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  4. I am struggling with Islam

I am struggling with Islam

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  • T Offline
    T Offline
    TheNabi
    wrote on last edited by
    #14

    Peace

    Struggle is important in islam. Perhaps you should embrace it and see where it takes you. If you cannot come to terms with islam than you do not need to adhere to it. Maybe you need to study more, burn the chaff, trash the trash, and grasp the beneficial. Whatever, keep to your struggle and you will become your proof before you Lord.

    Joe

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      Alen
      wrote on last edited by
      #15

      Peace,
      Respectfully.

      I am very sorry to hear this but all is not lost.
      You are at the very important intersectiona dn it is up to you to decide and if you want to be guided RIGHT, God will guide you but only if you want to, God doesn't want to force you, thoguh He could.

      There is no compulsion in the religion, remember?
      If they want to believe, let them believe, if they want to disbelieve, let them disbelieve.

      I forgot the nukmbers where these sentences stand but these verses speak loud.
      The question is now this do you want to be guided right?
      Do you want God to guide you?
      If you are honest and sincere about it and if your requets is honest, sincere, true and real and comes from your heart, then make a request, ask God and He will give you.

      I can assure you that God answers within seconds, if needed. I am a witness to this.

      Peace.

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        Confused
        wrote on last edited by
        #16

        Thank you guys for all the help.

        I've read the quran so many times. My problem is with some of the stories around the life of the prophet, and the Sahaba, like Ali.I don't understand why they married so much, and why they had concubines. I mean if they behave like that, then no wonder Muslim men are confused about how they should treat their women.

        Thanks

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          unknownuser
          wrote on last edited by
          #17

          If quran makes sense to you that is it! You won't be asked for the deeds of the prophet and his companions.

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            Alen
            wrote on last edited by
            #18

            Thank you guys for all the help.

            I've read the quran so many times. My problem is with some of the stories around the life of the prophet, and the Sahaba, like Ali.I don't understand why they married so much, and why they had concubines. I mean if they behave like that, then no wonder Muslim men are confused about how they should treat their women.

            Thanks

            Salam alaykum,
            Respectfully.

            Yes, we are told to marry 2 or 3 or even 4 widows, if we can support them.
            Right?
            Widows.
            What are the chances that 4 widows live here near by? That means, best to my knowledge, God knows best, to me it means that a horrible war has happened, many men died, apparentlu the few male survivors are left and too many women, the human race is at stake - the end of it.
            Therefore, marry widows for the purpose of repopulate the world. Marring 4 women does not mean to abuse this verse and have sex every day with a different woman.

            Prophet's companions were his friends and they wrote down what prophet heard from Gabriel who brought the revelations from Exalted God. Obviously the sahabas wrote down what prophet Muhammad told them and he was the supervisor, to make sure they wrote it correctly and right.

            Later, 200 years after prophet Muhammad died, enemies of Islam, Quran, Muslims, prophet Muhammad, started writing things of their own and attribute them to the prophet who could not object, being dead.

            Do this tests compare the prophet Muhammad as portrayed in the Quran and the prophet Muhammad portrayed in the hadeeth stories. You will be amazed at the discovery.

            God bless you.
            Peace.

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              Bubbles
              wrote on last edited by
              #19

              Thank you guys for all the help.

              I've read the quran so many times. My problem is with some of the stories around the life of the prophet, and the Sahaba, like Ali.I don't understand why they married so much, and why they had concubines. I mean if they behave like that, then no wonder Muslim men are confused about how they should treat their women.

              Thanks

              It was 7th century Arabia; Why would them having lots of wives be surprising? Whilst Ali was married to Fatima he didn't marry anyone else. It was only after she passed away that he married others and all of his wives consented to marrying him so it was their choice.

