Are we going the wrong way ?
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Hi all
First of all - the reason why i opened this topic is because I AM CONFUSED for everything. I thought that everything was clear to me until I became a Quranist. But now as a Quranist i realized that there are things in Quran that we are having trouble to understand. Yes Quran is the word of God and I guess that is OK not understanding 100% of Quran (for example I think that we never can understand the truth about spirit, jinn, seven heavens etc.) But there are rules about life that determine if we'll spend next life in heaven or hell or purgatory. And those rules that determine our next life are in Quran with no doubt and if we want to be in heaven we should follow these rules because these rules determine THE TRUTH. And my concept about TRUTH is TRUTH IS SINGLE. So there is just one truth - one rule to follow or one "stairway to heaven".And according to Quran 5417 we can learn that Quran is easy to understand and I guess that has e meaning and the meaning is RULES OF LIFE ARE CLEAR. When I'm saying "rules of life" I mean rules for marriage, divorce, sex (before or after marriage), pray, zaqat, punishment of thieves, adultery etc etc. So there are supposed to be clear to understand. But wait a minute. Now what we have ? We have Quranists that pray 2 times, 3 times, 4 times, 5 times a day and all of them have "Qurans arguments". We have those who think that sex before marriage is haram and those who think that sex before marriage is allowed and those who think that sex before marriage is adultery or fornication and the punishment is 100 lashes. We have Quranists who think that the verse 415-16 is talking about adultery or public sex or gay or even public gay sex or ... such different things. Those who think that woman should cover only private parts or cover hair or....quranists who give zekat in every different amount, those who pray according to "hadiths way", "rashad khalifas way", "qurans way" or "own way", those who agree with polygamy and those with arguments against it, those who agree to cut thief hands and those who think that it has figurative meaning, those who think that 4119 is talking about tattoo,cloning (physic meaning) and those who think that 4119 is talking about "mind changing" or some figurative meaning, those who are against wife beating and those who agree to beat wife if she doesn't fill Qurans order etc etc. And as you can see I'm not talking about "minor rules", I'm talking about "major rules" which determine our life. Lets check out
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O ye who believe! make not unlawful the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you, but commit no excess for Allah loveth not those given to excess.Are we making unlawful the good thing that God made lawful for us (like reducing nr. of salat etc) ?
5417
And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember then is there any that will receive admonition?When we are finding "our own version" about a rule we should remember that there is just one version of truth - TRUTH IS SINGLE. And according to 5417, " our mission of finding the truth from Quran" is easy. So why are we having trouble determining MAJOR RULES ? I think that WE ARE WRONG. I don't know where is the defect but there is a hole in all of this and I'm pretty sure. That comes from me because I don't think that God's Plan was wrong projected. If God says in Quran that Quran is easy to understand and we are having trouble on it there are two options a)God is wrong; b)We are wrong. We cannot consider option a) as an option so we have just b). OK we can say that we're finding Quran easy to understand but it sounds hypocrite from us when we have so many different group of people with their own way of life and all of them with arguments from Quran. How can be truth easy to understand and at the same time it is interpreted in every possible different way. It seems contradict to me.
I'm 100% sure that We have the same Quran that Muhamed had about 1400 years ago with the same words. So now I'm thinking if Muhamed was like "one of us". I mean did he pray one day 5 time a day and than found out that he was wrong because in Quran are mention only 3 ? Did he know 100% sure number of salat, how to pray, definition of marriage, adultery or fornication etc. Did he know if 4119 is talking about figurative or physic meaning and the same for cut hands of thieves ? Did he know if anal sex is forbidden or he just studied Quran to find the truth in the same way that we are studying these days ? Or maybe there are hadiths that for hundred years corrupted arabic language, Quran and everything that has to do with islam ? And if that's true so how can this verse make sense in these days
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We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)I know that if we search hadiths everything would be "clear" but in a bad-corrupted way. But in other side if we follow Quran alone we have many many different rules contradicting each other and at the same time we are breaking 5417. So where are we wrong ? Anyone has any explanation ?
Thanks for reading and peace to all
You are trying to folow the Quran the same way you were following Sunni Islam or Shia Islam. You seem to think that rituals are a goal of their own when in fact its a means to an end. This is whay Paul in the Gospel struggled with the Law since he came from a Pharisaic background and assumed that everything had to be ritualistic and legalistic. Many Quranist who cme from Islamic or Judaic background find themselves looking for some form of ritualism which they assume is how religions should be understood. There is no evidence from the Quran that such should be the case. Rituals are a means to an end. A person can jog, swim, play tennis or do something else to excercise. He can do it everyday or every other day. He can spend half an hour or tow hours when he trains. He can even do a combination of excercising. The goal is to be fit. The same with rituals in the Quran. There is no right way or wrong way as how Muslims understand it.
