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What is your identity?

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  • What is your identity?

    In This Ever Evolving Globalized World, The Word Identity Has Taken On A Whole New Meaning In the pre-modern world, often a person belonged to very concrete social strata be it religious, economic, tribal, or political. This Structure Is Changing With The Globalization Of The World; More And More People Are Grappling With The Concept Of Personal Identity! Muslims, as part of this world, are not immune to this saga. Many new generation Muslim immigrants often struggle with identifying themselves as part of one or the other culture and reconciling it with their religious identity as well. As A Result, We Have A Confused... If Not Disconnected! Population Of Young Muslims Emerging On The World Stage. When Allah SWT revealed the following words in the Quran, He knew what paradigms we would be dealing with. This Day Have I Perfected Your Religion For You, Completed My Favor Upon You, And Have Chosen For You Islam As Your Religion. Quran "Chapter 5 Maidah, Verse 3" Allah SWT sent His Messenger Muhammad SAW with a message that is complete in its entirety; any issues we are dealing with can be solved by extracting messages from the Quraan, teachings of the Prophet, and/or the teachings of the righteous predecessors. If we cannot find the answers, then we either haven't been seeking sincerely or are just looking at the wrong places. The claim that Islam has the cure for all of the social ills is not baseless. Plagues such as social oppression, addiction, family disintegration, religious and ethnic discrimination, and racism can all be solved by true teachings of Islam. The issue at hand of identity crisis among Muslims can be easily solved if we know the true meaning of identity. Islam does not entertain or encourage tribal, national and ethnic affiliations. Once a person embraces Islam, his or her true identity is a Muslim; besides Islamic brotherhood all the rest of the affiliations are superficial and unimportant. Our Prophet Mohammed SAW Stressed About This Issue In His Farewell Pilgrimage In The Following Words... All Mankind Is From Adam And Hawwa, An Arab Has No Superiority Over A Non-Arab Nor A Non-Arab Has Any Superiority Over An Arab; Also A White Has No Superiority Over Black Nor A Black Has Any Superiority Over White Except By Piety And Good Action! Learn That Every Muslim Is A Brother To Every Muslim And That The Muslims Constitute One Brotherhood! Islam Only Cares About The Spiritual Status Of The Human Being As Prophet SAW Said: Allah Does not Look At Your Bodies Or Your Wealth; Rather He Looks At Your Hearts And Deeds! Islam is the willful submission to Allah SWT and His rules and regulations. A person is not a Muslim just because he was born into a Muslim family or possesses a Muslim name; that is why there is no concept of baptism in Islam. A person has to proclaim his submission to God and then act according to this proclamation knowing that he is accountable to God for his behavior, which makes Islam a status of the heart and body. Once this fact is established then the person's sole concern is to achieve the standard that is set by Allah and His Prophet to be called a Muslim. Once a person has received the status of Islam, he can perfect his relationship with Allah further until he reaches the station of belief and earn the title of a believer or Mo`min. After this, the highest status earned by the great souls is that of perfection or Ihsaan wherein one is called a Mohsin. Reaching the status of Islam, Iman, and Ihsaan is a life long struggle. It requires sincerity, patience, and consistency; but above all it requires one to know the qualities of these people. In this article we will inshaAllah list the qualities of a Muslim and a Mo`min; once these qualities become a part of your personality, know that you are on your way to reach the level of Ihsaan.
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