Faith

Abused and bullied by the Imam during Qur'aan class, the children left one by one. They didn't tell their parents because they had been sworn to secrecy, and to question the Imam or the religion was just not something you did. Questioning any kind of religion or those who held a role of leadership was not respectful and you could go to hell fire because of it. Questioning the holy books means you are an unbeliever, an infidel, and yet questions gives us clarity, a deeper understanding and respect, and anything that withstands scrutiny is robust, so why is questioning forbidden? Fatih, one of the children bullied in the mosque dared to seek answers, then began learning more about Islam at home with his grandpa-dadda which was just what his soul and his mind had been yearning for. Encouraged to connect the dots of history and geography with the holy teachings of all religions, Faith ventured on a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment in the world of meta-physics and the quantum realm. As he got older, he became increasingly aware of the judgments, and the sexual, financial, emotional and spiritual abuses inflicted upon believers of all religions across the world. Then in 2005 his family home got raided, leaving him, his siblings and his parents devastated, fearful, suspicious and re-evaluating who they were as individuals and as a family. The 7/7 London bombings made many reflect what it meant to be British; but as a target of the anti-terrorism laws, the growing racism and the Islamophobia across Britain, Faith was now identified as a Muslim or a terrorist. Never as a man, a human, or a British citizen. Who was he? And what had the bombings in London done to the people of Britain? What had happened to the concept of religion? Something that used to be a peaceful bond between people, providing a place of solace for the local community and strangers alike. Religion had become a prison, a grip around the hearts and minds of people, a tool in the political arena to cause division and hatred. Different factions started creating a controlling force of 'them versus us' rather than the love, kindness and generosity that the prophets espoused. In the beginning, the people needed something to believe in, something bigger than themselves, to know their suffering wasn't for nought, but then religion became the suffering, the isolation, the exclusion and the vehicle of abuse. With the need to increase influence and profits the mainstream media realised how easily it was to use their platforms to increase fear amongst the people, deepen hatred and break down communities in order to promote their own agendas, and the agendas of those who own them and advertised with them. Religion had now taken its place as a dangerous weapon used to cause wars across the world, within communities and more unbelievably within families. The people started to become lazy, started believing the lies, and choosing to accept blindly the scriptures of all holy books. They stopped seeking, stopped questioning and ultimately cut off their connection to their own soul. This book explores what it means to question, to seek the answers to the meaning of life, and encourages us all to connect the dots. It is about knowing the difference between what it means to have faith and what it means to have a religion, because they are not mutually exclusive. To have a religion doesn't mean to have faith, and to have faith doesn't equal believing in religion. Faith is internal. Religion is external. And it is time humanity started looking deep within for the answers rather than seeking approval and acceptance from those outside of themselves. It is about believing in oneself, having faith in ourselves, each other and the natural world around us.