A few days after I wrote the last post I was flipping through the pages of my The Secret and I read something about gratitude which reminded me that I hadn't mentioned anything about gratitude in my previous post. The issue of gratitude is most important for the law of attraction to work; in the wise words of Wallace Wattles (1860-1911):
"Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in poverty by their lack of gratitude."
It's quite true, you know, most of us have wonderful and amazing things in our lives but all we can see is what we don't have. I suppose it's just human nature that we have such a narrow field of vision. It is understandable that when someone needs something that they don't have, it can cause distress, and all the other blessings and gifts that we have don't seem like much anymore. However, I find that one of the ways to get over that, is by closing your eyes and opening your imagination...think of all the things in your life that you just cannot imagine living without...your eyes..your sense of smell, touch, taste, your ability to hear...your freedom to get up and walk, lie down, or sit..think of all those things, and imagine one by one your life without them. Think of all the details, visualize it as though it is an absolute reality. Now open your eyes, look around you, get up and walk in the room..touch the things that you see, concentrate on the way everything feels, looks, smells, sounds, and tastes. Just enjoying those five senses and trying to imagine life without them makes anything else you don't have seem far far away. You will wonder why you were so blind as not to see all the wonderful things you already have and enjoy. It is a perfectly normal process to want and need things that we don't have. It's when we make our lives miserable because of the lack of those things that is neither correct, nor is it normal. In addition to that, the more we focus on not having things the more we will not have them. You are sending out signals that you don't have some particular thing, so you will get more of what you focus on -- which is the lack of it.
You see, in order for us to receive what we asked for, we have to be a positive frequency; that is to say, in a positive state of mind, and by thinking all the time that we are miserable because we don't have this or we can't get that, we are making sure that we are in a constant state of negativity. Thus, we are blocking all the paths through which we could have received what we already asked for.
We all know this person, he is our neighbor, he is our colleague from work, or maybe he is one of our in-laws, in any shape or form we have all encountered, during the course of our life, someone who is like that. He is the person who refuses to believe or even acknowledge the fact that ANY good can happen in life. He thinks the weather is horrible all year round, the traffic was worse for him than anyone else , the boss is always picking on him, everyone treats him worse than anyone else. They always see the worst in any situation, and they refuse to let anyone think positive thoughts. This person, in all degrees of negativity, is probably never going to see any light in his/her life. Not only is this person attracting more of what he thinks about, he is literally blocking all possible paths of receiving anything good in his life.
Thinking of all the wonderful things in your life is the quickest and most efficient way to put yourself in a state of joy and happiness. Eventually, you reach the level where you feel like you are in love. In love with the world, with your life, with everything and everyone; this is when you would have reached the highest frequency there is, and this is when you will have become a magnet for all goodness and all that you wanted.
Saturday 19 July 2008
Wednesday 9 July 2008
The Secret
My dear friends, I am experiencing a turning point in my life. I am going through something, like nothing ever before. I have learned what I have been seeking for the past several years. I have learned The Secret. The secret of life. The secret to happiness. The secret to unconditional love. The secret to forgiveness. The secret to a happy ending.
I realize I haven’t been posting anything for a while, and that is due to two things. One, I haven’t had anything worthy of your precious time, and two, I didn’t (and still don’t) have an internet connection these days. So I waited until something big happened. Something magnificent that I would be able to write about from my heart. And it finally did.
I would say all my life, but I would really mean just the past seven years because that’s when my life really started. It’s when I started to understand the deeper meaning of life. It is at that time that I started writing down my goals and planning out my life. It was my first ever turning point in life. So for the past seven years I have been wondering, asking myself, and asking God – why do certain things happen? What makes me delirious with joy one second and the next I’m ready to jump out the window with depression? Why is that the exact number of times that I think my computer will go crazy or stop working, it actually does? Why is it that some people just seem to have it all when others live like they don’t have anything at all? Well, through the course of those seven years, I have been getting bits and pieces of information, feedback from God to answer my little questions. Every time I learned something new it felt so good I just had to know more.
Ironically though, it seemed like throughout those seven years my life has been going from bad to worse. I didn’t know why but it seemed like this was the way things went for me. I mourned my ill fate and wondered what I could have possibly done to have reached this stage of misery. Me, the ever so cheerful, ever so joyful girl, I was always the most energetic one in the family. I was always open to new experiences and dying to do everything at the same time! I was always so excited about life that nothing could get in my way, not even an earthquake. I slowly wilted, I lost my light and energy, I forgot what I was so excited about. Life seemed to be treating me so badly that I just hated it, I got to the point that I would wish I was dead. It was sad. Really sad. But just then, at the darkest point of my life, at the lowest point I reached, God started to take my hand. I was so depressed one day that I had to get out of the house; I went to my sanctuary, Virgin Megastore! I browsed for hours through the books dying to find anything I could buy. After an eternity, I found myself magnetized towards a shelf that was never there before, in a corner that I never looked before. I swear it was like someone was behind me pushing me towards this shelf. My eyes fell on the cover of a book, a book that I have read about and have been dying to find because it supposedly summarized what the past seven years of my life had been about. This book, more valuable than any other man-written book that I know of in this world, is, The Secret. This book is the simplest and most joy bringing book I have ever read. I just cannot describe it enough. With every sentence I read I would go “oh my God, yes, that is so true!” or “Wow! That’s why this has been happening, or not happening”. It’s quite magical that a book of such depth and value could be so simple and clear. I really want to meet the author, Rhonda Byrne, to give her a hug, and thank her for the gift she gave to the world. And you know what, I believe I will one day .
