why cant i learn to swim right

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why cant i learn to swim right
Anonymous
12/13/01 at 03:20:22
i really liked that story about swimming
by momin iqbal. i want to swim in my faith but i keep straying off. i
feel such a strong urge to give in to my vain desires. i want to pray
regularly but i often become negligent. this is ramdan and i'm praying
the most i've done in a very long while. but i'm afraid once ramdan is
over i;ll go back to my negligent self. i have been reading many reverts
stories,( though i;m not one myself.i've always been a muslim atleast
by name) and all of them say that once they accepted islam they have
never felt empty again and they feel so happy with their faith. there have
been 1 or 2 times i've felt that way since i've started being more
religious again. but mostly i just feel like a big struggle against my soul
that i'm afraid i'll lose
Re: why cant i learn to swim right
se7en
12/14/01 at 21:15:48

as salaamu alaykum,

Why can't you swim right?  Because you're fighting against the current :)  You've got this lifetime of following your desires pushing you in a certain direction, and now, for the first time, you're struggling to work against that.

It's beautiful man, it's really beautiful.  I think sincerity radiates, even through anonymous posting :)  May Allah reward you, guide you, purify you, and make things easy for you.

Lemme tell you something though.. being Muslim - abiding by what Allah wants for us - is *hard*.  People will tell you otherwise, but it is.  It's not a utopia, it's not a high, it's not feeling joyous all the time.  Because with eman comes difficulty and struggle.  With eman comes keeping your self in check, for a higher purpose.  That's something *very* difficult, and that's why it's called jihad.  If it's *not* difficult, you're doing something wrong :)

Is it worth it though, even though it's soo hard?  Absolutely, no doubt, and let me tell you why.

[i]Truly in the heart there is a void that can not be removed except with the company of Allah.  And in it there is a sadness that can not be removed except with the happiness of knowing Allah and being true to Him.  And in it there is an emptiness that can not be filled except with love for Him and by turning to Him and always remembering Him.  And if a person were given all of the world and what is in it, it would not fill this emptiness. [/i]

Even though it's hard.. there's a sweetness that comes from it.  There's something built inside you that *wants* you to obey Allah.  It's intrinsic in your nature.  And if you're not being true to that, you will be unhappy.  And when you do it, even though your nafs hates it, that part of you is satisfied.  And the more you fight your nafs and get it under control, the more you'll be able to feel that satisfaction.

But at first.. it's just hard :)  

My advice to you.. is salah.  Be vigilante about it, establish it, meaning you *do it*, five times a day, on time, no matter where you are, who you're with, or how little sleep you got the night before.   You can't work on anything else until you get your salah down.

I'm sure other ppl here will give you some good advice inshaAllah :)

May Allah beautify us with the beauty of eman and allow us to taste the sweetness that comes with knowing Him and being true to our faith.

wasalaamu alaykum.


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