              Prophet Muhammed said "The most perfect believers are the best in conduct and best of you are those who are best to their wives." (Ibn-Hanbal, No. 7396)

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                drfazl
                wrote on last edited by
                #20

                If you follow Allah, there is no way you earn any hardship or your path is turbulent; and Allah gives his word that He had not sent down this Quran for you to suffer. There were no companions for the prophets for they had not come to stroll through the streets with a few friends but had been picked up by Allah as a glad tiding to the entire humanity. You stand as a model for the present generation by following the straight path rejecting Buhari, Muslim, Tirmithi and their colleagues and companions and their hell bound followers. Only in this way you get rid of your confusion. And it is very important that you are not an imposter.

                www.foolproofcure.net

                .

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                  Truth_Seeker 0
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #21

                  I am struggling, too. I?m still struggling with the idea that the Quran is God?s Word, conveyed to a mere human through an angel. And why did it take 20 years? If God had already conveyed his message to the messengers before Muhammad, why did it take so long? And why are so many critical issues vague and left open to interpretation, e.g., when and how long to fast, polygyny (just mothers of fatherless children or other women too?), headscarf or no headscarf, to name a few. Had the verses regarding these issues been made crystal clear, we may not have the different sects and bickering about which way is the ?right way? that we have had throughout history and still have today.

                  However, out of all religions I have studied and religious books I have read, the Quran does make the most sense to me. The Bible and Torah are filled with such nonsense and contradictions that I can?t help but wonder how anyone can believe such obviously fabricated, ridiculous stories clearly written by men. Catholics believe that Jesus was God, yet he is often depicted praying. Why would God pray to himself?? How can any rational person believe such a thing?! Boggles my mind, really. Now the Quran may very well be the word of God, I?m just not 100% convinced. There is much I still don?t understand and much that still doesn?t make sense to me. I guess that would explain my name. I am here in search of truth. I hope I find it. )

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                    Truth_Seeker 0
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #22

                    If you follow Allah, there is no way you earn any hardship or your path is turbulent; and Allah gives his word that He had not sent down this Quran for you to suffer.

                    There are many good, righteous people in this world doing good deeds and trying to live their lives in accordance with God?s Word who have faced and continue to face plenty of hardships, their path has been quite turbulent and they have suffered quite a bit. I happen to know a few myself.

                    Then there are the natural disasters that we have witnessed most recently, like tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes that have taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands more suffering, without family members (innocent children without parents), homeless, hungry -- basically without anything. I can?t imagine they were all evil.

                    And how about all the small children dying and suffering from cancer and all sorts of other painful and disabling diseases? I visited a children?s hospital not too long ago and left in tears. Why must innocent children suffer so much? These are the things that make me question whether there is an all-knowing, all-seeing loving creator or just a creator that got the ball rolling and then moved on to other things.

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                      Wakas
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #23

                      peace TS,

                      I strongly recommend using the search function of the forum.

                      All information is correct to the best of my knowledge only and thus should not be taken as a fact. One should always seek knowledge and verify for themselves when possible: 17:36, 20:114, 35:28, 49:6, 58:11.

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                        huruf
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #24

                        There are many good, righteous people in this world doing good deeds and trying to live their lives in accordance with God?s Word who have faced and continue to face plenty of hardships, their path has been quite turbulent and they have suffered quite a bit. I happen to know a few myself.

                        Then there are the natural disasters that we have witnessed most recently, like tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes that have taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands more suffering, without family members (innocent children without parents), homeless, hungry -- basically without anything. I can?t imagine they were all evil.

                        And how about all the small children dying and suffering from cancer and all sorts of other painful and disabling diseases? I visited a children?s hospital not too long ago and left in tears. Why must innocent children suffer so much? These are the things that make me question whether there is an all-knowing, all-seeing loving creator or just a creator that got the ball rolling and then moved on to other things.

