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What does it mean to be a muslim (for me)?

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It is Ramadan and I am asking myself this question. To me being a muslim is about finding myself. Finding my place in this world. Finding my purpose. It is about doing good. It is about following the examples of the prophet (saw) and the messages of the Quran. It is about improving and aiming to be a better person everyday. I am not perfect and I am broken in some ways but I found peace in my religion, in God and in the promise of heaven for good deeds that outweigh bad deeds. Islam for me is about believing in something that feels good to me. It is about following the straight path. The path of guidance and mercy. I am not in a position to argue which religion is correct and whether God is real but I can share what I believe and what feels good to me and what works for me. They say Islam chooses you and I believe that.

Life's journey comes with ups and downs. I struggle just like you. I struggle like everyone else. But I feel that with a guiding hand that is Islam and Allah and Quran and everything else that is part of being Muslim, the journey will be worth it. The truth (I think) is that none of us knows the full but we believe. Believing in God feels right to me. It is the glue that keeps me together. It is the source of the love in my heart. He is my creator. He is the Most High. I believe life is a test. I do not know why. I have not found that answer. One day it will make sense or maybe not but for now I believe. Maybe we all should have been sent to heaven directly without a test but then we will still probably question that. I think no matter how God creates us and where he places us as long as we have reason and can ask questions, we will. The alternative is to exist without reason. Can there be existence without reason? So maybe that is it? We are given free will and tested so that when we ask of God, why did You, he can turn to us and ask us, why did you.

This reminds me of something I had written before. "Why does God allow hunger, poverty, war, etc.? What if God asked us the same question? There is enough money, resources, knowledge, good people, smart people to solve our problems. Why do we allow it?" Reasoning and asking questions is the very nature of existence. I do not think there can be existence without questions and answers without testing. Maybe the ultimate question is do we prefer no existence or existence? And we could not answer this question without there being existence. So here we are, existing. This reminds me of what I have written on my about page. "I am exploring and learning everyday. Life is a test and there are so many questions." So maybe that is it in summary. To me, to be muslim is to be human and to be human is to be tested.
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