General Issues / Questions

Peace. The hoori are finally described in this post here http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9604977.msg321045#msg321045 Have no fear. It is a symbolic way of saying that we shine with Light of Allah, and is for men and women equally. In the Bible, all the believers can be described as females being the bride of Christ, "I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present a chaste virgin to Christ." (2 Corinthians 112) - and yet this is not for women only! And yes, this is a shamless advert for my topic! Richard

This paragraph you had written proves that the Hinduism provided you with a strong platform to get rid off the darkest gloom of religious practices of senseless allegiance to the rites and rituals invented by the priests hood at large with their vested interests. Well being a Hindu for a short while allowed me not to be choked by dogma and permitted me to mature spiritually for a while until I grew up and came back to Islam. I know many Muslims will not agree with me on this but Hinduism has set forth some good example that benefit any person, whether they be Muslims, Christian or Atheist. But I cannot be anymore clear when I say "La Ilaha il Al'Lah".

Peace One mans crap is another's gold. Peace Salim

I find the Qur'aan says its teachings so much better, than Hadiths that are similar anyway. Then you don't have to filter through all the made-up stuff, that's being passed off as "Authentic". Huh??? Qur'aan is enough for a full life of study. I am not even remotely implyng not to read anything you want; i just find Hadiths that i have read in books, and that people have posted, to be almost pathetic in their attempts to copy the Qur'aan's authority. Not to mention the differing agendas behind their collecting Power-plays, assertions of which Companion deserves the most respect, etc., etc. I don't have time for that! and thankFULLY Allah and the Majid Qur'aan that HE sent to us, don't either. Ever heard of Emily Post, the lady who is famous for her proper etiquette and manners? Guess what she wrote in her book on eating. She wrote that when you eat, you hold the knife in the right hand, and the fork in the left hand. And after you cut your food with the knife, lay the knife down and transfer the fork from the left hand to the right hand, and eat the food with your fork using your RIGHT hand. Well that's what MY momma taught me! It is always advised to never put your faith in people (especially clergy) no matter how "holy" they (priests, sheikhs,rabbis, gurus, etc) appear to be. I noticed how Shiites(and some Sufis) claim that the sheikhs/teachers are perfect role models like Muhammad and cannot commit sin. They are essentially placing common men to the title of prophet and in some cases God. Who said the Prophets were perfect? Muhammed (Pbuh) was, according to the Qur'aan, exemplary yes, but human, ergo im-perfect, and like all the other Prophets (Peace be upon them all) in need of GOD's help throughout their lives. Otherwise, i agree with your general observation. There's that "infallibilty" attitude that some think they've earned or inherited. And this becomes an excuse for unethical or dishonest behaviors. End justifying the means. And where's one place to learn these behaviors? In all the twists and turns of attributed Sunnah and Hadiths. Something the Prophets would not have condoned in themselves....seems to be OK for scholars? Salaam. Just a POV.

Peace to all Religion is the Opium of the Masses. Karl Marx....It indeed is. How many people slaughter their brains and reason before going to a mosque or a sermon by a mulla..... It is rightly said ... Religion = Mullarchy.............Mullarchy is a thousand times more dangerous than Monarchy...... Yes and once those sectarians / religious power monger got into power it will turn into Mulla-cracy , Rabbi-cracy, Priesto-cracy, Imamo-cracy, the worst and most wicked form of dictatorship. Have anyone here paid any attention that the Gospel and the Quran is an ANTI-Religious book? It dazzled me how come people now think that those books are 'the ultimate book on religion'. Salam / Peace