So, what is that Secret I’ve been rambling on about? In the simplest of terms, it is the Law of Attraction. This is the law that governs all of our lives, each and every one of us lives by that law. Whether we like it or not, and whether we choose to or not, it is there, and it works. It works for the good and the evil, the happy and the miserable, the young and the old. It does not choose people and leave out others; it is there for all of us, our genie, as they call it in the book, who answers our every call.
It happened to all of us, we look at something, we say to ourselves “ Oh, I wish I could have that”, then we walk away and forget about it. A few days, weeks, months, or even years later, we realize that got what we wanted without even trying. If you look closely at the events that led you to getting what you want, you will see that if just one event or decision had been different, you wouldn’t have been led to having what you asked for. A more common example, you think of someone, you keep telling yourself, I want to call that person, I should get together with them sometime, you start remembering things you want to tell them or things that happened that remind you of that person, and then your phone rings. Yes, it is that person calling you. It happens with my mum all the time, and she’s always telling people “I was just going to call you, or I was just thinking of you” that I sometimes wonder if people think she’s just saying that! But I know it’s true. I believe in that law so strongly that I would believe that chocolate doesn’t exist before I’d believe that it doesn’t work!
I always asked myself, why is it that people like Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, and other icons of success in our modern world became the way they did. Most of them started out as very ordinary people, but with extraordinary dreams. Dreams that were much bigger than their logic could believe at the time. But they had faith, and that is why they are what they are now.
I used to think that just by thinking about something it would come true, but that’s not the way it works. I read books about the power of our subconscious mind, the power of positive thinking, and things of the sort, and that’s the picture that I got. If you think about something a lot, and with passion, if you need something so strongly it would happen. To be honest, that was a hassle. To gather the energy every time you want something, to become so passionate about it and want it like it’s a matter of life or death, is not always an easy thing to do. It is very consuming and you don’t always feel so strongly about the things you want, but you still want them. So for the last four years I sort of stopped trying to attract things into my life, I forgot about my goals, I just left myself to the furious tides of life. I let myself drift, personally, spiritually, socially, and financially. I had no control over my life and I hated my guts. My college years were the lowest points of my entire existence. Then I graduated. I hated life even more, but I was on my way up. V.E.R.Y S.L.O.W.L.Y. And now, a year after my graduation, I am once again the joyful, cheerful, innocent (but wise) child that I always loved. I love life, I love my life. Nothing changed much in my own life. Many of the things that I wanted still didn’t come true, but I now know that it was my fault they didn’t happen. I now know that I, and ONLY I, have all the power I need to bring about everything I wanted from life. All I had to do was simply ask. There were two things I used to do in my life that guaranteed I wouldn’t get what I wanted, I either wanted what I wanted so much to the level of desperation, or I didn’t want it at all and couldn’t see any way of it coming true. Either way, I was never going to get what I wanted from life. Then along came The Secret, it taught me that for life to start giving us what we want, for God to start answering our prayers, we must be in a state of joy, let go of our past pains and future fears, believe that what you want is already in existence, and finally, just let it go and don’t think about it. It will manifest itself into your life. It is not your job to worry about how it will happen, or when, all you have to do is ask, believe, and receive. When God tells us to pray for what we want, He does not tell us that he may answer our prayers; He tells us that it is mandatory that He will answer them. There are no terms, no conditions, and no catches. But for us to start seeing our wishes manifest themselves in our lives, we must first purify our hearts of any envy, hate, grudges, bigotry, or anything that could pull us away from entering the zone of joy and love in which we can receive what we asked for.
Everything that you can ever dream of in a 100 year life span is already in existence in the world. No matter how crazy it sounds, it is there. The idea of a virtual space through which people can talk, see each other, learn about anything, within parts of a second was once nothing more than a person, or several people’s vision. If anyone had talked about it a few hundred years ago, they probably would have been taken away to an insane asylum; and now, I think about 90% of the word’s population couldn’t imagine their life without the internet. So nothing is ever too crazy or weird to come true. Whatever you think is a wacky idea, there’s always something wackier! So yes, I do believe that they will invent that bar of chocolate that never finishes, and the water bottle that refills automatically!
This knowledge that God bestowed upon me has turned my life into a paradise. I wake up every single day with a smile on my face. I sing while I cook once again, I smile for no reason. I have more patience and tolerance with people and things than before. I am the best version of myself :D I have learned to be happy just because, I have learned that not having what I want is not always the reason I have a heavy feeling in my heart. I am at a place now where the moment I feel down, I see something on TV, read something in a paper, or in some way be reminded of The Secret; and I am instantly in that place of joy once again. It is not having what you want that makes you happy, simply because when you get it, there will always be other things you want and don’t have; but it is the knowledge that you have the power to call it forth into your life that makes all the difference. It is the knowledge that you are the artist and you get to paint your own life exactly as you wish that gives you a happiness that is better than the feeling of being in love.
Ask yourself these questions, and take the time to answer them, write down the answers and read them at least once a day:
1. What is my joy?
2. How do I feel (now)?
3. What do I want?
When you put yourself in a state of joy, when you feel happy, generous, and forgiving, and when you know what you want, only then will you get your hearts desires.
Take it from the masters, this is the recipe for success, this is the answer to your questions.
