General Issues / Questions

peace, Bear in mind it is written from their perspective so it will obviously be biased but I'm sure there was lots of battles/violence in the area early on. My fav books from that list (I've only read some) are the following but I wouldn't describe them as basic. Logic, Rhetoric, Legal Reasoning in The Quran (right click, save as) or www.scribd.com/doc/44863342/ (left click) Rosalind Ward Gwynne God and Man in the Quran (left click) or Download HERE (right click, save as) Toshihiko Izutsu Ethico-Religious Concepts in The Quran (right click, save as) Toshihiko Izutsu Discovering The Quran (right click, save as) by Neal Robinson Dictionary of Quranic Terms and Concepts (left click) Mustansir Mir Understanding Quran Themes and Style (right click, save as) Muhammad Abdel Haleem Study of The Quran (left click) Mohammed Abdul Malek The Natural Republic (right click, save as) Free-Minds.Org Qur'an and Woman Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective (left click) Amina Wadud Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought (right click, save as) Summary article (left click), or read book online (left click) Daniel Brown The Development of Exegesis in Early Islam (left click) Summary of Hadith Criticism Herbert Berg Hadith Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World Jonathan Brown Transmission-and-Collection-of-Prophetic-Traditions-Hadith www.scribd.com/doc/41077970/Summary-of-Hadith-Criticism Western-Debates-on-Reliability-of-Hadith Muhammad and the Believers At the Origins of Islam (right click, save as) or HERE (left click) Fred M. Donner You can watch a video on this if you want https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RFK5u5lkhA Misquoting Muhammad challenges and choices of interpreting the prophet's legacy (left click) Jonathan Brown Ghulam Ahmad Parwez Islam a Challenge to Religion (left click) Fazlur Rahman Major Themes of Quran (right click) Islamic Methodology In History (Word doc, right click, save as) or Islamic Methodology in History (PDF file, right click, save as) http//www.scribd.com/doc/101495489/Islamic-Methodology-in-History (left click) I have highlighted some of the ones I'd recommend starting with in bold. Please note links/files may expire on that page so I'd recommend downloading everything on that page, spread the word etc.

Peace Imran. Of course we do not have the knowledge to create.. As for this, quote "Looking into ourself you will see how perfect we are? Why we are so gullible? why we are so afraid? Why we are attentionseeker? Why we hate? Why we jealous? Why we are so self centered? Why we are so selfish? And lots of WHYs." That is why we need to learn all these things before we qualify for GOD s kingdom . The best learning is done through experiencing them in different lives. Learning the hard way is the best learning and the most effective. So of course only GOD knows how to create and will keep on initiating new creations according to His own knowledge of all the creation to fulfil the plan and promises. The creation will never be perfect. Only GOD is perfect. But the creation can be fully satisfied and happy only in GOD s system/kingdom . It is the best experience to work towards/seek and will free us from all other experiences/systems if we follow GOD s teachings. Opening our heart to our creator is a start, then all we can do is try our best where we are finding ourselves now and hope for GOD s mercy in the future They are the ones whose hearts rejoice in remembering God. Absolutely, by remembering God, the hearts rejoice. الَّذينَ ءامَنوا وَتَطمَئِنُّ قُلوبُهُم بِذِكرِ اللَّهِ أَلا بِذِكرِ اللَّهِ تَطمَئِنُّ القُلوبُ Those who believe and lead a righteous life have deserved happiness and a joyous destiny. الَّذينَ ءامَنوا وَعَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ طوبىٰ لَهُم وَحُسنُ مَـٔابٍ That is my overall view of how we ended up here and where we go after is and will never be up to us. GOD always has the final say, whether we like it or not. The question is can we do something about it? To some yes,to others no. For me, GOD our creator knows exactly what He does. If we do not understand or do not agree or will never agree ,we cannot/will not be able to say GOD was wrong or unjust for sure. GOD bless you. Peace.

To clarify the title of this thread, human beings are the most intelligent species. It is only by divine inspiration and permission that we are able to achieve many of the life-changing discoveries and inventions, which otherwise may have seemed impossible.

An empath, is a capability to see and feel from other's point of view. You don't need to be one, you just need to be authentic, to be yourselves. But... as time progresses, you will find that your ego slowly erodes.. And as your ego eroded, your capability to be empathetic increases. That is the natural way of things... And since you're a female, some special events in your life, such as giving birth to a new life or a new ego shall significantly eroded your ego too. A child is another ego that actually doesn't gives any direct benefit to you, he/she causes you pain and much headache throughout your life, but somehow you are willing to do that and more you are happy to do that without expecting anything in return from him/her.

salaam to all. There was a time(9th to13th century) when Muslim world was the epitome of scientific advancement.After that WHAT WENT WRONG that till date we r the most backward in the field of science and technology?? My thought is that man made version of Islam,was the primary reason for the downfall. Any good book suggestion on this issue will be also very helpful. thanx Salaam Brother, what was the point??