                        This world, God tells in the Quran, is a trial, good things for us are for trial, bad things are trial. When we get good things we must give thanks and see that we do with them what God has commanded us to do. When we get bad things we must give thanks and see thst we do with them what God has commanded us to do. Punishment can be in this world or in the next, but a trial is not a punishment. What we are short of in terms of good deeds or what we are too long in terms of bad deeds we may reckon ourselves looking at ourselves as honestly as we are capable of, but with all certainty all of them will be laid out clearly for us when God recalls us. And this world, dunya is for trial, so that we know our Rabb, that is what we must do, whether we suffer or we enjoy, and nowhere has God promised that if we are good we will be duly rewarded in this world and that we will not suffer. Quite the opposite, we get plenty of examples where righteous people suffer and are patient and obedient to good. God tells us we will see the atom of good we do and the atom of evil we do. So it cannot be clearer, but we see life as if it was a film, we want to know the end or rather we want to be reassured that right now is the end and it is right now where everybody should be happy. Well, it is not like that, we are still here and still living our life of seekers of God. Therefore we should take whatever amount of suffering we become for granted. God is not punishing us he is just leading us in our way to him and we will be unfailingly rewarded. That is promised, and many people who have suffered could tell you that for nothign they would rennounce their suffering, because it is a gift and it is fruitful if you do the effort of being patient and trying to understand. It is not a punishment it is a blessing just as much as enjoyment. Sometimes we only understand and love and forgive after having gone through some very painful and wreaking experiences. God is good and gives us true values, not pink dreams.

                        Salaam

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                          arnoldyasin
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #25

                          There are many good, righteous people in this world doing good deeds and trying to live their lives in accordance with God?s Word who have faced and continue to face plenty of hardships, their path has been quite turbulent and they have suffered quite a bit. I happen to know a few myself.

                          Then there are the natural disasters that we have witnessed most recently, like tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes that have taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands more suffering, without family members (innocent children without parents), homeless, hungry -- basically without anything. I can?t imagine they were all evil.

                          And how about all the small children dying and suffering from cancer and all sorts of other painful and disabling diseases? I visited a children?s hospital not too long ago and left in tears. Why must innocent children suffer so much? These are the things that make me question whether there is an all-knowing, all-seeing loving creator or just a creator that got the ball rolling and then moved on to other things.

                          It is true that He doesn't intervene, but He didn't leave us alone, He gave us revelation so we can create a society that is more efficient in sustaining and helping itself. In such a society, medical knowledge would develop so fast, sufferring would be brought to almost zero.

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                            arnoldyasin
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #26

                            This world, God tells in the Quran, is a trial, good things for us are for trial, bad things are trial. When we get good things we must give thanks and see that we do with them what God has commanded us to do. When we get bad things we must give thanks and see thst we do with them what God has commanded us to do. Punishment can be in this world or in the next, but a trial is not a punishment. What we are short of in terms of good deeds or what we are too long in terms of bad deeds we may reckon ourselves looking at ourselves as honestly as we are capable of, but with all certainty all of them will be laid out clearly for us when God recalls us. And this world, dunya is for trial, so that we know our Rabb, that is what we must do, whether we suffer or we enjoy, and nowhere has God promised that if we are good we will be duly rewarded in this world and that we will not suffer. Quite the opposite, we get plenty of examples where righteous people suffer and are patient and obedient to good. God tells us we will see the atom of good we do and the atom of evil we do. So it cannot be clearer, but we see life as if it was a film, we want to know the end or rather we want to be reassured that right now is the end and it is right now where everybody should be happy. Well, it is not like that, we are still here and still living our life of seekers of God. Therefore we should take whatever amount of suffering we become for granted. God is not punishing us he is just leading us in our way to him and we will be unfailingly rewarded. That is promised, and many people who have suffered could tell you that for nothign they would rennounce their suffering, because it is a gift and it is fruitful if you do the effort of being patient and trying to understand. It is not a punishment it is a blessing just as much as enjoyment. Sometimes we only understand and love and forgive after having gone through some very painful and wreaking experiences. God is good and gives us true values, not pink dreams.

                            Salaam

                            Peace,

                            Although I agree partially with what you say, but suffering is what WE allow or cause many times, so we cannot say it is trial by God, but a self-caused suffering by Mankind itself. We seek the blame to much with God...

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                              huruf
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #27

                              Peace,

                              Although I agree partially with what you say, but suffering is what WE allow or cause many times, so we cannot say it is trial by God, but a self-caused suffering by Mankind itself. We seek the blame to much with God...

