Contemplating Islam

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Does it occur to you that they (the apostates) found the truth and the truth was not in islam…
does it occur to you that the christian apostates found the truth and the truth was not in christianity?

Btw, if this person is SERIOUS about looking into islam then they would want to go to a muslim forum and learn and discuss it there. All you see here is a single muslim arguing six or several christians who mainly quote from anti-islamic sources to prove a point which is usually misled.

wasalam
 
I made a little model to further illustrate my point, maybe it will get my stance across a bit better.

img21.imageshack.us/img21/2424/religionandcultures.jpg

Both religions can go out into the world, but they treat the world differently. Christianity, from it’s foundation in certain languages, spreads out into the entire world as per Christ’s command at the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. Islam, on the other hand, filters the world through the lens of Arabic, in particular the Arabic culture of Mohammad’s time. The presence of non-Arab converts does not necessarily denote a universal faith in terms of not singling out any cultures or languages. We must look into the deeper structure of the worship services and traditions.
thanks for showing us your view.
(Btw, have u read my private reply to ur notification? bcz i sent it a few months ago and i still haven’t got a reply…:confused: thanks bro)

wasalam
 
does it occur to you that the christian apostates found the truth and the truth was not in christianity?
The majority of Christian apostates I have listened to reveal that they never fully understood Christianity to begin with. I can speak from my own experience as a brief apostate - I thought I knew what was Christianity was, when I in fact did not. When I realized what it really was, I embraced Christ.

Fulton Sheen once said, “Millions of people hate the Roman Catholic Church, millions more hate what they think is the Roman Catholic Church.” That’s just as true for Christianity entire, in regards to the opinions of atheists and apostates.
this made me laugh. the picture of the one you love (jesus) has a beard himself 😃
As did many in that time period. The difference is that Christ never commanded His followers to grow beards, nor told them there would be any rewards.
(Btw, have u read my private reply to ur notification? bcz i sent it a few months ago and i still haven’t got a reply…:confused: thanks bro)
I thought I responded to that one. Which one are you referring to?
 
The majority of Christian apostates I have listened to reveal that they never fully understood Christianity to begin with. I can speak from my own experience as a brief apostate - I thought I knew what was Christianity was, when I in fact did not. When I realized what it really was, I embraced Christ.

Fulton Sheen once said, “Millions of people hate the Roman Catholic Church, millions more hate what they think is the Roman Catholic Church.” That’s just as true for Christianity entire, in regards to the opinions of atheists and apostates.

As did many in that time period. The difference is that Christ never commanded His followers to grow beards, nor told them there would be any rewards.

I thought I responded to that one. Which one are you referring to?
yeah you responded to the video and said some points and then I replied to you but you didn’t reply back.

wasalam
 
The majority of Christian apostates I have listened to reveal that they never fully understood Christianity to begin with. I can speak from my own experience as a brief apostate - I thought I knew what was Christianity was, when I in fact did not. When I realized what it really was, I embraced Christ.
…and the majority of muslim apostates I have listened to never understood islam in the first place. (and I am not just copying what you said lol, im being serious).
 
yeah you responded to the video and said some points and then I replied to you but you didn’t reply back.
I remember the video and sending a response. I didn’t get your response back, or at least never recall seeing it. Try sending it again and I’ll read it.
…and the majority of muslim apostates I have listened to never understood islam in the first place. (and I am not just copying what you said lol, im being serious).
Including me? 😉
 
I remember the video and sending a response. I didn’t get your response back, or at least never recall seeing it. Try sending it again and I’ll read it.

Okay I’ll try to remember my points but sheesh…I had a long reply but I’m happy to resend it to you inshallah.

