General Issues / Questions

Salaams to All those who want to persue , carreers and endeavour to fullfill their covenent to God Allmighty. I think once we know the true nature of our way given to us by God we must do our ultimate to achieve success in this world and thereby our utmost to Take part in the ways mentioned in the Quran -thus so achieveing success in the hereafter as well. This is my prime aim. Will more here ,spent in Allahs way give me more in the hereafter!?I think so.What do you say? Thanks.

MARIE, WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE IN MOVING MY THREADS? THOSE TOPICS ARE NOT ABOUT ANY QUR-AN TRANSLATION, THEY ARE ABOUT GENERAL ISSUES. AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE COURTESY TO POST WHERE THEY WERE MOVED TO. PLEASE RETURN THEM.

Salam Brother Layth, Bothers and Sisters, I am requesting help from the group to request an Arab corporation to help us... Sakhr, <http//www.sakhr.com/>, located in Egypt, has unique and cutting edge Arabic processing computer software. The one I am interested in is called Sakhr's MMMP is a morphological analyzer-synthesizer. and is described here <http//www.sakhr.com/Sakhr_e/Technology/Morphology.htm?Index=5&Main=Technology&Sub=Morphology>. This technology is what is used behind this Quran search engine <http//quran.al-islam.com//arb/> You can search for the word "rassala", "to send", which you'd enter in Arabic, and it would locate all occurrences of the word and all its derivatives and display all the verses... well, not quite. The results of any search you do are always limited to 200. It will show the total results, but the display will end at the 200ths result. I asked them to remove the limitation a while ago, maybe a year or two ago, and they responded that they will look into it... but never did. So, what I am asking for is a letter from free-minds, a petition maybe, to ask them to remove the limitation. Now, one could ask for even more... If we could obtain the actual technology itself we could use it in our search engines and Quran web-tools, for use by all, none-profit. Maybe we could try to ask for that as well, a special offer, special agreement that free-minds, or Layth, or myself would sign, to use the technology according to their requirements, to protect their interests, but still allow us to provide the powerful tools that could be built with it to man kind. Am I making sense? I was about to email them another private request when I remembered free-minds, why not have an organization ask instead of one individual. The only other Arabic Morphological Analyzer I could find is <http//www.xrce.xerox.com/competencies/content-analysis/arabic/>. which is available for commercial use, but is far less comprehensive than Sakhr's. Thanks. Peace, Mohamed~

Haven't you already established that the Reading is 100% Completely Inspired by the Creator? I don't understand your unwillingness to believe the stories that are inspired by the Creator if you have already established that they were inspired by the Creator? Like you said, if a friend came to me saying that they did something miraculous with the help of God, I'm not going to repeat that to everyone I know and believe it to be true. However, my friend is not God, so if God says something then it is absolutely true, if you have already established that the Reading is from God. However, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm going to deduce that your logic for not defending the stories found in the Reading is that the God has told us not to accept any information without verifying it, and not to "pursue" that which we have no knowledge. Yet how can you accept part of the Reading and reject another part? Let me ask you, ARE you even rejecting? Or are you simply saying that these stories are metaphors? And if they are metaphors, do you have extremely convincing evidence, since the God has not explicitly stated that they were metaphors? Since I've heard so much about the stick turning into a snake, look what happened to those Brethren of Israel even after they saw the sea split in front of their eyes and the stick turn into a snake 287 Moses went to you with profound miracles, yet you worshiped the calf in his absence, and you turned wicked. What does God mean by that? Isn't God suggesting that even after all those miracles that the Children of Israel saw, they turned wicked. HENCE, Miracles do not help. They are there to augment the faithful and yet sometimes that still does not happen. 2118 Those who possess no knowledge say, 'If only GOD could speak to us, or some miracle could come to us!' Others before them have uttered similar utterances; their minds are similar. We do manifest the miracles for those who have attained certainty. You can take this two ways. Either to help your case that miracles do not exist. Or, since it is in the present tense and revealed to Muhammad's followers in the 7th century and there were no miracles performed by Muhammad, then this verse can help us explain WHY MIRACLES DO NOT EXIST. I completely agree that miracles DO NOT exist. That is, in the present tense, DO NOT. Miracles ended with Jesus. End of story. We are now in an age where miracles have been eradicated. 2211 Ask the Children of Israel how many profound miracles have we shown them! 1759 What stopped us from sending the miracles is that the previous generations have rejected them. For example, we showed Thamoud the camel, a profound (miracle), but they transgressed against it. We sent the miracles only to instill reverence. Why did the previous generations before Muhammad even during Jesus time (not all during Jesus' time believed in his miracles) and before that DEMAND miracles? 6109 They swore by GOD, solemnly, that if a miracle came to them, they would surely believe. Say, 'Miracles come only from GOD.' For all you know, if a miracle did come to them, they would continue to disbelieve. These are only a few examples of the many times God describes his reasoning for not sending down any miracles any more. Muhammad did not even have any miracles to show his people. Besides, if God did want to send a miracle, who would he send the miracle down with? Throughout the Qur'an, miracles are virtually sent down with a Nabi. Where is the Nabi for the 21st Century? Even if there was a Nabi or a Rasool for our time he most assuredly wouldn't bring down any miracles with him. The bringer of the Healing, the book that will save all of humanity and bring it to the path of righteousness, did not bring with him anything except the Reading. Reflect.