Peace jkhan. It all depends of what one understands by "curse" and in what context? 1-How can GOD curse someone? 2- How can Malaika and humans/believers curse someone? Let us deal with 2 first; Humans can only condemn someone if they are judging them or if they agree with a judgement they receive., sometimes jutly or unjustly. In the case of believers they do it justly. For example if someone breaks a law ,then a human judge will condemn according to the law. Those who agree with the judge ,inderectly,,have also condemned the culprit. So ,my understanding is in this context,when it comes to 1 Disbelievers have broken the law,according to GOD s system of justice. GOD is condemning them as GOD is the only judge of His system. Believers,themselves and all the humans present and Malaika will all agree with GOD s judgement,hence they are also condemning them and rightly so In reality breaking a law of GOD always leads to a concequence, if no repentance is forthcoming. GOD s sunnah/system is already written and planned.The human is reminded that he is his own judge and will be condemned if he disbelieves./breaks GOD s law and does not repent. So 2159 and 2161 are saying they are condemned by GOD, Malaika and all who will agree and see for themslves that GOD is the just judge because they have broken GOD s law.. No other way out for them. GOD bless you. Peace.

I used to get this recurring dream when I was a child. It was a dream where I would find myself walking on a staircase which was probably inside a tall building. I never got to walk into any rooms, just the stairs.The stairs would always be covered completely in water or sometimes when I would get the dream again on a different night, there would be puddles. The whole place would have this greenish hue to it. I still don't know what this dream meant and why I dreamt this multiple times. It felt random, as if it happened for no reason. And what is your perception of it? Happy? Confused? Scared? Are you scared of water? If you are, then the next time you dreamed the same dream again, try to go and enter the water. And then imagine how lovely things inside the water is, inside you find colorful coral reef, colorful fish, dolphins, the things that you like.

Peace everyone, Thanks for your inputs. The ego is the identity with which we identify, everything that comes after the "I" composes the ego identification with the body, social, professional family situation, goods, children, thoughts. In Jung's model, goods, children, thoughts, physical body, name is labeled as "Persona". A personification manifestation of the ego. The ego can personify / identify / attach itself to anything. In human language it denote the changes from "I" to "My". My name, My religion, My ethnicity, My body, My eyes, My hair. That's labeled as "Persona" in Jung's model. Jafar is MY avatar and for you Houriya is MY avatar. Now... let's extend the concept a bit... When I give "Jafar" to you by giving you the password of Jafar on this forum. Your ego will identify to both "Jafar" and "Houriya" as MY avatar. Multiple personas of the same type (webforum avatar) identified by the ego as among it's persona. Extend it a bit more... to one lever higher.. Now.. ponder how the self can actually be expanded to include another ego, thus the self will have multiple ego as well.

peace Enquiry, By asking "what was the test...." it is referring to the poll options being on the 1st qiblah being on the 2nd qiblah changing from 1st to 2nd qiblah unsure other The poll doesn't require anyone to explain what they think what 1st qiblah was, but that may prove helpful in further discussion. Perhaps I could have been clearer. In any case you seem to imply the difficulty was the change of the qiblah. This fails according to the issues highlighted in the article. e.g. you have to claim the messenger was pleased for him/community to undergo a testing change, and "cutting ties with all they knew from their previous religions and or families" will lead to less argument, bring you all together etc. peace Ayman, Answering those Qs will not affect your answer to the poll question, which is... ? In any case, most of those Qs are answered in this thread and the linked article http//mypercept.co.uk/articles/meaning-masjid-al-haram-Quran.html When I have some more time I will give summarised answers.

I wouldn't use fantasy or jinn, but rather identification with thought. Understanding this process is accessible to everyone. Ins and Jinn are two separate creatures, both thought, please you can read the verses I cited in Ayman's thread. Thinking is a common point between Ins and Jinn. The ego is a cluster of thoughts, a fiction, an illusion. Is this ego is our own? Or jinn(fantasy) like FM member brother Ayman claims... Another but coined to us...

salam houriya i did not judge you or anyone else i simply said we should not say things about The God that we have no knoweldge of i am responding to what you type and not to you as a person you gave your opinion and i gave mine which was saying that i believe saying things like The God is not eternal or is inside every creature is not good at all and has no foundation in scripture or anywhere do you realize the gravity of saying such things about The God? anyways ... peace

salam my understanding The God is separate, He is Himself He tells us that when He wants something He says to it Be, and it is... that is all we should not necessarily equate “rou7” to spirit as that is just what humans defined rou7 to be without any knowledge we are explicitly told in The Quran that we have little knowledge of what rou7 means we are told that there is NONE like The God He is Himself, point He also literally told us where He is ... on His throne above the waters saying The God is in every creature (may The God please forgive me for such utterance) is similar to what sikhism says and i understand that is very very wrong The God tell us He is CLOSER to us than out jugular veins (He knows everything what we conceal or make evident etc ...) He does NOT say He is IN us (may The God please forgive me for such utterance) i think we should not guess and say what we have no explicit knowledge of that is my understanding peace

