A born Muslim revert

Weird title huh? Yep I know…so lets get started!
This is a very personal and significant topic that I want to share with you.

Today, Islam is the second largest growing religion in the world. You find muslims all over the world, whether you’d be living in the West or in the East (yes, we are everywhere!). But we also live in a world where religion is considered to be old-fashioned, insignificant, reserved only for the crazy invisible people who no one talks to. Fashion, the latest mobile, the ultimate Snapchat filter, how to create money faster…that’s what the real life is. Who cares about something that is by definition UNSEEN… I can’t even see it, how am I supposed to believe in it.

A world where everyday the media is portraying us as terrorist and we are faced by discrimination and disgust from people because of this label. In these circumstances, it is very difficult to hold on to what we believe and it raises all kinds of questions…

But we still are muslims, right?…Just I couldn’t get my answer of WHY am I a muslim?

My name is a muslim name, my parents are muslim, my family is muslim, I was born and raised in a muslim family….but is that it?
I don’t know why but that just never seemed to be the right answer to me.
One is because my name, my family’s beliefs, the environment in which I was raised in didn’t really relate to MY own decision of what I believe in.

I was and am ever so grateful to Allah for giving me a muslim family…but as I was studying my religion on my own, I grew close to Islam, I started reading Qur’an not just in Arabic, but its translation along with its tafseer. At that point, something struck me…Allah couldn’t possibly favour a soul over another…He is The Just…and all of us are equal in front of him…He created all of us…then how come I am born as a muslim and my friends, neighbours, teachers and soo many people are not? Isn’t that injustice? How come I came to the straight path without any effort while so many people out there are struggling everyday to find the light that can only be found in You ya Allah? How come I am given the shahadah from the birth but they have to face so many hardships, difficulties and darkness before finding light?

Being brought up in a non-muslim country, I never encountered many muslims in my life. The people around me were non-muslims, my best friends, whom I still love so very much, my teachers who taught me the skills and basics to lead a successful life, my neighbours who smile at me everyday i see them and I just couldn’t stand not knowing why they were born as non-muslims while I was as a muslim?

And I finally found my answer…after struggling to keep walking to the straight path…after making so much effort that my eyes could not resist the pain in them…after facing hardships, one after another…I RETURNED to my faith.…there it came MY light.

And I found my answer: I wasn’t muslim because of my name. I wasn’t muslim because my parents were. I wasn’t muslim because I was brought up this way.

I was muslim because I wanted to. Because it was the reason of my existence. Because I had to keep walking to the straight path. Because I needed my Allah so much. I needed my foundation, my core in order to not shake before anyone except Him. I needed to feed my soul and keep my heart alive.

And I found out that the reason I was born as a Muslim and so many others are not is not because im better than them, or because Allah loves me more than them…that can never be the case…He loves us all…He cares for us all…He is The One who created all of us…just tell me how can a mother differentiate a child over another…she cant, right? And Allah’s love is beyond imagination.

The reason is because everyone is different, therefore, they have different tests and tribulations. If you are a muslim, you will be faced with hardships no doubt…you will be tempted to do haram, there will be a time where you will struggle to be in the same path you were walking for so long…and thats when you will have to make your decision…Are you willing to keep walking to this path embracing its difficulties, are you willing to get closer to your master and to worship him as he deserves to be worshipped? Are you willing to BE A MUSLIM?

The same goes for a non-muslim, they are creation of Allah and Allah will test them but in a different way. He will offer them guidance, He has promised to show them the light:

“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth”

{Qur’an  41:53}

But it is their choice whether to accept it or refuse it and that’s where we differ.
Allah is Just and He will judge everyone based on their own deeds and intentions.

So as I wrap all this up…I just want to say do not ever underestimate your position as human being, especially as a Muslim. Allah has chosen all of us as the carriers of His perfect word in an imperfect world. We have the universe’s toughest job and We, you individually and me, were chosen to carry out this job. It’s not a coincidence or it didn’t just happen for you to be born as a Muslim…you have something in you that only Allah knows and you have to discover it and carry out your responsibility…to settle the light in your heart and brighten your surroundings.

“Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried?”

{Qur’an 29:2}