Day: O

This is my eighth Ramadan. If I am honest I approached the first one with no little trepidation; the prospect of going without food or drink for so long was something I’d never had to face before, real hunger being alien to me in my life at that point. The first time is hard, and I could think of little else other than how thirsty I was or how long until I could eat. It gets easier though, to the point where now if I think about Ramadan, the fasting is only a small part of it. There is still a tinge of apprehension at the test to come, but it is soothed by experience, and the knowledge that the fear of a thing is usually worse than its reality.

One of the funny things about Ramadan is that there are certain topics that come up every year, and the same feelings and discussions are repeated and recycled. “They’ll be long fasts this year”, people say. As the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar calendar, which is ten days shorter than the 365 of the solar calendar, the month of Ramadan gets a bit earlier each year. This has a pretty big impact, as the time between suhur, the pre-dawn meal, and iftar, the breaking of the fast at sunset, can be less than ten hours in the winter, or nearly twenty in the hot days of summer.

As we await sighting of the new moon, and with it the onset of Ramadan, I am looking forward to the increased level of communal activity which goes into overdrive, the iftar invitations and the challenge of tarawih. But most of all I’m looking forward to that indescribable feeling that this is a special time where you can achieve extraordinary things…

Day: 1

And so it begins, with breakfast at 2am. I had been looking forward to this Ramadan because If I’m honest I don’t think I’ve done my previous ones properly. Sure, I’ve followed the rules carefully, but I haven’t always made great use of my time. My weakness is that I spend all day thinking about the fact that I can’t eat or drink, even if I’m not particularly hungry or thirsty! If one of the purposes of Ramadan is to get people to empathise with the suffering of the poor, then I’ve not been doing a great job; poor people don’t obsess over how much longer they have to wait to eat because they don’t know how long, and they don’t gorge themselves when they can eat, unlike many Muslims  (myself included) at the opening of the fast. If you spend the night trying to ‘stock up’ to make the fast easier, you’re not really getting into the spirit of the thing (not that overeating ever really helps). I guess I’m ready to grow up and take it on the chin.

The first fast has been good, and my body already feels a little purged by the experience. I have to confess, though: I over ate at iftar time and felt like I had undone much of the benefit of fasting. This isn’t just through greed, though; after twenty hours of not eating, the space in the stomach shrinks and you become full much more quickly than you expect. I will try hard to moderate my portions for the rest of the month.

Day: 2

Much happier today. I’ve had very modest portions of food for breakfast and dinner and I’ve felt much better for it. Food may sound like a benign topic but it is very important in Islam. I am reminded of the hadith (saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him):

 “The human being has never filled a container worse than his stomach. Hence, it will be sufficient for the son of Adam to satisfy his hunger with a few bites to strengthen his backbone.
If he must eat his fill then he should allow for one third food, one third water, and third air.”

How much healthier the (western) world would be if we all followed that edict. All of the diets and pills and surgeries and therapies that people turn to in order to control their weight, instead of simply learning to control their appetites. I am not really overweight but I realise that I clearly eat far more than I need to.  A little research shows the many proven health benefits of fasting.

I’ve also managed to keep myself busy with useful things and not dwelt on the fasting. I don’t know about anyone else but for me the best thing about Ramadan is that your sense of things is heightened and your actions feel so much more deliberate. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said “When Ramadan comes, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained up”. I feel this keenly, as though previous influences on my actions have been lifted and I can make decisions with unusual clarity. It’s almost as if time slows down. I know that sounds a bit abstract, but if you’ve fasted then I think you’ll understand.

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Upon her return to England, Ridley began to reflect upon her experience. “My captors had treated me with courtesy and respect (despite my bad behaviour) and so, in turn, I kept my word and set out to study their religion”. She began only with the intention of fulfilling her promise, but “I became more engrossed with each page I turned, I became more impressed with what I read. With Islam I need no mediator or conduit to rely upon, I can have a direct line with God anytime I want”. She was particularly impressed with how the integrity of Islam’s holy sources has been preserved; “I was absolutely blown away by what I was reading – not one dot or squiggle had been changed in 1,400 years”. However, the road from there to conversion would not be easy; “when I initially thought about converting, I reflected I had a fundamental problem… I started the day with a bacon sandwich and ended it with a large glass or three of whisky”.

