Commencement
Posted by Sheraz on May 16, 2009
I never think of myself as a writer or blogger. Neither am i a great thinker or philosopher. I am just an ordinary person who happens to be born in a Muslim family. ALLAH is my GOD. Quran is my religious doctrine. Islam is my way of life. But all this was given to me. I didn’t choose or understand it at my own. Finally at the age of 29 i have decided to seek the truth and then follow it. For that i am going to make a few presuppositions which i believe to be correct. One, there is God and there exists no God except one true God. Two, God has created this entire universe and everything that dwell within for a purpose and i am no exception to that rule. To communicate me my purpose and ways to achieve it God has sent Prophets with his divine message. Whats expected of me is to seek, understand and follow that message. While trying to do that i would like to share my experiences and findings with the rest of the world via this blog. Wish me luck to sought the path of truth and righteousness.
indywatchman said
Sheraz,
It is nice to hear that you are a seeker of truth. Now that you have made that statement you will, no doubt, have many that will try and lead you to their “idea” of what that truth is, and why you should trust them; I am no different.
I, too, was a seeker of truth. Many years ago I found the truth, and it has proven true in all circumstances. Your search for truth has to start with “honesty.” Do you really want the truth, or do you want to bolster or reinforce some preconceived notion or tradition. You are a Muslim by birth, and are you now looking to prove that your Muslim faith is the correct view of the world, or would you abandon all that for true “Truth?”
Truth is solitary and it is unique. Truth stands alone. If someone says they have the truth and someone else says that they have the truth, they cannot both be right, one of them is a lie, or they may both be a lie, but they cannot both be the truth. In computer graphics there are 255 shades of gray but there is only one black and one white, the others are all shades of gray, or a variant of black or white. Some of the shades may come very close to black or white, and may be very difficult to tell the difference, but they are not black, and they are not white. There is a”black” and there is a “white” and they exist. It may take a trained eye to see the difference, and to the uncaring a shade of gray could do as well and satisfy their need, but they are deceived. When you throw into the mix that their are those who want to intentionally trick you for their own personal needs you can see how quickly the shades of gray could possibly become 255,000 shades instead, and how would you know the difference?
You asked for “good Luck” in your search, but you need much more than luck, you need a “revelation.” Nothing short of a miracle will do in your search.
If there is a God and He is the Giver of Light and Truth, then He is the only One who can help. Your search for Truth is a bigger task than you can handle alone. Be careful that you do not accept a shade of gray, then pretend that you have found something of value, only to find out that your precious jewel is only cut glass.
Steve Blackwell
http://www.IndyWatchman.com
Sheraz said
Steve,
First of all i would like to thank you for your suggestions. I would be needing a lot more of these in future as well. Secondly, my intention is not to prove that Islam is right and other religions are wrong. I am only trying to figure out the path of salvation. I want to seek the true message of God and for that i have decided to study both Islam and Christianity at the best of my abilities. Whatsoever outshines as truth will be acceptable to me.
[Quran 2:256] There shall be no coercion in matters of faith. Distinct has now become the right way from [the way of] error: hence, he who rejects the powers of evil and believes in God has indeed taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way: for God is all-hearing, all-knowing.
[Bible John 8:32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
indywatchman said
Sheraz,
Thank you for the balanced response. I think you must be a real seeker of truth if you risk family or traditional viewpoints. To chance turning family against you is a good sign. To risk nothing is gain little.
I would not try and pigeonhole you into my specific belief, because you must find truth on your own. But, a little light for the path may help you get a good start.
You quoted John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” This verse has a contingency factor attached to it, of which you did not quote, the contingency begins with the word “IF,” and the result begins with the word “THEN.” “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
As you can see He makes no promise of truth outside of obedience. The verse is very similar to John 7:17 where He states “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, (then) he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.”
These verses demand something of the hearer outside of a shallow assent to truth.
The questions becomes: is this man worthy of my devotion and trust? On what grounds can I give myself to this man? How do I know that the things He said about Himself are true?If He has lied or misled on even one point He is not worthy of your trust. We would naturally expect that “God” would come to us on the level of our humanity and our inability to comprehend spiritual things, initially.
If God was to become a human, like Jesus, and declare that He is “God” come in the flesh, what would we expect Him to do and be like. We would expect “God in the flesh” to have the same attributes as God, and this is what we do find in Jesus: He healed the sick, He stilled the waters, He forgave sins, He controlled nature, He lived a sinless life, He knew the thoughts of men, and He raised the dead.
Jesus makes no promises of truth to the person who does not follow Him. He gives the gift of truth and wisdom only to those who give themselves to Him completely. Line up all the reasons why you should follow any of the others and compare them with Jesus, and there is really no comparison at all. Then add to this the fact that all of this was foretold in ancient writings of prophesy, and you will have a very good start, and reason to trust Jesus and find out through experience that He is exactly who He said He was, and is.
I will pray that Jesus Himself will give you a spirit of revelation and knowledge of who He is, that you will know the truth.
P.S. Be careful of them who falsely call themselves followers of Jesus, but have never seen Him, and know of Him only through writings. Many people in buildings, called churches, claim to know Him, but they are deceived, they do not know Him, they make only an accent to truth.
Steve Blackwell
http://www.IndyWatchman.com
|eemz said
Yay! Go go go! Well you were right about this part too “I never think of myself as a writer or blogger. Neither am i a great thinker or philosopher.” hehehehe
May Allah Almighty be with you!
Sheraz said
|eemz how could you not comment on that part of the post
. By the way thanks for your prayers. I am in need of lots and lots of them. Jazakallah khairan (May Allah reward you for the good).