Ask Me Anything: Muslim Edition

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Oh, gosh, where would I even start?

Most of the problems I see boil down to finding a way for Western and Islamic cultures to exist peacefully. The West has a history of meddling in the Islamic world, which just creates even more resentful radicals as time goes by. The Islamic world needs to stop looking down their nose at Western culture and realize that we both have things we can learn from each other. Islam as a whole is sitting at a turning point its history where we can either choose to continue in medievalism or pursue an interpretation of Islam that encompasses the reality of the modern world.

I’ll be happy if we can just find an end to the cycle of violence.
 
The individual conscience and reason. If it came right down to it, I would follow my own conscience and rational discernment over any fatwa and trust that Allah understood my good intent. Most Muslims would consider the preeminent jurists and scholars of their respective tradition to be the ultimate authority, since we no longer have a central authority. Preference is usually given for interpretations handed down from the original followers of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Taqiyya, as I understand it, is permission to lie about one’s religious status as a means of protecting life under extreme duress - such as in the Reconquista of Spain. It’s extremely rare for it to be permissible in Sunni Islam, but less rare in Shia. So, to pick a slightly ridiculous example, let’s say that militant Tibetan Buddhists monks ransacked the town I live in and proclaimed that anyone not willing to convert to Buddhism and kowtow to a picture of the Dalai Lama or something (I don’t know what Tibetan Buddhists do) would be killed. If there’s any way I could leave that situation or have a prayer of fighting back, Islamic law would require me to do so without denouncing Islam. However, if I’m captured, the situation is hopeless, and they’re threatening to kill me, I have the choice of becoming a martyr or committing taqiya, which means that I can pretend to convert while still covertly practicing Islam until I can get to safety and then immediately recant my “conversion” as soon as possible. Obviously, the holiest thing to do is become a martyr, but people get scared and sometimes it’s not just your life on the line but that of your spouse and your kids and whatnot.
That’s the only circumstance in which a Muslim is allowed to lie about their faith.
 
As I understand it, there is only one unforgiveable sin in Christianity, too, and it’s the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I have no idea what that might entail, but it sounds really similar to how a Muslim would think of major apostasy. So, if there is one thing in Christianity that God will not forgive, does that mean God is less merciful?
 
Muslim by default is really common, probably as common as Christian by default is in the US. I’m not sure what the percentage would be, but I would say that the people I grew up around were probably half and half. Mosque for prayers on Friday and then pretty slipshod at prayers through the week, “cheating” at fasting for Ramadan, that kind of thing. Culture Muslims.

Almost all Muslims, whether they fully celebrate Ramadan or not, celebrate Eid. That’s basically our Christmas Mass, i guess. Not eating pork is probably the second most common thing even for secular Muslims. Pork just doesn’t feature into majority Muslim cultural cooking enough for most people to have a taste for it.
 
That would be the most common interpretation, yes. Kind of like blasphemy of the holy spirit in Christianity, right?

But modernists vary on the strength of that assertion. Allah is said to be merciful much more often in the Koran than He is stern. I don’t think anyone can ever know what all the extenuating factors are. So, personally, I have faith that if there was a person who committed even major apostasy for reasons we may never fully understand and that in their heart they truly repented of it before they died, that Allah would deal fairly with them.
 
shazirah said:
The individual conscience and reason. If it came right down to it, I would follow my own conscience and rational discernment over any fatwa and trust that Allah understood my good intent. Most Muslims would consider the preeminent jurists and scholars of their respective tradition to be the ultimate authority, since we no longer have a central authority
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So is individual conscience and reason the ultimate authority as recognized by Muslims, or is it preeminent jurists and scholars, or is it interpretations of the original followers? Does it differ from individual to individual or Shia to Shiite?
shazirah said:
Taqiyya, as I understand it, is permission to lie about one’s religious status as a means of protecting life under extreme duress - such as in the Reconquista of Spain
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I have heard this is one definition, but what about in other circumstances, how is it limited and defined? Is it a written or unwritten law which makes the exact meaning and limits clear? Because as I understand it, it can be used in many other contexts, even just simply with non-believers (kafir), because a muslim shouldn’t have a kafir as a friend. Is this true, or have you heard this interpretation? Do you know any Muslim who thinks like this?