Salaams, If indeed the reviving of dead by jesus is true then how come believers have only one death 3757 according to the quraan, and i think it is well mentioned in other places believers have but one death and disbelievers have two deaths. So people revived by jesus if they are believers or disbeleivers .How many deaths will they have,and how many lives! and this to me is making of a contradiction unless as idolfree said these are not real but examples to explain other things with mathalan. And i wonder what Layths argument will be. Love an explanation ! Thanks.

Dear brothers and sisters With a few exception, I enjoyed participating this forum. I am going for a week-long trip to Southern California and aferwords I will work around the clock on several projects until the end of March. Thus, I will not be able to participate this forum for a while. This forum has many good people who are intelligent, brave and honest. For instance, I benefitted very much through my several round discussion with brother Ayman. I have one advice, however, for improving the ambiance of this forum If an OUTSIDER with DIFFERENT ideas comes here and IF you notice that an emotionally immature member of this forum starting to shower that person with adhominem attacks, insults, and curses; and trying to drag him or her to a mud fight, you should voice your disapproval of such an immature treatment, since your silence will be considered as an approval by those people. Again, I am not referring to HONEST and BOLD discussion of ISSUES. I am myself very bold in expressing my views on issues. Excluding those who are free of minds and full of emotions, I found free-minds.org a beautiful forum. Mashallah. Peace, Edip

Peace, After the many endless threads and posts and debates and arguments, I would like to ask a very basic question of all posters here What will you now do with the knowledge you have? You know that the Quran is the word of God, you know that it is complete and detailed regarding all matters of guidance...What now? Will you continue to debate and argue about this or that sign, this and that ritual? Will you simply stop at knowing that the Quran is the word of God (even the Sunnis and Shia have achieved as much)? Or, will you have the courage and honsesty to go and fight the real enemies of God's system who are the bankers and the globalists and the war mongers and the polluting corporations and all the other entities or individuals who continue to rape and pillage and ravage God's Earth and God's creation and God's laws? I expect true Muslims to be at the forefront of the anti war movements and the anti globilization rallies and to be leaders on the environment and promoters of an interest free world, etc... "And let there be a nation amongst you which calls towards good, and orders kindness, and deters evil. And these are the successful ones. And do not be like those who separated and differed after the clarity had come to them. And for them is a painful retribution." (3104-105) Here are some sites to begin with for those who are aware of the responsibility that knowledge brings The Hunger Site Amnesty International Anti War I will no longer be part of this bickering and divisions that are forming themselves...I will devote myself (God willing) towards the big fight. This post is a reminder for those who will take heed... "So turn away from them; you will not be blamed. And remind, for the reminder benefits the believers." (5154-55) Layth

Peace be upon you all, With all the debates about the messengers and thier miracles, I decided to ask a question. We are told that to be a believer, we must have faith in the messengers. Does this mean that we are to have faith in thier names? It can't mean that because the God says there are messengers He never told us about. Does this mean that we have faith in the fact that while we have to study and ponder our way, that the God has felt necessary to change His way(sunnah) and perform miracles that us today cannot verify? Or does it mean that we have faith in the MESSAGE that all these MESSENGERS COMBINED (no distinction between messengers) came to bring? The MORAL LESSONS? I look foward to hearing your responses.

