Thus indeed do We reward those who do right This is indeed the manifest trial!" (37:104-105)

Ibrahim gained everything and kept Ismail. This means that the God of Ibrahim is not thirsty for blood like the Inca gods or some goddesses in certain faiths are thirsty of blood. With one stroke of a knife, concept of Human sacrifice to please God, present in most of the Pagan customs, was abolished forever amongst peoples of the book.


Different people organize differently their loyalty to God, to the family and to the nation or the state. A secular mind owes and absolute duty to the nation (and the family) whereas a religious conscience owes absolute duty to God. For a secular mind Ibrahim was willing to MURDER Ismail but for a religious conscience he was willing to SACRIFICE Ismail. Ibrahim therefore instructs that we should owe absolute duty only to God and it is our relationship to God which ought to transcend and determine out relation to family/nation and not vice-versa. Brothers and Sisters, there still is a lot to understand and discover about this momentous event. These are only a few possible meanings. (HSH)

Source: “The Story of Prophet Ibrahim's attempt to sacrifice his son (celebration of Eid Al-Adha)” http://www.guidedones.com/metapage/frq/eidadha10.htm

PROPHET MOHAMMAD PBUH (SAW) - THE LAST MESSENGER OF GOD (ALLAH SWT) AND THE SAVIOR OF HUMANITY (2)

PROPHET MOHAMMAD PBUH (SAW) - THE LAST MESSENGER OF GOD (ALLAH SWT) AND THE SAVIOR OF HUMANITY (2)

by Syarif Hidayat

In islam, Prophet Mohammed (SAW) is the Messenger of God Allah SWT. He was the last messenger from God, (before him there was a large number of Prophets such as, Moses, Jesus and Noah etc). Angel Gabriel was sent to Prophet Mohammed PBUH and he received divine revelation from the Almighty Allah . He was chosen by God to spread this message throughout all earth, unrestricted by time, place, race or color claiming that his message is the last between Heaven and earth and that he is the last of Allah’s Messengers and Prophets.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. The God Allah Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an: “Say (O Muhammad SAW): "He is Allah, (the) One. Allah the Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, (He neither eats nor drinks). "He begets not, nor was He begotten.” "And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him."  - Al Qur’an, Surah Al Ikhlas (The Purity of Faith)

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. “Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory). Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects Evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.  Allah is the protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are the Evil Ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be Companions of the Fire, to dwell therein (forever). (Al Qur’an, Al-Baqarah Surah, Verse : 255 - 257)

In the Name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful!  “O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Now has come to you Our Messenger (Prophet Muhammad PBUH) explaining to you much of that which you used to hide from the Scripture and pass over (i.e. leaving out without explaining) much. Indeed, there has come to you from Allâh a light (Prophet Muhammad PBUH) and a plain Book (this Qur’ân). Wherewith Allâh guides all those who seek His Good Pleasure to ways of peace, and He brings them out of darkness by His Will unto light and guides them to the Straight Way (Islâmic Monotheism).” - Al Qur’an Surah Al Maidah, Verse 15-16.

In the Name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful!  “Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day have those who reject Faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But if any is forced by hunger, with no inclination to transgression, Allah is indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”(Al Qur’an, Surah Al-Maidah, Verse 3).

Abysmal darkness and Ignorance

Any individual or group who is living in abysmal darkness and ignorance of all sorts will not understand what is precious and what is not. For an ignorant the values of gold and diamond has no meaning. For an ignorant the work of scientists, engineers, doctors, and administrators has no significance. A fool and an ignorant can not understand the life and work of prophets (PBH).

A person lacking in moral and ethical values, a person of evil mind and bankrupt knowledge will not understand the role of all prophets which they played on the planet earth. They all were messenger of the Almighty Allah and their presence was to establish peace and pious society free from evils and hypocrisy. The roles of the noble men were indeed immense in liberating the mind of person involved in superstition and ignorance.

Prophet’s role is much above than scientists, engineers, doctors and all other experts of various subjects because prophet’s mission to give security of all sorts be it physical or spiritual and their teaching makes a good human-being and repairs all the damages being done in the society by unscrupulous person and makes each individual a responsible human-being .It is clear that unless and until the good will not prevail and peace will not be obtained all the technological developments will come to stand still.

If we are good today just by a fraction it is all because of the prophet’s teaching otherwise a person left in the jungle will not learn discipline and goodness of any kind. When there will be no good or it will not prevail in the society then on earth all development and glamour will cease to exist. The prophets who appeared on the planet earth were human-being trained by the Creator of the universe to deliver His message to the men and women and molded the prophet to play significant role in the society.

All the prophets before Prophet Muhammad PBUH came with their specific missions for particular nations

All the prophets from Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) to the last Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) came with the mission to make the mankind understand that one must submit his/her will to one and only one Master of the Universe, i.e Allah SWT-the creator and sustainer of universe. All the prophets came with the same message and tried their best to make the world a peaceful dwelling place under one and only one Master i.e Allah. They made the mankind aware that all the resources which they explore and utilize for their requirements are the gift of Almighty Allah only. When the Almighty has given so many things for us, it is our duty to be grateful to Him.

