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My Biograph
In the name of Allh, the Most Merciful
Vincent J. Cornell, a scholar of Islamic studies quotes the following statement from Imam Ali (PBUH):
To know God is to know his oneness. To say that God is one has four meanings: two of them are false and two are correct. As for the two meaning that are false, one is that a person should say "God is one" and be thinking of number and counting. This is false because that which has no second cannot enter into the category of number. Do you not see that those who say that God is a third of a trinity fall into this infidelity? Another meaning is to say, "So-and-So is one of his people," namely, a species of this genus or a member of this species. This meaning is also false when applied to God, because it implies likening something to God, whereas God is above all likeness. As to the two meaning that are correct when applied to God, one is that it should be said that "God is one" in the sense that there is no likeness to him among things. Another is to say that "God is one" in the sense that there is no multiplicity or division conceivable in Him, neither outwardly, nor in the mind, nor in the imagination. God alone possesses such a unity.
My religious background:
We were raised as Christians; my mom came from a strict Christian family and religion was a part of her identity. Since a little child I can remember that in difficulties she would call upon God, Jesus or the Virgin Mary. In good times she would remember God, Jesus, or the Virgin Mary as well. She went to church every Sunday and took us with her and she even enrolled us into a private Christian school. I remember being absolutely comfortable with this Christian lifestyle. I loved praying to God, Jesus and the Virgin Mary. I loved studying the bible, but I must admit that church was a bit boring at times and I sometimes had a hard time sitting still! I loved celebrating the Christian holidays and in school I was active in setting up religious celebrations. I particularly loved the Virgin Mary. She looked so beautiful in her modest clothing; I would play dress up and pretend that I was the Virgin Mary, while other girls would pretend that they were super models or beautiful blonde actresses or singers. You could say that I loved being devoted.
Influences in my life:
Once in school, when we kids were waiting for our teacher to come, we were making a lot of noise out in the hallway and our principle came in and gave us a lecture about how we were not using our ability to speak, think, etc… in the way that Jesus would want us to. Instead, she said we should reflect on Jesus and say prayers that would help us to understand him better and be better Christians. I thought, “‘Wow!’ she is right!” I was in fourth grade at that time and so I began to pray in my own childish way to Jesus and to think about God. Parallel to this, my own mother had always told us that thinking was our key to success in life. In addition, I had remembered that once in fourth grade religion class, our teacher told us that God was the strongest being and that He was our Creator and that the Virgin Mary had special status with God because of her purity and chastity. So I felt nearer and nearer to God and the Virgin Mary. At night I would say the Lord’s Prayer, which was basically,
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”
Also for the Blessed Virgin Mary,
“Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.The Lord’s Prayer really touched my heart because it clearly declared the strength, kindness, and glory; and it showed our place in relation to God: as a humble servant that should battle against temptation, sin, and evilness.
This prayer helped me feel secure that such a Great Being was overlooking me and it helped form an undeniable monotheistic belief in God. At night I would lay in awe at the power of God….
You could say that my entire being was shouting Allahu Akbar! Subhanallah!
However, in school we began to study deeper in the Trinity and Jesus became the central focus in our lives. God was Jesus, Jesus was God, God was the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit was God and Jesus was the Holy Spirit.
At times when I would prayer to Jesus, I would reflect on my words, and I started to think "Wait, how can God be Jesus?" This paradox bothered me and in my prayers I started to change them to fit what I thought made sense and that was God is God the Unique and Jesus was not God or even his son and that the Virgin Mary was not the "Mother of God". So my prayers evolved into being directed toward the Only One Lord and Creator of Everything.
You could say that the Trinity was the catalyst that brought me to Islam. At the same time, though I could remember that my devout mother would teach us about God and say that God was the strongest and was undividable and unique and that God was so strong that it was not necessary to share the Kingdom of God with anyone or anything. This was what gave me courage and strength, because I knew that my Creator could not be equaled and so I felt that I had the strongest protector watching over me.
As time went by, I realized that what my mother was teaching me and my siblings was not Catholicism, but rather something else. When we got older, my mother told us that many years ago she had converted to Islam and that now it was time, she felt, to proclaim her new religion by wearing the headscarf. We were shocked, but at the same time she reassured us that she would not force us to change our religion because we had to arrive at the point of whether to be Muslim, Catholic, or any other religion by ourselves. After researching and asking lots and lots of questions we decided to also change our religion and now it is 29 years that I am Muslim.
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Two Aspects of Human Beings

In the name of Allah, the Inclusively Merciful, the Exclusively Merciful
Two Aspects of Human Beings
Allah (sobhani wa ta'ala) has created human beings with two distinct aspects: the physical and the spirit (with its mental and sensory faculties, spirituality, and desires).
"Who made good everything that He has created, and He began the creation of humans from dust. Then He made his progeny of an extract, of water held in light estimation. Then He made him complete and breathed into him of His spirit, and made for you the ears and the eyes and the hearts; little is it that you give thanks." (Holy Quran, 32:7-9)
However, our relationship with our Creator does not stop there. By breathing His spirit into us and giving us ears, eyes and hearts we are given a heavy responsibility; one which requires us to show sincere appreciation for the blessings Allah has bestowed upon us. However, because of the "free will" that Allah has given us, Allah has not forced us to show our appreciation to Him, rather Allah has allowed us to choose our way, much like a test.
"… We mean to try him, so We have made him hearing, seeing. Surely We have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful. (Holy Quran, 76:2-3)
However, this choice is not something that we can take likely, because if we choice the wrong path then we will suffer severe consequences that may last for eternity.
"Surely We have prepared for the unbelievers chains and shackles and a burning fire." (Holy Quran, 76:4)
On the other hand, if we choice the right path then Allah has promised us the gardens of heaven.
And (as for) those who believe and do good, We will make them enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein for ever; (it is) a promise of Allah, true (indeed), and who is truer of word than Allah? (Holy Quran, 4:122)
So in actuality, the blessings of hearing, seeing, free will and thinking, which Allah has not bestowed upon any other of His earthly creations, comes with great responsibility. But we should not feel hopeless or lost because Allah has not created us without any direction or help as in the above mention verse says, "…Surely We have shown him the way…" In fact, Allah has given us Islam, which is a holistic program for everyone and for every aspect of life and in this program Allah has made two stipulations for us. Considering our physical aspect, we have no control over it regarding its growth and development. We cannot say that "I want to always stay a child physically" and then expect to remain small forever. Hence, our physical growth and development has a predestined path. In stark contrast, Allah has created us with "free will" and what that means for us is that we can choose to mentally and spiritually grow and develop or not as in the Quran Allah says, "…he may be thankful or unthankful..." Hence, it is in our hands as to whether we choose to be truthful or liars, kind or mean, chaste or unchaste, submitters or not, and so on. So our physical growth is set, while our mental and spiritual growth is in our hands.