SECTARIANISM is what's killing us!!!!

CavemanDoctor

No need to apologize. If you reacted that way to my post then maybe it's something I said. I just wish I knew what. Or perhaps its the way I presented my response??

I initially reacted to your post that way because it was full of suppositions and assumptions about me and what I allegedly "said." I don't react kindly to those who assume things about me; it's a flaw of mine. Hence, my apology.

For example, you said this

Thirdly, where are you getting the assumption that Aaron's words in verse 94 meant that Moses physically seized him by his head and beard? Are you not aware of figure of speech in the Arabic language?

Please show me where I claimed that Moses physically did anything to Aaron. I didn't. If you're referring to the translation I posted (which I only did cause a) I had to obviously post some translation and b) I posted Ahmed Ali's cause you had said you had agreed with him on some other verse), then that's something the translator put in. I never said Moses physically did anything to Aaron. That was your assumption. I merely said he chastised Aaron.

Caveman, I said in 254 Moses gave them a verbal lashing. You tell me it's NOT TRUE?? And then you posted an altogether different verse than what I was talking about instead of commenting on what I had posted and telling me why what I said about it is not true. I don't get this.

My "its not true" comment wasn't in reference to Moses giving a verbal lashing. Sorry, I should have been more clear. What was not true was the fact that Moses did not ask for similar repentance that he commanded the bani israel to do. He did. He asked God for forgiveness on his and his brother's behalf. Coincidentally, this also shows that Moses knew that Aaron had erred, and is coincidentally why Moses "chastised" (or condemned, or criticized, not merely questioned) Aaron. Further, the rest of the context in surah 7 makes it clear that Aaron himself knew he had made a mistake.

Samia

p.s. Bro, I think you overeacted on Samia because of her use of naif (spelled naive). If it was to insult you or not, I don't know. However, I did not find her post insulting or condescending when she first responded to you.

Thanks Anwar for this comment. My post was very general. Had I said "it is naive (thanks for the corection) of you", then I would be insulting.

To Damon
All other posts have the same understanding I expressed in my two posts. So either everyone is wrong or at least I am not standing alone. Having said that, I am contented with just watching as I have nothing new to add. I also get blocked when my interlocutor takes the discussion to a personal level.

Wakas

peace Damon,

I will take some time to ponder on this issue in light of 911, GOD Willing and I would love a civil and honest conversation with you about it.

As of now though, it appears to me that 911 is concerned with the mushrikeen disrupting the unity of the people trying to establish the deen in the land. I could be wrong though.

The reason I thought of 911 was that even though they were mushrikeen/polytheists, God commands us to see/treat them as akhw/allies/brothers in the deen/obligation/system if they fulfill certain criteria .
So if one extends this to Traditional Muslims, their beliefs can be thought of as irrelevant as long as they fulfill the criteria to be regarded as akhw/brothers/allies.

arnoldyasin

Salaam Aleikum,

The sects are formed because of their approach to the Quran, and this counts also for people at Freeminds and "19ers". The religious approach is what creates these rifts as everybody is busy with the game called "Who can acknowledge God in the best way".

This is not the goal of the Quran and not of the Deen, it is about who can benefit Mankind the most. As God does not give thumbs up or down which we can see, this game will go on forever without a clear answer. But benefitting Mankind can be directly seen in this Life as people can give thumbs up or down.

Those that create sects are the ones who are busy with "pleasing God" instead of pleasing Humanity.

1317 He sends down water from the height causing the riverbeds to
flow according to their measure and the flood bears on its surface
swelling foam. And, when they use fire to refine metals for their jewelry
or equipment, foam is produced like it. In this way, God is citing for you
the example of the truth and Falsehood. For, as far as the foam is
concerned, it passes away as scum upon the riverbanks - While what is
of benefit to mankind, abides on earth. This is how God uses analogies
for you to understand.

1026 Those who benefit humanity get rewarded manifold. No dust of
sadness and no trace of humiliation will overshadow their faces. Such
are the rightful dwellers of the Garden; they will abide therein.

