brother
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Conflicted

Assalamu alaikum. I'm in a very tough spot right now. I feel disconnected from my faith at a critical stage in life, but let me give some background to explain. I'm a young Somali brother, doing my A-levels and living with my parents and a sibling. All my life, my parents raised me with a very strict religious approach, and I'm grateful for that. I know sticking to the Deen is important, but because of the constant pressure, I've started to see anything related to religion as a burden. I'm forced into a lot of things. Since this school year started, I've been attending a Somali madrasah. Honestly, I've gotten little to nothing out of it. I told my parents it's not helping me, I'm not learning. My father is more understanding, and without my mother around, I feel like he'd work out a solution with me. My mother, though, refuses to listen. I rarely ask for anything or act selfish-I usually just do what I'm told. I know you should obey your mother, but how can I do that with a full heart when she doesn't respect my feelings? I feel like my mother, may Allah forgive me, overuses her authority, and I'm fed up. I've read that parents should respect their children too, and I can't recall ever being respected. My father is fine, I love him dear, but I dislike how submissive he is to my mother. So now I'm stuck in a house where I feel disrespected and like an outsider-my sister usually sides with our mother no matter what. It's like a mini theocracy, and my love for Islam is slowly fading. My father has noticed my struggles, but I can't win. Allah tells us to obey our mothers, so what else can I do? I've hit my limit. I can't love my mother unconditionally anymore. At least once a month, I'm met with disregard. I'm so tempted to move out. With all respect, if she weren't my mother but just another relative, words couldn't describe how fast I'd cut things off. I'm practically a grown man now, able to think rationally, yet I'm treated like this. This is really hard to deal with, especially as I'm pouring out my emotions during exam time. My revision is affected, not just by the home atmosphere but also by those useless madrasah lessons that mess up my schedule. I'm done, honestly. I might leave as soon as I can and practice my deen on my own terms.

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brother
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Lol 'mini theocracy' hit hard. Oldest son here, same drama. You need space, but don't let this kill your iman.

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