Answers to Life ...

Chaim Gravitzer said...
I am a hassidic Jew. I am dissatisfied with my life. I would like to speak to a Muslim clergyman in person. Could you help arrange this? I am having all comments left on this post forwarded to me, so you can contact me by leaving a comment here. If you are able to see my e-mail address, then please e-mail me directly. Thank you very much. I hope to hear from you.

Chaim, I'll do what I can to assist you. Please email me at askamuslimnow@gmail.com and we'll see what we can't come up with together.

In the mean time, I am sorry to hear you're dissatisfied with your life. We all have difficult periods in life. It is the Islamic view that life on Earth is nothing but a test. This philosphy usually helps remind me that its not all fun and games and things here are not supposed to always be easy. God tests all of us and we can only hope and pray that we're doing a good enough job to pass this LONG exam called life.

You might speak with an Imam and decide that Judiasm or your faith in general is not what is making you unhappy, but rather something else. Whatever you find on your quest might actually uphold or restore your faith in your current religion. OR you might find that you've been looking for something else all along.

As a Muslim, I am always happy to have people "come" to Islam but as I've quoted before:

Qur'an (2:256) "There is no compulsion in religion, for the right way is clear from the wrong way. Whoever therefore rejects the forces of evil and believes in God, he has taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way, for God is All Hearing and Knowing."

I encourage you to find your own path ... whatever that might be. Here is another, hopefully, encouraging quote:

Once Ibrahim bin Adham saw a stone with the inscription, "Turn me over and read!" When he did an inscription appeared: "You do not practice what you know. Why do you seek what you do not know?"
-Al-Hujwiri, "The Kashf al-Mahjub"

As difficult as things might seem for you at the moment, please remind yourself that at the very least you are asking questions and "... [seeking] what you do not know."

All the best, my brother.