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Pastway
USA
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 Topic initiated on Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 2:32 PM 
Are there any other non-Muslim students?
Heartfelt greetings to you all,
I was wondering if there were any other non-Muslim students like myself who are studying through this site? From what I have read so far throughout various threads, it would appear that I may be a rarity here and thought it would be interesting that if there were any more of us, to share our stories as to why we are studying Islam with our classmates and the site staff in the hopes of understanding, knowledge, and friendship, God willing.
I am a full-time student in the State of South Dakota, USA. For anyone who is not familiar with US geography, we are a very large state in the north-central part of the country and has a total state population of only 700,000 people, less than most major cities around the world. The Islamic community here is quite small and unfortunately is settled very far from where I live, making studying Islam very difficult.
I am currently attending college for Environmental Technology, with the hopes of continuing my education to work in the preservation of Islamic sites in the Middle East against environmental factors. Many ancient mosques are currently under severe threat of permanent degradation from modern pollution and expansion, while other sites, such as the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/211 are at risk of being lost forever because of natural circumstances such as river movements, earthquakes or, as we are brutally reminded at this time, flooding. My prayers go out to everyone in Pakistan, may you and your families be safe.
I am studying Islam because I believe that only by truely understanding the religion and culture of the area I will be working in can I best serve it. As was said by the Prophet (pbuh), ”Whoever goes down a path/road searching for knowledge, Allah will make it easy for him the road to Paradise.” I love this Hadith, and if it could be said that I have a personal creed that I live by, this would be it. However, I also know that I will have many challenges ahead of me in my line of chosen work. As a female, I know I will be extremely limited as to my actions in religious sites in many areas, and also to my own activities that I take for granted in this country. I am by no means a rabid "I can do what I want!" American woman who would try to walk with loose hair and tight shorts in Saudi Arabia, and wish to understand the hows and whys of what I will be allowed to do in certain countries so that I do not cause insult or find myself in legal trouble.
I am not Muslim (perhaps I should say "yet?") but do believe that there is but one God, and as I have read the Qu'ran, the Hadith, and the story of Mohammad (pbuh) over the years, it has given me much to think about spiritually. I know that I still have much to learn, and look forward to working with my fellow students.
Is there anyone else with a story to share about why they are here? Or, though I would be saddened to hear of causing any discomfort, is there anyone who has concerns about a non-Muslim student in their midst? |
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safimera
CANADA
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Posted - Wednesday, August 11, 2010 - 2:51 AM 
pastway===> welcome here and I really appreciate your passion and spirit...
May Allah help you in finding the truth...
your intention to work for preservation of islamic sites also praise-worthy....good luck.
may be, in pursue of islamic knowledge you may find a lot of illogical and wrong interpretation of islam from different scholars of islam and these division among different schools of thought may depress and upset you....
but believe me the truth is only what you mention:
quote:
but i do believe that there is but one God, and as I have read the Qu'ran......
so stick to this principle and read and explore the Quran as this is the only book in history which is still same from the time of its origin....
good luck
May God guide all of us. |
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saba2
Moderator
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Wednesday, August 11, 2010 - 2:03 PM
| Salam pastway welcome to our forums. We are happy to have you amongst us and don't worry you can ask us anything, voice your opinion no one has any issues. I don't know if there are other non- muslims on this forum but now you are a part of our group so Welcome again. If you want to know about the holy month of ramzan there is a topic on the woman's forum called ramadan come closer to God. |
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Pastway
USA
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Posted - Thursday, August 12, 2010 - 12:38 PM
safimera - Thank you very much for your welcome. You are indeed correct, in that there are some aspects of my study of Islam that depress and upset when reading of the different scholar's interpretations, but I try my best to see these times as an opportunity for learning and understanding rather than bias or anger toward one school of thought over another. I try to keep in mind that these people are trying to serve Allah, not purposefully cause strife within the community (though unfortunately that seems to be the result sometimes).
quote:
so stick to this principle and read and explore the Quran as this is the only book in history which is still same from the time of its origin.
Ah, and that is one of the true beauties and treasures of Islam, the preservation of the Word of God exactly as it was stated. Even the Christian Bible, if printed in two editions from the same publisher, will contain hundreds of changes between the two as edited by Man. There is great peace and respect for knowing that I am reading the exact words and phrasings as intended (I'm also trying to learn Arabic so that I may read the true original work).
saba2 - Salam and thank you as well, it is good to know that I may ask questions, as I am sure I will have many! I only hope that my naive inquiries don't upset anyone. I will be sure to read the thread that you mentioned; thank you for the invitation.
Thank you everyone again for the welcome! |
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