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You are trying to folow the Quran the same way you were following Sunni Islam or Shia Islam. You seem to think that rituals are a goal of their own when in fact its a means to an end. This is whay Paul in the Gospel struggled with the Law since he came from a Pharisaic background and assumed that everything had to be ritualistic and legalistic. Many Quranist who cme from Islamic or Judaic background find themselves looking for some form of ritualism which they assume is how religions should be understood. There is no evidence from the Quran that such should be the case. Rituals are a means to an end. A person can jog, swim, play tennis or do something else to excercise. He can do it everyday or every other day. He can spend half an hour or tow hours when he trains. He can even do a combination of excercising. The goal is to be fit. The same with rituals in the Quran. There is no right way or wrong way as how Muslims understand it.
Peace Bigmo...
Thank you for your explanation...I have been feeling the same way...like "How can I worship Allah (swt) if I have no guidelines on how to do it?" It is hard to leave the rituals behind when they have been a part of my life for the last 2 years.
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Just because believers disagree on certain matters, does not mean there are not following the truth, providing they uphold the "basic commandments". GOD has clearly set out a criteria for " submission= Islam" and " belief= Iman".
I think you are wrong. Allah has defined in the Quran what our "deen" is, and He inspires some to understand it, at least in part. Anyone upholding anything else than what Allah means for us to follow is astray, the only question is to what degree. (Fortunately Allah sits in judgement over how far we are permitted to stray before we no longer will receive His forgiveness.) The Truth inherent in the correct opinions held by somebody does not in any way "rub off" onto the false ideas the very same person might simultaneously uphold. My point is that someone's claim to be a Quran-alone monotheist doesn't lend any validity to this person's false ideas/erroneous beliefs. Falsehood is falsehood no matter who spreads it.
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Peace Magnus.
I also hapen to agree with Bigmo. Please read his post. Rituals are not the most important things in " Deen". Submission to the Creator is.
Peace.
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You are trying to folow the Quran the same way you were following Sunni Islam or Shia Islam. You seem to think that rituals are a goal of their own when in fact its a means to an end. This is whay Paul in the Gospel struggled with the Law since he came from a Pharisaic background and assumed that everything had to be ritualistic and legalistic. Many Quranist who cme from Islamic or Judaic background find themselves looking for some form of ritualism which they assume is how religions should be understood. There is no evidence from the Quran that such should be the case. Rituals are a means to an end. A person can jog, swim, play tennis or do something else to excercise. He can do it everyday or every other day. He can spend half an hour or tow hours when he trains. He can even do a combination of excercising. The goal is to be fit. The same with rituals in the Quran. There is no right way or wrong way as how Muslims understand it.
It's not my point ! I'm not saying we should follow hadiths because God says clearly that The Quran is the only book we must follow. But when we follow Quran Alone we are having problems for understanding "easy understanding" words. I'm just trying to find where is the defect or the hole in our situation. Maybe is influence of hadiths for more than 1000 years and arabic language is corrupted but in this case we are breaking 159 - it does not make sense to me. If arabic language is not corrupted how could Muhamed understand Quran without hadiths ?? He was in the same situation like us today (salat 5 times, 4 times ,3 times). I think Muhamed had an answer for everything but I don't know how ??
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I also hapen to agree with Bigmo. Please read his post. Rituals are not the most important things in " Deen". Submission to the Creator is.
I have read Bigmo's post, but I'm not necessarily talking about rituals though. As you yourself pointed out, submission to the Creator is central. Anyone who falsely make things up about the Lord, or perpetuates lies others have made up about Him(*), is surely in error and not in submission to the expressed will of Allah at all, despite all claims to the contrary.
(* or His prescribed deen, or His books, prophets, messengers etc...)
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Peace Magnus.
I also hapen to agree with Bigmo. Please read his post. Rituals are not the most important things in " Deen". Submission to the Creator is.
Peace.
Peace Good logic
Maybe rituals are not the most important things "in deen" but ritual are IMPORTANT. I know that the most important things are God alone, Quran alone, not killing etc, but come on... Rituals, marriage are our elements of good/bad life. And God sent Quran to make a good life for us. How can be our life good if we don't understand Quran words about elements of a good life ? Do you understand that we are missing the point ? According to Quran there is only one truth - only one way of good life. Yes we can commit pornography or fornication and we can say we are happy and we have a good life. But for God this is not good life. Every possible path is wrong except the right path and the right path is written in Quran. Thats all
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Peace Good logic
Maybe rituals are not the most important things "in deen" but ritual are IMPORTANT. I know that the most important things are God alone, Quran alone, not killing etc, but come on... Rituals, marriage are our elements of good/bad life. And God sent Quran to make a good life for us. How can be our life good if we don't understand Quran words about elements of a good life ? Do you understand that we are missing the point ? According to Quran there is only one truth - only one way of good life. Yes we can commit pornography or fornication and we can say we are happy and we have a good life. But for God this is not good life. Every possible path is wrong except the right path and the right path is written in Quran. Thats all
Salaam,
You have a point. There ARE rituals that we perform...wudhu being the one that stands out most in my mind. We clean before every prayer. So we can't say that they ALL are unimportant.
Amina
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I have read Bigmo's post, but I'm not necessarily talking about rituals though. As you yourself pointed out, submission to the Creator is central. Anyone who falsely make things up about the Lord, or perpetuates lies others have made up about Him(*), is surely in error and not in submission to the expressed will of Allah at all, despite all claims to the contrary.