I realize I haven’t been posting anything for a while, and that is due to two things. One, I haven’t had anything worthy of your precious time, and two, I didn’t (and still don’t) have an internet connection these days. So I waited until something big happened. Something magnificent that I would be able to write about from my heart. And it finally did.
I would say all my life, but I would really mean just the past seven years because that’s when my life really started. It’s when I started to understand the deeper meaning of life. It is at that time that I started writing down my goals and planning out my life. It was my first ever turning point in life. So for the past seven years I have been wondering, asking myself, and asking God – why do certain things happen? What makes me delirious with joy one second and the next I’m ready to jump out the window with depression? Why is that the exact number of times that I think my computer will go crazy or stop working, it actually does? Why is it that some people just seem to have it all when others live like they don’t have anything at all? Well, through the course of those seven years, I have been getting bits and pieces of information, feedback from God to answer my little questions. Every time I learned something new it felt so good I just had to know more.
Ironically though, it seemed like throughout those seven years my life has been going from bad to worse. I didn’t know why but it seemed like this was the way things went for me. I mourned my ill fate and wondered what I could have possibly done to have reached this stage of misery. Me, the ever so cheerful, ever so joyful girl, I was always the most energetic one in the family. I was always open to new experiences and dying to do everything at the same time! I was always so excited about life that nothing could get in my way, not even an earthquake. I slowly wilted, I lost my light and energy, I forgot what I was so excited about. Life seemed to be treating me so badly that I just hated it, I got to the point that I would wish I was dead. It was sad. Really sad. But just then, at the darkest point of my life, at the lowest point I reached, God started to take my hand. I was so depressed one day that I had to get out of the house; I went to my sanctuary, Virgin Megastore! I browsed for hours through the books dying to find anything I could buy. After an eternity, I found myself magnetized towards a shelf that was never there before, in a corner that I never looked before. I swear it was like someone was behind me pushing me towards this shelf. My eyes fell on the cover of a book, a book that I have read about and have been dying to find because it supposedly summarized what the past seven years of my life had been about. This book, more valuable than any other man-written book that I know of in this world, is, The Secret. This book is the simplest and most joy bringing book I have ever read. I just cannot describe it enough. With every sentence I read I would go “oh my God, yes, that is so true!” or “Wow! That’s why this has been happening, or not happening”. It’s quite magical that a book of such depth and value could be so simple and clear. I really want to meet the author, Rhonda Byrne, to give her a hug, and thank her for the gift she gave to the world. And you know what, I believe I will one day .
So, what is that Secret I’ve been rambling on about? In the simplest of terms, it is the Law of Attraction. This is the law that governs all of our lives, each and every one of us lives by that law. Whether we like it or not, and whether we choose to or not, it is there, and it works. It works for the good and the evil, the happy and the miserable, the young and the old. It does not choose people and leave out others; it is there for all of us, our genie, as they call it in the book, who answers our every call.
It happened to all of us, we look at something, we say to ourselves “ Oh, I wish I could have that”, then we walk away and forget about it. A few days, weeks, months, or even years later, we realize that got what we wanted without even trying. If you look closely at the events that led you to getting what you want, you will see that if just one event or decision had been different, you wouldn’t have been led to having what you asked for. A more common example, you think of someone, you keep telling yourself, I want to call that person, I should get together with them sometime, you start remembering things you want to tell them or things that happened that remind you of that person, and then your phone rings. Yes, it is that person calling you. It happens with my mum all the time, and she’s always telling people “I was just going to call you, or I was just thinking of you” that I sometimes wonder if people think she’s just saying that! But I know it’s true. I believe in that law so strongly that I would believe that chocolate doesn’t exist before I’d believe that it doesn’t work!
I always asked myself, why is it that people like Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, and other icons of success in our modern world became the way they did. Most of them started out as very ordinary people, but with extraordinary dreams. Dreams that were much bigger than their logic could believe at the time. But they had faith, and that is why they are what they are now.
I used to think that just by thinking about something it would come true, but that’s not the way it works. I read books about the power of our subconscious mind, the power of positive thinking, and things of the sort, and that’s the picture that I got. If you think about something a lot, and with passion, if you need something so strongly it would happen. To be honest, that was a hassle. To gather the energy every time you want something, to become so passionate about it and want it like it’s a matter of life or death, is not always an easy thing to do. It is very consuming and you don’t always feel so strongly about the things you want, but you still want them. So for the last four years I sort of stopped trying to attract things into my life, I forgot about my goals, I just left myself to the furious tides of life. I let myself drift, personally, spiritually, socially, and financially. I had no control over my life and I hated my guts. My college years were the lowest points of my entire existence. Then I graduated. I hated life even more, but I was on my way up. V.E.R.Y S.L.O.W.L.Y. And now, a year after my graduation, I am once again the joyful, cheerful, innocent (but wise) child that I always loved. I love life, I love my life. Nothing changed much in my own life. Many of the things that I wanted still didn’t come true, but I now know that it was my fault they didn’t happen. I now know that I, and ONLY I, have all the power I need to bring about everything I wanted from life. All I had to do was simply ask. There were two things I used to do in my life that guaranteed I wouldn’t get what I wanted, I either wanted what I wanted so much to the level of desperation, or I didn’t want it at all and couldn’t see any way of it coming true. Either way, I was never going to get what I wanted from life. Then along came The Secret, it taught me that for life to start giving us what we want, for God to start answering our prayers, we must be in a state of joy, let go of our past pains and future fears, believe that what you want is already in existence, and finally, just let it go and don’t think about it. It will manifest itself into your life. It is not your job to worry about how it will happen, or when, all you have to do is ask, believe, and receive. When God tells us to pray for what we want, He does not tell us that he may answer our prayers; He tells us that it is mandatory that He will answer them. There are no terms, no conditions, and no catches. But for us to start seeing our wishes manifest themselves in our lives, we must first purify our hearts of any envy, hate, grudges, bigotry, or anything that could pull us away from entering the zone of joy and love in which we can receive what we asked for.
