Inverted Commas

Who is it that knows what is in the hearts except God?

Will you set yourself up as Judge? Do you claim to know what is in another's heart? Will you place my faith in Inverted Commas too if I say something with which you disagree? I refer of course to an exchange in another thread. If you're oblivious to it, you are blessed and need not trouble yourself with these words of mine. But if you are one who arrogates to him/herself the right to place another's faith in Inverted Commas, I beg second thoughts.

Is any of us perfect? Do none of us make mistakes? When we become Muslim, whether as one who adopts a new faith or one who returns to the faith of his family, we do not suddenly becomes saints. Instead we struggle, slowly slowly to bring Islam to life in our lives, making numerous mistakes along the way. When in the early days of my Islam I demanded answers to uncomfortable questions as I acclimatised to my new faith, did brothers and sisters place my faith in Inverted Commas, or did they accommodate me patiently instead? When in the early days of my Islam I continued to drag my cultural baggage along behind me, did friends abandon me, or did they offer sincere advice?

No one living in these times could deny that there are hypocrites and agent-provocateurs amongst us, but who are you to judge who those people are? Who are you to say that the one who makes mistakes is the outsider? Who are you to say that the one who has opinions different from your own is not really your brother in Islam? And why must every convert to Islam face accusation and innuendo at the hands of her/his brothers and sisters? Can you perhaps appreciate the pain your words caused, as I can for words directed at another? It is not for you to judge what is in your sister's heart. Indeed it is absolutely not for you to judge when all you know of her is tiny green text on a black screen. That is all I know of her and all I know of you.

When I became Muslim nearly a decade ago, there were those that claimed I only became Muslim because I was pressured into converting by 'fundos' (what fundos?). There were others who set out to brief their friends on why they should not trust me, why they should be suspicious of my conversion for reasons x, y and z, that my shahada was just part of a game (as if the son of a priest and nephew of missionaries would play a game of so many sacrifices like that). Yes, I have been in the shoes of our sister whose faith you place in Inverted Commas. Fortunately I had around me others who advised me when I made mistakes, who shared with me alternative points of view when I seemed stuck on my own, who supported me in times of need.

May all of us grow in wisdom. A sinner was once promised paradise simply for showing kindness to a cat. Perchance God will have mercy on us too.