Introduction

Sallams, brothers and sisters,
May the peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon each and every one of you!

In the first post of this blog, I would like to briefly introduce myself. I am Muslim, visually-impaired, and currently attend university. Insha'Allah (byAllah's grace), I will graduate this October with an Honor's Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. Reading is one of my favorite pass times and I oftenfind myself absorbed within the pages of a book or listening to recitations of the synthetic voice belonging to my screen-reading program. I also enjoy singing, as well as writing stories (that are never completed) and poetry.

I began this blog for two reasons. First of all, I hope to dispel misconceptions surrounding Islam and Muslims after such events as 9-11, and the eliminationof extremist organizations as the Taliban in Afghanistan or Al-Qaeda known worldwide. It is not at alldifficult to find people in authoritative positions who would say with much certainty that Islam supports terrorism and is a religion from which violence erupts because the Qur'an promotes salvation achieved through bloodshed since Muslim suicide bombers take the lives of the innocent and their own in the process of martyrdom and martyrdom leads to salvation.Islam is derived from the Arabic word for peace and its followers — Muslims — are those who sincerely, wilfully and peacefully submit themselves to Allah's commandments. And Allah wills that we must worship none besides Himself; that we should love and live in harmony with each other regardless of such distinct characteristics as race, sex, skin-colour or religion, since there is no need for one to take the life of his brother unjustly.

Second, I began this blog out of my enjoyment for writing. I would not say that writing is one of my strengths, talents or passions. Writing is simply an avenue through which ideas may be transmitted more easily, especially when they are encompassed by complex philosophical interpretations as is frequently the case with mine. This blog provides me an opportunity to convey my perspectives and musings. I may occasionally throw in some of my views on disability and thought-provoking sayings or questions. And here is the first of these: if one picture speaks a thousand words to a sighted person, then how many images or other such interpretations can a single audible sound convey to someone with little or no vision?

In conclusion, I look forward to writing future blog posts and I invite anyone who reads them to leave comments, ask questions, or make suggestions. Please visit regularly and I hope your reading experience is just as pleasurable and positive as that I incurred while writing.

Ma'a sallamah and Allah hafis