Including me? 😉
Haha lol. Yeah in some aspects I would say so. Just from one point from your reply I’ll use as an example. The one about women praying behind men instead of with them/in front of them is a sign of male dominance is actually for a few simple reasons such as the best place for a women to pray is in her home and also-would a male be concentrating on prayer or a female’s behind if a women was praying in front of him? I know the second one is a bit dodge but seriously! No he would not! Male instinct if you get me…
Yeah I’ll resend god-willing but probably not today.

wasalam
 
Haha lol. Yeah in some aspects I would say so. Just from one point from your reply I’ll use as an example. The one about women praying behind men instead of with them/in front of them is a sign of male dominance is actually for a few simple reasons such as the best place for a women to pray is in her home and also-would a male be concentrating on prayer or a female’s behind if a women was praying in front of him? I know the second one is a bit dodge but seriously! No he would not! Male instinct if you get me…
A man would think sexually of a woman whether she was praying or not, that is part of our fallen nature. What we cannot do is so isolate ourselves from one another, even during time of prayer, simply because of this fear. At some point the man has to get control of himself and fight that nature. What Islam does is take one extreme and take it to the other. That was the point I was trying to make. I was perfectly conscious of the “resist temptation” part, but there is no hiding from temptation no matter what you do.

Of course that is not the only reason I left Islam, I’ve explained why in other posts and on my blog.

Incidentally a friend of mine, a native Turk who was born and raised Muslim, has been accused of not being a real Muslim likewise. He asked what a real Muslim was, to which they responded someone who read the Koran, prayed five times a day, and fasted. When he replied that he in fact did all that, they only got more upset.
 
Are you serious? Because…well…I explained why in my that quote. This reminds me of when I wrote a long post of my opinion on a subject, then planten asked why I felt that way about said subject, as if my entire post didn’t exist.
well , i think that frensh , asians , indians , germans and americans muslims have no problem to perform their salht behind the imam reciting arabic quran
so may be i can redefine the religion of islam to be universal for it’s followers
What should unite the umma is their worship of the true God, not a culture or language. Again, to use Christianity as an example, if I walked into a Russian Orthodox church, I could still participate in the services, take communion, and pray with everyone else despite cultural differences. It is because both Greek and Russian are under the same umbrella of Orthodoxy and, more importantly, both worship Christ our Lord and our God.
i think that worship of true God in islam is the main aspect which unite the ummah , not the language nor the culture , but existing of original words of God in islam (regardless of the language) is the aspect which united all muslims around this language .
and in our salaht we have to recite some verses from quran , and their is just one person who lead the others in thier salaht , with which languge he lead them : english , frensh , germany or arabic and which translation he will use after he decide the languge and which version he should to memmorize , and how can the imam satisfy the all group with reciting his own version
i think that it will satisfy all muslims (whither arabs or nonarabs to recite the quran in it’s original language ) and this is the only universal religion which succeeded to unite all his followers in one prayer , one direction and one form and one languge without any fanaticism in language or culture or nation
that’s why we call it universal religion
I’m sorry, but you continually contradict your argument that Islam is not set to a specific people or language when you continually admit that the heart of Islam is Arabic.
arabic is original language of religion in islam , it dosn’t mean that it’s for specific people or language .
Yes. The language of the local people. Why should Allah be disgusted if French Muslims pray in French? Would they do it any less sincerely? The Lord’s Prayer may be written in Greek, but someone from Thailand can say it just as sincerely and passionately if they say it in Thai. Allah should not have a problem hearing the Koran recited in a different language.
It is noteworthy that according to the Islamic belief the Qur’an is the Word of Allah, the recitation of which is considered as something meritorious. This is evident from the spiritual point of view. It stands as the faithful journey’s unto the Lord through the sacred word of the Lord Himself. His Word is the path towards Him, something like a wire to conduct the electrical current that illuminates the bulb. The journey unto the Lord is of course the ultimate goal that every soul aspires to reach. The original Word has been revealed in Arabic: any translation would be a human work and human word, and this can scarcely serve the purpose of this mystical journey.

