Usra and Freedom

Assalaamu'Alaikum

I have started this blog to bring together muslims who wish to express their concerns with regard to living as a muslim in today's modern world in the era of science and logic, and who cannot ignore their feelings for the need to believe and to understand as opposed to simply being content with following what's been prescribed over the ages. Others are welcome as well. I hope to create a platform for dialogue that will help people understand their own concerns. This is because it took me years of questioning myself before I developed the courage to think and make up my own mind about things that I just couldn't agree with. I will discuss more on this matter in later posts.

My aim is to promote discussion and thinking on Islamic topics in particular, and social issues in general from an Islamic perspective. Ofcourse the guidance sought will be from Allah and His Quran. My posts are completely random and this blog is merely a platform to put my views out to muslims who are struggling as I am. My purpose is simply to strengthen my faith through discussion, knowledge and reason.

I grew up in a little Pacific Island nation in a very tolerant, multi-cultural and colourful atmosphere. During my later years on this Island I had the privilege to be part of an Islamic youth organisation which, among other things, conducted weekly discussions and readings of the Quran and Hadith. The members of our little branch of this organisation consisted mainly of friends who had grown up together, boys and girls of families that had grown up together as well. As such, the membership was made up of boys as young as 7 years of age to guys as old as 28. So there were people of very different levels of intellect, experience and priorities involved in the discussions of something Divine, Pure, Perfect,...the word of Allah, the Quran. At this point one would surely think this as a misguided effort of ignorant little boys to improve their social standing amongst a supposedly "religious" society and organisation. Could a fool-hardy bunch of school boys and girls even hope to comprehend the Holy Word of the All-Mighty, All-Knowing Allah? Surely not, one would think! Well, nothing could be further from the truth. The desire for truth that drew all the boys and girls together was never clearer as when we met for our weekly "Usra".

That was more than 3 years ago. I have since left that little island nation, just as most of the other boys and girls who grew up and moved away to follow their academic dreams and career goals. The purpose of this "FreeUmmah" blog is to revive the "feeling" of that Usra, that "discussion", that passion for truth, to show that having the freedom to question and the freedom to think are the greatest of freedoms. That thought and reason (assuming Allah has blessed one with these) together with revelation are the only means to true belief and to strengthen existing belief. Indeed, over the many centuries, our concerned elders have employed the use of many methods to safeguard the ummah and to prevent disbelief. Unfortunately, many of these methods have eventually come at the cost of the paramount freedoms of speech and thought (as faculties of reason). The Quran has an interesting say on this, after explaining that the ummah of Yunus (AS) was the only ummah to have been given faith entirely when all of them attained to faith at once by Allah's will, the Quran continues in Surah Yunus 10:99-100:

"And [thus it is] had thy Sustainer so willed, all those who live on earth would surely have attained to faith, all of them: dost thou, then, think that thou couldst compel people to believe, notwithstanding that no human being can ever attain to faith otherwise than by God's leave, and [that] it is He who lays the loathsome evil [of disbelief] upon those who will not use -their reason?"

To be continued...