| Accusation & Persecution: Islamic
Perspective
Question:
Assalumu' aliakum...I thank you for your
service today. I am quering, regarding an extreme personal case of
total life transformation that has occurred in my experience this past few
years. As a new convert to Islam, which has shed the perfect light
of understanding upon my crucible experience, which has been a total 'wake~up'
call as to an understanding of the need for Islam to bring about the
correcting of family~child relations as well as Islam being the spiritual
catalyst to heal and bond Society.
As
a Global Citizen, I am so happy to be a new Muslim, but my recovery rate
from my extremely traumatic experience, which involves very apparently, a
huge public slander against me, 'hate~crime's' as before I became a
muslim...gross indimidation that profoundly affected my ability to walk
freely in public or to apply
for
employment or to pursue or concentrate on education or to further my
writing career...I have complete understanding as to why, all this
happened to me... but, I struggle desperately every day, by continual 'haunting' of
'whisperer's' (back~biting)...lately, it seems to be 'she's hiding under
the skirts of Islam'???
anyways, my problem is huge as I have come under false accusation &
tremendous persecution because of the Truth so, I am asking today...if I
might receive advice, both personal & legal (Islamic Law) as I rejoice
that in Islam is the potentiality for perfect justice...thank you so
much...may Allah bless you today & through all your days ahead...in
New Year 2002...I converted to Islam on August 11th...I have just
experienced my first Ramadan...good~bye' for now.
xxx.
Response:
Wa Aleikum Salam
There is an ayah in the Quran that states that just because one claims
that one has faith, it does not mean that one will not be tested.
Trials and tests in faith are for the purpose of increasing it, for with
every test one's level of conviction and certainty increases. So it
makes sense that having embraced Islam, you are having 'whisperings' about
the sincerity of your faith.
Sufic
literature categorizes 'certainty' in 3 levels.
1 Ilm al Yaqîn... Certainty of Knowledge
2 Ayn al Yaqîn... (don't recall the English translation of this term)
3 Haq al Yaqîn... Certainty of Truth
An analogy to explain these is:
Ilm al Yaqîn is when we hear about something and believe it, like hearing
about a house on fire in the news.
Ayn al Yaqîn is when we see it with our own eyes, it is right in front of
us and we experience aspects of it that we cannot get when just listening
to the news.
Haq al Yaqîn is when we are in the house that is burning, we feel the
heat, we smell and sense the burning, we inhale the smoke... and there is
no doubt about the house being on fire. It is first hand experience
and eradicates any questions or doubts we might have.
Using this analogy, faith grows and evolves with experience; tests and
trials help us experience it at different levels, ultimately raising our
level of certainty and conviction.
If you can experience your situation as a means of increasing your faith,
and as a source of blessing and learning for you, my sense is that it will
help you cope with it.
As far as legal advice, I am not a legal scholar so I am not the right
person to ask this question.
There is an incident in Islamic history that you may want to see if it
applies to your situation: Hazrat Ayesha (ra) was accused of
improper conduct and people were gossiping about her, she was very hurt
and upset when she found out about it. She asked the Prophet (saw)
what he thought about it, he remained silent. She was very hurt and
upset about his silence, saying that she knew she was innocent and will
wait for God to clear her name. Some time later the Prophet (saw)
had a revelation about her innocence and against the slandering of
innocent women. Sûrah 24.11-16
Sometimes situations get so blown out of reality that there is nothing one
can do or say to clear one's name. Trying to convince the whole
world about your innocence may not be necessary if you have the peace of
mind in knowing that you are innocent and others' opinion is irrelevant.
Hope this helps
Regards,
Uzma Mazhar |
