Having a crisis of faith
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Okay I'll start off by posting the video which first inspired doubt. It was this video followed by 1 or 2 other videos that he suggested.
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-lUAT7fLAw
Now onto my dilemma. I was experiencing doubt that what I experience in this world as God may just be imagined by me. When I look at the world and my life I see the principles of the Qur'an playing out. I see good, evil, sin, and righteousness. I see angels helping us by the will of God and I see jinn whispering into our ears to lead us astray.
I thought I could "feel" the effects of the divine on this material plane. When I first read the Glorious Qur'an I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. It felt like a veil had been lifted from my eyes and that I was seeing the world for what it truly was for the first time. I was a blind man who had been granted sight.
But what if that's all the Qur'an was? What if it was JUST pretty words and my mind is creating this illusion that I'm praying to a God in heaven and that my faith in this God will somehow intervene in my life?
I put so much faith in the Qur'an and it may not even be divine.
But I think someone made a good point in that I need to put my faith in God above all else. Forget God, forget the Bible, forget an imam or pastor, forget mom and dad, but put faith in God alone above all other things.
I've also been struggling a lot to follow certain injunctions of the Qur'an and I feel far from God. I'm not happy right now. Sometimes I feel like I would have been happier if I never converted.
It's just hard to stay on the straight path and I have so much doubt. If the Qur'an is not the direct word of God why bother calling myself a Muslim? I think deep down I believe in a spiritual soul and some type of God. I don't believe we're just animals made of flesh and blood. But I'm feeling this sudden bout of uncertainty about whether the Qur'an is the Truth. Whether any of the religions contain all Truth.
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Okay I'll start off by posting the video which first inspired doubt. It was this video followed by 1 or 2 other videos that he suggested.
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-lUAT7fLAw
Now onto my dilemma. I was experiencing doubt that what I experience in this world as God may just be imagined by me. When I look at the world and my life I see the principles of the Qur'an playing out. I see good, evil, sin, and righteousness. I see angels helping us by the will of God and I see jinn whispering into our ears to lead us astray.
I thought I could "feel" the effects of the divine on this material plane. When I first read the Glorious Qur'an I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. It felt like a veil had been lifted from my eyes and that I was seeing the world for what it truly was for the first time. I was a blind man who had been granted sight.
But what if that's all the Qur'an was? What if it was JUST pretty words and my mind is creating this illusion that I'm praying to a God in heaven and that my faith in this God will somehow intervene in my life?
I put so much faith in the Qur'an and it may not even be divine.
But I think someone made a good point in that I need to put my faith in God above all else. Forget God, forget the Bible, forget an imam or pastor, forget mom and dad, but put faith in God alone above all other things.
I've also been struggling a lot to follow certain injunctions of the Qur'an and I feel far from God. I'm not happy right now. Sometimes I feel like I would have been happier if I never converted.
It's just hard to stay on the straight path and I have so much doubt. If the Qur'an is not the direct word of God why bother calling myself a Muslim? I think deep down I believe in a spiritual soul and some type of God. I don't believe we're just animals made of flesh and blood. But I'm feeling this sudden bout of uncertainty about whether the Qur'an is the Truth. Whether any of the religions contain all Truth.
Many moslems become moslems without ever reading a Quran... (Jesus, Jesus disciples, Moses, Abraham and countless of others..)
To 're-seek' (yes re-seek) the true God.. perhaps you should contemplate on the beginning... of your life...
The time when you knew not any languages... never heard of Allah, YHVH or any religion...And the only thing that you do know and trust.. (back then) is your Maintainer...
?Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.?
(Luke 1721)Salam / Peace
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Many moslems become moslems without ever reading a Quran... (Jesus, Jesus disciples, Moses, Abraham and countless of others..)
To 're-seek' (yes re-seek) the true God.. perhaps you should contemplate on the beginning... of your life...
The time when you knew not any languages... never heard of Allah, YHVH or any religion...And the only thing that you do know and trust.. (back then) is your Maintainer...
?Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.?
(Luke 1721)Salam / Peace
Right. And many believers died when the Quran was barely being revealed. Others saw miracles in front of their eyes and yet never believed. The Quran itself says that even if you were to show the disbelievers all the signs of the world they would call it magic and they have been spelled. So I think faith is an internal matter and not based on external factors. But that is just what I think.