Everything that you can ever dream of in a 100 year life span is already in existence in the world. No matter how crazy it sounds, it is there. The idea of a virtual space through which people can talk, see each other, learn about anything, within parts of a second was once nothing more than a person, or several people’s vision. If anyone had talked about it a few hundred years ago, they probably would have been taken away to an insane asylum; and now, I think about 90% of the word’s population couldn’t imagine their life without the internet. So nothing is ever too crazy or weird to come true. Whatever you think is a wacky idea, there’s always something wackier! So yes, I do believe that they will invent that bar of chocolate that never finishes, and the water bottle that refills automatically!
This knowledge that God bestowed upon me has turned my life into a paradise. I wake up every single day with a smile on my face. I sing while I cook once again, I smile for no reason. I have more patience and tolerance with people and things than before. I am the best version of myself :D I have learned to be happy just because, I have learned that not having what I want is not always the reason I have a heavy feeling in my heart. I am at a place now where the moment I feel down, I see something on TV, read something in a paper, or in some way be reminded of The Secret; and I am instantly in that place of joy once again. It is not having what you want that makes you happy, simply because when you get it, there will always be other things you want and don’t have; but it is the knowledge that you have the power to call it forth into your life that makes all the difference. It is the knowledge that you are the artist and you get to paint your own life exactly as you wish that gives you a happiness that is better than the feeling of being in love.
Ask yourself these questions, and take the time to answer them, write down the answers and read them at least once a day:
1. What is my joy?
2. How do I feel (now)?
3. What do I want?
When you put yourself in a state of joy, when you feel happy, generous, and forgiving, and when you know what you want, only then will you get your hearts desires.
Take it from the masters, this is the recipe for success, this is the answer to your questions.
Thursday 8 May 2008
Childhood Memories
Yikes, I realize it's been quite a while since i posted anything. But believe you me, it's for your own good. If I had brought myself to writing anything in this past month, it would've made you so blue you'd jump out of the window before even getting to the first paragraph! I'm sorry folks, I haven't quite been myself lately, this is a very VERY critical time in my life so I needed lots of alone time, plus some unfortunate events have been happening at the moment so I wasn't at my best.
Anyhu, one of the best days I can remember about my childhood were those that we spent at my late uncle's villa..well, I say villa because I can't really find any other description. It wasn't a country house, it wasn't a summer house, it was a two-storey house with a vegetable garden, a fruit garden, and a front yard..nothing lavish, but God was it cozy. It was my ideal vacation to be there, because my uncle, God rest his soul, wasn't the kind of guy who could spend any vacation with only a few people around him..he had to have the WHOLE family! And the family of the family, and friends of the family! And believe me when i say that we are a B-I-G family so although it wasn't Taj Mahal, it was enough for us all to eat, sleep, run around, play racket, he even had a couple swings and a slide there. Everyone seemed to find something to do there, football, volley ball, speedball, basketball. Basically, all kinds of ball games! The only thing that would have made it heaven is if there was a swimming pool. Oh yes. And mind you, he did speak of it, but the poor guy got ill and passed away before he could do anything about it. Unfortunately, it's sold now, for a few years after he died we stopped going there. It was just too difficult to be there without him sitting at the barbecue or walking in the garden, or doing one of those things that made him who he is. He was the only man I knew who was willing to do anything to be there for everyone, even people he didn't know sometimes. He once travelled from town to town, about a 2 hour drive back and forth just to get me his daughter's (my cousin's) bike because he felt that i was bored and had nothing to do. Who does that? I realize it's probably not the most exciting thing for you to be reading about a dead guy who loved everybody, but I felt that someone this magnificent had to be memorialized in some way. And you don't get many people who are this devoted to helping people out, and personally I've been hugely influenced by this man, and sometimes we don't realize how satisfying it is to help someone out when they really need it until it's been done with us, or until we do it for someone and you see the smile and happiness in their faces. Anyway, I just feel so blessed to have known and had someone this magnificent in my life. I'm so glad he married my aunt, I really don't know how the family would've turned out if these two were'nt meant for each other!
So I just wanted to share that with you guys, I don't know what reminded me now, he's passed away about 5 years ago now. I'm just glad to know he'll always be in my heart :)
On another note, I miss being here, at the blog I mean, I miss writing to you guys. Lately I've been keeping everything I write to myself and it's made me feel lonelier and lonelier.