Thanks for your "confessional". I like hearing personal accounts like this. Actually, I was referring to my preconceived Islamic tradition, which encompasses the ibn-Hisham sira as well as the various hadith collections. There's a convert and apologetic, Hamza Tzortzis, who said that the hadiths are actually revelation as well and to be taken as seriously as the Koran. So when you hear stuff like this and people discuss Islam using Koran and hadiths interchangeably, it gets confusing after a while. I like being open and honest with my peers . Just thought I'd give a bit of background. Anyway if you look up about, hadiths were written around 200 years after the approximate death of prophet Muhammad and were oral traditions. Some are just plain outrageous like how Ayesha (who I believe bukhari has made up) was washing the semen out of Muhammad's clothes hypno & -. Majority are just made up for satisfaction of the "powerful" imams that wanted power from controlling people. Try playing chinese whispers for 200 years from people who most likely never even knew the prophet or his actual family. If you read 99% of hadiths, they will contradict the quran and themselves left right center. Take the quran alone as it should be . 7185 Did they not look at the dominion of heavens and Earth, and all that God has created? Perhaps their time is drawing near; so in which narrations(hadiths) after this one will they believe? 316 And from the people, there are those who accept baseless narrations(hadiths) to mislead from the path of God without knowledge, and they take it as entertainment. These will have a humiliating retribution. 3923 God has sent down the best narration(hadith), a Scripture that is similar with two paths. The skins of those who reverence their Lord shiver from it, then their skins and their hearts soften up to the remembrance of God. Such is God's guidance; He guides with it whoever He wills. And for whomever God misguides, then none can guide him. 456 These are God's revelations that We recite to you with truth. So, in which narration(hadith) after God and His revelations do they believe? There a few other verses but its painful using my phone to copy and paste them. The quran is the best hadith, the one source we should use. Is there other hadiths after this one we should consider? nope

By no means. The Book of Life is the record of all happenings in the creation of Allah. Upon the last day, the day of deen, the heavens shall be rolled up as a scroll for writings. This is the day that the Book of Life has attained completion, this is the day that We are Eternal. {26} Everyone on it must pass away. {27} And there will endure for ever the person of your Lord, the Lord of glory and honor.

When you say there is "human made inconsistency when it comes to "free will", it again breaks down into excercise of free will by human being (ultimately). Man has been created with free will. He can be made to go against his will by two methods. One is to threaten him physically. The other is to influence his psychology. If compulsion was there, there would have been no dissenters or atheists (6108, 613. In that case men would have been like stones or animals, NOT human! I find the discussion on "free will" fascinating, so to avoid the total derailing of this thread on prayer, I opened a thread only on "free will". I will take this and answer there.

Hi Richard, Of course there are verses saying no righteousness in facing east or west , but is that true.....lets see; On seeing the sun rise or fall you may experience an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear , etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like in awe of God. Now that can be in the east and west for some of us, so how can one say "no righteousness in facing east or west?" I bet the words mashriq and magrib don't mean east and west at all. but no harm in believing this neither i suppose. Just thinking into 2258 the one who disputed with Abraham , could have easily said "i bring the sun from the east tell your god to bring it from the west".........the point is it isn't about east and west at all but about what God does and what the disputer was doing where contrary. peace

Salam Queen Sheba Ever since I accepted the Quran as the only source to gain knowledge of Islam, I felt like there is a absence of god in my life as well as shaytan... don't get me wrong I feel like Allah is still there with me but not as much as before. The same I get with the shaytan, I just don't feel the presence anymore (thank god). I don't know how to describe it. I'm honestly scared tbh Should I be worried? It's not a bad feeling, it just feels eerie and I miss the feeling in a weird way. Does this make sense? i understand you- I think it has to do with to take on responsibility, to sew God alone, without relying on others-traditional Muslims often drop of a problem simply in saying The scholars are our guides in the Deen, and if they interpret/teach it wrong, then they are responsible, not us ...so that is far from going to ponder over and understand the Quran and it is in fact followed blindly. This is indeed a lot easier and can give the feeling of being close to God, but in the end it is the exact opposite. If a man / woman now exit this traditional structure of prescribed faith, comes first a big emptyness which shall be filled again with true devotion and genuine peace and selfless rapprochement to God-this is much more difficult, but much more valuable. God will help you to come more near from Him inshaAllah- peace peace

Salam Emil Switzerland peace

StopS What? You make some wild claims and when I call you out on it you sidetrack into definitions of gravity and philosophical observations. When that shows to be futile and I put you back on track and continue asking you for some proof you run away? Yes.