afterall we have to dsitinguish between prayer in sense of do’aa and the prayer which performed be mass and the parayers in private
Then again, Allah Himself commanded that the Koran be recited in Arabic:
this hadeeth is talking about the quran being revealed in 7 dialect ( the emphasize was to command the prophet to teach his followers the quran with 7 dialects )
Yes, the Bible is written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, but these are not considered foundations for Christian worship or understanding of God. No one is required to be Greek or Hebrew to become Christian, let alone are they expected to learn it. Again, a faithful Japanese Christian who says the Lord’s Prayer in Japanese is just as justified as a faithful Christian scholar who happens to know it in the original Koine Greek.
it’s not required either for the muslims to learn arabic or pray in arabic ( in the sense of prayer which you compare islam with )

One should not lose sight of the fact that in the entire Salaat there are very few passages to recite. There are first the Adhan and Iqamah (call to prayer). Then inside the service of worship there are the formulae Allahu-Akbar, Subhana rabbiyal-'azim, Subhana rabbyal-a`la, the short chapter al-Fatiha, two other short chapters, the Tashahhud, and that is all. The totality does not exceed a page of small size, and most of the words of these texts are commonly understood by the Muslim masses and have penetrated into all the languages of the Muslim countries, so much so that even a child or a beginner learns their meaning without pain and without strain.
Incorrect, if such a large number of Muslim converts change their names to something Arabic and there exists within Islam such a large crowd of people who regularly encourage converts to pick up Muslim names. Nothing is heard of that is even similar in Christianity.
do you have any cases where someone be imposed to change his name ?
I refer to more than that, obviously, if I use the generic term “Arabic culture,” and have, during the course of my entire post, spoken in regards to Arabic language and thinking. Do not misrepresent my words.
it will be more accurate to say islamic culture , because actually islam came to oppose many of arab culture in this time 🙂
You seem to have missed my point in that post, so I’ll ask this question: is a fitrah, or “the original healthy constitution of the nature of humans as created by God,” just a suggestion and not obligatory in the slightest? Furthermore, how can you make the statement that you agree with Yusuf Estes when he would disagree with you?
i don’t remember that i said i’m agree with yusuf estes specifically and i don’t know in which issue i disagree with him . you just misudrstood my view about growing of breads
all my view that it okey for muslims if they didn’t grow their beards , and in the same time it’s something good for muslims to grow it , all what i meant that it’s good but not obligatory , with another words it’s not a sin to shave your beards or it’s not that work which deserve any punishment from God in hearafter
There are many things which are not the Five Pillars of Islam, but are still commanded of us or are expected of us. Unless Islam is strictly limited to five regulations. Also, the statements of Mohammad are there, and you cannot deny them.
i didn’t determine the five pillars , generally i meant the requirments for muslims in their faith to be correct muslims
 
Quote: elwill:
yes offcourse they support it , i support it
but it’s not requirement of the faith or the religion , it’s just recommended , **muslims will be rewarded if they did it **
but will not punished if they didn’t
Note above bold:

What rewards does a beard offer?

Elwill, perhaps you missed this inquiry. Per your statement, what rewards does a beard offer?
 
ZAKI;5751095]this made me laugh
Quite a bit on this forum makes you laugh.

If you noticed, I was responding to Elwill when he said that growing a beard has it’s rewards. I am looking for an explaination of the rewards.
ZAKI;5751095] the picture of the one you love (jesus) has a beard himself 😃
B.Wolf already said, Jesus Christ Our Lord DID NOT place this command upon us.
Quote: Byzantine Wolf:
As did many in that time period. The difference is that Christ never commanded His followers to grow beards, nor told them there would be any rewards.
 
Elwill, perhaps you missed this inquiry. Per your statement, what rewards does a beard offer?
God will judge us in the hearafter by the amount of “hasanat” / good deeds and “saiat”/ bad deeds
all what what i meant by rewards is the "hasant "
 
God will judge us in the hearafter by the amount of “hasanat” / good deeds and “saiat”/ bad deeds
all what what i meant by rewards is the "hasant "
Very well ~ I have no idea what growing a “beard” has to do with rewards.

Please explain!

