Sidi Tamim Faruk shares a beautiful testimonial on how SeekersGuidance has had a beneficial impact on his life as a student.
Thinking back on my life so far, the age 15 strikes me so much. When previously I had little self confidence, that was the first year I grew out of my shell and started to realize what it was I actually believed in and stood for.
And a large part of that, I owe to Shaykh Faraz, whose institution, SeekersGuidance I had discovered through my brothers. I decided to enroll in the basics of “Hanafi Fiqh” at their prompting, to better grasp my faith and practice it correctly. Up until this point, I was Muslim, I believed, I cared but it still didn’t sit right with me. Even though I knew I had something deep and beautiful, I was living between two worlds. At high school, most people didn’t have conception of religion. It didn’t envelope them and while I tried to follow, I felt alone and my Muslim identity felt inferior.
But after I enrolled in this course, somehow, everything thereafter just felt like it filled and pervaded with meaning. Praying was no longer just a chore, or empty actions, but a conversation with the Divine. It was from this introduction, I became enraptured with Islam as a whole and became concerned with spirituality.
This started to show in my daily life. As one of the few Muslims in my school, I no longer felt afraid to pray the noon pray outside the little portable where my math class was held. I no longer cared when being gazed upon by my peers, whose opinions had been constricting me and my self esteem for so long. The same people I felt inferior to, it meant nothing. I no longer minded being interrogated about why my foot was in the sink to make ablution, or why I would lower my gaze during a movie or why I needed to pray in the first place.
Because nothing else mattered. I had purpose. I had direction. I learned not to put my faith in “perishing things” but in the One who sustains us all and never dies. I learned the place of good character, and made it my goal to reflect this goodness as much as I could. I strove to embody beautiful qualities, mercy, kindness, forbearance. And after setting my sights to connect with the Divine, I learned to entertain and grapple with the deeper philosophical and sociological realities which plague our society. I saw Islam and its intricate spiritual, political and legal system as a solution.
I fell in love with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the people who love him. I learned what to value in my friends and see them for their beautiful qualities – both Muslim and non.
And from this love, I learned to stand up for what I believe in. I was comfortable in my own skin and no one could take that away.
All this, an entire paradigm shift and at such a young age, largely in part because I was pointed to Shaykh Faraz. While others struggle with finding their convictions til their death beds, I was blessed to know who I was at a young age.
I am indebted to so much of my development to Shaykh Faraz since I was 15. The funny thing is that he probably doesn’t even know the impact he has had on me and how my life has changed because of him.
This is because that first course I took was online, along with the other hundreds of courses that Seekers offers for free. Other than that, I only see Shaykh Faraz once or twice a year when I have time to visit. But even if he didn’t see it, I owe him so much and have deep love and reverence for him.
May Allah bless and protect all of our teachers who selflessly sacrifice and work to spread their light. May Allah allow us to take advantage of them, as their heirs, and to be worthy of serving them and furthering their causes.
– Sidi Tamim Faruk, SeekersGuidance Student