Questions about becoming a Muslim
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I have two questions.
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Apparently in order to become a Muslim, you must believe in the 'Last Day.' What exactly does this mean? Does this mean that you believe you will enter judgement, whatever you interpret it as meaning, or that there will literally be this big special day on Earth with supernatural rams and scrolls and whatnot?
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About the Koran, can you interpret it as you think is accurate? I live in a non-Muslim country so if I read the Koran I read it with fresh eyes. Sometimes I come across verses and I think they mean this or that. If I look them up on the internet I find some Muslims say they mean something else. I can't think of an example- and its not important. Only, is it acceptable to be a Muslim and read the Koran from your own perspective? This assumes that the reader is not doing it out of pride or convenience and is asking God for clarification.
Many thanks.
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I don?t necessary believe being from a non muslim country you can read with fresh eyes. Everyone has bias and we interpret knowledge based on what we know and how we understand things.
It might not be out of pride but how is it not out of convenience? Basing your understanding with fresh eyes of your socio-cultural setting would be in my opinion convenience.
You might be somewhat objective though i?m curious how would you understand it from your own perspective? How would you ?read? Quran. In what language? By who?s translation? how exactly do you think it would be by fresh eyes?
In regards to last day, not sure where you got the idea of supernatural rams etc, though as far as i am aware it?s about judgement.
Welcome to the forum )
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I have two questions.
-
Apparently in order to become a Muslim, you must believe in the 'Last Day.' What exactly does this mean? Does this mean that you believe you will enter judgement, whatever you interpret it as meaning, or that there will literally be this big special day on Earth with supernatural rams and scrolls and whatnot?
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About the Koran, can you interpret it as you think is accurate? I live in a non-Muslim country so if I read the Koran I read it with fresh eyes. Sometimes I come across verses and I think they mean this or that. If I look them up on the internet I find some Muslims say they mean something else. I can't think of an example- and its not important. Only, is it acceptable to be a Muslim and read the Koran from your own perspective? This assumes that the reader is not doing it out of pride or convenience and is asking God for clarification.
Many thanks.
Peace and welcome. Great questions Fuschia.
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Believing in the Last Day simply entails believing in a reckoning of your actions, a requital of your Self. Meaning, you must believe that your thoughts/actions/deeds in this life are not for naught, but rather make indelible marks on your personality, the effects of which you will feel even upon death, good or bad. The philosophies espoused in the quran, more than any other book or belief system, are concrete and practical. Despite what many would have you believe, the quran often uses allegory and imagery to describe abstract concepts to human minds. I suspect you already know this, as evidenced by your second question.
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In my opinion, yours is the best mentality to have. Approach the quran with fresh eyes, with your perspective, ask God for clarity/strength, and try to understand the quran the best you can. You will find yourself constantly evolving, adding layers of meaning on top of each other. It's a lifelong process. When it comes to the quran, it very much is the journey as much as it is the destination. You will find others tell you that you must refer to a certain tafseer book or point you to an outside source and say "this verse must mean this." Ignore those people. Read it for yourself, study it, and you should be fine. And don't forget to participate (or at least read) the discussions we have on this very forum. We are all on the journey, just like you.
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I don?t necessary believe being from a non muslim country you can read with fresh eyes. Everyone has bias and we interpret knowledge based on what we know and how we understand things.
It might not be out of pride but how is it not out of convenience? Basing your understanding with fresh eyes of your socio-cultural setting would be in my opinion convenience.
Not to answer for Fuschia but the way I understood his/her point about fresh eyes was that he/she doesn't automatically go to some outside source to get the "authorized meaning" of this verse or that, but rather tries to read the quran and interpret it the best he/she can. We all undoubtedly have our biases; there's no denying that we see the quran (or any book, for that matter) through those biased lenses. There is a difference between being biased, though, and automatically assuming that some external source is the end-all be-all reference to be used in understanding the quran.
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Salaam Fuschia,
consider this when reading the views of self labelled Muslim nations
What is the level of development, socially, economically, morally and intellectually, of the population within these nations in comparison to the non-Muslim national, and gauge this against their level of understanding of the Qur'an?
Consider
What are these religious Muslims achieving holding their present doctrines; scientifically, philosophically, conceptually, and most importantly, in the evolution of the reality for the peoples of the world, to exist without poverty, ignorance, superstition, idol worship, usury, slavery, hatred and bigotry?