                              I hate the word "blame". When we say blame it is as if there was no more to talk about. It is neither God's blame nor anybody's blame. It is the world as created by God. No human being told Him to do so. SO he has created the world he wanted. If people do wrong, he knows people would do wrong and counted on it, because otherwise the world would not be what it is. And the wrong of some is the trial of others. That is the way it is and that is the way we grow and we learn and we LOVE.

                              So what you are saying is there are two kinds of wrongs or evils. One God induced in his laws, two man induced through their errors. Both are the creation of God and follow its laws (of creation). For the first kind I suppose is where you agree 100% with me.

                              For the other, again, blame whoever you want, it exists and it is there and people who suffer it, do suffer it and cannot escape it mostly. So saying it is somebody's fault doesn't help either, unless you become God and resolve that you are going to force those bad people to be good. Which by his very creation of man God doesn't want to be that way.

                              So yes, unless God, changes His creation of man, there is bound to be suffering on earth Man induced, and men will suffer it. We even suffer when somebody looks angry at us... of course it is like that and it will be like that the point is that this creation is just only a Creation and after this creation we will be delivered into another one. That is what religion tells us, that there is light, that th't n?ere is justice, that there is truth and that they reign supreme, and if we hadn't known suffering and limitation and darness, we wouldn't be delivered, and we couldn not appreciate the majesty of justice and truth and beauty as they will be revealed to us, when we are let free of the three dimensions.

                              Salaam

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                                arnoldyasin
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #28

                                So what you are saying is there are two kinds of wrongs or evils. One God induced in his laws, two man induced through their errors. Both are the creation of God and follow its laws (of creation). For the first kind I suppose is where you agree 100% with me.

                                No there are only consequences. And as God's laws are static, unchanging, this means we can learn them and protect ourselves against them. People get a virus, people get sick. If we do not have a stable society wherein we can research and discover a cure, we carry the consequences. But since the wealth and energy of mankind is not focussed on universal development but on personal wealth and salvation, we are lacking behind in our potential. So the evil lies only in the dis-unity and ignorance among mankind. But since we only develop through encountering obstacles as diseases and disasters, we need these for our development and exploration of our potentials. But as long as mankind doesn't create a logical approach to reality and is locked up in superstition, blind rituals, selfishness, nationalism, racism, false beliefs, we must carry the consequences harder then is necessary.

                                I felt in your posts a sort of saying suffering is good because we need it to learn, that it is part of this world, but I do not agree it is that simple and I believe it is a partial escapegoat. It is good we can learn from suffering, as then atleast we can turn any harm into good on a certain level. But suffering is built in as a consequence, which we can atleast learn from, it is not a REQUIRMENT of life to learn things, which is what I felt from your initial post that it is a requirment.

                                I believe the Qur'an tries to teach us how to avoid suffering by developing means to protect ourselves, in this way Allah is Ghafour, the Protector.

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                                  huruf
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #29

                                  I never said it is a requirement, and don't worry I don't expect myself or others to feel divinely exalted because they are suffering. What I do say is that IT IS A FACT and that, the same as ease, it is a trial, and as such a means of evolving and seek nearness to God, and that for what we do with our suffering and for what we do with our enjoyment we are accountable.
                                  As to laws of God being static, I don't really care to form an opinio on that right now. They are, they operate, and God is alive, hayy, qayyum.

                                  what annoys me in wht you say that suffering comes from us and that kind of thing, is that in the end we are back to square guilt (something very ingrained in christianism and which I am glad to have left behind).

                                  I suppose it is true that if we were perfect everything would be perfect. But the thing is that we are not perfect and everything is not perfect. You say that we are not perfect because we do not want to, or we are not interested enough or knowledgeable enough or whatever Through some fault of ours. A certain person I know would throw you out of the window for saying that, because that would be the most hopeless news you could give anybody. And then if it was true, however hopeless, one would accept it. But I feel the same as when I was exposed the marxist creed, and how in the future so, and so, a wonderful world. And what do you do with all those who are not of the future and have crumbled under opression through the ages? No hope? And since we are not seeing anywhere a glimpse of such future, in fact the glimpses are no good at all, so we are nicely............. (excuse the implied word. My English when I get spontaneous fails me).

