As the title suggests, there has always been a very famous quote about how we only truly believe something is genuine through first hand experience. Even in Early Childhood, we believe that children learn best through first hand practical experience or when they witness something with their own eyes and explore on their own.
But I'm not talking about the little people here, I'm talking about us - you and I. We've believed in our Shahadah from the very beginning that we decide to utter it all with our own tongues. We've believed that Allah swt is our Creator and that Prophet Muhammad (saw) was and will always be His last messenger. We believe that praying five times a day is part of our natural disposition. We believe that the Ka'abah is our Kiblah. We believe that the Qur'an is the word of Allah. We believe in Islam.
The question is, to what extent is our faith ?
I left for the Middle East approximately 15 days ago. We visited Jordan, Palestine and lastly Saudi Arabia for Umrah. All these years, I've heard stories after stories about the different prophets in Islam and the beautiful things that they've done that contributed to the world we live in today - more or less.
You see, I've believed them stories from the very beginning but when I witnessed these historical Islamic sites, wallah it was like food for soul. From the stories of Al Aqsa and Qubbat As Sakhrah to Jabal Thur and Jabal Nur in Makkah, it did nothing but strengthened my faith for Islam.
I've believed that the ka'abah is my Qiblah and I've been praying towards it for however long I've been Muslim but never have I laid eyes on it. When I witnessed it before my eyes the first day I stepped into Al Masjidil Al Haram, I was crying out of gratitude that I was able to face this majestic structure for at least that one time. Every single time, I returned to Al Haram for each prayer, it felt so hard to turn my back to leave it once the salah was over.
Umrah was possibly the best opportunity for me to renew my faith and cleanse my dirty soul.
Islam makes me sublimely happy, 3anjad & Alhamdulillah for everything!
A'qilah Saiere
