For years I was a "khane jo chor" as my family called me, I'd not go to khane, come up with all sorts of excuses, just to avoid going to khane. I'd rather be sitting home watching movies and read novels.Then About a year ago, I went through a traumatic experience in my life, Never before had i felt so lonely, so alone, so lost, because i had lost the woman i had loved. A cousin of mine, spoke to me, we talked about the pain, and he said the only way to overcome that pain, is by going to khane, do bandagi, take Allah's name. Its been a few months now, and i have tried to understand my faith a little better, and read more books about the ismaili faith.
Should we believe that everything happens for a reason? Losing the woman i loved was a way of God guiding me to his light?
Also I wish to learn more about my faith, some waezes by missionaries, Does anyone know where i can find these inspirational material?
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lost
hi Samir,<BR><BR>I hope this response of mowlana sultan mohd shah helps you.<BR><BR>In my opinion everything happens for a reason, and certain people come in your life and leave such an imprint that it changes you forever. All of us have a purpose to fulfil and that purpose it to become o­ne with allah.<BR><BR>Here is the exerp that I hope will help you,<BR><BR><BR><P><A name="My Philosophy of Happiness"></A><FONT color=#993366><FONT size=+1>My Philosophy of Happiness - His Will</FONT></FONT>
<P>I should, first of all, advise my heirs to learn to desire the thing that happens, and not try to mould events to their desires. It was silly of the poet Omar to write:
<P>'Ah love, could you and I with Him conspire, to grasp this sorry scheme of things entire. Would we not shatter it to bits, and then remold it nearer to the heart's desire?'
<P>That way lies unhappiness, destruction. It is not sorry scheme of things, and the business, the duty of man, is to get himself into harmony with it.
<P>I would counsel my heirs to seek satisfaction, not in the flux of circumstances, but within themselves; I would have them resolute, self-controlled, independent but not rebellious. Let them seek communion with that Eternal Reality which I call Allah and you call God! For that is the twin problem of existence...to be at o­nce entirely yourself and altogether at o­ne with the Eternal."
<P>I say that you should endeavor to suit your desire to the event and not the event to your desire. If a wall tumbles down and crushes my foot I must say: "That is the best thing that could happen to me."
<P>An uncle of mine had a son who was killed. The father gave thanks to Allah for the event. You think that he did not love his son! You are wrong. He loved him dearly. I confess that I may not yet have risen to such a spiritual height. But I believe that I shall rise to it. I know that this is the way to happiness.
<P>I should have a word to say to those who deem themselves unfortunate from a worldly point of view. I should say to them, do not look up and lament that you are not as well off as those above you, look down and congratulate yourself that you are better off than those below you.
<P>To a man who looks with such eyes upon the world it is not a prison but a garden. A marvelous garden <I>–</I> the garden of the Lord. I shall invite my heirs to feast their eyes o­n the miraculous beauty of the earth; rivers and seas to slake the earth's eternal thirst, hills like the tents of a great encampment, forests like an army with banners; wide open spaces, dawns and sunsets the indomitable arch of the sky.
<P>All these great gifts are freely given to the man with open eyes, open hands and open heart. But the eyes must be clear, the hands and heart be strong. I would impress upon my heirs the absolute need to be healthy. If they neglect their body, they will be at odds with the universe</P>
<P>I should, first of all, advise my heirs to learn to desire the thing that happens, and not try to mould events to their desires. It was silly of the poet Omar to write:
<P>'Ah love, could you and I with Him conspire, to grasp this sorry scheme of things entire. Would we not shatter it to bits, and then remold it nearer to the heart's desire?'
<P>That way lies unhappiness, destruction. It is not sorry scheme of things, and the business, the duty of man, is to get himself into harmony with it.
<P>I would counsel my heirs to seek satisfaction, not in the flux of circumstances, but within themselves; I would have them resolute, self-controlled, independent but not rebellious. Let them seek communion with that Eternal Reality which I call Allah and you call God! For that is the twin problem of existence...to be at o­nce entirely yourself and altogether at o­ne with the Eternal."
<P>I say that you should endeavor to suit your desire to the event and not the event to your desire. If a wall tumbles down and crushes my foot I must say: "That is the best thing that could happen to me."
<P>An uncle of mine had a son who was killed. The father gave thanks to Allah for the event. You think that he did not love his son! You are wrong. He loved him dearly. I confess that I may not yet have risen to such a spiritual height. But I believe that I shall rise to it. I know that this is the way to happiness.
<P>I should have a word to say to those who deem themselves unfortunate from a worldly point of view. I should say to them, do not look up and lament that you are not as well off as those above you, look down and congratulate yourself that you are better off than those below you.
<P>To a man who looks with such eyes upon the world it is not a prison but a garden. A marvelous garden <I>–</I> the garden of the Lord. I shall invite my heirs to feast their eyes o­n the miraculous beauty of the earth; rivers and seas to slake the earth's eternal thirst, hills like the tents of a great encampment, forests like an army with banners; wide open spaces, dawns and sunsets the indomitable arch of the sky.
<P>All these great gifts are freely given to the man with open eyes, open hands and open heart. But the eyes must be clear, the hands and heart be strong. I would impress upon my heirs the absolute need to be healthy. If they neglect their body, they will be at odds with the universe</P>