Peace, I thought this may interest some of you especially as it relates to God telling us that life is an illusion http//www.simulation-argument.com/ Enjoy.

helping the people of the world that are oppressed and dealing with hardship? Like the Palestinians who live thru the worse conditions and are Muslims... why arent they helped? Reading about them gets me sad and brings anger

Peace all, I had to reformat my puter and I lost that place of quran root words. I have scrolled and scrolled and cannot find it again here! Please someone help me!

Peace be upon you, The bleief in "miracles" is a blind faith, because "miracles" don't happen. Is there anyone who believes in "miracles" that can convince me that thier faith is not blind? Lets use the stick turning into a snake. Show me how you arrived at the conclusion that this event is true. I warn you, the response that "God said it so its true" is the same as blind faith. Please begin.

peace All, Recently, I've been thinking about how far to take statements wthin al quran and I've noted a few things I've been studying the food issue recently, because I was unsure about one aspect the statement which says we are forbidden from eating that which is dedicated to other than The God. Normally when I try to work things out in my head, I "attack" a statement such as this and wonder what it could mean, thinking over the possibilities. Now, one possibility I thought of (which I believe, symtacs also noticed) was that what is considered other than The God? Is nothing other than The God? Because in most slaughter houses, I'm sure they dont say anything over the animals when they are slaughtered, thus 'dedicating' it to nothing? (I do realise the verses may not be specific to meat, but food in general) Anyways, I realised that this possibility was not conclusive, it wasn't solid. So I relied on al quran to tell me how far I could take this statement. After reading the following article as well as the one on free-minds, I realised the evidence against this possibility was significant. This in turn led me to scrutinise this possibility and I realised that I had over-thought it. In a slaughter house, if nothing is said or no ceremony takes place, then clearly, no dedication has taken place. If there is no dedication, this nullifies this possibility, imho. I tried to think of an analogy, and this is what I came up with... say there are two rooms (A & B) and they have a door that links the two. Now if I make a rule and say "the only correct way to pass through the door into the other room is by placing one's hands on their head as they go through the door" then lets say a person stays in the room and does not pass through the door, I cant turn around and say this person went through the door incorrectly, because no-one passed through the doorway. Thus the event did not take place, thus the rule is not applicable. Similarly, no 'dedication' took place, thus its not applicable. If this is coupled with the information given in al quran, the conclusion is clear (or more obvious). The bracket is more accurate wink In addition, when The God states there is no change in His system/method (sunna), I wondered, how far can I take this statement. What does this mean? 100% or the foundation/essentials/principles of the system? After a little research, which happened to coincide with my study on the food issue I noted that the Children of Israel specifically had certain foods restricted to them by The God (to be fair, I knew this before but I couldn't remember the verse, and also I never really linked the concepts), thus it seems unlikely that every single thing has remained identical for every single person/community. Another example, when The God states the Reminder or this Quran is preserved, I thought what does this mean? How far can I take this statement? Every single letter? vowel marking? message? etc. Its interesting to note (although this is perhaps stating the obvious to some), one can use al quran's internal flexibility and/or its internal principles as a barometer/indicator... letting it define itself, which I guess why its called The Criterion. From dictionary.com criterion A standard, rule, or test on which a judgment or decision can be based. Wakas ps - the food article above is very good, and deserving of a free-minds listing, imho.

Is symbolisim the New Hadith? Lately i have been discussing several issuses in this forum i have notice many individuals sighting proof through symbolisim. For example, once someone said that Moses didnt part a Red Sea. But "Sea" can symbolically represent people and "red" can symbolically represent anger. So according to this symbolic view point Moses parted "angry people" and these people drown pharoh people. Now of courses it didnt make sense, but the issue is can symbolisim be used as tangible proof. Are one subjective symbolic views justification for verse interpretation in the koran. Many individuals who support the symbolic view testify that since we cannot prove such sign/miracles actually happen, they must be symbolic references. I personally limit my justificationn for using symbolisim beyond the boundaries set by God in the Koran. God tends to state allegorical references for particular verse before using it. But should we go far beyond that. And since symbolisim is so subjective, can it ever be definitive? My question is, is symbolisim the Neo Hadith? Meaning is symbolisim the new narrations that should be considered a second source of religious information?