Eventually the strength of her conviction defeated her concerns, and she became Muslim, quickly adopting the hijab. This made her a target for jokes and abuse, from a taxi driver instructing her,”‘Don’t leave a bomb in the back seat” to “amusing moments such as being congratulated in Regent’s Park mosque for my excellent grasp of English”. She continues, “But, in the eyes of many, I no longer am a real person. Waiters talk loudly and slowly if I am on my own, and if I am with a non-hijabi female, she is asked what I would like to eat”. “I knew I would become a target for abuse from the odd Islamaphobic oik, but I didn’t expect so much open hostility from complete strangers”.

Every Western woman who converts to Islam seems to encounter the same confusion from non-Muslims as to why on earth she might want to exchange her hard-fought cultural freedoms for sexual oppression and ‘enforced’ concealment of her beauty. This is an issue about which Ridley feels strongly,

There are oppressed women in Muslim countries, but I can take you up the side streets of Tyneside and show you oppressed women there. Oppression is cultural, it is not Islamic. The Koran makes it crystal clear that women are equal.”

Western women are still treated as commodities, where sexual slavery is on the rise, disguised under marketing euphemisms, where womens’ bodies are traded throughout the advertising world. As mentioned before, this is a society where rape, sexual assault, and violence on women is commonplace, a society where the equality between men and women is an illusion, a society where a womens’ power or influence is usually only related to the size of her breasts … how liberating is it to be judged for your mind and not the size of your bust or length of your legs?”

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Further reading

YvonneRidley.org
‘It’s only a piece of cloth’
‘From captive to convert’
‘Journey towards Islam’
‘How I came to the veil’

A problem shared by all Muslims, and felt perhaps most acutely by those who are new to the faith and all it entails, is the enormous negative publicity that has surrounded Islam and Muslims since 9/11. Despite our muted protestations that Islam should not be judged by the actions of a few misguided Muslims, the sad fact is that the media hasn’t had to look far to find the ‘lunatic fringe’ claiming all sorts of injustices in the name of Islam. Despite many commendable individual efforts, the voice of what we would regard as ‘true’ Islam has not been heard, as evidenced by a recent YouGov poll that found for instance that 69% of the British public think Islam encourages the repression of women, 50% associate it with terrorism, and a mere 6% associate it with justice.

It is in response to this need for a strong public voice that the Exploring Islam Foundation have launched the InspiredByMuhammad project. An ambitious campaign targeting the web, taxis, bus stops and billboards, the aim is to “improve the public understanding of Islam and Muslims. It showcases Britons demonstrating how Muhammad inspires them to contribute to society, with a focus on women’s rights, social justice and the environment.” Featuring prominent British Muslims such as the barrister Sultana Tafader, broadcaster Kristiane Backer and scholar Timothy Winters, the campaign is the most high tech, modern and well-organised, not to mention most ambitious, ever launched.

Here is an extract from their section on Human Rights.

Abuse of human rights continues to this day and Muhammad witnessed similar injustices in seventh century Arabia. Racism, oppression, female infanticide, exploitation of the weak – Muhammad denounced them all and fought against inhumane practices that had become part of a decaying system. In their place he championed freedom, equality, and justice for everyone. “Assist any person who is oppressed, whether he is Muslim or not,” he instructed. He made formal agreements with the Christians of Najran and the Jews of Medina promising full protection. The contract with the latter stated they had ‘support and the same equal rights as any one of us’. His commitment to justice was such that the Medina Jews asked Muhammad to deal with their cases, which he did according to Jewish law.

Muhammad’s principles of safeguarding human rights were applied throughout Muslim lands. Those of other faiths enjoyed protection and control over their places of worship and the freedom to perform their religious ceremonies in peace. The English author historian HG Wells writes in ‘A Short History of the World’ that the Islamic teachings “brought into existence a society in which hard-heartedness and collective oppression were at the lowest level when compared with all other societies preceding it…Islam is replete with gentleness, tolerance and fraternity”.

Muslims today work as human rights lawyers and towards protecting civil liberties and equal opportunities in various organisations. “All mankind is from Adam and Eve” said Muhammad, emphasising the equality between people. Now, 1,430 years later, the duty to protect the rights of every human is as vital as ever.

