This is Islam

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deen

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Hi,

I noticed that there is a lot of misconceptions about Islam in this forum so I decided to open this thread to present the true teachings of Islam and correct any misunderstanding of this religion. Please do not hesitate to ask or share your opinion. We will do our best to give you an honest reply.

peace,

deen
 
Welcome.

One problem I find is that there is no Catechism of the Islamic faith. The Qur’an seems to be interpreted multiple ways all of which seem to be valid depending on which audience you are addressing. This let’s you put the best spin on Islam but does not, seem to me, to be the clarity of truth that comes from God.
 
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deen:
Hi,

I noticed that there is a lot of misconceptions about Islam in this forum so I decided to open this thread to present the true teachings of Islam and correct any misunderstanding of this religion. Please do not hesitate to ask or share your opinion. We will do our best to give you an honest reply.

peace,

deen
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Not only are there many misconceptions but many like to spread what they know is not truth rather than discuss and ask.Many will deliberately go and seek info from anti muslim channels and push that to make others beleive that is truth.
There are many similarities and differences between the Three Abrahamic religions : Judaism , Islam and Christianity.Many Like to push what actions muslms do and try to convince others that is islam.And when they will get countered and exposed they get rather agressive.many would not even read the Quran and find the truth but would rarther spread lies and hearsay.
Like a christian scholar said recently after a discussion with a Muslim scholar.About Chrsitianity, the Christian scholar was very impressed with the knowledge about christianity and also of the professionalism and scholarliness of the muslim scholar.He inivted him to come and talk about islam in his circle.He said “is it wrong to talk about islam without a muslim being present and it is better to hear about Islam from a muslim”
Wise man
So look forward to some decent dialogue from this end.
Peace to all
Straightpath
 
space ghost:
…glad your here… maybe it would be easier if you gave us… say… the two most common mis-conceptions that Christians have of Islam…

Thanks and welcome…

http://www.zeuscomics.com/images/covers/space-ghost-3.jpg
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Hi sg,

Thanks for your reply. We can start with the word Islam and Muslims. Many Christians think that Islam is a violent religion and that Muslims are terrorist.

The name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is Silm and Salam which means peace. Salam may also mean greeting one another with peace. One of the beautiful names of God is that He is the Peace. It means more than that: submission to the One God, and to live in peace with the Creator, within one’s self, with other people and with the environment. Thus, Islam is a total system of living. A Muslim is supposed to live in peace and harmony with all these segments; hence, a Muslim is any person anywhere in the world whose obedience, allegiance, and loyalty are to God, the Lord of the Universe.

The followers of Islam are called** Muslims**. Muslims are not to be confused with Arabs. Muslims may be Arabs, Turks, Persians, Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians, Europeans, Africans, Americans, Chinese, or other nationalities. An Arab could be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or an atheist. Any person who adopts the Arabic language is called an Arab. However, the language of the Qur’an (the Holy Book of Islam) is Arabic. Muslims all over the world try to learn Arabic so that they may be able to read the Qur’an and understand its meaning. They pray in the language of the Qur’an, namely Arabic. Supplications to God could be in any language. While there are one billion Muslims in the world there are about 200 million Arabs. Among them, approximately ten percent are not Muslims. Thus Arab Muslims constitute only about twenty percent of the Muslim population of the world.

Thx and peace,

deen
 
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deen:
Hi sg,

Thanks for your reply. We can start with the word Islam and Muslims. Many Christians think that Islam is a violent religion and that Muslims are terrorist.

The name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is Silm and Salam which means peace. Salam may also mean greeting one another with peace. One of the beautiful names of God is that He is the Peace. It means more than that: submission to the One God, and to live in peace with the Creator, within one’s self, with other people and with the environment. Thus, Islam is a total system of living. A Muslim is supposed to live in peace and harmony with all these segments; hence, a Muslim is any person anywhere in the world whose obedience, allegiance, and loyalty are to God, the Lord of the Universe.

