Pages

Hadith of the Update

Narrated by Ibn 'Abbas,

The Prophet said, "There are two blessings which many people lose : (They are) Health and free time for doing good."

[Bukhari. Volume 8, Book 76, Number 421]

Quote of the Update

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

-George Orwell

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Heaven And Hell (My Story)

   
   Hello and peace be upon you dear readers. It's been a few months since I last wrote anything on this blog and now I feel kind of rusty. Anyway, I hope you're in good health and happy wherever you are. As for me, I'm back in hostel and trust me, the only thing I miss about this place is it's fast Wi-fi connection. Haha. But still, I'm thankful for I can finally update my blog. n_n

   I've been studying away from home for quite a number of years, more or less about 6 years now and staying home during holidays were never boring for me. Among all things I do during my holidays, there is one thing that I never missed in any of it. Reading. People asked me how can you keep doing that after all these years (it's not that long, LOL). Well, my answer is simple. Reading is inspiring. And I'm going to share with you one of the inspirations I got during my recent holiday.

   Have you ever heard of the book Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom? It's a very nice book talking about the lives of two Men of God and how they, leading a simple life but managed to create a great community (and it's a true story). Being a Muslim, all the books I've ever read of this kind or genre are stories of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), about his friends, about famous Muslim scholars etc. I am ashamed for being so narrow-minded. This book certainly changes the way I think about Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions therefore leading me to rethink about the concept of afterlife and of heaven and hell.

   Back in the year 2000, I remember being taught that Muslims go to heaven no matter how bad they are as long as they have even as much as a tiny speck of iman (faith) and all the non-Muslims will go to hell no matter how much good they do because they don't have iman. Of course there are other things such as purgatory etc but that can wait. At that time, I questioned nothing and I accepted it blindly. Just as my friends did, just as many other Muslims of my age did.

   However, reaching the age where I can think rationally, how can I accept that? It feels so unfair. I was questioning myself how can Allah (God) be so cruel? How can He do that to His own creations? I understand it if He punishes the wrong-doer but why punish the good non-Muslims too? But please be reminded, even though I have this kind of questions, not even once have I doubted Him or my religion. It's just that these questions lingered in my mind for a few years, unanswerable until fairly recently.

   I got interested in religious books (not limited to Muslim books only). I listen to tazkirah (preaches) more often. I listen to non-Muslims debates and preaches too. And I talked to everyone, Muslims and non-Muslims about my beliefs and their beliefs. After some time, I know a bit more about different religions. The questions I had were answered by many of those books, people, videos etc and the answer is actually pretty simple. Allah (God) is the Judge and we, the creations, cannot judge as He does. We cannot say this guy's bad, he will definitely go to hell, this guy's good, no worries for him, he'll definitely reach heaven. Simply said, let Allah (God) do His job, we do ours', that is to please Him by doing good to everyone and avoid doing anything He forbids.

" '...Our sages tell us to repent exactly one day before we die.'
But ho do you know it's the day before you die? I asked.
He raised his eyebrows.
'Exactly.' "
   As far as my limited knowledge allows, I don't think there is anyone who walks on this Earth and judge every single person he meets. "Hell, heaven, hell, hell, heaven..." If there is, I think the first one he should judge is himself. Remember, don't judge a person by his past or his present for he might change for the better in the near future and you might turn for the worst. Who knows.

   To conclude, do not worry about questioning your own religion because that is how you learn and I believe it strengthens your faith too. Learn to tolerate with others and help everyone no matter who they are. And here is a video for my friends who might be wondering what Islam has to say about this matter. Enjoy. That's all for tonight.Thanks for reading. Ciao.


~Jaw~

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...