There are so many lessons learned, and there are so many ones yet to be learned.
Life is an ongoing process of learning, a great responsibility, not only for ones self, but also for others, and most of all in our relationship with Whom we came from. Life, faith, religion is a process of continual striving and on how to harmonize and balance the most often perceived conflict and imbalance of the three.
And although sometimes, the thought comes into our minds if this still makes sense or it's something futile, but No - it isn't. It has meaning, and it serves a purpose. Some of us may take it and confine it in black and white (a kind of shortsightedness): for those not tolerant enough to accept that even though human beings are given with guidance directly from Allah - they also have different abilities and means of understanding, including free will and freedom of choice.
In the end, it is Allah who will decide what He wills for His creation. And thus, faith is not confined to preaching alone and exhorting others to good and condemning evil, while ones life and relation to the Creator, to ones self and compassion to other fellow beings is compromised. It is true, that while striving in the path of Allah we should have firm courage and conviction, but we also have to consider the situations and differences of others, and be tolerant and understanding to them.
In the end, it is Allah who will decide what He wills for His creation. And thus, faith is not confined to preaching alone and exhorting others to good and condemning evil, while ones life and relation to the Creator, to ones self and compassion to other fellow beings is compromised. It is true, that while striving in the path of Allah we should have firm courage and conviction, but we also have to consider the situations and differences of others, and be tolerant and understanding to them.
Islam is very simple and natural, it is responsive to our nature (Fitrah), it is not meant to complicate our lives, but to regulate it for our own benefit both in this world and in the Hereafter. It is not self-imposed hardship, nor extremism. It lies on the middle, moderate path. It tames the self and disciplines it, and it grants peace of mind and real inner happiness by channeling energies (not for instinctual yet destructive satisfaction) to what is the best for us: upon submission to Allah with love and hope, in recognition and sincerity to His Tawheed, and in following the example of His noble Messenger. And then, everything else follows.
May Allah accept our deeds and sacrifices. May Allah protect us from the evils of our selves, of what He has created, from the trials of this life, in the grave, and in the Day of Judgment. And may He guide us and enlighten our hearts and minds, and purify our souls, our bodies from our sins and mistakes. And may He grant us humility, compassion, and enduring patience until the Day He decides to take us back to Him.Ameen.
