To My Dear Muslim Friends,

It's impossible to give you the thanks you deserve. You have given without asking anything in return. You have taught without expectation. You have loved without hesitation.

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It was your attention to prayer that opened the door. Then your kindness and patience nudged me gently through. When there have been moments of doubt along the way--fear, even--you have been there to console and refortify. 

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You've encouraged me to test what you say. "Don't take our word for it," you've cautioned. "Try it, and see for yourself."

 

Many people don't believe in miracles anymore. It is easy to understand that. I was one of them. But you have invited my participation in the miraculous, and we have witnessed it together, too many times to count. 

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Perhaps the biggest miracle is the way you have accepted me into your innermost lives. You all carry responsibilities to family and friends and jobs and others. And yet? You have always found room for this stranger who just sort of popped into your orbit one day. This type of acceptance, the kind that requires an exchange of the hearts, is a clear sign.

 

You carry the light of Muhammad (ﷺ) in you. Your eyes sparkle with it. Your hearts melt others with it. It must be true, because it would have been impossible for me to have come to know and cherish this mercy to the universes if it weren't for you. 

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If I were to begin praying for you at this moment, and to continue praying for you for eons, it would never be sufficient to repay you. In truth, you are probably already wishing twice as much goodness for me as I might know how to wish for you.

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You may be wondering by now if there is an end in sight to this letter. So maybe this should be it...at least for the letter anyway. Because regardless of the fact this letter must end, the gratitude and thanks will not. That will continue, insha'Allah, until the end of days.

 

With the deepest love and affection, I am yours.

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