The best way to be grateful to Almighty is to accept the teaching of the prophet and follow the prophet’s teaching .It is then only the mankind will save escape from the wrath of Almighty. The Almighty is all powerful. When all the resources belongs to Him it is the duty of every individual to submit to the will of the Master of the universe only .The Master has revealed to the prophet what He likes and what not.

All the prophets made immense efforts and tried their best to convince the people that the universe is governed by one single Master and Administrator i.e. Allah SWT and they should bow their head to Him only and glorify to Him only. The prophets further informed that mankind must acknowledge the that the final abode of man is not in this world but a different world which has two dwelling places-one laden with garden to provide all comforts to good people who will pay attention to the prophet’s message and will act accordingly and have followed well the teachings and another place is kept for mischievous people who has not paid attention to the message of the prophet and acted against the noble teachings of prophet and so will go in the hell fire to suffer all forms of torments .

The punishment is must since they refused to listen and comply with Almighty’s message being conveyed through the prophet. The entire prophet emphasized that belief and actions of man is accountable and he will be punished or rewarded on the basis of his beliefs and actions he performs. The prophet urged the mankind to submit to the Master of the universe only to seek his guidance. The punishment and reward is kept reserved for the mankind by the Master of the Universe on the basis of man’s belief and actions which he holds on earth.

The person whose belief and actions will match with the message of prophet will be crowned with success where as those unlucky who will go against the message conveyed by the prophets will face grave consequence in this world as well as in the world to come.

Prophet Muhammad PBUH is sent with mission for entire humanity

The earlier people, before the advent of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), will get reward if they had listened to the earlier prophets of their time and followed them well. Now when the last prophet Muhammad came to convey the message to mature society the people have no choice but to follow the prophet Muhammad only if they want success in this world and the world to come.

Since Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is sent for entire humanity and not for particular nation so the people have no other option but to follow the last prophet Muhammad and must follow prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to get the reward from the Almighty Allah. The rules and regulations of all the earlier prophets including Jesus (in Islam Prophet Isa peace be upon him) will no longer hold since the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has already been made by the Almighty Allah the final authority over others.

More over since the original teachings of the earlier prophet were lost so the Allah SWT sent Prophet Muhammad PBUH to mend the society by revealing the original message to him. Prophet Muhammad PBUH was sent by Allah because the earlier nations lost the true teaching of their prophets and also corrupted the original message .In this situation there was need for a prophet for a matured society with additional teachings compatible with time. Jesus (peace be on him) who was the prophet of Allah before Muhammad (PBUH) foretold the coming of the last Prophet Muhammad (peace is on him). While the mission of the earlier prophets were generally limited to their own communities, Prophet Muhammad PBUH's message and mission is made universal and timeless and hold goods for all nations and tribes till the end of this world.

Since Prophet Muhammad PBUH is the final prophet therefore, any person whose belief and actions will match with Prophet Muhammad PBUH’s message will get the reward after death. The prophet PBUH informed that final abode of mankind is not in this planet earth which has a limited life span but in another world which will remain for ever where the mankind will live with ease and comfort without disease and disturbance without exhaustion and tiredness if his actions and belief found correct and as per last prophet’s message.

Since Allah SWT has to make Muhammad (peace be upon him) the last Prophet to guide the mankind so he was blessed with extraordinary quality. He was most civilized and most cultured .He stood like rock against all evil actions and was bent upon to root out the evils from the society. He never rested till he completed the mission of Islam and established society based on Sharia (Islamic law). He conveyed the message of the Almighty Allah to mankind in a perfect manner. He possessed very high morale of highest standard. He was a man of integrity, pious and perfect in all actions, a great orator, a great judge, a great reformer, a loving father, a loving husband and a true well wisher of mankind. Muhammad (peace be upon him) was very compassionate very generous, very humble and very tolerable. He was a great problem solver and a great General.

Prophet Muhammad PBUH is in fact boon for the mankind

Muhammad (peace be upon him) indeed possessed innumerable qualities and his advent is in fact boon for the mankind since he emancipated humanity from the clutches of thousand “small gods” and informed them about the existence of one and only one Allah who is supreme and all powerful and whose rule dominates in all the worlds. Muhammad (peace be upon him) is dearer to our parents since he has informed about the existence of one Allah and the punishment and reward that is in store for the mankind when he will pass from this world after death and thus all mankind are accountable to Almighty Allah.

If I had not have learnt this from the teaching of the prophet I too would have trapped in the clutches of ‘’small gods’’ which would have made me coward. It is the teachings of the last prophet which instills good qualities only in the mind which even our parents will fail to teach. Some parent teach hatred to their children and some make liar to their children, some ignore bad habits of their children, some teaches their children only how to make money by hook or by crook.

