This is great! I didn’t realize what this DARE survey even was until I saw someone’s post on it yesterday. I think I’m going to come back and do this once I get home. Good for you, Jacob! =)

What do you consider your first spiritual experience to be?My memories of ‘spiritual experiences’ seem to be mostly in my youth–I’m not sure which ones were the first. I remember that I had developed a habit of praying before I went to bed (and I very clearly remember that this was something that I decided on my own, randomly, and not because either of my parents asked me to). One day, my prayer just went very long because something inside my young self made me feel like the prayers I was saying at that moment were extremely important. It was late and I randomly started crying, I didn’t know why but I had started full out weeping because of this feeling that I had in my heart. This happened around the time I was 9 or 10. When I was 8, my family went to perform the lesser privilege in Saudi Arabia. In the city of Makkah, I remember having this odd feeling of peace, and the physical feeling of being there is still with me today. From stepping between the hot marble that had been scorching in the sun, to the cool marble that was safe from the Saudi heat within the shade of the masjid itself, to memories of prostating my head with the image of the Kabah and the white marble underneath it simply etched into my mind. 2. What is the most religious thing you’ve ever worn in public?In Islam, I would argue that it is more important for religion to be ‘acted upon’ in public than to be ‘worn’ publicly. But to keep to the question, I wear the hijaab everyday. 3. What is the kindest act you’ve ever done for someone?I try my best not to keep track of these things. Not to sound hoity-toity or all ‘art better than thou’, but everyone and the world has been kind to me, it only makes sense for me to try my best, as often as possible, to try to reflect the same back into the world. 4. What is your favorite story from the Gospel or a religious movie?I don’t really know of any Islamic religious movies. But my favorite story from the Qur’an is of Moses and his interaction with Khidr. It’s a very interesting story about understanding God’s will, and the bigger picture of life and humanity. (Read more (I promise it’s NOT preachy): http://www.sunnah.org/history/prophets/Khidr.htm) 5. Have you ever prayed with someone from a different religion?Only once. I hope to have more experiences praying with people from different religions. 6. Have you ever prayed in a public place?Yes I have! I’ve prayed in the dark, in a park, under a tree, beside the sea (it was a lake…but for rhyming purposes, ya know? I do hope to pray by a real sea though- God willing!). It’s an amazing experience praying whilst exposed to the elements and nature. 7. Have you ever participated in a religious service other than your own?I have participated in general services for interfaith type events, but not anything beside that. I hope to visit more places of different faiths more often. 8. Have you ever gone outside your spiritual comfort zone in order to move closer to God?I’m not quite sure what ‘spiritual comfort zone’ means. But in order to move closer to God, often we need to put other, more worldly things, aside and that is sometimes very hard for me to do–especially when you’re young and you feel like every single thing you’re doing (whether in college or taking those initial steps in your career) matters and decides the rest of your life. 9. Are you in a good relationship with God right now?I don’t know. God has been amazing to me, and I often do not try to grow or add onto the relationship as much as I should. When I was younger, I felt it was easier to drown within a spiritual ‘high’. Those don’t happen to me much anymore, and I often wonder if that’s because my relationship has grown (to where now I feel a certain sense of security knowing that God will take care of me, and whatever is to happen will be for the best for me–whether in this world or the Hereafter) or perhaps because I’ve allowed for other things to occupy my mind and heart (and soul) and have thereby allowed for everything else to desensitized this feeling. 10. What do think God’s wish is for you?I don’t know the answer to this, either. I try my best to just remember and have faith that whatever is to happen is somehow, in some way, best for me. And if I don’t see the result of it now, or in the future, then I hope to see the results of it in the Hereafter. 11. Whose desires come first in your life: yours or God’s?God’s should come first, but I’ll be the first to admit that I let my own desires come first many more times than they should. 12. Do you struggle with selfishness? What helps you overcome this?Yes I do, and it’s something that I struggle with everyday. I often try to think of the bigger picture: not only of my own life, but of the world. The universe and its many issues, are much, much more bigger than I am and my own problems are. Also, talking with someone older and wiser often also helps put things into perspective. 13. Do you struggle with false or empty relationships that distract you from your relationship with God? What relationships help you stay close to God?Yes. I often seek close and truthful friendships to fill a void that only God can only fill. Being a young woman, the desire to be in a romantic relationship works the same way. There’s a hope that perhaps a man will be able to complete me, to fill my voids, and to help me heal. But that, again, is only an attempt to fill a spot that only God should take. As soon as you try to put a person (or people) in that space, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and pain.My relationship with my mother, indirectly, helps me stay close to God–and this is only something that’s happened recently. 14. When you pray, what is your image of God? What do you think of?In Islam, its disrespectful to create images of God and other Prophets of God, so I don’t have any personified image of God or anything. However, I do think of a light in vast darkness when I think of Him. When I was younger, there was a piece of art/calligraphy that hung in our living room of the words “Allah” and “Muhammad” written in golden in Arabic script on the sails of black and golden ships. Often when I pray, that image of the word “Allah” on the sail of the ship comes to mind–and now that I think about it, I guess it’s symbolic of how we should view life: if God is our sail and we are the ship, then we are leaving the course of our lives to be directed by God. 15. What is on your “spiritual bucket list?”I’ve always wanted to pray within all the different elements: in the mountains, in sand, on grassy rolling hills, in the desert, on bridges, in fields, etc. Recently, I’ve started having this massive itch to disconnect myself from all modes of communication and just be able to think and meditate in the mountains or somewhere surrounded by natural beauty. I hope, if/when I get married, that the first thing we do together after it is ‘official’ would be to pray together. In Islam, many often recite prayers on rosaries (many recite them/keep track of them on their fingers), I hope for said husband to keep track of his prayers on my fingers, and for me to keep track on his. I really hope to grow spiritually with my family, I mention husband particularly because I believe that type of love and commitment only can strengthen and supplement both the husband and wife’s relationship with God, while also strengthening love and devotion to each other in their marriage.Strangely enough, I also think that skydiving will be a spiritual experience. So I guess that would also be on my spiritual bucket list (as well as my non-spiritual bucket list hehe)!