The followers of Islam are called** Muslims**. Muslims are not to be confused with Arabs. Muslims may be Arabs, Turks, Persians, Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians, Europeans, Africans, Americans, Chinese, or other nationalities. An Arab could be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or an atheist. Any person who adopts the Arabic language is called an Arab. However, the language of the Qur’an (the Holy Book of Islam) is Arabic. Muslims all over the world try to learn Arabic so that they may be able to read the Qur’an and understand its meaning. They pray in the language of the Qur’an, namely Arabic. Supplications to God could be in any language. While there are one billion Muslims in the world there are about 200 million Arabs. Among them, approximately ten percent are not Muslims. Thus Arab Muslims constitute only about twenty percent of the Muslim population of the world.

Thx and peace,

deen
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…we are all wiser for your posting… thanks
 
Welcome deen!

It’s my understanding that Muslims believe in an “anti-Messiah” which is also called the “anti-Christ” yet you do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God. How do Muslims reconcile the use of the word “Messiah” without Christ being divine?
 
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Eden:
Welcome deen!

It’s my understanding that Muslims believe in an “anti-Messiah” which is also called the “anti-Christ” yet you do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God. How do Muslims reconcile the use of the word “Messiah” without Christ being divine?
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Does Messiah or Christ necessarily mean Divinity?

Thanks and peace,

deen
 
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Eden:
Welcome deen!

It’s my understanding that Muslims believe in an “anti-Messiah” which is also called the “anti-Christ” yet you do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God. How do Muslims reconcile the use of the word “Messiah” without Christ being divine?
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Well we actually beleive that Jesus in his second coming in the greatness and Glory that Muslims look to him with that according to Our teaching he will be the one who will fight and destroy the anti christ,There were many other messiah’s in the Bible other than christ.They were not divine.Not considering him as The son of GOD does not belittle.The Jews call him a bastard and say he is burning in hot excrement ,That is belittling him…In islam he is among one of the greatest prophets GOD sent on this earth. That in itself is a great honour.The Miracles that he performed in GODs name.
Messiah only means chosen.Chosen to do the work of GOD just like other previous prophets.
Peace
 
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deen:
Does Messiah or Christ necessarily mean Divinity?

Thanks and peace,

deen
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No Messiah/Christ does not necessarily mean “divinity”. This is the Christian understanding of the Christ. Messiah for the Judaic tradition simply means “redeemer”. I assume that is the same for Islam. Could you please explain the Muslim understanding of Jesus Christ as prophet and his relationship to Moses and Muhammed. I’m unclear as to the Islamic definition of anti-Christ and I thought an understanding of your interpretation of Christ would help.
 
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deen:
We can start with the word Islam and Muslims. Many Christians think that Islam is a violent religion and that Muslims are terrorist. The name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is Silm and Salam which means peace.
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Hogwash.

Let us suppose that Jesus and his followers were expelled from Jerusalem and in response Jesus formed an army to sack Jerusalem and wipe out all of his opponents. Then Peter, as his first duty as pope, went and began a 1000 year war of expansion against the Roman empire.

If this were true, could anyone in all seriousness say that Christianity was a religion of peace?

Yet this is exactly how Islam started: with war. Muhammed was kicked out of Mecca and forced into Medina, where Islam grew like wild-fire, in the latter part of the 6th century. He then laid seige to Mecca and in a series of three battles to conquer his opponents. Upon his death, Abu Bakr, his wealthy father-in-law became the 1st of the Right Guided Caliphs and invaded the Byzantine Empire, beginning a period of imperialist expansion that lated for *1000 *years.

Are there peaceful Muslims today? Of coure. But the peaceful Islam they practice is a protestant form of the original religion, and not true to the actions of the founders of the faith.
 