Salaam Harun 551 O you who believe, do not take the Jews and the NASSARA as allies (AWLIYA), for they are allies to one another; and whoever takes them as such from among you is one of them. God does not guide the wicked people. 580 You see many of them allying (YATAWALLOUNA) the rejecters. Wicked is what their souls have provided for them, for the wrath of God is upon them, and in the retribution they will abide. i will add this 73 Follow what was sent down to you from your Lord, and do not follow besides Him any supporters (AWLIYA). Little do you remember! so if Awliya means allies then is seems also that you have to take no allies at all ??? In arabic Wally means tutor. it is also used for saint. For me, verses you quoted means that we don't have to follow thoughts and teaching of rejectors, jews(?) ans nassara. Of course, i think also that it is restricted in religious field. A religious field beeing, of course, something dealt with by quran. Peace

Salam Glory I am a fisherman and I have been looking into this since it is of personal interest. First of all Fish is not forbidden, there is no mention of it at all in the Quran that it is haram in any way. Second Fish is normally dies when it is taken onboard the fishingboat, they die of suffocation but not strangled, they drown. This has not changed since man started fishing, the methods of catching fish has not changed much the last couple of thousand years. It is a cruel way to die but so is slitting the throat of a landbased animal which is the procedure of halal slaughter. Third The reason why you are contemplating about this proooobably has to do with the jewish influence on traditional islam. They got stricter rules and since traditional islam is heavily influenced by judaism question of seafood arises with muslims as well........but to tell you the truth, I did not know anything about jewish culture when I read the dietary regulations in the Quran and it did not strike me at all or at any time that fish would be in any way haram, and since I know all there is to know about fishing I would have picked something up if it was there. Fourth Please read 596, although it describes during pilgrimage, but if seafood is allowed on pilgrimage then it is allowed when not on pilgrimage. Bear in mind, the way fish were caught in the time of prophet Muhammed is basically the same as today. ps. Nice kitty

Salamun Alaykum, Okay, so I was just working on the definition of Muslim, and I recalled that someone (I believe Ayman, though I'm not sure) suggested that Muslim means peacemaker, not submitter. I wanted that if someone be kind enough to link me to any threads on this topic, or just simply provide me both sides of the argument..? It'd be really helpful for me. At the moment, I've seen that from the root Salima, there are two words, Salmun, and Silmun. Salmun means peace, ease, soundness etc. and Silmun means submission, obedience etc. Hence, words coming from Salmun refer to peace, and from Silmun refer to submission. However, I would love if any one skilled in Arabic, or someone who has knowledge of the arguments provided for the meaning of Muslim, enlighten me on whether Muslim comes from Salmun or Silmun, or whether I'm totally wrong on the issue in the first place. Thank you Salaam There is others interpretations. Sallama=Give and Muslim=who receive Mo'min= who take care of what he is entrusted in Nabi=Informed by what he received. Rassool=transmitter of what he received. Salat=connection for reception. Hajj'ou= the one who argue with what received. Kafir=Who reject what he receive Mochrik=Who mix and pollute what he received All these are centered on reception of words of Gods. God is free to multiply ways of reading and understanding. Peace

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Asalam alaykum to all, I was wondering if anyone could point me to any Quranic verses which refer to the positive and/or negative personal consequences of the actions of an individual during their lives on earth (ie not with regard to the Day of Judgment, nor at the level of entire populations) Best wishes. handshake wa "alaykum-us-salaam wa rahmatullaahi I will keep adding surah which I consider refer to the positive and/or negative personal consequences of the actions of an individual during their lives on earth And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims." And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel by that which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity as though he was a devoted friend. Whoever does righteousness - it is for his soul; and whoever does evil against it. And your Lord is not ever unjust to servants. Here I understan as being positive thinking/deeds/actions and or as negative approach. I am in the process of understanding pure Arabic so when I come to these words I would re-confirm their meaning insha allaah. salaam

Peace police

Peace MOF, all. Indeed, Good created this simulation and keeps it running with little interference and occasional story elements ... until the trial is over. I am going to cheat and forward the game to have a "peep" how it will end? " We all come out like swarms of butterflies" "Then the earth will shine with the light of its Lord. The record will be proclaimed, and the prophets and the witnesses will be brought forth. Everyone will then be judged equitably..." "And your Lord comes, together with the angels in row after row." He will make a grand appearance! "The stars are crashed into each other". "The earth and the mountains will be carried off and crushed; utterly crushed". And this is the best bit for some "The great horror will not worry them, and the angels will receive them joyfully "This is your day, that has been promised to you." Sorry folks!. I rewind the game back Over to you. Peace.

Thank you Rami! Very interesting thread, pity that some links to videos are dead.