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And so when a book is printed and bound with such care as this one, with its sewn binding, a beautiful gilded crimson cloth hardcover, and a matching ribbon for bookmarking, the text within has a lot to live up to. It is certainly ambitious, being subtitled ‘A Handbook of Muslim Salah’, and prefacing the text thusly: the ultimate goal is ‘the perception of the Divine in all that we experience, and in all that we do’ through these prayers of occasions… ‘the purpose of such prayers is … to draw closer by means of them to Allah’. Can a book of 70-odd pages really tell you everything you need to know about that most vital of devotional practices?

The answer is no. But then it doesn’t attempt to; it makes it clear that the ritual daily prayers are not convered, as these are dealt with perfectly well in many other publications. No, the purpose of this text is to cover those prayers less well known, but still of immense importance to a Muslim who sincerely wishes to draw nearer to his creator. It is split into six fundamental types of prayer. Prayers related to the time of day, such as the night prayer; prayers specific to the Islamic calendar, such as the tarawih of Ramadhan; prayers related to the natural world such as during a solar eclipse; prayers in times of need of Divine Aid such as strengthening ones memory; prayers particular to certain actions such as prior to travelling and upon entering the mosque; prayers of ‘momentous occasions’ such as at a funeral or on a wedding night; and prayers of ‘spiritual ascent’ relating to gratitude, repentance and glorification. It is perhaps a sad commentary on the state of sacred knowledge among ordinary Muslims that many of these prayers are either forgotten or their importance and provenance unknown, and so they have lapsed out of common practice. The compiler and publisher of this work are to be commended on their efforts to renew this knowledge for a new generation in their maiden publication.

It is authoritative, rigourously referenced and based on reliable classical sources, introduced by the widely respected traditional scholar, Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller. In his foreword, he explains that ‘Occasions have been sent to man to remind him of the greatest realities of his existence: himself, his Lord, and his inevitable journey out of this world’. It is these occasions, the small occurrences of everyday existence as well as the less frequent moments in a believer’s life, with which the book is concerned. He reminds us that in general ‘the prayer is an intimate connection between creature and Creator, to manifest his favour, lift man to a higher plane, and remind him of his destiny’ but places the book in context: it is these superogatory, voluntary acts of worship that elevate a believer’s spirituality beyond the ordinary. Allah says, ‘My slave keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he seizes, and his foot with which he walk.’

Crucially, for recent converts and indeed ordinary Muslims who do not know Arabic, all prayers and du’as have been transliterated, making it useful for a serious student of Islamic practice yet accessible for the newcomer. Each prayer is given its proper source, purpose, benefit and conditions. We have no reservations in wholeheartedly recommending this handbook to any Muslim who wishes to develop his spirituality beyond the bare minimum required of him. As Shaykh Nuh says, ‘whomever Allah gives success in this has attained tremendous good in this world and the next’.

You can read sample pages and order direct from OTKF Publications.

Evidence from Hadith

There are many statements from the Prohpet (pbuh) which make it clear that the miswak is of great benefit; nobody contests them. He said, “Had I not feared hardship for my Community, I would have ordered them to brush their teeth for every prayer.” [Bukhari and Muslim], and “Brushing one’s teeth cleans the mouth and pleases the Lord.” [Bukhari]. One of the reasons for the miswak’s high status in Islam is the importance given to hygiene generally; according the Prophet (pbuh), “Cleanliness is half of faith.” [Muslim].

Scientific Evidence

Research shows that the bark of the miswak contains an antibiotic which suppresses the growth of a bacteria and the formation of plaque in the mouth. Regular use also reduces plaque, gingivitis, and the growth of carcinogenic bacteria. Miswak naturally contains fluoride, astringents, resins (which protect enamel) and abrasives.

A 2003 study comparing the use of miswak with ordinary toothbrushes concluded that the results clearly were in favour of the users who had been using the miswak. The World Health Organisation recommends the use of the miswak.