3110 (Since you have been empowered by the Quran), you are indeed the best suited Community that has been raised up for the good of mankind. You shall enjoin the Right, by example and close the doors to Wrong, by example, since you have conviction in Allah (and accept His Final Word as the Criterion of Right and Wrong 34. The Quran educates you on the Permanent Moral Value System and distinguishes clearly what the otherwise vague terms of right and wrong, and good and evil would mean). Now if the People of the Scripture had attained this kind of belief, it would have been for their own good. Some of them do embrace belief, while most of them continue to drift away.

I also approached this issue partially in my article "The difference between Deen and Religious approach"

http//19.org/index.php?id=91,554,0,0,1,0&PHPSESSID=08c48f1b2ab3116a1d6bf2284e31bb58

unknownuser

Peace Wakas,

The reason I thought of 911 was that even though they were mushrikeen/polytheists, God commands us to see/treat them as akhw/allies/brothers in the deen/obligation/system if they fulfill certain criteria .
So if one extends this to Traditional Muslims, their beliefs can be thought of as irrelevant as long as they fulfill the criteria to be regarded as akhw/brothers/allies.

This is what I was getting at in my response to your first post. I believe that most people misinterpret 911 as meaning that we have to unite with the mushrikeen (traditional so-called muslims) on ALL things including matters of faith in GOD and I don't necessarily see it as so. I believe that we CAN extend this to traditional muslims as well as Christians because 911 says they can fullfill the criteria to be our akhw/brothers/allies in the Deen and being allies in the Deen does not mean (at least to my understanding) having the same faith or spiritual views of GOD. Being allies in the "Deen" is not the same as being allies in "Eemaan". Hence the correction the messenger made to the 'Arabs in 4914. Deen and Eemaan are not the same. Also Muslim and Mumin are not the same either.

If it stay this course then I could see this thread becoming quite productive and maybe we (or I) will find the answers to the questions I asked in my opening post. Believe it or not, extending this to the traditional muslims sounds a whole lot easier than it would be in practice. Especially when your mind is made up that you will not engage in idolatrous activities and practices of the traditional muslims.

I Hope that my vision and my idea is a lot more clearer now.

Peace,
Damon.

unknownuser

Salaam 'Alaiykum AY

Salaam Aleikum,

The sects are formed because of their approach to the Quran, and this counts also for people at Freeminds and "19ers". The religious approach is what creates these rifts as everybody is busy with the game called "Who can acknowledge God in the best way".

This is not the goal of the Quran and not of the Deen, it is about who can benefit Mankind the most. As God does not give thumbs up or down which we can see, this game will go on forever without a clear answer. But benefitting Mankind can be directly seen in this Life as people can give thumbs up or down.

Those that create sects are the ones who are busy with "pleasing God" instead of pleasing Humanity.

1317 He sends down water from the height causing the riverbeds to
flow according to their measure and the flood bears on its surface
swelling foam. And, when they use fire to refine metals for their jewelry
or equipment, foam is produced like it. In this way, God is citing for you
the example of the truth and Falsehood. For, as far as the foam is
concerned, it passes away as scum upon the riverbanks - While what is
of benefit to mankind, abides on earth. This is how God uses analogies
for you to understand.

1026 Those who benefit humanity get rewarded manifold. No dust of
sadness and no trace of humiliation will overshadow their faces. Such
are the rightful dwellers of the Garden; they will abide therein.

3110 (Since you have been empowered by the Qur?an), you are indeed the best suited Community that has been raised up for the good of mankind. You shall enjoin the Right, by example and close the doors to Wrong, by example, since you have conviction in Allah (and accept His Final Word as the Criterion of Right and Wrong 34. The Qur?an educates you on the Permanent Moral Value System and distinguishes clearly what the otherwise vague terms of ?right? and ?wrong?, and ?good? and ?evil? would mean). Now if the People of the Scripture had attained this kind of belief, it would have been for their own good. Some of them do embrace belief, while most of them continue to drift away.

I also approached this issue partially in my article "The difference between Deen and Religious approach"

http//19.org/index.php?id=91,554,0,0,1,0&PHPSESSID=08c48f1b2ab3116a1d6bf2284e31bb58

Brilliant post Arnold. Simply brilliant.

