Peace and blessings to everyone. I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Opal (O-Paul). I was born in Bangladesh but grew up in the US. I'm originally from a Sunni background. I currently live in South Florida, so if anyone in South Florida or nearby wants to reach out, I'd love to get in touch. I'm married, have a daughter, and am in my late 30's.
A bit of background on how I came to the Quran alone: I was raised Sunni, but like many who grow up in the States, I didn't take it very seriously. It was more of an annoyance more than anything else. I learned how to read Arabic at the local mosque but the education in traditional Islam never went beyond that; which in retrospect was probably a good thing for me. I always believed in an almighty God, but had differing opinions in how involved he was in this world. A form of Deism if you will.
One thing that always stood out to me in a poor way was the Sunni aversion to dogs. I always wanted one growing up and had a fascination and love for these animals. In my teens, I started looking into the Quran and the sources for the prohibition against dogs. I realized it was all based on Hadith, which was probably the first major step in opening my eyes to the truth.
After that, and much argument and subsequent gaslighting from various family members, I began casually the Quran itself in an English translation. It was Sahih international, not the best translation and I wasn't able to comprehend what I was reading and was more confused than anything with the added context within the translation so I eventually dropped it and went back to my deist ideas and became engrossed with the life of this world after completing college. This continued through my 20's and I became quite disillusioned at this point and sort of nihilistic as I continued to ponder what was the purpose of it all. Focusing on seeking the life of this world and just trying to acquire wealth and comforts was very empty to me and I began to enter into intermittent bouts of depression. I began to delve heavily into philosophy but found no solace in that either.
After getting married in my early 30's my older brother began to share videos from Sam Gerrans which I initially watched at a casual pace as my older brother was going through similar trials as myself. I am forever grateful to my older brother and brother Gerrans as I simultaneously watched his videos and read through his translation of Quran with fresh eyes. This was late 2018 and it took me nearly 6 months to get through the Quran, and in sometime early 2019 something happened. By the grace of God, it was like a switch flipped in my heart and the world started to make sense. There was a purpose to it all. And I finally felt like I started to understand it, bit by bit.
I feel like my faith has strengthened far more now than back then, and I am so grateful to God that he guided me at the time before everything went down in 2020. I imagine my life could have went a far different direction if I did not see the world through the lens of the Quran during that time. I am now focused on trying to accumulate good deeds, surviving the tyranny, and attempting to raise my daughter properly in this fallen world.
If I could connect with likeminded brothers and sisters , preferably in person, that would be amazing. It is extremely difficult to connect with the normal lay population after your eyes are open and it is a very isolating experience living in the area I am in.
I pray this testimony was of some benefit,
Peace
A bit of background on how I came to the Quran alone: I was raised Sunni, but like many who grow up in the States, I didn't take it very seriously. It was more of an annoyance more than anything else. I learned how to read Arabic at the local mosque but the education in traditional Islam never went beyond that; which in retrospect was probably a good thing for me. I always believed in an almighty God, but had differing opinions in how involved he was in this world. A form of Deism if you will.
One thing that always stood out to me in a poor way was the Sunni aversion to dogs. I always wanted one growing up and had a fascination and love for these animals. In my teens, I started looking into the Quran and the sources for the prohibition against dogs. I realized it was all based on Hadith, which was probably the first major step in opening my eyes to the truth.
After that, and much argument and subsequent gaslighting from various family members, I began casually the Quran itself in an English translation. It was Sahih international, not the best translation and I wasn't able to comprehend what I was reading and was more confused than anything with the added context within the translation so I eventually dropped it and went back to my deist ideas and became engrossed with the life of this world after completing college. This continued through my 20's and I became quite disillusioned at this point and sort of nihilistic as I continued to ponder what was the purpose of it all. Focusing on seeking the life of this world and just trying to acquire wealth and comforts was very empty to me and I began to enter into intermittent bouts of depression. I began to delve heavily into philosophy but found no solace in that either.
After getting married in my early 30's my older brother began to share videos from Sam Gerrans which I initially watched at a casual pace as my older brother was going through similar trials as myself. I am forever grateful to my older brother and brother Gerrans as I simultaneously watched his videos and read through his translation of Quran with fresh eyes. This was late 2018 and it took me nearly 6 months to get through the Quran, and in sometime early 2019 something happened. By the grace of God, it was like a switch flipped in my heart and the world started to make sense. There was a purpose to it all. And I finally felt like I started to understand it, bit by bit.
I feel like my faith has strengthened far more now than back then, and I am so grateful to God that he guided me at the time before everything went down in 2020. I imagine my life could have went a far different direction if I did not see the world through the lens of the Quran during that time. I am now focused on trying to accumulate good deeds, surviving the tyranny, and attempting to raise my daughter properly in this fallen world.
If I could connect with likeminded brothers and sisters , preferably in person, that would be amazing. It is extremely difficult to connect with the normal lay population after your eyes are open and it is a very isolating experience living in the area I am in.
I pray this testimony was of some benefit,
Peace
with the cats and dogs! lol