Use of the Miswak

The miswak is a hard twig, and must be prepared before use. About 2cm of bark at one end should be cut away using a knife, to expose the fibres beneath. This exposed section then needs to be chewed, to soften the fibres enough for brushing. When the fibres become worn and the taste diminishes, they should be cut off and a new ‘head’ cut. Store it upright.

Before using the miswak, make a short du’a (supplication). It is better to learn this in Arabic, but in English it is “O Allah, purify my mouth, enlighten my heart, purify my body, and make my body unlawful to the Fire.” The miswak should be held in such a manner that the small finger and thumb are below the miswak and the remaining fingers are on its upper side. When brushing, brush each area three times, or any odd number of times greater than three. Brush horizontally to avoid damage to the gums.

Using the miswak is beneficial at any time, but there are specific times at which its use has been recommended. Before entering one’s house, before and after going on a journey, on Fridays, before reciting Qur’an, before sleeping and after waking up, when experiencing hunger or thirst and before entering any good gathering. Do not use it in the bathroom, or when lying down.

Hudaifah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the Messenger of Allah woke up, he would rub his teeth with miswak. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Hadhrat Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: We used to prepare for the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) a miswak and the water for making wudu. Whenever Allah wished to awaken him from sleep at night, he would brush his teeth with miswak, make wudu, and perform Salat. [Muslim]

Shuraih bin Hani (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I asked Aishah: “What was the first thing the Prophet (pbuh) would do when he entered his house?” She replied: “He would use miswak.” [Muslim]

Islamic scholars suggest that when using miswak, a person should start on the right of the mouth, and use a side-to-side motion rather than up-and-down, as the latter may harm the gums. It is also said that a person should not use the miswak in front of others or in public, because this is impolite. It should be washed after use, to get rid of any dirt that may be on it. Hadhrat Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “The Prophet (pbuh) used to use miswak, then he would give it to me to wash it. I would use it first, then wash it and give it back to him.” (Reported by Abu Dawood). The Prophet’s method of holding the miswak, according to what Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Masood has narrated, is as follows: “Place the small finger of the right hand below the miswak. Place the thumb below the head of the miswak. The remaining three fingers will be placed above.”

More detailed information on the miswak can be found here.

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* * *

The prophet (peace be upon him) used to start with his right in every thing. It is reported that he “used to step with his right foot first when he entered the Masjid, and step out with his left foot first when he walked out of the Masjid”. Nobody will tell you off if you forget, but as Muslims we try to emulate the Prophet (peace be upon him) in all details.

Be considerate about your personal hygiene. One hadith says, “Whoever eats garlic, onion, then keep away from our Masjid because the angels get offended from what offends the children of Adam.” It is reported that if the Prophet (peace be upon him) found a man to have a strong smell upon him, he ordered him to be taken out. So it is something that should be taken very seriously.

If you enter the masjid and the prayer for which you came has started, do not run to join in. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said “If the prayer started, then do not join it running, and join it walking and quiet, and pray whatever you caught up with, and make up for what you missed.”

Try to be as quiet as possible, even when reading Qur’an aloud. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said “The praying person is in contact with his Lord, so let him concentrate on whom he is in contact with, and do not raise your voices over one another with Qur’an.”

Do not walk directly in front of a praying person. This is one of the most common blunders of the newcomer! According to a hadith, “If the passer in front of the praying person knew how much sin he committed, it would have been better for him to wait for forty years than to pass in front of him.” On a related note, worshippers often place a scarf or other item a short distance in front of them as a ‘marker’ – treat this as their inviolable space while they are praying. If it is absolutely necessary for you to pass in front of them, do so in a manner that your back is facing the praying person.

The Muslim should sit where he finds a place in the masjid. The Muslim should not skip people or squeeze himself between two people who are already sitting. To aid people who come when the masjid is busy, those already sitting should try to make space for them.

When a women is experiencing her monthly cycle, it is forbidden for her to enter the masjid.

Do not engage in trade in the masjid. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said “If you see some one selling or buying inside the Masjid, say to him: May Allah not make your trading profitable. And if you see someone crying out inside the Masjid something he has lost, say to him: May Allah not restore it to you, for the Masajid were not built for this.” More generally, try to avoid devaluing the purpose for which you came by speaking of worldly affairs.