To Samia,

All other posts have the same understanding I expressed in my two posts. So either everyone is wrong or at least I am not standing alone.

There are two posts here that doesn't seem to have your understanding. Either they are wrong or at least I am not standing alone either. Whoever Submits themselves to the Deen can be considered as allies in the Deen and may also be called a muslim (according to how I understand 4914). The laws of Deen Can be implemented by a group of people regardless of their spiritual or so-called 'religious' views. You don't have to be a mumin to be one who surrenders to the laws of the deen. He who does believe in GOD and the Hereafter is the one who is called mumin (a believer) and a mumin can work side by side with a muslim and a mushrik in order to establish deen in the land and work for a better society.

However, this is the part where I go totally blank because the traditional muslims are an extremely difficult group of people to approach.

mz

Salaams Damon,

A very good understanding of the subject matter, if i may say so.

a mumin can work side by side with a muslim and a mushrik in order to establish deen in the land and work for a better society.

but you got to agree that for a mushrik to become your brother - he cannot be a mushrik any longer, so you cannot call such a person mushrik can you?

911
But (even so), if they (mushriks) repent, establish regular prayers (i would say establish counsel), and practise regular charity(....and be forthcoming),- they are your brethren in Faith..........

Salaam.

progod

Peace,

Okay Damon, maybe I asked the wrong question. Why must we use the Arabic word Muslim, and what do you think this word means?
I guess the issue of translation ad understanding the Arabic is actually key here. It is not a game of seeing who knows more Arabic either or trying to undermine those who know less, but how we should be understanding these Arabic words.

So to me Muslim is an Arabic word that does not convey what I know it means in Old Arabic when we use it in English (or in Modern Arabic for that matter). For that reason I do not find it as an accurate descriptive in anyway. The Quran uses the word submissive (Muslim) in context with God. So, in essence what you are saying is that we should just all call oursevles submissives/submitters without qualifying Quran alone etc. Why Muslim when we know that in Old Arabic this word has nothing to do with God on its own and we must add 'to God' to make it have some significance to the Quran's message (as the Quran also gives it reference to God)?

When you start saying that God calls us Muslims in the Quran you make it a title, not a descriptive. Muslim really has no innate meaning in English. It doesn't mean kind, godly, pious or submissive to God and cannot be used interchangeably with these ideas in any language (not even Old Arabic). So when you say we should call ourselves just Muslims you are in essence saying that this is our title, because whereas Quranist innately describes what a person follows, Muslim does not (in English or in Arabic). And if you think that the Quran calls us Muslims this worries me that you are reading the word Muslim and thinking of it as a title instead of understanding it (translating it) for the idea that is behind it, i.e. submissiveness. It seems like you are seeing Muslim/Islam and not being able to get past the widespread modern meaning of it as a religious system, or our religion. Remember that when the Quran was revealed no such thing existed and this word only meant what we translate into in English (submissive, peacemaker etc). When you try to separate it from these true, original meanings you turn it into a title and not a description. Remember again a description has to have meaning. What does Muslim on its own mean? When you describe someone as kind, nice, godly, pious, submissive to God these all have innate meaning, they communicate ideas. What idea does the word Muslim and the word Islam communicate?
If it does not have innate meaning and has to be given one then it is a title and not a description.

Godbless,
Anwar

unknownuser

Salaams Damon,

A very good understanding of the subject matter, if i may say so.

but you got to agree that for a mushrik to become your brother - he cannot be a mushrik any longer, so you cannot call such a person mushrik can you?

911
But (even so), if they (mushriks) repent, establish regular prayers (i would say establish counsel), and practise regular charity(....and be forthcoming),- they are your brethren in Faith..........

Salaam.

Salaams MZ,

Perhaps you are right, but I do not agree with your rendition of 911. The original text doesn't say that they are our brothers in Faith (Eemaan), it says that they are our brothers in the System/Order/Judgement (Deen). I also do not agree with the understanding of prayer (from salat) in this context.

But, I also have to say that GOD calls them idolaters in the verses before verse 11, but verse 11 doesn't give me any indication that they have given up taken partners with GOD just because they submitted to matters of the System/Order/Judgement (Deen).

