The ugly truth of changing to the 'better'

To consider changing, that's easy.
To set your mind about changing, that's easy.
To initiate change, that's interesting.
To commit to it?

Now that's a challenge.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure that there are times when you look back, you would feel like you're a horrible person. You want to change for the better. So you prepare yourself mentally and you tell yourself that you'll commit to this change. You want to do good and you want to be a better person for your future. You need to truly fix yourself first before you even start fixing others. You wish to be able to preach and bring others to the right path as well. 

That's a great thought. We should all do our parts and make this world a better place again.

However, things don't always go out the way we plan. The lucky ones who truly commit to their plan and with the help from God Almighty, they make it. They truly change and genuinely pray for the world to be a better place. They look at the sweetness of life and the good in others. The way they look at the good in others is as if God has put a barrier to shelter them from the ugly side of people. The positivity in them is admirable and contagious that they bring happiness upon others surrounding them as well.

In this journey to change, sadly, many turn out to be the unlucky ones. That is when you have and you feel like you have changed. Alhamdulillah, that's good for you. But what is truly saddening is when you start looking at the bad in others and start pointing them out because you're, well, holier than thou. 

Regardless of saying it in your head or out loud, it is wrong to be judging someone's akhirat (afterlife) just because you feel like you have gotten closer to God. You may have gotten closer to God, but you are not God. You can't micromanage someone's life, passion or interest. You can't force them to like something or want something just because that's the 'preferred' way. You can't force people to like something. You gotta make them like it. Tell them why they should like it.

Is it wrong for someone to not like kurma? No. Can you say that my puasa tak berkat if i don't buka puasa with kurma? Hell no. 

Is befriending non-muslims wrong? No. Why do you always assume that they are trying to feed us with pork? What happened to husnuzon?

Since when is chasing money a sin? If a person works his arse off to earn more money to feed the starving kids of Yemen, would you say that he is not living in the right path because he has an uncommonly 'desire'?

Is it wrong for someone's third language to not be Arabic? No, and it is not your damn business to patronize what their likes and dislikes should be. 

You are no God. You are in no position to doubt or judge someone's berkat nor akhirat.

Islam itself does not judge nor force its believers to like something. So why should you? 

I'm sorry for the sudden rant. It just pisses me off to know that these people with ustaz/ustazah-act think that they are better off than other people who do not appear to be as pious. Just because a person doesn't post any religious materials on their social media doesn't mean that he is any less knowledgeable and spiritual than the people who bombard their social media with religious postings 24/7. Being closer to God is much more than showing on social media and preaching.

Many theological researches have shown that it is a common result for a person to want to distance himself from a specific religion due to the believers (or organizations associated to the religion)'s forceful approach. And these overnight-ustaz/ustazah's efforts to bring people closer to the Almighty may backfire-- instead of bringing people closer, they push people away. Consecutively, they blame these people for refusing religious knowledge. LOL. Know your boundaries. Note that there is a difference between being a true jihadist and a judgmental prick. 

It is ironic how these people are learning about modesty but all that they are trying to do are to dictate people's lives and predicting how others are going to perform in the afterlife. I have met so many admirable and amazing individuals who are highly knowledgeable in religious matters, practicing their knowledge in every part of their lives, but they do not shove it down people's throats and behave like they are above everyone else. Because indeed, the more you gain knowledge, the smaller you'd feel. 

To an extremist-free world!