I quote you again regarding the beard.

You stated in a statement that:
**muslims will be rewarded **if they did it but will not punished if they didn’t
The question Elwill is simple. You made a statement that muslims will be rewarded for growning a beard… BUT… will not be punished if they didn’t.

I want to know what is the reward(s) for the beard part.

Cite sources and cite the rewards.
 
For anyone truly contemplating Islam…

True contemplation should hopefully lead to complete rejection. It did for me last year when I was looking into it for myself.

I discovered a cult whose origins are steeped in violence, deception, cruelty, and paganism.

Any religion that revolves around a prophet who had sex with a nine-year-old child is twisted. This same prophet mandated death to apostates and the forced submission of Christians, Jews, and later Zoroastrians. And the Ten Commandments? Muhammad broke most if not all of them in one way or another and then blasphemed the Holy Spirit by equating it with the angel Gabriel and claiming that his message was from God.

Worship of this “god” (I refuse to acknowledge Allah as the God of Jews and Christians) involves truly pagan rituals. This religion’s scriptures attempt to twist and erase Christ’s message of salvation by declaring that Jesus was not crucified and is not the Son of God, and straps heavy yokes upon the necks of Muslims by requiring that they believe in Muhammad and emulate his way of life in order to go to heaven. Even then, a Muslim who is not perfect risks burning in hellfire for a designated period of time as punishment for their transgressions.
 
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well , i think that frensh , asians , indians , germans and americans muslims have no problem to perform their salht behind the imam reciting arabic quran…
I have continually made it clear that I am not speaking of believers on a personal level or what they do behind closed doors - I am speaking of the ummah entire. When the Muslim world prays, it prays in Arabic. When Muslim “culture” is discussed, it is almost entirely in an Arabic context. Ergo, it centers upon one culture, one language: Arabic. You argue that this is a “universal religion,” but this is only universal in the sense that it filters everything into one context, which I attempted to explain in my earlier diagram comparing Christianity and Islam. Islam transforms cultures to make it universal, rather than the other way around, and does so by using the Arabic culture.

I have to confess that I am a bit confused by what you are really arguing. You argue on the one hand that Islam isn’t centered on a specific culture, then state that Islam unites the world, and does so through Arabic. These are two conflicting thoughts
arabic is original language of religion in islam , it dosn’t mean that it’s for specific people or language .
It is for a specific people - the Muslims. I don’t mean that Muslims are the sole speakers of Arabic, but that Islam uses Arabic exclusively. Again, point to me one mosque that performs their prayers in French or reads the Koranic passages together in Japanese, or anything similar. I am not talking about individual believers.
The original Word has been revealed in Arabic: any translation would be a human work and human word, and this can scarcely serve the purpose of this mystical journey.
In that case, God gave the Muslims an imperfect revelation, and one that is not part of a true universal religion, because in order to know the “original Word” revealed to us and experience the “mystical journey,” one has to know Arabic. By contrast, when someone translates John 1:1 from the original Koine Greek - whether it be into English, Thai, or Swahili - it means the exact same thing, and the Christians reading it in that language can comprehend it’s meaning.

Only the King James Only Christians argue that you need a specific text to truly understand the Word of God, but the truth is that God’s word is universal and speaks to us all, no matter what language. Why? God is the author of all languages. That is a universal religion, because it comes from a universal God.
this hadeeth is talking about the quran being revealed in 7 dialect ( the emphasize was to command the prophet to teach his followers the quran with 7 dialects )
Seven dialects of Arabic. Again, a command regarding a specific language. Don’t forget what originally got us on this topic:

When the Qur’an was revealed, it declared its cancellation of many of the previous ruling details that were suitable for the previous messages because they were limited to certain regions and certain people. [emphasis mine]