Most of the parents never teach their child what actions are good for them and what is bad .It may be that even the parents themselves are not aware. So if the parents of today are good it is because of the teaching of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Now tell me why I should not love Muhammad (peace be upon him) most because his teaching only made our parents behave in a nice manner. Why I should not love Muhammad most who taught us how to make good relation with the Master of the universe to get reward and provided me security in this world and hope the Almighty Allah will provide me security after death .

It is Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) whose teaching made the Muslim one nation and made us brother of one another. It is by his teaching only that we know what is good and what is bad what is harmful and what is beneficial. What idea we should possess and what we should not .What food items are good for health and what is harmful for health.

The Prophet Muhammad PBUH commanded us to maintain social solidarity and cooperation, to open our hearts to our fellows, and to help one another at all times. He said, "Do not cut relations between each other! Do not turn your backs on each other! Do not grow hatred between each other! O God's servants! Become brothers and sisters!"

It is by his teaching only we came to know how to walk, what to see, how to speak and how to maintain good relations with our parents, kith and kin, neighbor and fellow citizens, how to maintain and clean our body and soul in a nice way and how to fulfill the requirement of body by legitimate food to maintain good health. It is by the teaching of prophet that we came to know that all human-being are equal and the criteria of good and bad people are not race but good action in the light of Al Qur’an and teaching of last prophet.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is fountain head of all good behaviors and good characters who showed us the road to success .In this background then why one should not follow him, respect him most and should give life for the sake of him. He was the most ideal man who once set foot on this planet earth to guide mankind and to mould their lives and livings so that they form a good society and live in peace and happiness not only in their world but when they will depart from this world too. How lucky is the person who responded and will respond to the call of Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

Freedom of speech must have a limit

It is advised that if any body wants to say anything about the prophet he must first study the life and mission of the prophet and must stand the emotional attachment of all Muslims which they have with the prophet. If any body, without knowing the prophet will utter any single bad word about him then such person or group or nation must be ready to face grave consequences.

There is limit to everything. There is limit for the intake of food items, walking, and sleeping. Freedom of speech also must have a limit. We are free to do good and good thing has no limit but bad things are bounded by limit and no body is as free to harm any one or insult anybody. If any body will cross the limit of decency then he is sole responsible for his action and must be ready to face dire consequences.

No body can say that he is free to say any damn thing, free to abuse his parents, free to abuse his teacher, and free to abuse his neighbor or abuse the fellow citizen in the name of freedom. Such mischievous person will not be spared in any society if in the name of freedom of speech he will go on speaking worst thing about anybody, insult anybody, blame anybody. If such bad mouthed person will not be punished then he will make a mess of everything and all the person living in such society will be victim of this bad person and innocent people will suffer mental agony unnecessarily.

So when an ordinary person has self respect and he should not be insulted then any body who will dare to insult the messiah of humanity why should go Scot free. One must think twice when commenting a personality like Prophet Muhammad PBUH whose only aim was to establish good things and eradicate evils from society and who is most beloved person for all who accepted his teachings which emancipated human-being from darkness. One must study about the life and Mission of this final prophet of mankind if any one is in search of truth.

The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is in fact savior of humanity.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. “Allah is the protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are the Evil Ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be Companions of the Fire, to dwell therein (forever).”  - (Al Qur’an, Al-Baqarah, verse 257)

Prophet Mohammed (SAW) is the Messenger of God. He was the last messenger from God, (before him there was a large number of Prophets such as, Moses, Jesus and Noah etc). Angel Gabriel was sent to Prophet Mohammed PBUH and he received divine revelation from the Almighty Allah . He was chosen by God to spread this message throughout all earth, unrestricted by time, place, race or color claiming that his message is the last between Heaven and earth and that he is the last of Allah’s Messengers and Prophets.

If people actually had the time to go read about this man, the husband, the friend and the human being, “Prophet Mohammed”; they would correct their misconceptions. Mohammed (SAW) was the best man that ever lived on planet Earth.

Many people have a wrong idea of who Prophet Mohammed is and disrespectfully draw him, make fun of him or even talking badly about a person they never read about. No matter what religion you are, you should respect anybody and everybody despite differences that you may have.

Study him from proper good Muslims instead of the people that make up stories about this beautiful person who loved humanity, equality and justice. I would advise you to restrict bad language about the prophet and say peace instead.

In other words, we Muslims would never make fun of Christianity or other God’s given religions through such childish topic like this one as many ridiculous people of the western civilization  and leaders of the western regimes do make fun of Islam through our Prophet's (peace be upon him) marriage.  (HSH)

Bibliotheque:

1. Al Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad PBUH Hadiths

2. “The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is in fact savior of humanity.” Published by Ehtsham http://www.scribd.com/doc/2931293/Prophet-Muhammadthe-saviour-of-humanity