[Showkat]

Letters reveal Mother Teresa's despair
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/...section=justin

A book of letters written by Mother Teresa of Calcutta reveals for the first time that she was deeply tormented about her faith and suffered periods of doubt about God.
"Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear," she wrote to the Reverend Michael van der Peet in September 1979.

The ethnic Albanian Roman Catholic nun, who dedicated her life to poor, sick and dying in India, died in 1997 aged 87.

Mother Teresa had wanted all her letters destroyed, but the Vatican ordered they be preserved as potential relics of a saint, a spokeswoman for the book's publishers Doubleday said.

Mother Teresa has been beatified but not yet canonised.
The first excerpts from the book were published on the website of Time magazine, which has serial rights.

"I spoke as if my very heart was in love with God - tender, personal love," she wrote to one adviser. "If you were (there), you would have said, 'What hypocrisy'."
The letters stand in marked contrast to her public image as a selfless and tireless minister for the poor who was driven by faith.

"I've never read a saint's life where the saint has such an intense spiritual darkness. No one knew she was that tormented," the Reverend James Martin, an editor at Jesuit magazine America and the author of 'My Life with the Saints', told Time.
The writings address numerous topics, but the ones most likely to create a stir are what Doubleday called the "dark letters."

"Please pray specially for me that I may not spoil His work and that Our Lord may show Himself -- for there is such terrible darkness within me, as if everything was dead," she wrote in 1953. "It has been like this more or less from the time I started 'the work'."
Then in 1956: "Such deep longing for God - and ... repulsed - empty - no faith - no love - no zeal. (Saving) souls holds no attraction - Heaven means nothing - pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything."

And then in 1959: "If there be no God - there can be no soul - if there is no Soul then Jesus - You also are not true."

At times she also found it hard to pray.
"I utter words of community prayers - and try my utmost to get out of every word the sweetness it has to give - but my prayer of union is not there any longer - I no longer pray."

Comment:

As someone said " nothing to be surprised about since the heart and mind can never fully embrace falsehood".

Very sad that the Vatican went against her wishes maybe they had monetary motives , but look how the truth has surfaced about the views of this kind woman, indeed Allah swt is the best planner.

I can understand why doubts crept in regarding her work since instead of reducing poverty and suffering she witnessed increases every year, this is due to the fact that individuals can only alleviate poverty and suffering to a small extent, but states can solve problems comprehensively only a wider scale since they have the resources at their disposal.
I hope Allah swt forgives her sins because I believe she sincerely worked to make the world a better place, but Islam teaches us that deeds based on other than Islam are worthless and anyone who dies after hearing about Islam and the prophethood of Muhammed saw dies sinful.

[A_Muminah]

As-salaamu 'Alaykum,

An interesting read.

They spoke about this for a while on NPR and read portions of the letters, they were fascinating, I must say. They said that ironically enough, she started losing faith and felt she wasnt 'feeling the presence of God' anymore was the year she won the Nobel Peace Prize. She did great work, I agree but perhaps she started losing faith because the media and the world focused so much on her work and kept praising her for her it.

I really liked her, too bad she didnt become Muslim.
Shirk = unforgiven

Was-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah

[Kona_Silat]

Originally Posted by A_Muminah

....

I really liked her, too bad she didnt become Muslim.
Shirk = unforgiven

Was-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah

... and I dub thee unforgiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiven! - Metallica

[Kona_Silat]

Anyways, in my opinion, her despair was that she never had physical love from a man. No sex = frustration

[Laimuun]

Originally Posted by Showkat

but Islam teaches us that deeds based on other than Islam are worthless

umm, so according to you, unless the person was doing a deed for the sake of islam, such good deeds go unrewarded? what a load of crap.

I don't know who your teacher was, but I've always been taught that Allah is the Most Merciful and a good deed will be rewarded, regardless of the person's religion.

[kamuzrana]

Originally Posted by Laimuun

umm, so according to you, unless the person was doing a deed for the sake of islam, such good deeds go unrewarded? what a load of crap.

I don't know who your teacher was, but I've always been taught that Allah is the Most Merciful and a good deed will be rewarded, regardless of the person's religion.

i've gotta agree with you. the Quran states in many places that those who do good deeds, and believe in God, that their rewards is with their Lord.

and i LOVE this, that she felt darkness! wow, subhanallah! All the Catholics are disturbed by this because they call her a "saint." but what a role model for us "normal" people!