If you look with a clean mind, you'll see these religious Muslims exist in stagnation and traditional ignorance, they refuse to understand the Qur'an, and function on Hadith, adopted religious practices, from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and are subjugated to sovereigns, bankers, clerics and thoughtlessness.
What makes a person a Muslim, is not a statement of religious investment, but purely the actions you perform as your physical existence, you must live as a Muslim, you can not be a Muslim, you can only live a Muslim, this means it is not a religion at all, but a Deen, meaning a way to exist in this world, in preparation for the next, it would be possible to be a Muslim without ever reading a word of the Qur?an, simply from living with the application of the pattern the Qur?an presents, if you could conceive of these models without the aid of Islam, which is not impossible, just very unlikely.
You should read my website if you would like to understand a non-religious view of Islam
http//servantofthelight.com -
I have two questions.
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Apparently in order to become a Muslim, you must believe in the 'Last Day.' What exactly does this mean? Does this mean that you believe you will enter judgement, whatever you interpret it as meaning, or that there will literally be this big special day on Earth with supernatural rams and scrolls and whatnot?
-
About the Koran, can you interpret it as you think is accurate? I live in a non-Muslim country so if I read the Koran I read it with fresh eyes. Sometimes I come across verses and I think they mean this or that. If I look them up on the internet I find some Muslims say they mean something else. I can't think of an example- and its not important. Only, is it acceptable to be a Muslim and read the Koran from your own perspective? This assumes that the reader is not doing it out of pride or convenience and is asking God for clarification.
Many thanks.
Peace and welcome.
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Your actions affirm whether you believe in God or the last day. 438, for example, teaches us that people who spend their money to show off don't believe in either. 6112-113 is another example. 6150 is yet another.
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3918 and 1736.
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If what you say is true then it looks like I will be able to follow this religion.
think of it more as a spiritual journey, and a personal one, in relation to God (or a concept of God or something else) rather than as an organised religion. Apologies if I misunderstood your use of the word 'religion'
Peace and welcome
Sarah
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Hi, Fuschia welcome
i hope i can share something useful with you, while you are making this very important decision.
- Apparently in order to become a Muslim, you must believe in the 'Last Day.' What exactly does this mean? Does this mean that you believe you will enter judgement, or that there will literally be this big special day on Earth with supernatural rams and scrolls and whatnot?
The Last Day is Unseen to us through our life on this Earth. The Last Day itself is explained throughout the Koran as reminder for those who choose to believe, that ultimately, after departure from this Earth, everything they do while in this life will be asked for their responsibility. As the Last Day itself is unseen to us, we can only imagine how great the Day (the whole events) is, from reading the Koran.
One sure thing is that, The God will not leave any single good act done in faith/belief (to The God and the Last Day) not paid/blessed/bestowed, and The God is the Most Generous in paying/blessing/bestowing good acts. God's blessing in the Hereafter is also an Unseen, it is beyond what we can imagine in this world.
In this life, however, what you feel when you are doing something good in faith/belief is instantly enjoyable. angel The more we follow God's message, the more we feel this "bliss". When we are thankful to God, we are actually being thankful for ourselves.
On the other hand, The God will not leave any single misdeed/foul doing unnoticed -- it will be "retributed" with exactly its equal in perfect justice. Doing a single misdeed may lead to another misdeed and then to more misdeeds... "straying" from the straight path is the worst thing we can do in this life -- such is what God warns us against, for us to be careful and to stay in the straight path.
The straight path? It is explained in the Koran -- and related to your next question
- About the Koran, can you interpret it as you think is accurate? I live in a non-Muslim country so if I read the Koran I read it with fresh eyes. Sometimes I come across verses and I think they mean this or that. If I look them up on the internet I find some Muslims say they mean something else. I can't think of an example- and its not important. Only, is it acceptable to be a Muslim and read the Koran from your own perspective? This assumes that the reader is not doing it out of pride or convenience and is asking God for clarification.
"Fresh eyes" is great! Every time we read the Koran, we better have "fresh eyes", and "fresh mind", and "fresh self". The responsibility for your understanding upon the Koran is yours alone, and we are suggested to consult to each other in the best manner possible. This brings discussion to lead to a better understanding. Often we do see only a tiny part because of our own limited knowledge and experience -- then when we share/discuss with someone else, we will suddenly think ! "i haven't thought of that before...!". Collective learning brings about acceleration to a more holistic understanding. That is why discussion done by a group of cooperative people will be of more benefit than un-counseled individual interpretations.
So, you're right -- keep your eyes fresh!
Good luck and may God guides us to His blessings