Now that I have found the answer to my prayers and lifelong questions, I embark on the journey of learning the nitty gritty details. As I dive in head first, I start to realize, there is so much to learn!! How will I ever learn all of this? What do you mean it takes time?
I want to know all there is to know and be able to perform perfect salah now!!
I look at the born Muslims and start to get jealous and think of how wonderfully easy it is for them that they were born into a Muslim family and were able to grow up learning about the wonders of Islam.....
Wait...Did I just say "grow up learning"?
Oh. My. Babies don't pop out of the womb proclaiming Takbir or the Shahadah. They don't know how to perform salah and wudu. They don't know the rules....They must observe, learn and GROW into Islam.
I often hear the phrase "take it one step at a time" or "its like climbing a ladder, one rung at a time." You must scoot before you crawl, crawl before you walk and walk before you run. In theory it is easy to know this makes perfect sense, but when you really start getting into the Pillars, you realize the time you shushed someone while you were performing salah you invalidated your prayer....
Well, what to do now? We are blessed with an All Knowing, Ever Merciful Creator and He knows we are not perfect. He knows our innermost desires and intentions. Would you shout at your child when they tried to work a puzzle and smashed the wrong pieces together? No, you would simply show them why it didn't fit and help them figure out the right way.
Ultimately we are a generation of instant gratification serving a God that gives us what we need when we need it and not a minute sooner. Patience is of the utmost importance when learning anything new, especially when it involves a 1400 year old religion that serves an infinitely existent God.
I WANT IT
I want to know all there is to know and be able to perform perfect salah now!!
I look at the born Muslims and start to get jealous and think of how wonderfully easy it is for them that they were born into a Muslim family and were able to grow up learning about the wonders of Islam.....
Wait...Did I just say "grow up learning"?
Oh. My. Babies don't pop out of the womb proclaiming Takbir or the Shahadah. They don't know how to perform salah and wudu. They don't know the rules....They must observe, learn and GROW into Islam.
I often hear the phrase "take it one step at a time" or "its like climbing a ladder, one rung at a time." You must scoot before you crawl, crawl before you walk and walk before you run. In theory it is easy to know this makes perfect sense, but when you really start getting into the Pillars, you realize the time you shushed someone while you were performing salah you invalidated your prayer....
Well, what to do now? We are blessed with an All Knowing, Ever Merciful Creator and He knows we are not perfect. He knows our innermost desires and intentions. Would you shout at your child when they tried to work a puzzle and smashed the wrong pieces together? No, you would simply show them why it didn't fit and help them figure out the right way.
Ultimately we are a generation of instant gratification serving a God that gives us what we need when we need it and not a minute sooner. Patience is of the utmost importance when learning anything new, especially when it involves a 1400 year old religion that serves an infinitely existent God.
