Proud to be a Muslim – Yassine Tounsi
Yassine Tounsi – Telecom Engineer and Blogger
I was born in a Muslim family in Bangalore, south India. The life was quite easy for us; no need for luxuries, no need to be anxious, no need to worry about the future. In a world where people rush all the day in a stressful rhythm to get money, to have a good job, to get married, to buy a new house…I believe that when I follow the footsteps of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, my soul will be in peace and joy.
When I was a child I went to an Islamic school, it was called “Madrasa”. In this school I sacrificed five years of my life to learn Quran. Though I know the huge responsibility of holding the Quran, I can feel so comfortable with it since I teach the new generation how to recite its verses. That helps me too not to forget a single word.
Where I live people know a little bit about Islam, all what they know is that Muslims don’t drink alcohols and don’t eat pork. That’s all! I always blame myself for not telling them what Islam really is. I want just to invite people to think of it logically, that it can be only one God and if we focus on facts Muhammad should be his final messenger after Jesus, Moses, and all the previous messengers.
I hope I can reach a huge number to tell them the truth of Islam. I’m convinced that we, as Muslims, are not doing our best to let people know the truth of our religion. Unfortunately, our behavior also doesn’t reflect what our prophet taught us. Don’t we know that God will judge us for our dereliction?
Islam came here by the Muslim merchants; they came not only with their merchandises, but also with their goodness. Their honesty and kindness never go unnoticed. Local people understood that their religion is the secret behind all these morals, and so they deliberately converted to Islam. I’m always asking myself where these merchants are now.
I have big ambitions however I face big challenges too. I learn all the Quran by heart and I can’t understand it. May be it seems very surprising for Arabs who can understand it without any additional efforts, but this is the reality of the non-Arab people who represent 80 percent of the world’s Muslim population.
I can hardly find a teacher here to learn this beautiful language. I’m sure that Arabic is so beautiful. How it cannot be beautiful and Quran is written by its words and letters? Where are the Arabs now? Are they interested in developing their language? Unfortunately, it seems not. I cannot see any efforts done by Arabs to boost the presence of Arabic in the world. May be they don’t know its importance.
I believe I should work harder and not just wish and wait for others. Since I know the path, I have to go straight without complaint. I will do my duties towards my family, my community and my Ummah. Change will never come until we, Muslims, understand that we are the actors of this change. May God guide us all to truth and keep us on the straight path, and improve our affairs. Amen.
