More About Joshua

Who is Joshua Adams? Someone I knew in high school? My next door neighbor?

Joshua Adams, the one I've been talking about, is the starring character in the Echoes Series.

The first book, Echoes, introduces Joshua. His life. His thoughts. His problems.

He is a white male, Chicago born and raised, twenty-three years old when he accepts Islam. He expects Islam to be the answer to all of his problems. He doesn't realize that submission takes effort. Echoes is the story of Joshua's jihad al nafs. The struggle against his self and his desires.

In many ways, Joshua is the all-American boy. At least the darker side. He is good looking enough to be attractive to women, and that's fine with him. He likes to spend time with his friends. When he was in high school, drinking and smoking pot were his main forms of recreation. He argues with his mother and fights with his brothers. He sometimes longs for attention from his absentee father. Just an all-American boy.

Until he accepted Islam, Joshua was completely self-centered. If it worked for him, fine. If not, forget about it. That attitude included all aspects of his life. His girlfriends. His jobs. His grades. His family.

Through Islam, Joshua learned that there are other people who matter. He realized that he had an obligation to care about them, and not only about himself. That was a big lesson for a spoiled all-American boy.

Do Muslims always understand that? Do we realize that it's not always about "ME"? Sometimes not. Sometimes we get caught up in our own needs, our own agenda.

This attitude is dangerous. At best, it will cause us to become alienated from our Muslim brothers and sisters. At worst, it will divide the ummah.

But the ummah is already divided, isn't it? On every continent, in every country, every city, there are examples of Muslim against Muslim. Each fighting for what he or she claims to be right. Each caught up in "ME".

Maybe we should start taking care of that. Maybe we should start with ourselves.

Maybe we should start now.