Hidayah o hidayah!

Bismillahirrahman nir rahim...

I felt like writing this entry after I watched a video of Syeikh Yusuf Estes answering questions given to him in the YouTube.
The question asked to Syeikh Yusuf was "why some non-Muslims coming to Islam & Muslims leaving Islam?". I really admired and learned alot from Syeikh Yusuf's answer. Nicely answered,that is.
His answer was simple, "Guidance (hidayah). Some people have it,and some people don't. Allah gives guidance to those people who REALLY wants it and holds it from anyone who doesn't want it." He continued,"Many people pretend that they have it.And they'll be right beside you;go on through this life and then,on the day of Judgement, you'll find that they're not with us. These are called the 'Munafiqqin'." (note: please forgive any wrong spelling words.hehe)
He added: And the Sahabi (para Sahabat) were themselves scared about that to the extend, to the extend; that they would say.. this is from Saidina Umar r.a that,"If all the people are going to Paradise except one,I'm afraid that it's going to be me.."

Friends.. if someone that we respected and know how saleh he is (being the Sahabi of Rasulullah SAW) even felt so scared of losing the guidance of Allah SWT,what about us? The imbecile us?? That is why we were taught to pray everyday to ask for Allah guidances throughout our life. Allah guidance may come without us knowing it and may go if we don't keep it well inside of us. It is so precious yet, it is also so fragile.

"Robbana la tuziq' kuluu bana baqda iz hadaitana wa hablana milladunk rohmatan innaka antal wahhab"
"Our Lord!" (they say), "Let not our hearts deviate Now after Thou hast guided us, But grant us mercy From Thine own Presence; For Thou art the Grantor Of bounties without measure.(3:8)

These days,we heard of more and more people converting into Islam. I've once heard that they are actually more likely of reverting to Islam because Islam is a religion for all mankind (agama fitrah).Alhamdulillah,most of them are women. According to Syeikh Yusuf while answering the question,he said that Islam is actually the fast growing religion everyday.

Unprecedented numbers of British people, nearly all of them women, are converting to Islam at a time of deep divisions within the Anglican and Catholic churches.

The rate of conversions has prompted predictions that Islam will rapidly become an important religious force in this country. "Within the next 20 years the number of British converts will equal or overtake the immigrant Muslim community that brought the faith here", says Rose Kendrick, a religious education teacher at a Hull comprehensive and the author of a textbook guide to the Qur'an. She says: "Islam is as much a world faith as is Roman Catholicism. No one nationality claims it as its own". Islam is also spreading fast on the continent and in America.

source from http://qriuz.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-british-women-are-turning-to-islam.html

It happens in the West. Islam is growing. We,people of Asia always heard of how high is the negative media exposure of Islam in the West and yet,this is what happen there. Allahu akhbar~! I would like to believe that despite of all the negative media exposure in the West, there are still more and more people attracted to Islam because they learn and know what Islam is really all about. They learn the true value of Islam and not just the Islam on the surface. Being in the 'darkness' outside Islam makes them having the urge to search for the true light that could help them throughout their life. And the search,the genuine search for light of life, show them the true road of Islam. These people,that are really searching..are those that Syeikh Yusuf said earlier as "people who really want it(the guidance from Allah)". Thus,Allah gives them His guidance and show them the true color of Islam.

"Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (its teaching in various aspects): the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble thereat; then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah.s praises. Such is the guidance of Allah. He guides therewith whom He pleases, but such as Allah leaves to stray, can have none to guide." (39:23)

"And such as Allah doth guide there can be none to lead astray. Is not Allah Exalted in Power, (Able to enforce His Will), Lord of Retribution?" (39:37)

So,moving on to the next part of the question earlier.. "why some Muslims are leaving Islam?". It is what we called Apostate or 'murtad' in Malay. The answer to this question will also be "guidance" where those people who were in Islam (Muslim) then they leave Islam for other religion(or some, to no religion at all). We could say that these people take 'guidance from Allah' for granted. They didn't asked for Allah to maintain it(the guidance) in their heart or never bother of it at all. Let's take a simple example in our life.. our car,maybe. Yes,let's take that one. I believe that each car we own has to be serviced at some level of kilometres that car had been driven to or until some date fixed. The car if not service or undergoes its maintance,won't work so well.. isn't it? Ah,that goes for my car. After serviced and underwent the maintance,Subhanallah.. I can drive it faster. :) So there goes our guidance from Allah inside our heart. If we didn't bother about it or asked Allah to 'maintain' it..it may get 'rusted' or fly away from us.Nauzubillah min zalik.