I still think doubts arise from our experiences in life.
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I appreciate your honesty and sincerity "Faithful Jinn"
As far as discussions on this whole Forum...
We can argue endlessly, convincing each other of something, whether it is this or that...Man has not enough neurons to understand God! Similarly as monkey has not enough neurons to play chess!
The guy asks how do we know that God produced the Qur'an???
And was it only "once in eternity" event ever?
If not, ... then, it is all, as always, human all too human...
http//nietzsche.holtof.com/Nietzsche_human_all_too_human/index.htm
PS
I sometimes think people just enjoy posting posts too much... for the sake of argument? boredom? lack of real problems?Instead, perhaps
"God is everywhere and does everything.
God is within us and knows everything.
God is without us and sees everything.
God is beyond us and IS everything.
God alone IS."Excerpted from God Speaks by Meher Baba, p. 298
I thing personally that we will never know!
Do watch the Aronofsky's film "PI"! Very important! (perhaps for many of us here!)
http//www.imdb.com/title/tt0138704/
Don't worry, be happy!
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Peace GODsubmitter.
I like your sense of humour!
Search everywhere and everything and take your pick. You can use random sampling while you are choosing which way to follow/go.
Somehow your user name " GODsubmitter" tells me that you trust in GOD Alone?
May the Creator guide us to the truth.
Peace. -
Peace Lena.
God is absolutely clear. Every single believer is tried according to the burden they can carry.
Only GOD knows how each one is tried.
41;42 Is not a contradiction if you take the context - Falsehood will be eventually, easily detected-
Let us give the following example
Say I decided to add verses , take away other verses, publish my new "Koran", Then say" Look GOD did not preserve HIS word since I have a different "Koran" in my possession".However What I added or taken away could easily be detected.Also the rule/proof/law ...That is preserving the word of GOD will be used as a detector tool.
GOD wants submission and total loyalty to HIM Alone, not to words or a book or anything else...
HE then will make sure the true believer understands and follows only HIS word, after a very hard journey and an even harder testing period. GOD must bring out the true conviction of the believer. GOD also tests different generations with different rites/ways/...
May GOD help the true believers show patience and perseverance until they attain certainty.
Peace.sun Nice post. Thanks.
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But what if that's all the Qur'an was? What if it was JUST pretty words and my mind is creating this illusion that I'm praying to a God in heaven and that my faith in this God will somehow intervene in my life?
I put so much faith in the Qur'an and it may not even be divine.
But I think someone made a good point in that I need to put my faith in God above all else. Forget God, forget the Bible, forget an imam or pastor, forget mom and dad, but put faith in God alone above all other things.
This stood out to me as I have been there, done that, got the t-shirt, etc.
How about this what if your entire body, life, the fact that you have a brain, all were illusions inside your mind? Illusion is a biased term, try 'appearance' - synonymous yet free of cognitive bias. What if your mind itself were an appearance in something beyond it?
You see where I am going? How do you know the reality that is here, now, is real? I went through the same process and basically it came to an all-or-nothing scenario. Either I trust what I see 100% or feel that it is merely a slideshow. How much do you trust the ground you walk on? By that same measure you should trust all other things, because the same entity that is defining the ground you walk on is the one that is writing every single book.
Personally I found resolution by knowing that all I am is an appearance in the formless void. My body is born and it will die yet the void is there before I am born, is here now, and will be after I die. So that is surely the true reality to be trusted above all other things. And that void just so happened to give form to this reality containing the quran. Here's some food for thought. Think about it.
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Peace GODsubmitter.
I like your sense of humour!
Search everywhere and everything and take your pick. You can use random sampling while you are choosing which way to follow/go.
Somehow your user name " GODsubmitter" tells me that you trust in GOD Alone?
May the Creator guide us to the truth.
Peace.Thank you brother for your kind words )
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Hi Faithfull-Jinn
Question did you draw your own profile picture ???
Now I am struggling with faith very much my self...however I come from a different angle of being someone who has same attraction (sorry to gross you out), and someone who was raised to be a sunnah believer....
The idea of God not being there....I can't really say I ever felt that is true, because I love nature and animals very much, and there is something about those things that stir too much emotion, and it didn't make sense to me to say no one made things with such details that melts my heart like this....nature is too beautiful....to be an accident to me anyways....