That's all I've got in me for now..so until I see you next time..remember, a smile is only two cheeks up ;)
Anyhu, one of the best days I can remember about my childhood were those that we spent at my late uncle's villa..well, I say villa because I can't really find any other description. It wasn't a country house, it wasn't a summer house, it was a two-storey house with a vegetable garden, a fruit garden, and a front yard..nothing lavish, but God was it cozy. It was my ideal vacation to be there, because my uncle, God rest his soul, wasn't the kind of guy who could spend any vacation with only a few people around him..he had to have the WHOLE family! And the family of the family, and friends of the family! And believe me when i say that we are a B-I-G family so although it wasn't Taj Mahal, it was enough for us all to eat, sleep, run around, play racket, he even had a couple swings and a slide there. Everyone seemed to find something to do there, football, volley ball, speedball, basketball. Basically, all kinds of ball games! The only thing that would have made it heaven is if there was a swimming pool. Oh yes. And mind you, he did speak of it, but the poor guy got ill and passed away before he could do anything about it. Unfortunately, it's sold now, for a few years after he died we stopped going there. It was just too difficult to be there without him sitting at the barbecue or walking in the garden, or doing one of those things that made him who he is. He was the only man I knew who was willing to do anything to be there for everyone, even people he didn't know sometimes. He once travelled from town to town, about a 2 hour drive back and forth just to get me his daughter's (my cousin's) bike because he felt that i was bored and had nothing to do. Who does that? I realize it's probably not the most exciting thing for you to be reading about a dead guy who loved everybody, but I felt that someone this magnificent had to be memorialized in some way. And you don't get many people who are this devoted to helping people out, and personally I've been hugely influenced by this man, and sometimes we don't realize how satisfying it is to help someone out when they really need it until it's been done with us, or until we do it for someone and you see the smile and happiness in their faces. Anyway, I just feel so blessed to have known and had someone this magnificent in my life. I'm so glad he married my aunt, I really don't know how the family would've turned out if these two were'nt meant for each other!
So I just wanted to share that with you guys, I don't know what reminded me now, he's passed away about 5 years ago now. I'm just glad to know he'll always be in my heart :)
On another note, I miss being here, at the blog I mean, I miss writing to you guys. Lately I've been keeping everything I write to myself and it's made me feel lonelier and lonelier.
That's all I've got in me for now..so until I see you next time..remember, a smile is only two cheeks up ;)
Sunday 30 March 2008
On the Road from the Vatican to Al Azhar
على الطريق المؤدي من الفاتيكان الى الأزهر
إعداد ماري فيتزجيرالد
صحفية إيرلندية
صورة لإدريس توفيق القس البريطاني سابقاً والداعية إلى الله حاليا
ترجمة أ.د. منى أبو كريشة
أستاذة الأمراض العصبية في كلية الطب جامعة القاهرة
ادريس توفيق، هو كاهن كاثوليكي بريطاني أعتنق الإسلام مؤخراً،. هذه المقاله هي ترجمة للقاء معه على مجلة أيريش تايمز.
ماري فيتزجيرالد أجرت لقاء مطولاً معه وتحدث فيها عن رحلته نحو الهداية واعتناق الإسلام ونحب أن ننقله لكم كما هو للفائدة.
انها القصة التي تجذب الناس لحضور محاضراته في منزله الكائن اليوم في القاهرة وتجذبهم لقراءة عموده في صحيفة محلية باللغة الانجليزيه. وهي تضمن له مشاركة العشرات في المناقشات على الانترنت في المواقع الاسلامية.
الكل يريد ان يعرف عن الرجل البريطاني الذي تحول من كاهن كاثوليكي إلى مسلم ورع، او بعبارة أخرى "من الفاتيكان الى الازهر".
ادريس، هو رجل متواضع يبلغ الاربعين وعدة سنوات، ويفهم لماذا قصته تثير استغراب ملايين ولكن بالنسبة إليه الأمر كان منطقيا جدا ليصبح مسلما.
يقول. أرى حياتي تسير في خط مستقيم، مما يؤدي شيئا فشيئا الى حيث انا اليوم."
ادريس درس الكهنوت في روما. شكوكه حول مهنته أدت به في نهاية المطاف الى مغادرة الكهنوت، مما أدى إلى فترة من عدم اليقين بشأن ما هو الاتجاه الذي سيأخذه في حياته.
وقال انه قرر ان يحصل على إستراحة لبعض الوقت، فحجز رحلة إلى مدينة الغردقة المصرية المطلة على ساحل البحر الاحمر. وعندما شعر بالملل من الشاطئ، اتجه إلى القاهرة وتعرض لصدمة ثقافية مختلفة تماما عن ما كان يتوقع.
لأول مرة في حياته اجتمع وتحدث إلى المسلمين، وراقب عن كثب الطقوس. والاستماع الى الدعوة الى الصلاة والشعب يتوقف عن العمل للصلاة نحو مكة مما ترك انطباعا عميقاً لديه.
يقول عن نفسه:" إن أسبوع الإجازة أثر فيّ أكثر من أي شيء آخر وبدأ يزرع بذور الإسلام في قلبي. كانت هذه هي المرة الأولى كنت قد تحدثت فيها مع المسلمين. رأيت انهم ليسوا متعصبين يقرعون طبول الحرب، كانوا فقط ناس عاديين. اكثر من ذلك، انهم شعب لطيف جداً ويملؤهم الايمان"
إدريس عاد الى بريطانيا حيث عمل استاذاً للدين في احدى المدارس الثانويه. وبعد احداث الحادي عشر من ايلول / سبتمبر دفعته هذه الأحداث إلى معرفة المزيد عن الاسلام.
كما أتيحت له فرصة الاجتماع مع يوسف اسلام، سابقا كات ستيفن، في مسجد لندن المركزي، وكان لقاء محوريا.
يقول:"قلت له ماذا تفعل لتصبح مسلما؟ '، فاجاب انه ينبغي للمسلم ان يعتقد في إله واحد، ويصلي خمس مرات في اليوم ويصوم خلال شهر رمضان. قاطعته قائلا انني كنت أؤمن فعلا بهذا وبل قد صمت مع طلابي المسلمين خلال شهر رمضان.