Peace,
Damon.

progod

Peace,

The reason I thought of 911 was that even though they were mushrikeen/polytheists, God commands us to see/treat them as akhw/allies/brothers in the deen/obligation/system if they fulfill certain criteria .
So if one extends this to Traditional Muslims, their beliefs can be thought of as irrelevant as long as they fulfill the criteria to be regarded as akhw/brothers/allies.

This is what I was getting at in my response to your first post. I believe that most people misinterpret 911 as meaning that we have to unite with the mushrikeen (traditional so-called muslims) on ALL things including matters of faith in GOD and I don't necessarily see it as so. I believe that we CAN extend this to traditional muslims as well as Christians because 911 says they can fullfill the criteria to be our akhw/brothers/allies in the Deen and being allies in the Deen does not mean (at least to my understanding) having the same faith or spiritual views of GOD. Being allies in the "Deen" is not the same as being allies in "Eemaan". Hence the correction the messenger made to the 'Arabs in 4914. Deen and Eemaan are not the same. Also Muslim and Mumin are not the same either.

As it concerns this I think we should remember the use of the word deen in the context of the king of Egypt in Joseph's time within the Quran, God bless him. Deen has also to do with legal obligation i.e. rule. Rules among people equal civilization/society. This is where madeenah comes from. It is a place of rule (written or unwritten). it is not the wild west where anybody can do whatever they want. That is not a madeenah. Also let's consider Salat. I am of the strict Classical Arabic school when it comes to this word. I see it as Prayer, Petition or Blessing, and that is it (it is not a verbal noun of form II). As it concerns Zakaat I see this as goodness, justness, wholesome growth, & purity, and that it is also not a verbal noun of form II). So to me those who take others as equals to God, polythiests being the most obvious of these, who take asylum with Quranists, who give us their blessing (Aqaamoo (from IV) Alsaalata) and who conform to goodness and justness (Aatoo (form IV & III) azakaata) are to be our brothers in our civilization, our way of life, our rule. That means that although they betray God in their hearts whoever give us their blessings and is just and good we are to treat as brothers as it concerns our rule, our way of life, our civilization. No they are not brothers in our faith. And because the Arabic word Muslim means submissive and peacemaker (Damon we have to translate to understand what this word is really saying. Muslim on its own has no meaning), we must understand that the Arab tribes (Al-A'raabu is plural to refer to Arabs in plural i.e. their different tribes) made peace/were submissive to Muhamamd (God bless him) but they did not have faith in him and his message.

Godbless,
Anwar

unknownuser

Peace Anwar,

Okay Damon, maybe I asked the wrong question. Why must we use the Arabic word Muslim, and what do you think this word means?
I guess the issue of translation ad understanding the Arabic is actually key here. It is not a game of seeing who knows more Arabic either or trying to undermine those who know less, but how we should be understanding these Arabic words.

Oh bro, I really am not trying to go in that direction. Trust me, It Will eventually detract from the original subject sooner or later. It's a given. But let me give you this answer. I NEVER said that we Must use the Arabic word muslim. I simply said that I am content with being a muslim without any adjectives in front of it, such as quran only or sunni muslim. I can't see how that is equal to saying that we must use the Arabic word muslim. If it will make you all feel better, for the sake of this discussion, we don't have to say muslim. I have no problem saying 'submissive one' or 'one who surrenders'.

So to me Muslim is an Arabic word that does not convey what I know it means in Old Arabic when we use it in English (or in Modern Arabic for that matter). For that reason I do not find it as an accurate descriptive in anyway. The Quran uses the word submissive (Muslim) in context with God. So, in essence what you are saying is that we should just all call oursevles submissives/submitters without qualifying Quran alone etc.

Yes, that's exactly what I am saying.

Why Muslim when we know that in Old Arabic this word has nothing to do with God on its own and we must add 'to God' to make it have some significance to the Quran's message (as the Quran also gives it reference to God)?

We have had this disussion before. You already know that everyone is familiar with the context this word is used in when it comes to the quran and the understanding that is obtained from that usage.

When you start saying that God calls us Muslims in the Quran you make it a title, not a descriptive.

