General Issues / Questions

Salam, Does anyone have an update on this project's revival, or is it dead in the water - (Wakas)? The recent "Interview with Prophet Mohammed" post reminded me of this magazine as that is where I recall seeing the article years ago. http//www.members.tripod.com/Signs_Magazines/signs_maga.html

Wow agentxxx, This is a intresting topic...

Peace, I agree, it is to accept or to reject. There is no middle ground here. You either accept the truth (open mind) or reject it (closed mind). Amen.. Just like the word.. AMN (Yes.. agree.. accept) Those who are being labeled as 'kufr' (Conceal, Cover, Reject) are not those who 'have no opinion' or 'neutral' or merely 'reject/disagree', they're the one who reject the truth and do things to conceal it / stop it from being spread out. Usually those act consist of intimidation, torture, terror, murder / assassination and war / aggression / invasion. Quran are lenient for those who 'have no opinion' and appreciate those who 'reasoned'.. that's what the message within Quran (and tanakh, bible and others) is all about... reasoning with human.. Quran (and tanakh, bible and others) never recommend people to hold a 'blind faith' yet it recommend people to reason to think to contemplate... Reason shall recognize truth in the end... There are no compulsory in belief/opinion/attitude (dien) as truth stands out clear from error (2256) The act of intimidation, torture, terror. murder and aggression to hide/conceal the truth from people is a common practice of 'evil' up until today. Some people calls it 'oppression' / 'oppressing the truth'. Those are the one who are being mentioned as 'kufr' in the Quran and not the one who merely reject/disagree or have no opinion... A person has one or the other. Even if they call themselves Muslim or Atheist, they will still sway in whichever direction. A lot of Muslims could perhaps be rejectors/hypocrites by quranic criteria. And a lot of atheists can be acceptors, even foremost in belief, provided they are acting in ignorance & working with the knowledge they have. In the spirit of justice, why would God send someone undeserving to Hell? It isn't going to happen. Many people state disbelief / hate of 'something' because certain impression they have of 'something' due to the act of misinformation or intimidation regarding that 'something'. This is a matter of the innermost heart, it's not really for us to judge however. Again Amen... don't act like God... we're not God... Don't judge lest you be judged.. for with the judgment you judge, you shall be judged and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured unto you. And why behold you the mote that is in your brother's eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, Let me cast out the mote out of your eye; and lo, the beam is in your own eye? People pop out of the womb with their final eternal destination almost fixed. An acceptor has always been accepting and a rejector has always been rejecting. The trials of life simply seal the deal and prove that God's knowledge of those souls is correct. Even if a person is guilty, it is unfair to punish without trial. Again don't judge that we know other people destination, we hardly know our own destination... Judging soul (nafs/ruh) regarding their actions is God's affair not us.. Salam / Peace

Hi guys and girls, hope you are all well. I'm a newbie to the forums so if this has been posted/attempted before, let me know! One of the major factors that turned me away from Sunnism was the absolute need for a clear cut, precise way to do everything. And I mean everything. I was, and am sure we all have been, inundated with instructions on the absolute minutiae of the faith wash your nose out like this, clean your arms like this, eat like this etc. etc. ad nauseum. It seems to me though, from reading these forums and educating myself (very slowly!), that Allah encourages free thought and degrees of common sense, something that I think Sunnism has lost. Please let me know if I am wrong about this. Certain passages come to mind in particular passages concerning modest dressing and alcohol. The ambiguity here is not accidental, in fact I think it is very purposeful. We need to make our own decisions on these things. And hey, if we're wrong, we have to learn from them. So basically I was wondering what other topics in the Qur'an are ambiguous and, thus, encourage thinking and moderation?If they could be collected here, then that would be really useful for me and, hopefully, others. Here's to common sense, a rarity Thanks! Excellent point. Its because the Koran is timeless and human beings are very diverse. Ambiguity in the Koran could also be a trial on the Muslims to see what kind of spin people would put onto those verses.

Peace, The supernatural is a fairy tale. Not because these phenomena don't exist but because there is no such thing as "supernatural", all things are intrinsically natural. As soon as a phenomenon is explained it comes into the realm of "science" and suddenly loses all its mysticism. Minds easily amused by pointless magic are saddened by this but the true magic never loses its touch. Denying the "supernatural" is fear of the unknown. But also to avoid falsehood, because it cannot be denied that the majority of supernatural claims are false or unfalsifiable. Else James Randi would be a poor man today. The truth always tends to lie in between two extremes, here it's materialism and mysticism. Paradox Well my point is thus; I spent a lot of time trying to "finding the truth" or "higher knowledge" or peace (true knowledge kills fear) whatever that be. After coming to this point in the mind where all existential fear ceased to be (this is what I think you mean by "total knowledge&quot I simply learnt that being a good boy is all that truly matters in the way of surrender. An ignorant person striving with all their might in doing good deeds and a knowing person striving, they're both the same in the eyes of the God. The knower is going to be tested far harder and the ignorant one is going to get their total knowledge/inner peace anyway. If the search for knowledge prevents you surrendering, then throw it away. You can always search again but a trial is tried once.

Long dead thread but here's what I believe Lying is a bad deed if you do it to deceive and harm people. Lying is not a bad deed lets say if your a teen and someone asks you if you like that girl and you definitely don't want to know and if you just don't want to reply they'll realize its true so you gotta lie.

Salam, If you are talking about Libya, then that is an "occupation" which means that the laws of the Quran allow for the attack of the occupiers until they are driven out from the places they have occupied. If your question is a general one on how Muslims should behave after a war, then, according to 474, all prisoners of war are to be set free, and life returns to normal (all civil laws are back in effect).