"حتى سال :' ماذا تنتظر؟ ' قلت له لم اكن انوي التحول.
"في تلك اللحظة أذن المؤذن للصلاة وكان الجميع على استعداد لها وقفت خلف خطوط الصلاة. فجلست أبكي وأبكي، ثم قلت لنفسي،' من تحاول ان تخدع؟ "
عملية التحول إلى الاسلام هو أمر بسيط.، من شأنه - ان يقول المسلم الشهاده أمام الشهود يعترف بوجود اله واحد، هو الله، مع الاقرار بنبوة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم.
"كثير من المسلمين الجدد يستخدمون كلمة' العودة 'بدلا من تحويل، وذلك لان الاسلام، هو ببساطة' العودة ' إلى الطبيعة الحقيقية للبشرية.
ادريس تحول رسميا إلى الإسلام في مسجد الأزهر، و اتخذ اسم ادريس توفيق -- ادريس، اسم النبي، وتوفيق، وهو في اللغةالعربية تعني حسن الحظ.
"الناس والاحداث دفعتني الى الاسلام"، يقول. "ما جعلني أغادر الكنيسة لم يكن لي اي مشكلة معها.
"اننا نقدس الماضي في الكنيسة، لقد استمتعت بما فعلت، وأنا أحب جميع اولئك الذين تعاونت معهم،. انا فقط لم اكن سعيدا من داخلي."
وعندما سئل عما يراه في الاسلام وتفتقر اليه الكاثوليكيه.
"هذا سؤال مشحون جدا،" يقول، بجدية.
اكبر فرق، اذن؟
"اود ان اقول ان الاسلام يجعل الله محور كل شيء،" يجيب بصورة توضيحية. "انها ليست حول ما فعله يسوع لي انها ليست تقديم صلوات من أجلي. كل شيء يدور حول الله.
"الشيء الآخر هو ان الاسلام يشمل كل جانب من جوانب الحياة. انها ليست الذهاب الى الكنيسة - يوم الاحد -،
"الاسلام يخبرك كيف تحيي الناس، وكيف تأكل الطعام الخاص بك، وكيف ادخل الى غرفة -- كيف نفعل كل شيء في الحياة. بينما المسلمون ليسوا قديسين، والاسلام يشجع المسلمين على التفكير في الله في كل وقت. الاسلام، في جوهره ينسب كل شيء الى الله. بالنسبة للمسلمين، الاسلام هو كل شىء."
وهل التجربه أثارت لديك شكوك في كونك تحولت؟
"لا، لا شيء على الاطلاق،" يجيب. "ورغم ان احد الحواجز لأصبح مسلما كان قصة ابراهيم. يقول الكتاب المقدس ان ابراهيم ضحى بابنه اسحاق، والقرآن يقول انه اسماعيل.
"ربما يبدو غريبا، لكنني تصارعت مع هذا لفترة طويلة. فكرت في ان واحدا منهما يجب ان يكون على خطأ، ولكن في نهاية المطاف، تقبلت ما يقول الاسلام.
"ليس لدي مشكلة مع' انه لا اله الا الله '-- انا كنت دائما أعتقد هذا. ومحمد هو رسوله؟ تعلمت هذا و فهمت جوهره".
"عندما تركت الكنيسة، وتركتها ورائي،" يقول. "انا لا اريد افساد اى شيء يعتقده الناس. إذا كان الناس تسالني عن تحولي سأقول لهم ولكني أترك الامر عند هذا الحد."
وهناك القليل من البيانات المتاحة عن عدد المتحولين الى الاسلام. في الولايات المتحدة 100،000 يتحولون كل سنة. وجد ان مقابل كل رجل يتحول إلى الإسلام، اربع نساء، يحذون حذوه.
اكدت دراسة صدرت حديثا عن يحيى (الذي كان يعرف سابقا جوناثان)، المدير العام السابق لهيئة الاذاعة البريطانية، الى ان هناك الآن 14200 من المتحولين البيض في بريطانيا.
"اعتقد ان الناس الذين يعتنقون الاسلام نرى انهم يتسمون بهدوء وبساطه لم تظهر من قبل،" يقول ادريس. "لا أرى أنه دين جامد، انه مولد للطاقة. الاسلام هو جميل حلو ولطيف.
"وكل القيم التي كانت قائمة في بريطانيا وايرلندا قبل 30 او 40 عاما خلت – مثل احترام والديك، وكبار السن والحكماء – هي ما زالت موجودة في جميع العالم الاسلامي ".
وقد قام بنشر كتاب لغير المسلمين، وشرح تعاليم الاسلام. الاسلام والغرب ينظر كل منهما للآخر بعيون شك وليس هناك حاجة لذلك. ونحن جميعا أناس عاديين مع اختلاف توجهاتنا، "يقول:" غالبية البريد الالكتروني الذي يأتيني من مسلمين وطلاب جامعات شباب ومهتمين اخبروني انهم يحبذون أسلوبي في تقديم ما أعتقده، أقول لهم ولو اننا نصبح قدوات جيدة للمسلمين، الناس في الغرب سيجلسون ويلاحظون. وهذا من شأنه ان يثير اعجابهم. ينبغي لنا كمسلمين أن نحاول اعطاء مثال ممتاز. "
ان احد الامور التي تغيظني كثيرا: هو الكلام عن الصدام بين الحضارات. "لا يوجد صراع الحضارات على الاطلاق، وهذا هراء، لأن الاسلام هو الوطن في اي حضارة،. إذا كنت مسلما في بريطانيا، كنت بريطانيا.