Regarding the video, there is a question that people always ignore when they get those feelings of whatever it is, be it feeling that you need to feel that there is an 'ultimate parent'....I guess the question that people ignore is
WHY??....why do I feel like I need that...why is it important for me to believe I wasn't born randomly...why is your 'chemicals' bursting by the idea that there is a story that tells us why we are here? I honestly believe that is why God hates disbelievers so much...is because they deny their God given feelings and choose to give up the pursuit of God...because life is too demanding to figure out what happens when we die, which everyone agrees we do die.
Being gay was a horrible challenge for me...actually is still...although I am now someone who is not tempted at all to act on it...or feel bad about being gay I realize what the problem is...but the real issue is that it caused everything to be questionable....and that for me to figure out the truth it needs so much hard work....and that there is a lot of politics and materialistic purposes out there that just don't give a dam about my questions or my pursuit of peace and my point of existence....and what you see is not necessarily what you get is so true....the human mind is so tricky...and being gay made me realize how creative my mind is and how when I thought I was control I actually was not at all...I mean it makes sense what my mind did...but I didn't realize what it is that it did until much later after a lot of reflection and research and seeing how the world works....also it made me realize how a lot of people seem to me to conveniently choose truths that makes there mind do not explode....they say things like don't think too much or you will go crazy...?
I love drawing and of the amazing things about drawing things from real life to me...is how you think something looks like....but when you draw you realize how it is not actually a circle or whatever you automatically thought it is at all...and how subtle lines make all the difference...and how difficult it is to put on the paper what your eyes actually so easily see...
I arrived to religion after much struggle with doubts about my life that I felt religion was saying the things I felt is right all a long...so it was too random for me to believe that those aren't the words of someone who knows my very nature.....that he is the creator that knows his creation.
I am sorry this is a long ramble...and I am not sure if everything I said is actually point-full...but what drove me through this quest is why...why why why....here is another question for people who keep saying the idea of the holy book claiming that it does have the truth, God says if people claim they have another answer for life...let them come up with something that actually makes sense to people....let them try to explain a different existence story....you can't just settle with people telling you...in my case...you are gay because you are....deal with it...what kind of answer is that.....you are here and then you die and thats that.....what kind of logical intelligent conversation is that....at least admit you don't know what happens after death (to people who are adamantly athiests)
The prophet Muhammed's story, is that he actually felt there is something strange with how his life turned out....he had doubts about how things are going around him before God came to him...Abraham the same.....it makes so much sense to me...they had legitimate concerns and only when they did not settle about their concerns did God come to them....
Obviously I could be very wrong...and as I said...I am someone who still struggles with praying five times a day...wither I have to read the Qur'an in Arabic (even though I am an arab...lol)...and I am so afraid of turning out wrong and self righteous when I am actually false...that I am one of those people that God says they think they are right but they are wrong but they can't tell....
I don't know what else to say except keep at it till you are satisfied....I don't know wither it is ok to doubt or not....but...I feel that if I doubt then how can I claim I believe....?
I also always prayed to whatever God will turn out to be...that he would show me the truth even if it will shake my world....even if it will hurt like hell...I currently believe I got my prayer...parts of it anyways.....and my mind is still storming horribly over how the truth seems so obscured....and how can I trust anything anymore....sigh....anyways...don't know hope I was of some help whatever your choice will be .
God Bless
Sorry for any spelling mistakes...I am kinda retarded lols D...
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One more thing....Read the Qur'an for your self and decide before you jump to conclude that you will end up just like the Christian view...that Is what I am currently trying to do...it is quiet an intense read and it will take time...at least it is for me...
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I've read the Qur'an several times over since I converted.
I think I'm just going through a moment of weakness because of certain life circumstances like Bigmo said.
Deep down I believe it is the Truth I just wasn't ready to face the Truth because of things I'm dealing with. That weakness and unwillingness to accept Truth manifested itself in doubt.
And I let my dad borrow my copy of the Qur'an while he is working out of the state because he's recently decided to get involved in the faith since my conversion. My mom said in the 30 years she knew him she never once saw him pray or fast until I converted so maybe 1 good thing has come.
Only thing is I can't find the other Qur'an in the house lol he said he left it on the bookshelf and I can't find it...