If the adhan is called, do not leave the masjid until you have prayed – even if you have already prayed the prayer that is being called. Pray with the congregation, and count it as a ‘nafl’ (optional) prayer. Imam Ahmad reported that Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said “the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered us, when we are in the Masjid and the Salah is called for, not to leave the Masjid until we pray.”

Greet people when you enter, and when you leave the masjid. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said “When one of you joins a gathering he should greet those present; and when he leaves them he should greet them because the first salutation is not better than the last one.” If there are many people present a single declaration of ‘asalaamu alaikum’ will suffice, as this means ‘peace be upon you (all)’.

Do not sit with you feet pointing towards the Qibla (direction of prayer) or other people.

It is generally agreed that the Qur’an should not be placed on the floor out of respect for the divine word, although there are some groups that do not adhere to this.

If men and women should meet in the masjid, they should not shake hands! Such physical contact is everyday in Western society, but is inappropriate in Islam.

There are, relative to Western norms, strict dress codes in Islam. Make sure you dress modestly. For men, this means, as a legal minimum, being covered from navel to knee, but more dignifiedly the top clothing should cover the elbows. It is also good practice for men to wear a hat. For women, the majority of opinion is that only the face, hands and feet should show. You should also avoid wearing clothes with pictures of faces on them.

Lastly… switch your phone off!

…there are many other things we could mention, such as the du’as read when entering and leaving the mosque, but arguably these are more clearly matters of worship and can be covered elsewhere.

I am Ryan Barwick, from Australia. I live in Gold Coast, Queensland. I am 25 years of age (almost 26), and I have two siblings. An older sister (27) and a younger brother (24). I am a student currently, studying Bachelor of Computer Games, a course that is mainly about publishing and marketing, and games journalism. At the age of 5, my family split up (i.e. mum and dad separated). This was due to reasons I won’t go into here, but let’s just say it was for the better. I was raised in a Catholic Christian family, and had always attended Catholic schools. For me, this was an issue of concern. Because every week we had Religion class, and we read bible, and whatever, but every time I asked a question for clarification, I was pretty much told to stop interrupting, and be quiet. It got to the point in 2000, where I was extremely curious about “my” religion (or the one that my parents had given me), and I really wanted to know more. So I started asking more questions in class, only to still get no answers. Eventually, the teacher kicked me out of class for being a “trouble-maker”, which I assumed was because there was no answer in Catholicism for my questions. So from that point, I considered myself an agnostic (i.e. I still believed there was a God, just didn’t claim to be part of any religion).

It was September of 2007 when I finally came into Islam. So it has been just over 2 years now that I have considered myself a muslim. Before Islam, I was many things. Since I finished school (in 2000), I was a major computer game addict until about 2002, then I became a heavy marijuana smoker. I smoked large quantities of marijuana every day, until 2006, when I finally decided that my life was going nowhere, and I wanted to achieve something with my life, instead of always being “high” and doing nothing with my life except buying more marijuana and smoking.

Before Islam, I did not know much about it. My first exposure to Islam was when I visited Malaysia with my mother in 2000. I didn’t really learn anything about it at the time though, but I saw a lot of women in Hijab, and from my opinion, they looked very respectable and attractive (I was 16 at the time). So in 2001, when the 9/11 incident happened, I heard of Islam again. And I could not believe in my heart or logically in my mind, that any religion would promote these sort of actions. So I started researching Islam a little. In 2003, when the United States decided to enter Iraq to find the “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, I was angered. Firstly, because I felt it was a hypocrisy that the western countries are allowed WMDs but no-one else is. Secondly, I felt angered because of all the people they were killing. I could see that the muslims in this place, were just trying to live their life peacefully, but were not being allowed this. So again, I started researching more into Islam. In 2006, around the time I stopped smoking marijuana, I became heavily involved in online forums on a site called Zorpia. Here I found many discussions about Islam, with majority of these being hate-filled western misconceptions. So I attempted to participate and inform people of my beliefs of Islam (from what I had researched). It turned out that people were unwilling to listen, and kept quoting lines from “supposed Qur’an”. So, at this point I had not read Qur’an, and I had a friend from that site from Pakistan, who was a Muslim. So I would ask his advice regarding these supposed quotes from Qur’an, and I found that pretty much all the quotes these people were giving, were false. So I went and bought my own copy of Qur’an, and sat for a few weeks, reading it little by little. When I finally had finished reading, I came to the realisation that everything I had read, was exactly the same beliefs and morals that I had always held to be true (ever since I was a small child). After this, I had a friend die in early 2007. This was pretty much the moment that I decided I needed to get in touch with God, for life is finite and possibly short (this friend was only 17). So I thought, with all the things I have done in my past (good and bad), I needed to start getting closer to God (Allah) in order to seek forgiveness for these things. So I contacted my friend in Pakistan again, and we started discussing Islam on a regular basis. Started discussing the scientific proofs that are contained within the Qur’an (which have been proven to be true by science), and then I finally told him that I want to convert. He informed me that it is really “revert”, because in Islam we believe that everyone is born Muslim. But he taught me Shahadah, and I said it that same day (at home) from the heart.