Thank you for your forthright answers.
 
As a ‘Su-Shi’ Muslim you are still awaiting Mahdi as Judaism awaits Mashiach. Could they be one and the same and do you expect Mahdi in your lifetime? Do you believe Isa (Jesus) will help him?
 
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shazirah said:
The only thing required for a person to become a Muslim is to speak out loud and believe sincerely the shahada
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So let’s say hypothetically a non-Muslim wishes to visit Mecca, but as I understand that’s not allowed. If that person then says he is a Muslim and recite the shahada and pretend to be one, will he be let in?
 
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is simply the act of final impenitence. In other words, someone refusing to repent and receive God’s Love and Mercy through to their death. For this reason, God will not forgive that person because that person does not want forgiveness. God still loves him and extends His mercy to him, but that person cannot receive mercy because he does not want it.

Therefore, there is no parallel with what I have described regarding Islam. The person in the scenario I gave you is totally repentant and wants Allah’s mercy, but he will not give it. Thus, the question still stands: how can Allah be taught to be All-Merciful when he does not always show mercy when asked for it?
 
shazirah said:
If you’re greeting someone of the opposite sex, the polite thing to do for most Middle Eastern cultures is to place your hand on your heart and bow slightly.
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That’s good to know. I’m glad I asked.
To be honest I hate shaking hands.
 
shazirah said:
As I understand it, there is only one unforgiveable sin in Christianity, too, and it’s the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I have no idea what that might entail, but it sounds really similar to how a Muslim would think of major apostasy. So, if there is one thing in Christianity that God will not forgive, does that mean God is less merciful?
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No, that’s a misunderstanding. There is no sin God will not forgive, only that which cannot be forgiven - viz. a rejection of God at the moment of death.

Anything we are alive to repent of can be forgiven (this is Christian belief).
 
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I undertook Hajj two years ago with a women’s group and it was amazing! It requires a lot of advance planning, paperwork, and the Hajj itself is sort of physically grueling. The Hajj areas are really crowded and transportation between the various areas can take a long time (like 3-5 hour waits for buses), so you have to keep moving all the time, there’s a lot to do within a finite span of time, and it’s hot as blazes. Because of the crowds, there’s a little bit of danger - there was a stampede that killed a number of people the year that I was there. I think I might have gotten 3 hours of sleep a night the whole time. But it’s so worth it, not only the pilgrimage activities, but just being in a sea of other people that are so different from you, but you know that you are all there united in purpose. And I managed to get close enough to touch the Black Stone, so Achievement Unlocked.
 
What is the Black Stone? From what I understand, it’s an old pagan idol …?
(Please correct me if i’m wrong)
 
It definitely differs from group to group and person to person. Shia are a little bit more like Catholics in that they put a lot of power in the hands of their religious leaders. Sunni are more dispersed, typically sticking with their preferred mullahs and jurists that they feel give reliable interpretations that gel with rational thought and historical continuity. There’s a top level of things that we’re required to believe in and do to be good Muslims, but the individual schools of jurisprudence really form how we think about the Koran underneath the core tenants of Islam.

Shia are allowed to commit taqiya in more situations than Sunni, but that’s because Shia - most specifically the Twelvers - have been historically persecuted a lot more. Most minority Muslim sects have a broader interpretation of taqiya because otherwise they wouldn’t exist in the 21st century. Sunni don’t really have an excuse, so we can only commit taqiya in extreme, extreme circumstances.
 
ISIS has soured me on the idea of a Mahdi, I’m sorry to say. I don’t necessarily disbelieve in the Mahdi, but I hope that if he and Jesus do come back for the buddy cop movie at the end of the world to fix everything, they sneak up on us and don’t tell us who they are until after its all over and they reveal themselves in glory, because I’m really sick of hearing radicals talk about it. My father, on the other hand, is 100% convinced that that Mahdi is real and will probably will come back within my lifetime. I guess the Mahdi could also be the Jewish Messiah, too. That would be pretty cool, actually, because it would mean Jews and Muslims would be reconciled before the Judgement and there would be peace in the Middle East at the end.
 
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