by Nico Raj Rahm
www.nicoraj.com
I never thought that the opening post of this blog would be this popular! My short story, "I Have No Father! How a Muslim Became an Atheist" was instantly picked up by many major social networking sites.
The story recieved many reviews, some positive, others critical, but that is what one would expect from such a contraversial subject.
For those that were wondering, the story is somewhat of an autobiography. The "father" in this story is God. The idea is; what if God was your father, would you comply with his expectations no matter how ridiculous they are?
Some criticized the rules that the father demanded of his son to follow as not representative of Islam, or what Allah asks of muslims to carry out. I beg to differ. I do not believe that any of these demands imposed by the boy's father were inaccurate in describing the true responsibility of a muslim on a daily basis.
Of course, many reviewers picked up on the general idea of this story, which is that any God of any religion could be represented by the "father". I used Islam as an example because that is what I know; it was what I was brought up to believe.
I welcome all reviews, both positive and negative, because you need both for a fair and balanced discussion.
www.nicoraj.com
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I read your story and it is beautiful and resonating. I was so moved, I cried.
ReplyDeleteThe feelings in the story were very similar to things I felt when I was young, and when I lost my "father" for very much the same reasons you lost yours.
It's like, when you're young, you just know there's God (or any synonym that fits better). It's so easy to believe and to feel comforted as you pray. As you get older and you learn that there are other beliefs and ideas, you begin to wonder if your God is the one. You learn about math and science, and you wonder how accurate your guide book really is. With me is was the bible, with you the Qu'ran, and while they are very different at times, they are similar enough in principle.
After I lost my faith, I felt a pained- as if my loss was physical pain. Did you feel such loss as well?
Alison,
ReplyDeletesorry for the late reply it has only been a couple of years lol. and thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I personally did not feel it was a tremendous loss. My journey was a long one, over 10 years, that I slowly and surely began to lose my faith until one day every last bit of it had left me. So by the time I fully realized Im an atheist I had already been one for years, I just hadnt admitted it to my self.