Who Am I?
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As salaam alaykum,
Allow me to introduce myself. I am a single man struggling with some issues in my life at the moment. I was raised a Christian, but have recently become very curious about Islam, partly due to everything that has been going on in the Middle East and North Africa as well as my own life struggles. I started wondering to myself, what is it about their faith that inspires the people of these countries to do what they have done (and continue to do)? Why do they believe what they believe, and why do I believe what I believe?
I am a student of history, so I am vaguely familiar with the history of Islam and how it spread throughout the world, but being a Western Christian, I admit that I know little about Islam as a religion. I only know that I cannot rely on what I see and hear in the Western media since Islam has always had a bad reputation in the Western world (and particularly in the United States).
I took it upon myself to learn all I could about Islam and Muslims. I visited a local mosque and obtained a copy of the Qu’ran. I began to read through it in order to understand what I was looking for. I have also begun taking classes in Arabic and listening to sermons and lessons on the Qu’ran and on Islamic issues. I continue to be surprised and amazed by what I read and hear.
I have to admit that though I was raised a Christian, as an adult I drifted away from that faith. I was a hardcore atheist for several years and spent a lot of time angry and confused about a lot of things. Then one day I realized that life is too short to be angry all the time, and so I began to look for answers, which is what brings me here.
I am struggling to find my identity and my place in this world. All I know right now is that I am not happy with who I am and what I have become over the last 20 years or so. I spent a lot of my life being angry and feeling sorry for myself and hating everything. The time for that is gone, and now I find myself looking for enlightenment. I want to become something better than who I am right now. There has to be more to life than what I have. I have recently began to attend local churches in the area, but have yet to find one where I feel like I belong.
Forgive me if I got a little too serious for my first post, but I feel like I was led here, and I’m trying to figure out why.
Tl;dr: Christian man unhappy with his life and himself is trying to figure out which way is right for him…
Allow me to introduce myself. I am a single man struggling with some issues in my life at the moment. I was raised a Christian, but have recently become very curious about Islam, partly due to everything that has been going on in the Middle East and North Africa as well as my own life struggles. I started wondering to myself, what is it about their faith that inspires the people of these countries to do what they have done (and continue to do)? Why do they believe what they believe, and why do I believe what I believe?
I am a student of history, so I am vaguely familiar with the history of Islam and how it spread throughout the world, but being a Western Christian, I admit that I know little about Islam as a religion. I only know that I cannot rely on what I see and hear in the Western media since Islam has always had a bad reputation in the Western world (and particularly in the United States).
I took it upon myself to learn all I could about Islam and Muslims. I visited a local mosque and obtained a copy of the Qu’ran. I began to read through it in order to understand what I was looking for. I have also begun taking classes in Arabic and listening to sermons and lessons on the Qu’ran and on Islamic issues. I continue to be surprised and amazed by what I read and hear.
I have to admit that though I was raised a Christian, as an adult I drifted away from that faith. I was a hardcore atheist for several years and spent a lot of time angry and confused about a lot of things. Then one day I realized that life is too short to be angry all the time, and so I began to look for answers, which is what brings me here.
I am struggling to find my identity and my place in this world. All I know right now is that I am not happy with who I am and what I have become over the last 20 years or so. I spent a lot of my life being angry and feeling sorry for myself and hating everything. The time for that is gone, and now I find myself looking for enlightenment. I want to become something better than who I am right now. There has to be more to life than what I have. I have recently began to attend local churches in the area, but have yet to find one where I feel like I belong.
Forgive me if I got a little too serious for my first post, but I feel like I was led here, and I’m trying to figure out why.
Tl;dr: Christian man unhappy with his life and himself is trying to figure out which way is right for him…
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