I've been scrummaging through the forum and realised that we don't have a thread allocated to short recollections, narratives and stories derived from real-life events.
I thought it might be nice for people to share little things which happened in their lives or in the lives of those around them. These pieces will provide inspiration and hope, advice and support.
I don't know if this is a good idea but if it does go forward, I think it would be better to not post about the pieces written. It should be like an anthology of inspirational stuff. If anybody feels the urge to discuss or comment on a particular piece, they can start a thread about it or deal with it through reps and pm's.
If anyone would like to start off...you are most welcome.
Last edited by sevgi; 02-13-2009 at 04:14 PM.
"'Cause I hear the whispered words
In your masterpiece beautiful
You speak the unspeakable through
I love you too"
And as for the onewho fears standing in front of His Lord and restrainsthe soul from impure evil desires and lusts, verily, Paradise will be his abode [79:40-41]
alright, so this might be not your traditional source of inspiration but here goes:
not many years ago, I used to watch a certain show-anime- in which there a scene I always remember, the protagonist, well anyway, it ends up with him saying something about never giving up and not being afraid of going forward, that was inspiring back then, I still remember it at times
About a year ago I become a Street Pastor and this does not involve preaching. We go out in pairs into the community late on a Friday night where gangs, drunks, drugs, violence, vandals and troubled people are. We go in the hope of bringing about some kind of care and peace at night. We have no power or authority to do anything, we have no agenda or targets to meet, we are just volunteers, and members of the public wearing a jacket with Street Pastors written in fluorescent letters.
I am 59 and my partner is 65, we put our trust in prayer and in God. Late one night we came across a car full of youths parked near the centre of the road, about a dozen of their mates were fooling around in the road by the car, most of them were drinking. We walked up to the driver and asked if he could park in a safer place, he started up the car and moved it safely. We said a few words to the guys fooling around in the road, and they moved onto the pavement.
There were a couple of intimidating guys right in our face, and my little lady partner looked up to them and said, I am not afraid, strangely they backed off and seemed to become more friendly. It was only as we were able to talk with them and listen to their stories we found out they were really a good bunch. Our confidence comes from knowing there is a prayer team at the church praying for our needs and the needs of the community.
On another occasion we saw a group of about twenty youngsters, they were shouting and fooling around. As we approached we noticed one girl on the grass she was drunk and not very well, her friends seemed to think it was funny and paid no attention to her. Another girl was running around and screaming she had lost her phone, others in the group were aggravating her.
We approached the girl on the ground and talked to her, we asked her if she could phone her parents for help, or did she have any friends who could help her. A couple of her friends came forward and we talked with them, they reassured us they could help the girl, and she seemed happy with this.
We talked to a few people and asked them about the missing phone and a youth pulled it out from his sock, we thanked him for giving it back to the owner. We were only with them for about five minutes, but that was long enough to encourage the youngsters to care about each other, they drifted away in smaller groups.
The police have given Street Pastors much of the credit for reducing crime by a third since we started, compared to the same period of time last year. This good news story was put on the front page of our local paper, and it is unusual for a newspaper to say something good about the church on the front page. I truthfully do not know what we do that works towards reducing crime.
I can only say that I have faith that God is helping us and doing something too. Since doing this ministry, I have found myself in a number of fearful situations, and somehow I find this inner peace that surpasses all understanding.
The only thing I have that mabye could inspire someone else in some way is below:
All of my life growing up our family was very dysfunctional my Mom and Dad were constantly fighting and reminded us often that they only stayed together for us.
I could just sit at the top of our stairs and hear them, most of the time it seemed to be about me and my unruly behavoir or bad grades. They didn't even sleep in the same room, and affection was unheard of between them. As for my sister and I we were adopted from two different families at birth, so they blessed us by taking us. But my Mom really didn't want to adopt another after my sister, my Dad did. So needless to say my Mom and I had no relationship except fighting. I felt love from my Dad, he was always there for me. But at the same time it was an emotional love, not physical love, like hugging! Our family tried quite a few religions while I was growing up but nothing was right. As a teen I was not the best person, and ended up marrying young to an older man, he was abusive and controlling but I stayed anyway, I didn't feel worth anything. Then as an adult I became succesful in my career, but was still unhappily married and sad most of the time! I lived for my kids only!
Then when I finally decided on divorce I went a little wild and stupid for a short time, then I happen to meet a brother who was here on travel, and he shared Islam and some of its teachings with me, and I was amazed!! I studdied on my own and started to go to our Masjid here and met soooo many wonderful sisters who helped me. Everything just fit for once, and I have never been more peaceful and sure. Don't get me wrong its a struggle to be the only muslim in my family or my friends, they don't get what I'm doing and are very hurtful and mean. But I don't care about pleasing them, I am happy for my decision and inshallah I am becoming a better person!
Sorry so long>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Thanks for the thread starter Sevgi. Every religion has its inspirational stories. Islam must be rich of them.
Anyway, here's what happened to my mom way back in the 80's. My dad lost his job of that time and things were pretty rough for us. One day, a frriend of mom's came to visit her and told her she was going to the mall. She insisted in a sticky way that my mother should come with her. My mother was so very embarassed for had not a single buck to spend in the mall. She politely declined her friend's offer but this latter insisted and insisted. My mom could not tell her to which extent she was broke. She reluctantly accepted and went to her room and prayed Allah to help her in those tough days and to hide her misery from her friend. She, then, followed her friend with a heavy heart. When leaving the house, she saw the postman leaving the alley. She went to check her mail in the mailbox. She looked down, she saw a 50$ bill on the ground. She called the postman but he said it was not his. So, she took the 50$ bill and she felt like it was heaven sent.
When everything seems to be dark around us, there's always a ray of light that comes from the very unsuspected areas.
ok, nearly three years i was going through a reeeeal rough patch. i mean it got so bad, i was at my wits end. it felt like i was pushed to the very edge of the cliff. i just couldnt take it anymore. it really got me. this thing was affecting my whole life. my food, my sleep, my grades etc, ...so yh it was really bad. and one day i woke up and thought thats it, i cant handle and i dont wanna go through this no more. and i really couldnt. so much so that i was literally about to give up and throw the towel in. but then at the back of my head i heard theese ayahs
And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord's (tribunal) and had restrained (their) soul from lower desires, Their abode will be the Garden.
and subhanallah thats what saved me. i thought nah i have to fight this. and al-hamdulilah i was given the strength to. the battle went on oh: but alhamdulilah there is always light at the end of the tunnel eh
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oh: but alhamdulilah there is always light at the end of the tunnel eh
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