I’ve shown that Gabriel commanded the Koran to be recited in various dialects of Arabic, which you confess as well. You’ve also admitted that the Islamic faith has signs of the original Arabic culture of that time. It doesn’t seem that when the Koran was revealed that it wasn’t “limited to certain regions and certain people” - it seemed to be fine-tuned and marketed to the Arabs.
it’s not required either for the muslims to learn arabic or pray in arabic ( in the sense of prayer which you compare islam with )
Then how do they know the “original Word” of Allah, and experience the “mystical journey” you mentioned earlier? After all, you admitted that “any translation would be a human work and human word” that can “scarcely serve the purpose” of the “mystical journey.” Why would a Muslim convert want to miss out?
do you have any cases where someone be imposed to change his name ?
I never used the word “imposed,” but Muslim converts are encouraged to do so at a level that can be considered peer pressure. I experienced this firsthand with my conversion, and I knew other converts personally who did as well. I even had Muslim coworkers telling me I should pick a Muslim name, and Muslims I hardly knew trying to give me websites to pick one.
it will be more accurate to say islamic culture , because actually islam came to oppose many of arab culture in this time 🙂
They opposed the Arabic pagan culture of that time, but the Arabic culture is well present in Islam. Otherwise, they would not have added Ishmael into the list of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Ishmael would not figure so prominently.
 
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i don’t remember that i said i’m agree with yusuf estes specifically and i don’t know in which issue i disagree with him . you just misudrstood my view about growing of breads
I don’t think I misunderstood anything. Let’s review the conversation. You said:

for your information i don’t grow my bread…and i consider my self muslim , and muslims consider me muslim and scholars of islam consider me muslim
who told you that it’s necessery for muslims to grow thier bread…!!! [emphasis mine]

I replied:

And if you don’t grow your beard…you disrespect your prophet. And who told me that it’s necessary for Muslims to grow their beards? Mohammad did. [five sahih hadith sources cited telling Muslims to grow beards]…Even modern Muslim scholars support the growth of beards. Yusuf Estes, when asked whether or not Muslims had to grow beards, jokingly responded, “No, that’s not true…the women don’t have to grow beards.”

Your response?

yes offcourse they support it , i support it
but it’s not requirement of the faith or the religion , it’s just recommended , muslims will be rewarded if they did it but will not punished if they didn’t [emphasis mine]

I think it’s obvious which issue you agree with Estes on, as the context of this entire conversation, especially my usage of Estes, is painfully clear. You did not argue against Estes’s opinion, and in fact plainly said, “Of course they [the scholars, including Estes] support it, I support it,” even though beforehand you had proudly stated you did not have a beard and that all scholars of Islam were OK with it (as if you personally know all scholars of Islam).

**Likewise, I must again ask a question which you have thus far avoided: is a fitrah, or “the original healthy constitution of the nature of humans as created by God,” just a suggestion and not obligatory in the slightest? Mohammad declared the growing of beards to be a fitrah, and it seems painfully clear by the definition of the teaching that it’s more than a “suggestion.” **

So please, answer my question.
all my view that it okey for muslims if they didn’t grow their beards , and in the same time it’s something good for muslims to grow it , all what i meant that it’s good but not obligatory , with another words it’s not a sin to shave your beards or it’s not that work which deserve any punishment from God in hearafter
Review the link that Zaki so kindly gave us: several Muslim clerics and jurists declare practically unanimously that a Muslim should not shave their beard - obviously if one does not shave their beard, they grow one. I place these men alongside Yusuf Estes, and the number of Muslim scholars who disagree with you steadily grows, elwill.

Incidentally, if there’s a reward for growing beards in Paradise…why don’t you grow one? Even I started to grow one when I was a Muslim (and I have some rather embarrassing pictures to prove it). If I was still one and believed there were rewards for growing one, I’d be giving Sikhs a run for their money!
 
actually byzantine wolf, elwill said that the beard is not obligatory-and the main consensus is that it is not obligatory (not fard). Although there are a few scholars who argue that it is obligatory. The hanafites believe that the beard is wajib while the other muslim groups believe that it is sunnah. (i.e: recommended but not necessary)

wasalam
 
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