Peace all, peace sabo, I hope you don't mind that I started a new thread. So according to what I am reading, after moses there were messengers sent to clarify the scripture , after jesus, and what about after mohamed? did God send someone to receite the Quran and teach us its wisdom? Or do you consider everybody on free-minds.org a messenger? I would say, everyone, who is informing people about the message (of God), is a messenger (of God). Even, if a disbeliever is informing about the message for a minute, in that very minute he is a messenger. If God says, he is sending messengers, it doesn't necessarily mean that angels with wings will bring him down from the sky. It could as well be your neighbour knocking at your door, going to tell you about the Koran. And what kind of "bayyinat" do you expect from someone who is "sent" (as God says "arsalna") from God with this mission? "bayyinah" means proof. The root "BYN" means "to be clear". I don't expect any proof beside the message. But I expect the message itself to be clear and self-proving. (EDIT The message need not necessarily be self-proving, but verifiable. In that case I expect a proof beside the message, like, the messenger giving me logical reasons to prove his message as true.) Finally I have to say, it is absurd to first try proving messengership before accepting a message, because to prove messengership, you must verify the message itself first. As you can see, you need to verify every single message anyway, regardless, who is saying it. Also, once you can call someone a messenger, it doesn't mean that you can trust what he will say in future, because he could as well say something wrong in the next minute and "lose his messengership". Therefore Listen to everybody, follow the truth, and forsake, what is wrong. Peace, Omar

SALAAMUN TO ALL Is there a difference between the beings--homo sapien sapiens and the beings--human beings? Would really appreciate some thoughtful feedback on this question, thanks?

Salaamun Would you good brothers be so kind as to help me with the following What is the defintion of basharan/bashr? Is there any difference between homo sapien sapien and human being? And, once more, please give me the definitions for a) rijalun b) qawmana Thank you and salaamun.

Salaamun to All They simplest way to avoid being extreme is, to use one's common sense/intellect/reason, thereby, not saying of Allah, His Din, His Qur'an or His Messenger, that which one cannot bring convincing proof for. By bringing convincing proof, one avoids becoming superstitious, the other cause of and reinforcer of extremism. For example. I was having a discussion about the Jinn with an indvidual here, who, maintains that the Jinn, literally, are made of fire and men of clay. Now, the problem with this position is, if Jinn were made of fire, then why can't we see and feel them? If they were literally made of fire, then how could men, according to Al-Qur'an, seek refuge among them without being incinerated? If men are made of clay, then why can't we mold ourselves as we do with clay? Another example is, the so-called miraculous birth of Jesus. Why, just because, Allah doesn't mention that Jesus had a father, must it be assumed that he didn't, especially, given the numerous ayats where Allah tells us exactly how humans reproduce? You see, as long as Muslims continue to forego common sense/intellect/reason, that is, to bring convincing proof from Al-Qur'an, then Muslims, in the main, will remain as extreme, superstitious and misguided as the majority of people are. So, if you don't want extremism, then bring convincing proof as Allah commands us to do. Peace

Salaams, Just another view of being able to serve Allah may be better then we do by just "serving Allah". Serve the Attrubutes - Allah's names. Only a few Examples. The most Gracious - The kind ,polite helpful. Be more kind,polite,helpful and favourable or creat/bring more of this in the world. The Respondat -Be more responsive and or create systems for a more or better response, in the world. The one who gives death - cause or give death to evilness /desease . The aware- Be more aware or create, may be systemsto provide more of it .Tv,radio,internet,news... The opener- open up new doors to new knowledge,new beginnings.... actually each of Allahs names can be served to better human kind and thus Allah. And who ever does more of this will ultimately reach Heaven on earth and also be the closest to Allah i think. Salaams.

Peace, Maurice Cotterell is an interesting author, who has explained some interesting phenonema that explained how was the Maya wiped out from the face of the earth, while all along they predicted this event to a high degree of accuracy. http//www.mauricecotterell.com/synopsispage00.htm It all has to do with the sunspots, read his synopsis and concentrate how female fertility is affected by sunspots. The moral I suppose is that man knows the regular day to day laws such as Newtonian laws, and maybe if widely read Einsteins theory of relativity but there are possible more that result in a certain outcome. Hence, special cases such as you or me being here is quite possible as a result of a little bit of this law and a little bit of that. Some may find this synopsis interesting! regards,