I disagree that I am making it a title. It is not my intention to make it a title nor is it the mindset that I am operating under. GOD uses that description for a reason. When I use it, I stick to that reason.

Muslim really has no innate meaning in English. It doesn't mean kind, godly, pious or submissive to God and cannot be used interchangeably with these ideas in any language (not even Old Arabic).
So when you say we should call ourselves just Muslims you are in essence saying that this is our title, because whereas Quranist innately describes what a person follows, Muslim does not (in English or in Arabic).

Bro, how can you say that me using the word 'muslim' is making a title when it is used in the quran, but you want to erect a title of your own that is not in the quran? (the word quranist).

And if you think that the Quran calls us Muslims this worries me that you are reading the word Muslim and thinking of it as a title instead of understanding it (translating it) for the idea that is behind it, i.e. submissiveness.

You totally misunderstand me if you do think this. You have to read my posts to Ayman to see where I'm coming from and where you are misunderstanding me.

It seems like you are seeing Muslim/Islam and not being able to get past the widespread modern meaning of it as a religious system, or our religion.

Okay, here you are Dead Wrong!! This is a bad assumption on your part bro.

Remember that when the Quran was revealed no such thing existed and this word only meant what we translate into in English (submissive, peacemaker etc). When you try to separate it from these true, original meanings you turn it into a title and not a description. Remember again a description has to have meaning. What does Muslim on its own mean? When you describe someone as kind, nice, godly, pious, submissive to God these all have innate meaning, they communicate ideas. What idea does the word Muslim and the word Islam communicate?
If it has not innate meaning and has to be given one then it is a title and not a description.

These things I am already aware of.

Peace,
Damon.

mz

Salaams MZ,

Perhaps you are right, but I do not agree with your rendition of 911. The original text doesn't say that they are our brothers in Faith (Eemaan), it says that they are our brothers in the System/Order/Judgement (Deen). I also do not agree with the understanding of prayer (from salat) in this context.

But, I also have to say that GOD calls them idolaters in the verses before verse 11, but verse 11 doesn't give me any indication that they have given up taken partners with GOD just because they submitted to matters of the System/Order/Judgement (Deen).

Peace,
Damon.

Hearts of brothers are joined ? not physically.

3103
And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you That ye may be guided.

The brothers of unbelievers are unbelievers.

3156
O ye who believe! Be not like the Unbelievers, who say of their brethren??.

From above;

The brothers of you, believers can only be believers.

So how can your brother be a mushrik ? in 911?

but verse 11 doesn't give me any indication that they have given up taken partners with GOD

Was it ever anything to do with setting up partners with any God?!

God Bless All.

ayman

Peace Anwar,

Thank you for attempting to clarify the issues for Damon.

Although peacemaking is only ONE meaning of Islam it is still only one. The other, most important in my opinion is 'submission' which in most places in the Quran referred to God who is mentioned in the context. That submission can validly be understood as making peace with God, however.

I disagree. Mohamed didn't invent a new thing that was not already very well known to the people of the book since the time of Abraham. The fact is that the noun "submission" is NEVER mentioned in the Bible while peace/peacemaking/peacemaker are mentioned no less than 450 times in the Bible. Also, "submission" is incomplete and thus can be taken to mean very bad things, including a sexual fetish, while peacemaking is complete, self explanatory and is inherently good.

Peace (not submission),

Ayman

unknownuser

Peace everyone,

Dear Ayman and Anwar,

You have proven my point that I was making all along about how the thread will eventually go from sectarianism into Arabic language, translation and rules of grammar. Look at your posts that you have made in this thread and see how it digresses from the topic of the thread. This is exactly what I was talking about.

If it's all the same to you guys, I will only respond to posts that are dealing with the topic of the thread. I think maybe you guys should start a seperate thread dealing with issues of translation.

Salaam,
Damon.

ayman

Peace Wakas,

The reason I thought of 911 was that even though they were mushrikeen/polytheists, God commands us to see/treat them as akhw/allies/brothers in the deen/obligation/system if they fulfill certain criteria .