Regarding my beard, I have pretty much had one since I turned 18. I have shaved it occasionally, when it got too long and started curling and whatever. I have always believed that a beard is what separates a man from a boy. There is a saying (think it might be an Australian saying) of “Real Men Have Beards”. Not sure where I heard it, but I always agreed with it. Also, when I found out that it is Sunnah (or the way of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhim wasalam)) to “trim the moustache, and let the beard flow”, I straight away removed the moustache and stopped trimming my beard. This was approximately 6 months ago, masha’Allah. Also, I do quite like the saying “A Man without his Beard, is like a Lion without his Mane”.

Since I have reverted to Islam, I find no difference with the way people interact with me in general. This could possibly be related to the fact that I am a typical looking white caucasion, although I do have the beard and no moustache. Many times I have been asked if I was a Jew, or an Amish (a very traditional Christian religious denomination) person, but I have corrected them and said I am Muslim. The main thing I notice when people find out that I am Muslim, is extreme surprise in their face. Like the surprise of disbelief (i.e not believing that I am Muslim). But other than that, I have had no negative experiences or difficulties with dealing with everyday people. When I told my family that I had decided to revert to Islam, and had done so already (it was about 2 months after I did that I told them), their expression was again one of disbelief. My mother did not believe me, but then she started thinking it was a “phase” I was going through. Eventually (after more than a year), she has come to the realisation that it is indeed not a “phase”, but she has accepted it as my choice to make, and as such she accomodates for this (e.g. by not cooking haram foods, etc). My brother and sister did not believe me, and eventually when they did, they just said “well if that is what you decide to believe in, then so be it”.

When I informed my close friends that I had reverted, I had a few issues. My close friends count as a group of about 10 from my old hometown (where I lived from 15-20), and there was a local group in my current town (of about 5 friends). Now the 5 friends that I had locally, I had major issues with. They got angry at me and wanted to fight me, because I had pretty much given up all the bad habits that they were involved in, and no longer was supporting their bad habits (both financially and morally). So this group of “friends” were pretty much left to continue their lives on their own. My other group of friends (from old hometown), I had minor issues with, but nothing negative. I had issues convincing them that I had reverted. They believed I was just joking, and took me quite a while (over a year) for them to understand I was serious. But they have accepted this (except maybe 1 or 2 who still think I am joking).

To an extent I have been in contact with other reverts, but only via online forums, and the likes. In person, I have yet to meet another revert. I would classify myself as an attempting-to-practice muslim. I am still a bit “foggy” on certain practices, however I try to practice everything that I know or have learned. I had a few issues with bringing myself to masjid, as I suffer from a quite extreme anxiety disorder. However, today (20 October 2009), I made my first step to masjid, for fajr prayer (the first prayer of the day). Masha’Allah (as Allah has willed). I hope that this can be the start of a long career of walking (or running even) towards Allah, insha’Allah (if it be the will of Allah).

For the Muslim readers, I would like to say Shoukran (thank you) very much for the acceptance into the Ummah. And for all the guidance and help you have all shared with me over the years. Jazak’Allah khair( May Allah grant you goodness ). For the non-muslim readers, I would like to wish you the best of this world and the next, and hope that you too can find true guidance to the path of peace, insha’Allah (if it be the will of Allah).
For everyone:

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
(May the Peace, the Mercy, and the Blessings of Allah be upon you)