Iroquois and The Quran

Assalaamu A’laikum dear brothers, sisters, and fellow bloggers.

I haven’t been blogging frequently since the past few weeks, and I’m sincerely sorry for that. But, I’ve been busy and I think you’ll be quite interested to hear about my progress with my Da’wah project. As most of you already know, I started giving Da’wah to my fellow neighbors (The Iroquois) when they first expressed interest in Islam’s stance on the creation of the world. I will be addressing my Iroquois friends as well as my regular followers in this blog post, so please forgive me if I come out a little too strong. Without further ado, let me explain to you all what exactly I have been up to for last few weeks.

A few weeks ago, I went over to a neighbor’s house (he was selling a few household items for cheap), and I met with my neighbor (his name is Mr. Onatah) and we started discussing religion. He started to tell me abouta famous Iroquois legend of how the world was created. At first, I told myself that this is one of those crazy myths that these crazy Native Americans make up because they’re just a bunch of tree huggers. Of course, that was quite stereotypical of me (and if you’re reading this Mr. Onatah, then I apologize sincerely), and also fairly rude. But as Mr. Onatah started getting deep into his story, I realized that much of it was similar to the Quran’s story of how mankind had been sent to Earth. And the more I listened, the more I realized that I had a great chance of introducing Mr. Onatah to Islam. I went home that day thinking of several similarities between us and how I could slowly convince Mr. Onatah that Islam is the truth. That’s when I got the idea of writing this blog post.

‘The World on The Turtle’s Back’, that’s what the ancient creation myth is called. In many ways it relates to the Quranic story of Man’s creation. In both stories, man/woman dwell in heaven but are forbidden to touch a tree/fruit. “The tree was not supposed to be marked ormutilated by any of the beings who dwelt in the Sky World”(Iroquois). “But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers” (Quran). These two citations from both the tale of the Iroquois and the Quran show that both had a very strong similarity. “And were it not for Eve, no woman would ever betray her husband.’" (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 611, Volume 55). “The woman decided that she wanted some bark from one of the roots of the Great Tree—perhaps as a food or as a medicine, we don’t know” (Iroquois). Again, this set of quotes from the hadith and the Iroquois story (respectively) share in the idea that woman was the instigator of the sin. There are even more similarities, such as the birth of the two brothers (habil and qabil/right-handed and left-handed twins), the murder of one brother by the other brother, and finally the fact that the right-handed twin represents prosperity, righteousness, and good (mankind); the left-handed brother is malicious and derives pleasure from man’s suffering (devil). And there may be many more other stories from the Quran which connect to your (Iroquouis) myths.

What I’m trying to say is that I just want to invite you to pick up the Quran and just read a bit of it. You can come over to my house and I’ll explain the Quran and its message, and who knows maybe you can even come back with me to Arabia to see and experience Islam at its finest. All I ask of you is that you open the Book of Allah and open your mind to allow the message to enter. You will see that the Quran has no error neither is it conflicting, whereas your myths may have contradictory statements and messages. If Allah wills, you will see the truth, and Inshallah, accept Islam.

Jazaakallahu Khairan dear brothers, sisters, and followers,

Assalamualaikum until next time J

Hamza Walker vs. Life

Hey guys, I recently watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and I found it a really great movie. So I decided to check out the comics, and they turned out pretty good too. And that really inspired me to write a story which is pretty much based on the series mentioned above, and well, here it is: (Also, I'll be updating the story on this post, so if you're interested, stay posted! :P )

What Hamza would’ve given to get off that bus in which she sat. His desire for her was stronger than his lust for life. She was the epitome of perfection, her beauty radiated pulses of shock that stopped him in his tracks a mile away. Yet Hamza was afraid. He was more afraid of her than anything else in the world. He could not speak to her, he could not meet her gaze, and most of all he feared her eyes. They seemed at first a warm, comforting light brown color, but they could soon become a sharp fiery leer.

Hamza quickly moved his gaze away from her, if she saw him staring, she would give him a smile that would stop his heart pumping. He would melt into a puddle of fear, anxiety, and confusion. He seemed to want her, but she was something extraordinary, and that put Hamza in a state of hesitation and frustration. He was glad that no other guy had dared to try his chances with her, yet he himself resented the fact that he could not do anything either. For now he would just wait and think; he told himself.

A few minutes later Hamza got off the bus at his stop, a few blocks away from his apartment. He walked briskly through the harsh winter wind of Toronto, trying to escape both the weather and his cowardice.

“Hamza! Where ya goin?” Hamza looked up and saw his roommate Wilson dangling his head out the window with a huge grin on his face. Hamza had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he missed the door to his apartment building. He slowly went back and then ran up the stairs to the 4^th floor where his apartment was.

“Not again Wilson, I’m kind of busy right now, and definitely not in the mood,” said Hamza angrily.

“Ooh, somebody’s being a big sourpuss today,” Wilson sarcastically replied. “Just chill dude, we’ll stay in the living room, we won’t be bothering your nerdy little head.”

“You better not,” Hamza said threateningly. This was the third day in a row Wilson had brought over his stupid friends over to their place to mess around and smoke. It had been a little weird the first day, but Hamza went along with it quietly. But now it was getting irritating, and Hamza didn’t want this to become a habit. He would talk with Wilson later.

He sighed and then threw his bag on the bed. Slumped in his armchair he fell asleep thinking of the confusing events that had occurred the past month.

Hamza snapped his eyes open. It was dark all around him, and everything was still and quiet besides the occasional sound of a car passing by on the street. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and then took a look at his clock. It was 3:30 am, and by the looks of the living room, Wilson’s friends had a great time ruining the apartment.