Another answer/reason of people leaving Islam from Syeikh Yusuf is "...some of the material things that we might look at..". He gave the example "..such as, 'oh,it's more fun to be Christian because they have piano,organ,guitar..they jump up & down and have good time.. you don't have to pray 5 times a day,you don't have to fast in Ramadhan,you don't have to go to pilgrim (Hajj) anywhere. And boys & girls can hang out together...and then, love...'. " Indeed,some people who doesn't the true value of Islam may feel that all the ibadah as a burden to them. They wanted more of the world we're living in now than the world we'll be living in later in the Akhirat. Yet, some cases that I observed (well,not much though) are 'those that were born as a Muslim' and Islam is just a religion of the family that passed by generations before them. In Malay we can called that as "Islam warisan". They are just Muslims because they parents are Muslims. I am one being born naturally in an Islamic family too,though. My point is that these people take Islam for granted. They thought they know Islam well,by heart but yet.. the truth is, they don't. Taking Islam for granted as in as long as you do the shalat (solat), fast in Ramadhan, pay your zakat then that just it. It is taking Islam only by some half part of it. Not ALL of it. Even the Islamic Education (Pendidikan Islam) in school are not taken seriously by the young people. It is learned for examination purpose,not for the basis in life. Well, honestly.. that's what I did back when I was still in my Jahiliyyah period (ahh!!). I took Islamic value for granted. There are times when a thought crossed my mind saying, "Ah,even if I didn't do all the wajib things.. I'm still a Muslim. I'll get into the Paradise anyhow." Astaghfirullah al'azim. May Allah forgive me.
Just like what Allah had said in Surah Al-Baqarah: 208;
"O ye who believe! Enter into Islam Wholeheartedly; And follow not The footsteps Of the Evil One; For he is to you An avowed enemy."

That kind of giving me some new idea to share about us,the naturally born-Muslim. Some of us,including me.. when doing something that forbidden by Islam (from lying,talking about other people at their back (ghibah) to drinking alcohol etc) thought that we'll still have time to ask for Allah forgiveness (Taubat). Heh,yeah right. Well, some people did given chances to repent. BUT BEAR IN MIND.. do we always know what't in the future for us? Do we know when we'll die? What if we died before we could repent our sins?

Here's a simple story I want to share. There's a girl who never left her shalat. It is only the Fajr shalat (solat Subuh) that sometimes she'll have the problem of to do on time because she would wake up later in the Dhuha time instead. Especially during the holidays. One day, it happens again. She thought for that day, she'll just qada' the shalat together with her Zuhur shalat. Meaning,she'll do her qada' Fajar shalat after the Zuhur shalat. When getting ready for the Zuhur shalat,she realized that she got her period.So,she can't shalat for sure. Remembering that she could actually manage to at least shalat for the Fajr, she felt so regretful. She knew that she doesn't have the very excuse to skip the Fajr shalat when she only got her period starting near the Zuhur time (she could just qada' her Fajr shalat right away after she woke up,when she still hadn't her period).
It teaches her one valuable thing. The Fajr shalat is like her everyday life (with all the amalan soleh) and the period is like the death. If she died suddenly,not knowing just like the way she got her period suddenly.. and then,she postponed all the amalan soleh she was supposed to do as told by Allah in the Al-Quran (just like the way she postponed her Fajr qada' shalat).. she would never had the time to repent her sins for leaving the amalan soleh or ibadahs. Lucky for her,it's only the period.She won't have it for long.

So,friends... be proud to be a Muslim. There's Paradise waiting for us in the afterworld. InsyaAllah. Always pray to Allah to be given guidance by Him and maintaned,of course. Search for Islam,truthfully and genuinely. Don't just be a Muslim only on the IC (Identification Card).

"Let there be no compulsion In religion: Truth stands out Clear from Error: whoever Rejects Evil and believes In Allah hath grasped The most trustworthy Handhold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth And knoweth all things." (2:256)

and remember;

"O ye who believe! if any from among you turn back from his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him,- lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of Allah, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He pleaseth. And Allah encompasseth all, and He knoweth all things." (5:54)
I supposed this could conclude why there are people who truly understands Islam coming to Islam while some of the Muslims leave Islam. Well,Allah knows best!

Please forgive me for anything and also please let me know any mistakes I've done. I know I'm not perfect.

Allahu ahlam.

Trivia:
What is it that when it comes,we may not realize it's coming.
If we realized it after that,then we take hold of it and grasped it carefully..
It'll be like a lottery win for ourselves.
But if we never realized it or even bothered by it and let it go easily
It'll be such a fool of us for letting go of the key to Paradise.
What else would it be,if not for the 'guidance of Allah'. :)