This is exactly the point that Damon and many people are still missing. Since we know that the only acceptable obligation is "islam"/peacemaking then when we substitute "deen" for "peacemaking" we can easily get the message of the passage. We can't get anything real when we substitute "submission". We are brothers in peacemaking with all peacemakers, even those who setup partners.

So if one extends this to Traditional Muslims, their beliefs can be thought of as irrelevant as long as they fulfill the criteria to be regarded as akhw/brothers/allies.

The criteria is that they make peace with us by upholding their agreements and bringing forth betterment. So if a Sunni tries to improve his understanding and the understanding of others (bring betterment) and renounces the idea that we should be killed for rejecting Hadiths then he is our brother in peacemaking. The same goes for people who promoted peace such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King, etc.

Unfortunately, most sectarians are not interested in peacemaking. I remember having a discussion with some people at a Mosque about the punishment for stealing and when I explained why the hands shouldn't be amputated, one of the guys there said that if I didn't believe that the hands of the thief should be amputated then this makes me a Kafir and I should be killed. Everyone there seemed to agree. Those sectarians cannot be our brothers in peacemaking. In fact, we should follow the example of the messengers and separate from them and not look for any kind of unity with them as Damon seems to be suggesting.

Peace,

Ayman

unknownuser

Salaam mz,

Hearts of brothers are joined ? not physically.

3103
And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you That ye may be guided.

The brothers of unbelievers are unbelievers.

3156
O ye who believe! Be not like the Unbelievers, who say of their brethren??.

From above;

The brothers of you, believers can only be believers.

So how can your brother be a mushrik ? in 911?

Was it ever anything to do with setting up partners with any God?!

God Bless All.

I think where you and I differ is the way we understand ikhwanukum (your allies/comrades/brothers) in 911. I see it as meaning allies or brethren in the establishment of the laws of Deen. I do not see it to mean allies or brethren in matters of faith or belief in GOD. I see this as two seperate arenas. But you raise a really good point though because it does say in 3031-32 that the ones who split this Deen into sects/factions/partisans are actually mushrikeen. And yet, mushrikeen are who is being talked about in 91-11.

Hhmmm. hmm

unknownuser

Arnold wrote

Salaam Aleikum,

The sects are formed because of their approach to the Quran, and this counts also for people at Freeminds and "19ers". The religious approach is what creates these rifts as everybody is busy with the game called "Who can acknowledge God in the best way".

This is not the goal of the Quran and not of the Deen, it is about who can benefit Mankind the most. As God does not give thumbs up or down which we can see, this game will go on forever without a clear answer. But benefitting Mankind can be directly seen in this Life as people can give thumbs up or down.

Those that create sects are the ones who are busy with "pleasing God" instead of pleasing Humanity.

1317 He sends down water from the height causing the riverbeds to
flow according to their measure and the flood bears on its surface
swelling foam. And, when they use fire to refine metals for their jewelry
or equipment, foam is produced like it. In this way, God is citing for you
the example of the truth and Falsehood. For, as far as the foam is
concerned, it passes away as scum upon the riverbanks - While what is
of benefit to mankind, abides on earth. This is how God uses analogies
for you to understand.

1026 Those who benefit humanity get rewarded manifold. No dust of
sadness and no trace of humiliation will overshadow their faces. Such
are the rightful dwellers of the Garden; they will abide therein.

3110 (Since you have been empowered by the Qur?an), you are indeed the best suited Community that has been raised up for the good of mankind. You shall enjoin the Right, by example and close the doors to Wrong, by example, since you have conviction in Allah (and accept His Final Word as the Criterion of Right and Wrong 34. The Qur?an educates you on the Permanent Moral Value System and distinguishes clearly what the otherwise vague terms of ?right? and ?wrong?, and ?good? and ?evil? would mean). Now if the People of the Scripture had attained this kind of belief, it would have been for their own good. Some of them do embrace belief, while most of them continue to drift away.

BINGO!! You hit the jackpot, my friend. You have placed your finger on the wound. This is the real reason why the so-called "Muslims" have been left behind, while other nations (the "Kafir West&quot has gone ahead in terms of civilization.