                                  In a sense I understand that you mean it well, you are saying that there is human potential for a wonderful world. I cannot object anything to that, because I am sure of that and become often saddenned for so much we are missing and failing. But from that you go to affirm that in fact, since it is possible, that we will eventually have it. OK. Fine. The moment we have it, we talk again. Right now what I feel when you say that it is because of ourselves (and ourselves is me too) that we suffer is that that kind of encouragement is not an encouragement. No need to have God examine your deeds nor be merciful to you because really we could have done better than that.

                                  I suppose you do not mean it that way, but the point is that right now, things are what they are and not what should be if... or what they will be if... and that to talk about guilt is a cheap blow that doesn't make people's suffering lighter, but rubs vinegar on it and fills them with discouragement.

                                  Salaam

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                                    arnoldyasin
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #30

                                    I never said it is a requirement, and don't worry I don't expect myself or others to feel divinely exalted because they are suffering. What I do say is that IT IS A FACT and that, the same as ease, it is a trial, and as such a means of evolving and seek nearness to God, and that for what we do with our suffering and for what we do with our enjoyment we are accountable.
                                    As to laws of God being static, I don't really care to form an opinio on that right now. They are, they operate, and God is alive, hayy, qayyum.

                                    what annoys me in wht you say that suffering comes from us and that kind of thing, is that in the end we are back to square guilt (something very ingrained in christianism and which I am glad to have left behind).

                                    I suppose it is true that if we were perfect everything would be perfect. But the thing is that we are not perfect and everything is not perfect. You say that we are not perfect because we do not want to, or we are not interested enough or knowledgeable enough or whatever Through some fault of ours. A certain person I know would throw you out of the window for saying that, because that would be the most hopeless news you could give anybody. And then if it was true, however hopeless, one would accept it. But I feel the same as when I was exposed the marxist creed, and how in the future so, and so, a wonderful world. And what do you do with all those who are not of the future and have crumbled under opression through the ages? No hope? And since we are not seeing anywhere a glimpse of such future, in fact the glimpses are no good at all, so we are nicely............. (excuse the implied word. My English when I get spontaneous fails me).

                                    In a sense I understand that you mean it well, you are saying that there is human potential for a wonderful world. I cannot object anything to that, because I am sure of that and become often saddenned for so much we are missing and failing. But from that you go to affirm that in fact, since it is possible, that we will eventually have it. OK. Fine. The moment we have it, we talk again. Right now what I feel when you say that it is because of ourselves (and ourselves is me too) that we suffer is that that kind of encouragement is not an encouragement. No need to have God examine your deeds nor be merciful to you because really we could have done better than that.

                                    I suppose you do not mean it that way, but the point is that right now, things are what they are and not what should be if... or what they will be if... and that to talk about guilt is a cheap blow that doesn't make people's suffering lighter, but rubs vinegar on it and fills them with discouragement.

                                    Salaam

                                    Peace Huruf,

                                    Sorry if i misunderstood you, I only responded to what I understood from your post. Please do not feel attacked, nor did I understood you felt special because of suffering. As for the rest, my view has nothing to do with guilt at all. I am talking about the development of a species (we humans) within the universe and the things that block their ability to overcome obstacles. The obstacles are there, viruses, earthquakes, the possibility to go to war, to hate. All these are there to overcome, to learn from them, but they are meant to be overcome, to be left behind us.

                                    And as we as a species must overcome them, God does not take them away since this is the way a species develops into a higher phase. But He does help us by giving us revelation, the guide to further evolution.

                                    So I am glad we are on the same line, we just different wording.

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                                      Bubbles
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #31

                                      I am struggling, too. I?m still struggling with the idea that the Quran is God?s Word, conveyed to a mere human through an angel. And why did it take 20 years?

                                      There are many verses in the Quran that refer to things that were happening around Muhammed at certain times so it would have been rather strange if Muhammed was given a large text to memorise when much of it wasn't relevant at the time it was revealed.