"هذا النقاش في بريطانيا حول ولاء المسلمين، وسواء كان من الممكن ان المسلمين مخلصون لبريطانيا هو مجرد سخف. اعتقد انه في نواح كثيرة مشكلة عنصرية. إذا ذهبت الى لندن، لم يكن احد يسألني عن ولائي لبريطانيا بسبب لون جلدي. السبب إذاً ليس لانهم مسلمون، فالسبب هو انهم الجيل الثاني من الباكستانيين، او البنغاليين او العرب. انه ليس له اي علاقة مع الاسلام. "
يقول. "هناك طرق لتقديم التعاليم الاسلامية في شكل سهل على الناس ومقبول، "
" إسلامي، وإسلام كل مسلم اعرفه في مصر وبريطانيا، هو أن تحاول أن تكون شخصا جيدا كل يوم.
"ولن اخوض للدفاع عن الاسلام لأنه أكثر بكثير مما تفخر به.
للتواصل مع الأستاذ إدريس توفيق
على العنوان التالي:
مصر ـ الجيزة ـ 9 شارع حسين أحمد رشيد
P.O.Box 279, Postal Code 12311
admin@idristawfiq.com
كما يمكن زيارة موقعه
http://www.idristawfiq.com/
المصدر:
تقارير عن "وجوه الاسلام" أيريش تايمز الايرلنديه
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2006/0811/1154691576730.html
على العنوان التالي:
مصر ـ الجيزة ـ 9 شارع حسين أحمد رشيد
P.O.Box 279, Postal Code 12311
admin@idristawfiq.com
كما يمكن زيارة موقعه
http://www.idristawfiq.com/
المصدر:
تقارير عن "وجوه الاسلام" أيريش تايمز الايرلنديه
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2006/0811/1154691576730.html
Sunday 17 February 2008
21...Here I Come :)
I was fascinated a few days ago to realize that so much has developed in my personality, i mean, now i actually HAVE a personality! I have finally reached that stage in my life; where when you think of Lubna you think of a certain set of beliefs, a way of thinking, dressing, eating, laughing, appearing, talking. I have an amazing sense of satisfaction and relief in my heart. This is what I have been looking for all those years, this has been the horrible sense of loss and invisibility I have been living in. I used to crave belonging so badly, it was the most important thing to me. I thought I would find it in love, but that didn't turn out too well. I thought it would be with friends, but then I realized that that's not the way to find yourself either. I never really considered joining a cult or anything that extreme; but I did have a breakthrough - I figured I have to learn to belong to myself first and THEN I could get more belonging "energy" from love, friendship, family, religion, school, country..i could go on for paragraphs. The basis is to learn to have this sense of belonging to yourself first; and you get that by knowing who you are. You know what you allow and don't allow yourself to do, you know how you would like people to see you in the way you dress, talk, eat, laugh, converse, argue, etc etc. Initially, we were all born the same more or less; the first few years of our life we are formed by our parents, do this don't do this, that kind of thing. Then we grow up a little, we start to rebel, we want to do things our way, discover the world on our own, make our own mistakes; then a few years later we find ourselves lost and meaningless, we try to imitate everything and everyone around us. First we imitate our friends, then maybe a celebrity, some of us even imitate their parents - it all depends on who has the most influence on your life. To create a better picture here, I would say it is like going to a shop trying to buy clothes on your own for the time ever, you have no guidance as to what color, size, or shape would fit you. You walk into the shop, alone and somewhat scared, you feel like the shop is larger than it used to be, you keep walking until you bump into the first rack - pants - you pick out a few that you think would look good and you head to the fitting room to try them on..some seemingly fit and others don't, you're confused and unsure why they don't, maybe you need a bigger size or a different cut. Deep inside, you would wish that whoever used to pick out your clothes would magically appear in the room and make that decision for you, whereas if someone does come up to you and try to help you get all defensive and feel threatened that they're trying to take away your freedom. Wierd, huh? So anyway, the years pass by you've bought so many pants and shirts that don't fit, you've had help with some - probably those who do fit - and others you've had to decide to buy on your own - probably those who don't! However, after a huge collection of mismatching pants and shirts you now have the skills you need to buy clothes on your own, and although you still make a mistake every once in a while and buy those army pants that look horrible on you, or those pair of sunglasses that make you look like a fly, the number of mistake you make has been noticeably minimized. One day, you wake up and live your day as usual not aware that a critical change has occured inside you until you meet someone who may ask you something, anything, and through your answer you find yourself amazed at the way you are presenting your thoughts and ideas, and forming opinions about something in a way you never did before. You then spend some time alone, reflecting on the past few months and how you have been acting and reacting, on what your criteria have been when you came to make a decision, and how thoughts, ideas, and opinions that form in your mind differ from those that formed in your head over the course of your life. That, my friends, is when you know you have grown up..or at least began to.
Oh, and wouldn't it make sense for me to start growing up now that I'm four days away from my 21st birthday? Yessir, that's right :D
Oh, and wouldn't it make sense for me to start growing up now that I'm four days away from my 21st birthday? Yessir, that's right :D
Sunday 10 February 2008
Red Bell Pepper, Red Bell Pepper..Can You Say it 5 Times in a Row?