Nice quote.. and it's very true.. something which doesn't change from the day of abraham.. And the reason was obvious, because they know that their idols cannot do anything... that's why they need to act to defend their idols.. Salam / Peace Exactly so. Truth has consciousness supreme, truth is immortal. It needs no defense, its very presence is the strongest offence of all. All things are powerless to resist truth. Falsehood can never be reality. A mirage has no power to quench your thirst and no power does it have over you except the power you give to it. Peace

Peace I feel Bob's stance is a bit too agressive for a healthy exchange of ideas. Javed

Dear Readers, After careful revaluation of 3350 and 423 it appears that the marriage of cousins is permitted among believers. The last prophet was the only person who was permitted to take wifes who had decreed themselves to him without a dowry. Marriage of Cousins permitted 423 Forbidden for you are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your fathers' sisters, your mothers' sisters, the daughters of your brother, and the daughters of your sister, your foster mothers who suckled you, your sisters from suckling, the mothers of your wives, and your step-daughters residing in your homes from your wives which you have already consummated the marriage with; if you have not consummated the marriage then there is no sin upon you; and the wives of your sons that are from your seed, and that you join between two sisters except what has already been done. God is Forgiving, Compassionate. 424 The women who are already married, except those whom you have contractual rights, God's book is over you; and permitted for you is what is beyond this, if you are seeking with your money to be protected and not for illicit sex. As for those whom you have already had joy with them, then you shall give them their wage as an obligation. There is no sin upon you for what you agree to after the obligation. God is Knowledgeable, Wise. No dowry is necessary- 3350 O prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives to whom you have already given their dowry, and the one who is committed to you by oath, as granted to you by God, and the daughters of your father's brothers, and the daughters of your father's sisters, and the daughters of your mother's brothers, and the daughters of your mother's sisters, of whom they have emigrated with you. Also, the acknowledging woman who had decreed herself to the prophet, the prophet may marry her if he wishes, as a privilege given only to you and not to those who acknowledge. We have already decreed their rights in regard to their spouses and those who are still dependants. This is to spare you any hardship. God is Forgiver, Compassionate. - Edip/layth 3350 O prophet, we made lawful for you your wives to whom you have paid their due dowry, or what you already have, as granted to you by GOD. Also lawful for you in marriage are the daughters of your father's brothers, the daughters of your father's sisters, the daughters of your mother's brothers, the daughters of your mother's sisters, who have emigrated with you. Also, if a believing woman gave herself to the prophet - by forfeiting the dowry - the prophet may marry her without a dowry, if he so wishes. However, her forfeiting of the dowry applies only to the prophet, and not to the other believers. We have already decreed their rights in regard to their spouses or what they already have. This is to spare you any embarrassment. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful. -Rashad Khalifa My misinterpretation came about because of the lack of study in this particular subject. Marriage is the last thing on my mind (because of my age and other circumstances) Peace, Kevin.

Peace, Translators seem to be split on whether that word is camels or clouds. In context, it seems to be talking about clouds. I'm not sure though. Either way, camels seem to be interesting creatures enough to watch a documentary on them. ;D May peace be with you.

peace, Not quite. I think it would be unlikely that a prophet/messenger, such as Moses, would be told to establish the deen on a local/personal space only. I think in his people's specific situation, this is what they could do, i.e. it was situational. Also, I dont really think thats a change in qiblah, because its the same qiblah, but on a bigger scale, if I understood you correctly. But you do bring up an interesting issue, in the sense that it is clear from AQ, Abraham established something special, and not everyone would be in a position to do such a thing. Hence perhaps the emphasis on Muhammad to follow Abraham's example, because Muhammad happened to be in a position to do so, i.e. establish something similar to Abraham. Hence the interplay between the two in AQ. Of course, AMAH is only discussed when the believers community is reaching its peak, so yes, amah, is on a more widespread/societal level.

realitykid Salam and Peace on you! I didn't say anything about your intention.------ Just went into the topic, a bit deeper. Peace again! A lot of Peace!

Seems the author just transferred it to http//www.quranicteachings.org

As a last second note the above post was in no way intended to attack Pure Islam. Only radical Islam, and also give some of us here a chance to know what happened and ask God to give her healing, peace, and guidance to true Islam.

Salam OPF Nice Post.Fully agree with you. The ordinary repent their sins The foremost repent their heedlessness in doing good. (Old sufi saying.) Javed

The homepage does not really got a point. Its just try to say that their islam gives women some rights yeah Its written on its frontpage ''female scholers are part of our history'' Yeah right then why dont we have any female scholer in islam who is worth mentioning? In their own hadith they say that women are stupid, confused and lack commen sense and therefore are not able to become leaders, so how did they gave the same stupid women authority to become leaders? The truth is, they did not allowed women to have an opnion about islam or themselves unless it was derived from the male scholers so there were no female scholers. Its just a book who tries to convince people that there was a time in haditherlands where women had some rights yeah

Salam, Beautifully written piece. Loved reading all of it. Very informative, clear and straight forward. May Allah reward you for sharing your work. PEACE ------------------------- Student of Allah

Please read this academic article on this subject in Turkish. It was prepared well. And the muhsanat aren't married. Those muhsanat Allah ordered with them. 425 waw is beginning letter. Kitaballah aleykum means Allah orders on you. Lawful women are al-muhsanat, not ma meleket aymanukum. If ma meleket aymanukum are salih, or ihsan (no furnication and free) you can get married. Regards,

Greetings and Peace, all group @gazzali Very very little. ISA my abilities will increase. My ALLAH see fit to guide all seekers. peace ~Abdul-Hadi