Islam does teach us that faith rises and falls throughout lifetime. But even in her darkest times, she was still a good person who did good works and who struggled to feel God. wow.

i would love to read these letters.

[A_Muminah]

As-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah,

Originally Posted by Laimuun

umm, so according to you, unless the person was doing a deed for the sake of islam, such good deeds go unrewarded? what a load of crap.

I don't know who your teacher was, but I've always been taught that Allah is the Most Merciful and a good deed will be rewarded, regardless of the person's religion.

A deed is rewarded in Jannah, yes?

In order to get to Jannah, you need to believe in Allaah and His Messenger, yes?

In order to believe in Allaah and His Messenger (saw), you associate no shirk. Yes?

If you believe in shirk, your sin (of committing shirt) will not be forgiven, yes?

How do you think one makes it to Jannah in order to be rewarded for a good deed by committing shirk?

Ermmm, I think Im missing something in my formula. Please enlighten me. My teachers formula differs from your teachers. Who is your teacher? My teacher goes by the name of Prophet Mohammad (saw).

Was-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah

[ChotooMotoo]

We don't know who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. Allah (swt) is most merciful. Indeed, your chances of heaven increase if you believe in Islam, but that doesn't make it guaranteed. It also doesn't mean that you will go to Jannah as soon as you die. Very few people were promised that reward. As for those who followed a religion other than Islam, there are lots of differnt oppinions about what happens to them. Some say that it depends on why they didn't accept Islam, for if they never knew about Islam, or Islam was presented to them in such a way that they could never accept it, they will be judged differently and Allah (swt) knows best. There exists also the idea that at the end of time all people with even the tiniest amount of faith in Allah (swt) will be taken out of hell. Furthermore, Christians at the time of Prophet Muhammad already believed in the Trinity, but they are not on the same level as the mushrikeen. Some allowance is made to them for following Isa (even loosely following as many do today.)

Maybe it's easy for those who have no non-Muslim family or very few non-Muslim friends to condemn them all to Hell. For people like me, whose entire family is non-Muslim, and never knew anything about Islam except what they were taught in church, it's hard to think that all the people you love will be condemned to hell. Many of my ancestors certainly never had a chance to accept Islam. The idea that Allah (swt) would create a person only to condemn them to hell seems quite contradictory to the teaching of Allah (swt) as most merciful. For Mother Theresa, if she was braught up a staunch Roman Catholic, she may have heard about Muslims, but never opened a book about Islam in her life. Indeed, most books about other religions are on the forbiden book list that no good catholic would ever dare open. It's quite possible then that all her ideas about Islam were taught to her in church.

Certainly we can stop short of asserting that Mother Theresa is in Jannah, but it's not right either to say that she is in Hell. We don't know. What we can say, however, is that she certainly did some very great deeds and that Allah (swt) is most merciful. We don't know if we are going to Heaven, so how can we say about someone else? Allah (swt) knows best.

None of us was taught by Prophet Muhammad (saw), all of our knowledge was passed down through the ages scholar by scholar. There are scholarly differences, and it's unwise to make the blanket assertion that your scholars are better than their scholars.

[A_Muminah]

As-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah,

I wont even respond but leave you with a couple ahadith, insha-Allaah. A Prophet's word is truly worth more than mine. We are ALL taught by him. He was a teacher send by Allaah (SWT) to teach and guide all of mankind. He is my teacher.

Narrated Al-Musaiyab:
When Abu Talib was in his death bed, the Prophet went to him while Abu Jahl was sitting beside him. The Prophet said, "O my uncle! Say: None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, an expression I will defend your case with, before Allah." Abu Jahl and 'Abdullah bin Umaya said, "O Abu Talib! Will you leave the religion of 'Abdul Muttalib?" So they kept on saying this to him so that the last statement he said to them (before he died) was: "I am on the religion of 'Abdul Muttalib." Then the Prophet said, " I will keep on asking for Allah's Forgiveness for you unless I am forbidden to do so." Then the following Verse was revealed:--

"It is not fitting for the Prophet and the believers to ask Allah's Forgiveness for the pagans, even if they were their near relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the (Hell) Fire." (9.113)

