Namaste,
Please know I do not want to create conflict here. I have had many battles with Islam, but I feel at this point I need to defend my interpretation of Islam. That puts me in a very very difficult place. Lots of Muslims hate me; lots of non-Muslims hate me.
Its a lonely place, but I feel it is what the Divine wants me to be right now.
If the conservatives walked into my house, they would criticize me. I have pictures of Jesus, Mary, Isis, Tara, Qwan Yin and Buddha. Next to my various translations of Quran are the Dhammapada, the Upanishads, books on wicca, books by gay and lesbian Muslims, books about playing guitar and drawing animals. My cd collection includes rock music, hip hop, qawwalis, gospel, opera.
This month I am celebrating Christmas, Yule, Santa Lucia Day. I have runes; I support the way a woman chooses to dress whether its in burka or bikini as long as its her choice. I even curse when I stub my toe. My dawn prayer includes the gayatri prayer and salat.
So why do I still stay connected to Islam? I want to be near to the Beloved more than I want anything else. Islam took away the scary God I saw in the Bible and told me at the beginning of every chapter of Quran that God is Merciful and Compassionate. It taught me to look at the injustices... at the violence, at the oppression, at the misogyny and chauvanism, at my own ego's stubborn ways, at the hungry who have no choice about fasting during ramadan, at the way my father (a Catholic) beat my mother, at how women are objectified, at the way the moon stays in the sky yet a pebble I toss toward the sky comes back to the ground, at the mysteries of the universe, at the fact I will not be here forever and I better get my priorities straight because one day I will be dead and look over my life and how I will feel that I spent more time watching the late night show than helping others.
I read something recently that told me I needed to think hard about the energy I put in the world and the the way faith and doubt effect me (and then the energy around me).
I don't want to sell Islam. I will never ever do that to anyone. But I would like to show people that some Muslims (many Muslims) are kind, gentle, loving, charitable, generous, democrat, peace-loving, tolerant, openminded, accepting, animal lovers, pacifists. All I want is to be accepted for who I am and not blamed for the violence of another Muslim.
I just want to love as much as I can love, to serve the Divine to the best of my ability, to be a bridge and not a wall that separates. If it is ok, can I introduce you to my Islam? Just so you can meet the loving Muslim women and men who are practicing the same Islam I am, the poets, artists, hadith, ayat, friends who want to take Islam to a better place.
I would like to start a thread here, not to sell you on Islam, but to show that there are many, many good Muslims in this world. Will you give them a chance to speak? Not because I'm here to hit you over the head with Islam, but because I mean it when I look to the right and left at the end of salat and wish all creation "I offer you the greetings of peace and the blessings of the Divine upon you".
I will start that thread now. All I ask is you read the thread with an open heart. There was a time when The Jeffersons sit com was a very controversial thing. Why? Because of the color of their skin. Because of the color of their skin, the Jeffersons reminded people that slavery and prejudice needed to end.
I love you all. I really do. Maybe that makes me a crazy freak, but I love you.
Love to you,
Heartfully
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