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straightpath:
Well we actually beleive that Jesus in his second coming in the greatness and Glory that Muslims look to him with that according to Our teaching he will be the one who will fight and destroy the anti christ,There were many other messiah’s in the Bible other than christ.They were not divine.Not considering him as The son of GOD does not belittle.The Jews call him a bastard and say he is burning in hot excrement ,That is belittling him…In islam he is among one of the greatest prophets GOD sent on this earth. That in itself is a great honour.The Miracles that he performed in GODs name.
Messiah only means chosen.Chosen to do the work of GOD just like other previous prophets.
Peace
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You keep refering Jesus as the Christ. What do you think Christ means?
 
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straightpath:
Messiah only means chosen.Chosen to do the work of GOD just like other previous prophets.
Peace
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I think that Messiah means savior.
 
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straightpath:
Well we actually beleive that Jesus in his second coming in the greatness and Glory that Muslims look to him with that according to Our teaching he will be the one who will fight and destroy the anti christ,There were many other messiah’s in the Bible other than christ.They were not divine.Not considering him as The son of GOD does not belittle.The Jews call him a bastard and say he is burning in hot excrement ,That is belittling him…In islam he is among one of the greatest prophets GOD sent on this earth. That in itself is a great honour.The Miracles that he performed in GODs name.
Messiah only means chosen.Chosen to do the work of GOD just like other previous prophets.
Peace
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I don’t think you mean to belittle Christ, but if Christ is The Son of God. The Incarnation. Then it would be an insult to call him one of the greatest prophets because it would be a downplay of who He is.
 
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Maranatha:
Welcome.

One problem I find is that there is no Catechism of the Islamic faith. The Qur’an seems to be interpreted multiple ways all of which seem to be valid depending on which audience you are addressing. This let’s you put the best spin on Islam but does not, seem to me, to be the clarity of truth that comes from God.
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Is there one truth? If there is only one truth how do we know if Sunni Muslims or Shiite Muslims (or one of the smaller sects) hold the fullness of truth?
 
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mike182d:
Hogwash.

Let us suppose that Jesus and his followers were expelled from Jerusalem and in response Jesus formed an army to sack Jerusalem and wipe out all of his opponents. Then Peter, as his first duty as pope, went and began a 1000 year war of expansion against the Roman empire.

If this were true, could anyone in all seriousness say that Christianity was a religion of peace?

Yet this is exactly how Islam started: with war. Muhammed was kicked out of Mecca and forced into Medina, where Islam grew like wild-fire, in the latter part of the 6th century. He then laid seige to Mecca and in a series of three battles to conquer his opponents. Upon his death, Abu Bakr, his wealthy father-in-law became the 1st of the Right Guided Caliphs and invaded the Byzantine Empire, beginning a period of imperialist expansion that lated for *1000 *years.

Are there peaceful Muslims today? Of coure. But the peaceful Islam they practice is a protestant form of the original religion, and not true to the actions of the founders of the faith.
Click to expand...
Muslims believe (and Muslims here will correct me if I am wrong) that you can fight to protect or establish your freedom of worship. So far as I can tell, Muslims have never conquered a Christian land in which Muslim worship was fully tolerated. Christianity behaved similarly towards pagan peoples who violently resisted peaceful evangelization. Christianity may preach turning the other cheek, but also allows for self defence and the protection of one’s legitimate rights. I would argue, for example, that for Christians, the crusades were entirely legitimate because the Muslim rulers in the Holy Land, after the arrival of the Turks, could demonstrably no longer be trusted to respect the Christian pilgrimage rights they had recognized for centuries.

Note that I am not trying to whitewash history here. I’m just trying to add a bit of perspective.

Irenicist
 
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Irenicist:
Muslims believe (and Muslims here will correct me if I am wrong) that you can fight to protect or establish your freedom of worship. So far as I can tell, Muslims have never conquered a Christian land in which Muslim worship was fully tolerated. Christianity behaved similarly towards pagan peoples who violently resisted peaceful evangelization. Christianity may preach turning the other cheek, but also allows for self defence and the protection of one’s legitimate rights. I would argue, for example, that for Christians, the crusades were entirely legitimate because the Muslim rulers in the Holy Land, after the arrival of the Turks, could demonstrably no longer be trusted to respect the Christian pilgrimage rights they had recognized for centuries.