(* or His prescribed deen, or His books, prophets, messengers etc...)
Peace Magnus
I totally agree with you
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Salaam,
You have a point. There ARE rituals that we perform...wudhu being the one that stands out most in my mind. We clean before every prayer. So we can't say that they ALL are unimportant.
Amina
Peace scaredmuslimah
If you check Good logic point you'll figure out that in Quran are unimportant things. This is wrong. Every word is important and every word which describe rituals like salat, marriage etc is supposed to be easy to understand.
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Peace scaredmuslimah
If you check Good logic point you'll figure out that in Quran are unimportant things. This is wrong. Every word is important and every word which describe rituals like salat, marriage etc is supposed to be easy to understand.
I see now. Hmmm.... hmm
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Every word is important and every word which describe rituals like salat, marriage etc is supposed to be easy to understand.
I believe my failings in understanding the Quran stems from my diseased heart, me not being pure enough, rather than the Book somehow being at fault. Have you ever considered this possibility for yourself?
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I believe my failings in understanding the Quran stems from my diseased heart, me not being pure enough, rather than the Book somehow being at fault. Have you ever considered this possibility for yourself?
Read my answer http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9604192.10 reply nr 10. Is that your point ?
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Peace all
Can I just clear the misunderstanding.
I said there are more important things than rituals. I did not say rituals are unimportant.
Thank you.
Peace. -
Read my answer http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9604192.10 reply nr 10. Is that your point ?
I think so. Now, equipped with the insight of our own failings and inability to understand the Book fully, the only obviously fruitful course open to those of us who seek Truth is that of personal purification/submission. Those who fail to see this will speculate instead.
(I have from personal experience come to the conclusion that I cannot force any understanding I am not ready for, and that my Maker guides me towards the Truth (Him!) only when I deserve it, completely as He wills. I think this is true for everybody, and I think Scripture confirms this.
Patience with what we do not yet understand is essential to people like us. Patience combined with humility brings increased clarity eventually, provided we keep making the effort to purify ourselves.) -
I think so. Now, equipped with the insight of our own failings and inability to understand the Book fully, the only obviously fruitful course open to those of us who seek Truth is that of personal purification/submission. Those who fail to see this will speculate instead.
(I have from personal experience come to the conclusion that I cannot force any understanding I am not ready for, and that my Maker guides me towards the Truth (Him!) only when I deserve it, completely as He wills. I think this is true for everybody, and I think Scripture confirms this.
Patience with what we do not yet understand is essential to people like us. Patience combined with humility brings increased clarity eventually, provided we keep making the effort to purify ourselves.)But that is valid for any difficult book, for example dense Schopenhauer's work, one understands it accordingly to his knowledge and preparation...
Spiritual guidance, or Book of Instructions for living according to God's Law, on the other hand, should be clear and easy to understand and follow! If it is from God... like the Ten Commandments. -
Dear truthsearcher,
You have put exactly what i am going through.
The problem is due to the posts by the users, everyone posts of what he/she thinks of certain words in Quran and their own interpretation. There are no moderators who can verify the content before it is posted. So you see all these confused souls coming here and posting whatever they like.
I have seen some very weird post being posted here. I hope moderators due bring out some kind of regulations for posting.
Regards
Are you also among the confused souls ? confused
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I really like how you corrected my horrible post there )
I did correct nothing ) I just put bold on your best words which explained our situation
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But that is valid for any difficult book, for example dense Schopenhauer's work, one understands it accordingly to his knowledge and preparation...
Spiritual guidance, or Book of Instructions for living according to God's Law, on the other hand, should be clear and easy to understand and follow! If it is from God... like the Ten Commandments.Yes it is easy to understand and its not God's fault. It is our fault because we as quranist are trying to put our own logic on Quran (God's logic). We are not trying to find the theory of God but we are trying to change it. A hadithst is trying to change the facts (Quran) by using hadiths explanation. A Quranist is trying to change the facts by changing Qurans words meaning according to their own logic. Einstein said " If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts ". The problem is that we are creating the theory before searching the facts (Quran). And our theory is based on our own logic. People the problem is WE ARE HAVING TROUBLE ACCEPTING THE REALITY or we just dont like the reality. As I said if Qurans forbid sex before marriage we should not commit it. If we already have done sex before marriage we should ask forgiveness from God. Are we doing it ? No - instead asking forgiveness we are trying to change the facts to make our self feel more comfortable. This is why God mention many times word "forgive" in Quran. In science first step is searching for the facts and the second is creating theory. In Sunni and Shia (hadithists) first step is searching for facts in hadiths, the second is correcting facts in Quran according to hadiths and the third is creating the theory( law in islam). In Quranism the first step is creating the theory and the second is searching for the facts that "support" the theory and the third if there are no facts we change them- we create them. So instead of God's theory (true law) we have our own theory.
You mentioned why ten commandments are clear and easy to understand ? This is because everyone would agree not to kill children but not everyone would agree that sex before marriage is forbidden.