The other Verse was also revealed:-- "(O Prophet!) Verily, you guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He will ......." (28.56) Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 223


Narrated Al-Abbas bin 'Abdul Muttalib:
That he said to the Prophet "You have not been of any avail to your uncle (Abu Talib) (though) by Allah, he used to protect you and used to become angry on your behalf." The Prophet said, "He is in a shallow fire, and had It not been for me, he would have been in the bottom of the (Hell) Fire." Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 222

Baraka-Allaahu Feekum
(btw - Yes, there is another category in itself regarding people who never heard about islaam but thats not what I am referring to)

Was-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuh.

[ChotooMotoo]

That just means we can't pray for them after they die. I am aware of those hadiths, and they don't invalidate anything I said. I'm not saying anything against Islam, I'm not saying anything strange or revolutionary. I'm simply saying we don't know, and it's best not to make a judgement. What's wrong with that?

[ChotooMotoo]

Are non-Muslims condemned to Hell even if they did good and seem to have been genuinely pious?


In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

May Allah's peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, his folk, companions, and followers

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next. Please keep me in your duas.

Allah Most High tells us in the Qur'an,

"Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam will never have it accepted from him, and shall be of those who have truly failed in the next life." (Qur'an 3:85)

This is conditioned by His words,

"We do not punish until We send a Messenger." (Qur'an 17:15)

Shaykh Adib Kallas, a leading Damascene scholar and theologian, put it very well:

"We know that those who reject faith (man aba) are in Hell. It is not decisively established what exactly entails rejection of faith -- this is why the scholars of Sunni Islam differed. As for the details, we should concern ourselves with our own fate: Allah will ask us about ourselves, not about what He should do with others."

Ultimately, if (a) the message of Islam reached someone; and (b) they rejected it, then the verses and hadiths about being eternally in Hell would apply. At the level of individuals, it is a major question as to what reaching and rejecting entail. This is why we cannot judge whether individual non-Muslims are in Hell -- or, for that matter, in Heaven.

Rather, we consign their affair to Allah the Merciful and Just, while affirming the above.

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam,

Faraz Rabbani

[A_Muminah]

As-Salaamu 'Alaykum,

Thats perfectly fine but what exactly are you trying to say that I havent mentioned?

EDIT: Whats wrong with it is that we (Muslims) through the Qur'aan and Sunnah, do know what happens to non-Muslims. You should remember that Prophet Mohammad (saw) was emotional over his uncle not becoming a Muslim as well but this emotion only occurs here and now..on dunyah. You will not care for anyone's deeds or actions on Yawmul Qiyaamah because they wont matter. Even though Prophet Mohammad (saw) wanted to continue to make du'a for Abu Talib, Allaah SPECIFICALLY send down a wahi regarding such.

Was-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah

[ChotooMotoo]

Originally Posted by A_Muminah

EDIT: Whats wrong with it is that we (Muslims) through the Qur'aan and Sunnah, do know what happens to non-Muslims.

We know generally, we don't know specifically. If it makes you happy to think that all non-Muslims are condmned to hell unconditionally whether or not they ever had a chance to accept Islam, good for you. I prefer to think that Allah (swt) is most merciful, and knows best, much better than I. I don't know if I am good enough to go to Jannah, though I was given the chance and I did accept Islam. I am not prepared to condemn all my Christian ancestors, who never knew about Islam, never read or had a chance to read the Quran, to hell. Feel free to say my faith is weak. That is your oppinion, and you are entitled to it. Imaan is something that can always be improved.

[A_Muminah]

As-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah,

Originally Posted by ChotooMotoo

We know generally, we don't know specifically. If it makes you happy to think that all non-Muslims are condmned to hell unconditionally whether or not they ever had a chance to accept Islam, good for you. I prefer to think that Allah (swt) is most merciful, and knows best, much better than I. I don't know if I am good enough to go to Jannah, though I was given the chance and I did accept Islam. I am not prepared to condemn all my Christian ancestors, who never knew about Islam, never read or had a chance to read the Quran, to hell. Feel free to say my faith is weak. That is your oppinion, and you are entitled to it. Imaan is something that can always be improved.

Na3m, insha-Allaah. We'll agree to disagree.

I love thee

Was-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuh