MuslimKidsMatter: Maryam’s Way to the Best Part I

By an 18 yr old author who wants to remain Anonymous

“Wow…..Glory be to You, my Lord…..this is amazing…surely, I do find no faults in Your creation, the sky above is sooo high, it’s so huge and yet doesn’t fall on our head ever, it’s so beautiful that I can spend my whole day staring at it yet not find any mistakes. It’s so huge, that whenever I look at it reminds me of Your Majesty, Might and Greatness” Maryam sat still, not able to think anything else except these words, completely dumbfounded at the words of our Creator, in the middle of the night.

Maryam is a new revert, just 16 years old, living in the big city of New York. Belonging to a very rich, Orthodox Christian family, Maryam never found the answers to the basic questions of her life. Why was she in this world? Who created her? She was a girl of intelligence and purpose, unlike the other teenagers who were far too busy with the materialistic world, leading a very purposeless and ‘stupid’ life, according to Maryam. She had strong religious upbringing, though inwardly she never felt the connection with God, yet outwardly, she always acted like a practicing Christian.

Being the only one of her kind- Miss Betsey, her class teacher, chose her for the international conference, ‘ My Religion, My Faith’ where each student had to represent their own religion, which would be broadcast live on the television. Mary, as she was known then, went to the conference wondering seriously what she was to represent because she was vacant inside. Still she managed to go, but before leaving her home from New York to Chicago for the conference she made a little prayer to God…

“ O my Lord, I know You are listening to me and seeing me, please guide me to Your way, the way of purity, You know I am vacant inside, fill this with Your Love and Pleasure…please guide me”….and surely Allaah did answer this sincere prayer of Maryam.

When she entered the huge hall room, the first thing that caught her eye were some girls, veiled in black and brown. She couldn’t figure out what they were. Later, their co-ordinator introduced them -that they were representatives of Islaam, Muslim girls coming from Middle East and South Asia. “ Islaam…hmmm I think I heard something about it during 9/11….something related to terrorism..hmmm but man! these girls look so pure, I wish I could also cover my face from the lustful men around me,” thought Mary to herself. After Mary’s turn was over, one of those face covered girls stood up and started explaining the basics of Islaam.

What struck Maryam the most was when the girl said “ …dear all, this is the Word of God, God speaking directly to you without any intercessor, which we now have in this book, the Qur’an, unaltered even in a single letter, preserved for 1400 years. Not only in writing but in the hearts of people. Its special way of recitation has been preserved in the most miraculous way of transmission, through an unbroken chain of narration, SubhaanAllaah!” The girls distributed the Qur’an to all those who were present there and Mary was one of the first ones to grab one. She ran to her room as quickly as she could.

All alone, she flipped through the Qur’an. The first aayahs that caught her attention were the first four aayaat of Surah Mulk.

Blessed is He In whose Hand is the Dominion, and He is Able to do All things.

Who has created death and life, that He may test You which of You is best In deed. and He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving;

Who has created the seven heavens one above another, You can see no fault In the creations of the Most Beneficent. Then look again: “Can You see any rifts?”

Then look again and yet again, Your sight will return to You In a state of humiliation and worn out.” [ Surah Mulk, 1-4]

Then and there, she submitted to God in full submission, crying and entering Islaam, realising these words could from no one except the One Who created them.

On her return home,she visited a local masjid and took shahaada. That was just a week ago. Her parents are unaware of the fact and so she has to read the Qur’an at night when everyone’s asleep. Tonight too she was dumbfounded once again by the aayahs of Surah Mulk, which were the medium of her guidance. With great determination and sincerity in the heart, maashaaAllaah, she has already memorized Surah Fatihah (the opening chapter) and Surah Ikhlaas, in just one week and that also in Arabic!!! But for past 2 days, Maryam has been disturbed by the fact that she heard the girl saying that the special way of recitation of the Qur’an has been preserved through a chain of narration, which meant that the way of recitation must be learnt orally from someone. She felt a strong urge to learn this yet being unaware of the fact that it is actually OBLIGATORY on every Muslim to learn this special science of reciting the Qur’an which is known as Tajweed. It was the Mercy of Allaah, first and then her pure heart that she had this urge, without even knowing that it is obligatory, SubhaanAllaah. This is how Allaah guides His slaves.

She goes to the masjid the next day and contacts the wife of the Imaam who teaches Qur’an in the masjid. For some reason Maryam feels very comfortable Umm Ahmad and she actually spends hours talking to her and learning Islaam.

Gradually, Maryam starts solving the puzzle of her life, by adding each missing piece, receiving the wonderful and convincing answers to her questions from Islaam. Through this, her faith in Allaah increased and she started getting closer to Him, loving Him and always in pursuit of attaining His Pleasure. What a beautiful purpose she and all others have been created for:

to submit your will to the will of the most Powerful who created you and who is able to do all things thus attaining pleasure and reaching the peaceful state of mind in this world and being rewarded in the hereafter by the promised garden beneath which rivers flow!

Now her aim, goal, purpose and way is crystal clear to her after entering the complete way of life, Islaam, so she is always trying hard to reach the highest calibers set by Allaah for the believers, and most naturally the highest Paradise which is known as Jannatul Firdous by trying to be among the best! It is just the SINCERE intention you need to have and the rest lies with Allaah. He makes the path that you cose easy for you, just as He made it easy for Maryam. When she heard that the masjid is arranging a new series of classes for young teenage girls named ‘I wanna be from the best’, wow isn’t that great? She just intended and see how Allaah made it easy for her.

Now let’s see what did you get to learn along with Maryam?

Q1: Can you quote the aayahs that made Maryam realise that the Qur’an was the word of God?

Q2: How many years have it been that Maryam came to this earth?

Q3: What kind of a family was she born into?

Q4: Was Maryam like the other girls of her age?

Q5: Can you give a reason why Maryam thought that the girls covering their faces had a pure life?

Q6: Which surahs has she finished memorizing, have you memorized them too?

Q7: Maryam says to you, ‘ Alhamdulillah I have finished memorizing two surahs in one week, I challenge you to do the same, are you ready to take it?’

Q8: Umm Ahmad, who was she?

Q9: Were you and Maryam created for the same purpose?

Q10: You didn’t live 100 years back neither will you live 1000 years after (if Allaah Wills), then what are you doing for such a short period of time in this earth?