                                      I don't think it matters how long it took. If all of it had been revealed in the space of a second, others may have been asking why God rushed the revelation on Muhammed.

                                      If God had already conveyed his message to the messengers before Muhammad, why did it take so long?

                                      Its not exactly the same message, how could it be when much of it mentions Muhammed and Arabs, people that didn't exist at the time of the previous messengers? The Quran was revealed to reform the people of Arabia as well as the rest of the world.

                                      And why are so many critical issues vague and left open to interpretation, e.g., when and how long to fast, polygyny (just mothers of fatherless children or other women too?), headscarf or no headscarf, to name a few. Had the verses regarding these issues been made crystal clear, we may not have the different sects and bickering about which way is the ?right way? that we have had throughout history and still have today.

                                      As a Sunni my belief is that those questions were answered by Muhammed. In Ahlas Sunnah there are differences of opinions on many issues, but from the Sunni perspective that is not seen as a bad thing. There is a hadith in which the companions of the Prophet were disputing and the Prophet said, "Whoever performs ijtihad and errs will receive one reward. Whoever performs ijtihad and arrives at the correct answer gets double the reward."

                                      However, out of all religions I have studied and religious books I have read, the Quran does make the most sense to me. The Bible and Torah are filled with such nonsense and contradictions that I can?t help but wonder how anyone can believe such obviously fabricated, ridiculous stories clearly written by men. Catholics believe that Jesus was God, yet he is often depicted praying. Why would God pray to himself?? How can any rational person believe such a thing?! Boggles my mind, really. Now the Quran may very well be the word of God, I?m just not 100% convinced. There is much I still don?t understand and much that still doesn?t make sense to me. I guess that would explain my name. I am here in search of truth. I hope I find it.

                                      There are many rational and intelligent Christians. Despite never being a Christian I think you are being rather unfair to their religion. Many of your questions could probably be answered rather well by any Christian theologian.

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                                        Soof
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #32

                                        I am struggling, too. I?m still struggling with the idea that the Quran is God?s Word, conveyed to a mere human through an angel. And why did it take 20 years? If God had already conveyed his message to the messengers before Muhammad, why did it take so long? And why are so many critical issues vague and left open to interpretation, e.g., when and how long to fast, polygyny (just mothers of fatherless children or other women too?), headscarf or no headscarf, to name a few. Had the verses regarding these issues been made crystal clear, we may not have the different sects and bickering about which way is the ?right way? that we have had throughout history and still have today.

                                        However, out of all religions I have studied and religious books I have read, the Quran does make the most sense to me. The Bible and Torah are filled with such nonsense and contradictions that I can?t help but wonder how anyone can believe such obviously fabricated, ridiculous stories clearly written by men. Catholics believe that Jesus was God, yet he is often depicted praying. Why would God pray to himself?? How can any rational person believe such a thing?! Boggles my mind, really. Now the Quran may very well be the word of God, I?m just not 100% convinced. There is much I still don?t understand and much that still doesn?t make sense to me. I guess that would explain my name. I am here in search of truth. I hope I find it.

                                        Peace

                                        Talking from the perspective of a athiest to new convert who reads the Qur'an only and has not read any hadith because I do not find it necessary, I suggest you read the Qur'an with an open mind. Read it objectively, like a critic, because at the same time God is guiding you to the system he is debating with you, God is sitting you down and presenting signs - things in the world and space that humans can reflect on with our intellect - to you and constantly trying to argue the case. God EXPECTS you to doubt, He expects you to disbelieve and struggle with the idea of a message being sent down, but it does not compel you to follow God's system with blind faith. Just reason with the Qur'an and what it is truly saying.

                                        "There is no compulsion in religion true guidance has become distinct from error.."
                                        2256

                                        And you present many questions that is argued in the Qur'an, like "why was it brought down to an ordinary unlettered man?!" "why did he not get it in one go?" or "why didnt angels or some miracle come down to us" but I will not leave misguiding quotes to debate on behalf of God, the Qur'an speaks for itself, if you've read it then you'll know the answers to these questions.

