WHAT
OTHERS HAVE SHARED
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| WHAT
OTHERS HAVE SHARED |
| LETTER TO GOD I am Muslim by birth. I follow Islam by choice and I follow it with joy, according to my own concept of Allah. Or, as my husband, a self-proclaimed atheist, perceives, according to my convenience. It does not rattle me because I strongly believe that for each of us the concept of the unseen power and our relationship with it is unique. The more personalized our concept of the Supreme Being is, the easier it will be for us to live with it. Many adults are caught in the whirlpool of rationality and logic, trying to understand and describe the Infinite with the finite abilities of the senses. This often undermines their faith, which is the key to spiritual growth and the very basis of one's relationship with the inexplicable. Children, on the other hand, have a brilliant way of working out their own concept of the invisible who is the cause of all that is visible. During my childhood, when my grandmother spoke of Allah, she made me think of him as a perpetual threat. Her parables likened him to a strict disciplinarian, a minute-by minute monitoring device for my moral and immoral acts and the source of the painful doom that awaited me if I dared to transgress even a wee bit. |
| When my father spoke of Allah he emphasized the Rahmaan (the Beneficent) and the Raheem (the Merciful) aspect of the Almighty. His narration of religious stories made him appear to me as a comforting presence who knew everything about me anyway, so I need not pretend to him. He was someone to reach out to when everything else appeared to be crumbling. Even as a little girl, I could figure out the multiplicity of beliefs. My friend Mala prayed to Krishna, Adrian prayed to Christ, while I asked Allah for an 'A' grade, so how come all three of us got 'A+'? Simple; all three of us asked in different ways, but from the one and only Supreme Being, and we all received his munificence. I had arrived at my own concept of Allah the all encompassing, the beneficent, the merciful. Today, as part of a value education workshop, I ask children to write a letter to God. One common view of God is that of a cosmic bellboy for whom you press a button to get things done, whatever the things may be. Here are some letters, which tell us about children's concept of God, their faith, and their ability to give us food for spiritual thought. |
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