Note that I am not trying to whitewash history here. I’m just trying to add a bit of perspective.

Irenicist
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Perhaps, but I don’t buy it. When was Medina attacked to provoke Muhammed’s aggression?

Regarding Christianity, it was quite the opposite. For the first thousand years Christians were tortured, burned while being crucified (compliments of Nero), and fed to lions, but not once is there an instance of a Catholic “rebellion” against pagan-Roman oppression. The first time we see an instance of religious war in Catholicism is during the Crusades and this was brought about because of the influence of Islamic holy war and their unprecedented aggression and territorial conquests that threatened the existence of Europe during the Middle Ages.
 
I’m sure there are good, holy and peaceful Muslims throughout the world.

My impression however, is that the Muslims perceive themselves, superior to all other human beings and are willing to kill everyone to prove it. That scares me and keeps me from trusting.

It feels like a sibling rivalry going on between the sons of Abraham. Islam is the big, bully brother, who thinks he’s entitled to everything and wants to push his weight around and force everyone to conform to his wants.

I have these conceptions/misconceptions because of what I see and hear. If I am wrong, please forgive me and help me to see that Muslims are truly peaceful people. One area of concern is the Muslim male treatment of their women. I would love to hear some Muslim men speaking of their wives kindly, and bestowing upon them dignity and respect and belief that women are equal in value, in the Eyes of The Lord. Do you believe this? If not, why? If yes, please express it.

Peace to you,
Elizabeth
 
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Irenicist:
Muslims believe (and Muslims here will correct me if I am wrong) that you can fight to protect or establish your freedom of worship. So far as I can tell, Muslims have never conquered a Christian land in which Muslim worship was fully tolerated. Christianity behaved similarly towards pagan peoples who violently resisted peaceful evangelization. Christianity may preach turning the other cheek, but also allows for self defence and the protection of one’s legitimate rights. I would argue, for example, that for Christians, the crusades were entirely legitimate because the Muslim rulers in the Holy Land, after the arrival of the Turks, could demonstrably no longer be trusted to respect the Christian pilgrimage rights they had recognized for centuries.

Note that I am not trying to whitewash history here. I’m just trying to add a bit of perspective.

Irenicist
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Yes. But I find it interesting that the Qu’ran places emphasis on ambushing non-believers (literally with violence) while the NT focuses on “love thy neighbor”. It is my understanding that to be a martyr for the faith - dying in the act of defending the faith (or committing violence against non-Muslims from the Western view) - is the only sure way to salvation in Islam. In Christianity, a martyr is one who is persecuted for the faith (violence is committed against them, not by them) but does not renounce the faith in order to avoid death. Am I misunderstanding Islam when I make these comparisons?
 
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mike182d:
Perhaps, but I don’t buy it. When was Medina attacked to provoke Muhammed’s aggression?

Regarding Christianity, it was quite the opposite. For the first thousand years Christians were tortured, burned while being crucified (compliments of Nero), and fed to lions, but not once is there an instance of a Catholic “rebellion” against pagan-Roman oppression. The first time we see an instance of religious war in Catholicism is during the Crusades and this was brought about because of the influence of Islamic holy war and their unprecedented aggression and territorial conquests that threatened the existence of Europe during the Middle Ages.
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I believe there were only about 50 Christians were killed under Nero and this was when St. Peter was martyred in the Vatican. Nero also had his own mother killed…quite an upstanding young man. Dioclecian was the one that really persecuted the Christians; he started the widespread, all out persecution.

But as far as Islam goes, I do have some questions about religious figures. Between Jesus and Muhammad, who is regarded as the greatest prophet among Muslims? I always thought it was Muhammad, but lately I’ve been seeing some Muslims on here post about Jesus and it sounds like he might be number one.
And also about Mary: I know that Muslims believe in the Virgin Birth, but do you also believe in the Immaculate Conception of Mary?
And how about John the Baptist? The Apostles? What are the Islamic views on them?

Thanks and God Bless.
 
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