Did you go through my above reply...? Yes... Sister Hourya.. We know Huldi means literally Eternal and Abada means Ever or forever.. But Sara's question and concern is that is this eternal has limit like a long time.. I hope that's her concern.. My response is Yes.. Let me explain this way with the below verse.. 2134 “And We did not grant to any man before you (Mohamed) eternity ; so if you die - would they be eternal (huldi)? God definitely knows everyone dies and this earth and skies will be destroyed at its appointed time... But still God used the word eternal or rather immortal... We normally have life span.. Thats what Mohamed also experienced.. So definitely eternal or immortal is up to the day when this earth and skies are no more... God in my comprehensive understanding in this verse meant, all before you passed away and if you(mohamed) passes away would they live until the earth and skies perish... So as I explained Eternity has a span based on where the soul is placed... Don't ever think that after recreation of another earth and skies that would last forever and ever and ever without end... Each God's creation has an end and beginning... Be it human or jinn or earth or heaven whatever He created has an end... Coz God is FIRST and God is LAST.. if you understand God is First and last and nothing before Him and nothing after Him then you can't expect Janna or Jahanna to be eternal... Everything will perish.. Everything will become nothing to be precise.. Exactly brother The answer is clear in the reading 11107 Abiding therein as long as the heavens and the earth exist, except for what your Lord wishes. Your Lord does as He pleases. Peace

salam houriya i believe there is no such thing as clairvoyance, and people definitely cannot see events in the future and also definitely not events in the past of which they were not present The God creates the future and only He knows the future peace )

kafir word are always misused by populist of muslim community. if i wanted to say kafir to atheist, then it's still make sense rather than calling muslim from other sect, christian, jew, and any religion who believe in one god, even tough the word is too offensive right now. Most of people loves to call somethings offensive something that threaten them, even for different ideologies and view. i do only think that only quran can unite our view about islam, most muslim around the globe loves to follow their imam, scholar, cleric,and saint over holy scripture that came out from god.

@ade_cool Peace I think you kinda answered the question. I mean how can it all just be metaphorical when stuff like fruits/ estates are mentioned and we get similar stuff like in this world...but i still think that perhaps part of the description of heaven is not literal and part of it is very literal. Salam Sarah, Related to literal vs non literal, let us ponder the following verses It has been adorned for people to love the desire of women, and sons, and ornaments made from gold and silver, and horses of high mark, and livestock, and fields. These are the enjoyment of the world, and with God is the best abode. For us who live in this age, probably horses of high mark (literally) are not something that are very attractive or even not attractive at all. What is something in our age, that people at the time of revelation would describe using arabic word translated here as horses of high mark? I would say branded cars (other people can have different things in mind). Do we have example in Quran in which horse can be understood non literally? I believe yes, as below. And prepare for them all that you can of might, and from horses tethered, that you may instill terror with it towards the enemy of God and your enemy, and others besides them whom you do not know but God knows them. And whatever you spend in the cause of God will be returned to you, and you will not be wronged. In this age, if we prepare horses tethered (literally), would it instill terror toward the one having tanks, missiles, jet fighters, etc? So to achieve the objective, what we need to prepare is non literal horses tethered. So going back to verse 314, people at the time of revelation would probably never imagine that one day the verse would be more relevant if interpreted non literally. It has been adorned for people to love the desire of women, and sons, and ornaments made from gold and silver, and horses of high mark , and livestock , and fields . These are the enjoyment of the world, and with God is the best abode. Overall, what we are being promised is real and will definitely make us very happy (regardless literal and non literal) sun Additionally, if we analyze how paradise is described. It is clear that what is being described is literally extremely attractive for people in specific region at the time of revelation (the very people of prophet Muhammad). God has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide eternally. That is the great attainment. And those who believed and did righteous deeds will be admitted to gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein by permission of their Lord; and their greeting therein will be, "Peace!" So if we live in region in which gardens beneath which rivers flow are common thing (we and everybody else around us see the gardens every day since we were born), always imagine we are in desert and then we will appreciate better why paradise is described as such. Wassalam, Ade

And about the scientific miracles, i am not against it although i am not certain about being there in the Qur'an but i should be careful studying this topic. Bias from both sides will misinterpret or lie against the Qur'an for their own gains.

By the way, 482 obviously states it's about the Qur'an not just any text as that article claims which i have no idea how they make 482 means any text.

salam wakas thank you for your reply peace

Dear all, If you want to easily read and perform search against QXP, we have the latest version of QXP in our website. Peace, Personal Quran