                                        And as for vague issues, and things left to open interpretation you must understand the CLAIMS the Qur'an makes (im sure everyone on this website can give you quotes)

                                        It is complete, nothing was forgotten or skimmed over.
                                        Nothing in the Qur'an is superfluous, nothing can be edited, contradicted, ABROGATED by any verse in the Qur'an itself or by any man-made scripture.
                                        God is All-knowing and the Creator, therefore HE knows best how to talk to his Creatures. Any guide set up alongside the Qur'an to make things MORE clear is frankly blasphemy.

                                        Knowing this and the following statement you will understand why people find ambiguities and what to do

                                        "Some of its verses are definite in meaning - these are the cornerstone of the Scripture - and others are ambiguous. The perverse at heart eagerly pursue the ambiguities in their attempt to make trouble and to pin down a specific meaning of their own only God knows the meaning."

                                        The disbelievers and hypocrites will always take the worst meaning or the most confusing and lead others astray with them.

                                        The Qur'an also states that you should take the best meaning out of the ambiguous verses for the context and apply it, ie use your intelligence and insight. From what is in the Qur'an, the message that it embodies, it shouldn't be too hard to come to a fair conclusion. Bottom line is God does not put any hardship on us through this religion, so if you can find something that starkly contradicts this statement, understand that this is not a contradiction, or abrogation of a previous verse. Possibly you have taken a meaning out of context, or read what you want to see in the Qur'an (we all do it). If you acknowledge this as you read, hopefully it will help.

                                        As for bickering and sects, I'm sorry but this happens in every aspect of human interactions, we naturally do this, politics, science, history, race, culture... everything you can think about we're making laws and rules and new arguments here and there, bickering and dividing. Its within us, it cannot be helped. That is why the Qur'an comes as guidance, it claims that it was sent as the Gospel was sent through Jesus before Mohammed to settle any disputes the believers had (Jews) . Truly only the disbelievers will DISPUTE (not consult with each other) about God's word and separate from each other. One of the names of the Qur'an is the Differentiator. It differentiates between good and evil, truth and falsehood. It is not sent down to breed more confusion. People who want endless rules, bureaucracy and fairy tales have their man-made books for "guidance".

                                        The only issue with increasing my knowledge is translations, where some falsehood has been allowed to creep in because the translator (being human) always uses bias when translating. So the only way to truly know what God is saying is to read it in Arabic, which is a journey. Even though this occurs, the message of the Qur'an shines forth and that is the power alone of God's words I believe. But I think it's worth it to learn arabic to read the Qur'an if you think its God's words. Happy to know someone else is on the journey to truth as well.

                                        Peace

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                                          huruf
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #33

                                          Peace Huruf,

                                          Sorry if i misunderstood you, I only responded to what I understood from your post. Please do not feel attacked, nor did I understood you felt special because of suffering. As for the rest, my view has nothing to do with guilt at all. I am talking about the development of a species (we humans) within the universe and the things that block their ability to overcome obstacles. The obstacles are there, viruses, earthquakes, the possibility to go to war, to hate. All these are there to overcome, to learn from them, but they are meant to be overcome, to be left behind us.

                                          And as we as a species must overcome them, God does not take them away since this is the way a species develops into a higher phase. But He does help us by giving us revelation, the guide to further evolution.

                                          So I am glad we are on the same line, we just different wording.

                                          Salaam Arnold,

                                          No, I didn't feel attacked at all, it is just my way of expression. In fact I find the manners in general in the forum quite commendable. The exchange I think has been frutiful. It happens many times that we have something in our head and we believe that what we say reflects it enough for other people to see, but in fact it doesn't come through. So it is good that we have had to expound on things that some, like me, were not getting. I like the last part about Humanity having a call (sounds nun-like). It is an inspiring thought and of course we should no rennounce it. It must bring us to strive bout not to get discouraged, even if we never get there. The mere fact of jihading for it is a blessing.

                                          Salaam

                                          Salaam and good work

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