The reason is because they have dwarfed the true meaning of submission to God, and restricted the "Deen" to a set of rituals.
Islam is based on 5 things they say. And when we analyse these 5 so-called "pillars", we notice that they are nothing but rituals that contribute absolutely NOTHING to the benefit of humanity and society.

They measure the rightiousness of a man by the length of his beard, and the number of "duas" he performs. In their yellowed and diseased tradition books we see hundreds of hadiths that distribute ownership deeds to acres of land in heaven to whomever says 100x per day "Allahu Akbar wa Subannallahi, wal hamdulillahi". Do you catch my drift?? Their entire religion is based on nothing but rituals and empty spoken duas.

Now I ask you What more does the tyrannical Sultan want from the masses?? What stronger opium is there than saying "Pray 5 times, circle a cloth-covered cubical structure 7 times, pay 2.5% annually of your annual savings (straight to the pocket of the Sultan of course- proof increasing poverty and ignorance all over the "Muslim" world ), fast Ramadan, and say the Shahada with your tongues, and PRESTO!! you are guaranteed heaven".
Crying on the tomb of Imam Hussain = ticket to heaven, no questions asked.
Say 33 times per day so and so, before and after bedtime = castle in Janna, no questions asked.

As for doing things which actually benefit mankind - PROGRESSIVE THINGS - finding cures for diseases, establishing scientific research centers, GOD FORBID!! The Sultan doesn't like these things. Because progress is HARAM according to the Sultan ( and the pack of "Sheikhs" and "Mullas" who work for him).

In their Islamic libraries you will find hundreds of "Volumes of Knowledge" which discuss the "science of Wuduu" and "proper way of urinating according to Sunna", but you will not find a single volume which discusses the real sciences that actually benefit mankind. These are not important. Let the "Kafir West" take care of these. In the end, they will burn in Hell, and we, who have done nothing but sit on our asses for 14 centuries, are guaranteed Heaven, because we say 33x per day so and so "dua".

Do they ever ask themselves where is the credibilty of the above verse, in light of the current situation of the "Muslim" world?

Perhaps the most horrific corruption of the Deen comes from the definition their hadiths give you of the word "3amal" (work). They confuse "a3mal" (works) with rituals. To them, Salat= 3amal. Moving one's head from side to side like hypnotized sheep as the Shaiekh recites the Koran = 3amal. Murmuring 99 prayers while holding the rosary = 3amal.

What can you expect from such a religion? How does it benefit mankind?

The sadness of the situation is mind-boggling.

unknownuser

Peace Ayman,

This is exactly the point that Damon and many people are still missing. Since we know that the only acceptable obligation is "islam"/peacemaking then when we substitute "deen" for "peacemaking" we can easily get the message of the passage. We can't get anything real when we substitute "submission". We are brothers in peacemaking with all peacemakers, even those who setup partners.

Where are you getting the idea that I am missing this point?? Read my last three posts to Wakas, mz, proGod and Arnold Yasin and you will see that this is exactly my point. What are you talking about? I get the feeling that you are not reading my posts thoroughly but are merely looking for certain things to key in on and argue with me about them. I Never Once through out this entire thread said that "Deen" means "submission" or that I equate "Deen" with the idea of religion.

Unfortunately, most sectarians are not interested in peacemaking. I remember having a discussion with some people at a Mosque about the punishment for stealing and when I explained why the hands shouldn't be amputated, one of the guys there said that if I didn't believe that the hands of the thief should be amputated then this makes me a Kafir and I should be killed.

Everyone here should be well aware of this, hence my statement of how delicate and tricky it would be to work with the traditional so-called muslims in establishing the Deen in it's purity while Not becoming guilty of seperatism/divisionism ourselves.

Everyone there seemed to agree. Those sectarians cannot be our brothers in peacemaking. In fact, we should follow the example of the messengers and separate from them and not look for any kind of unity with them as Damon seems to be suggesting.

Only in matters of Deen as GOD says in 911. That is, if they mend their ways and stand firm in the salaat and the purification/betterment. In that case we are not only permitted to unite with them, but as per my understanding of 911 we are indeed obliged to do so.

unknownuser

Peace Pazuzu,