Hello folks, I've added some photos I've taken a few days ago, hope you enjoy them :)Friday 8 February 2008
Patch Adams
I just watched Robin Williams' “Patch Adams”, and the movie has struck me in more ways than I can describe. It shook me and woke me up, it reminded me of what I wanted most in the world. It reminded me of something I had forgotten, or more like given up on, a long time ago. It lit my flame and brought back to me the passion of helping others, it reminded me of the overwhelming ecstasy and satisfaction I feel when I see the smile on someone’s face after I have helped them in some way. It brought me back to my senses and made me cry till it burned inside. I now can, finally, say who I am in words.
I am the one person in the world who is willing to defy the laws of gravity to spread happiness and cheer. I am the person who will give her last breath to seeing a smile on a face. I am the girl who is willing to make a fool of herself to see a child laugh. I am the person whom God chose to give a gift that is very rare and yet quite common. God has given me the gift of giving. I give love, care, food, money, support, advice, encouragement..anything I could get my hands on that will make someone else happy. I derive my own happiness from seeing others happy; they don’t have to be someone I know, and it doesn’t have to have anything to do with me, but as long as I am seeing smiles in the world, I am a happy person. I will dedicate my last breath and last pound to spreading smiles and love. I will give with no return, love with no judgment, and receive the smiles around me graciously and with no burden. To me an unhappy face is yet another cry for help, not a reason for me to give up.
I don’t know why I was made that way, or what is going to become of me in the future..but one thing I am positive about, if I still have it in me to create love, peace, and lots & lots of smiles then there is absolutely nothing wrong with the world except that it needs some more happiness conductors – and world, they are on their way.
I am the one person in the world who is willing to defy the laws of gravity to spread happiness and cheer. I am the person who will give her last breath to seeing a smile on a face. I am the girl who is willing to make a fool of herself to see a child laugh. I am the person whom God chose to give a gift that is very rare and yet quite common. God has given me the gift of giving. I give love, care, food, money, support, advice, encouragement..anything I could get my hands on that will make someone else happy. I derive my own happiness from seeing others happy; they don’t have to be someone I know, and it doesn’t have to have anything to do with me, but as long as I am seeing smiles in the world, I am a happy person. I will dedicate my last breath and last pound to spreading smiles and love. I will give with no return, love with no judgment, and receive the smiles around me graciously and with no burden. To me an unhappy face is yet another cry for help, not a reason for me to give up.
I don’t know why I was made that way, or what is going to become of me in the future..but one thing I am positive about, if I still have it in me to create love, peace, and lots & lots of smiles then there is absolutely nothing wrong with the world except that it needs some more happiness conductors – and world, they are on their way.
My Friend
All my life, I’ve been looking for a true friend. A friend that would be there when I need them, a friend who would understand when you mess up. A friend who would know what’s wrong just by looking into your eyes. Not realizing all along that I’ve always had that friend and pushing him away in search for another. How stupid! How Human. I have a friend who is always there when you need him, at any time, any place. In any way possible I need him he will be there. I could talk to him, write him, think to him even and he will know what I want and what’s wrong. He always gets the right picture and always understands when I mess up. He’s ever so compassionate and even when he’s upset he’s fair to you. He tells you over and over again that his ultimate happiness is when you come back running into his arms after you’ve messed up. He’s willing to help you so long as you’ll let him. He’s willing to accept you as long as you would let him. He’s infinitely rich and powerful; he wants to give you all his wealth just because he loves you. He’s the only friend who will never let you down, or tell you he’s busy. He loves you unconditionally and more than anyone could ever love you. You are more dear to him than you are to your parents, friends, grandparents, or spouses. His forgiveness and kindness is infinite and always there for you to make the best of them. Even the little he asks of you is for your own benefit, because no matter how powerful or rich you get, you still cannot dream of coming close to being equal to him. No matter what you have or what you can do, it stands incomparable to what he has and can do, so you are by no measure of any benefit to him. You can always trust him, infinitely and completely. You can always have faith in him. If ever you have doubt in his love to you, look around you, he left signs all over to remind you. His love to you isn’t shared with others, so you can never feel neglected just because someone else needs him at the same time you do. He is the one friend who’s love can bring people together eternally, and make bonds stronger and goals united. I can go on forever…but need I say more?
Thursday 7 February 2008
A Theory About Life
As you go through different stages of your life you meet new people, try new things, change in so many ways and for so many reasons. Each time you start a new phase of your life you set a new scenario; for instance, say you moved to a new town. You have new neighbors, wake up to a new scene, make new friends, start new routines and settle yourself in this new life to the very last detail of your daily life. It doesn’t come intentionally, or in a particular order. But nevertheless it’s a part of your action and thought process. Every time you start a new phase of your life, you are creating a new scrapbook for that period of time. Not physically, but it is sort of there whether you wanted it or not. And it doesn’t just include your own memories, they are an assemblage of your impressions and thoughts about something, others’ impressions and images of you and your actions, your habits and likes and dislikes. It’s all collected into this period of your life. When you eventually start a new phase in your life, like change jobs, get married, or move, you inevitably leave behind all those memories in an invisible sealed box that opens up every time you revisit that phase – mentally or physically. This could cause you pain, or it could cause pleasure and nostalgia; it all depends on what you left behind in that box. This may lead us to the conclusion that we should try to at least make the effort to ensure that we leave behind a good set of memories and impressions in each phase of our life. And although there will always be factors that we cannot control, like others’ impressions of us or the loss of loved ones, we should at least keep it as a goal to keep a straight record and make as many positive memories as we can.
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