"No Rituals"? What about 5:6?
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Peace zulf,
Talking from my own experience, while on that bed it felt like I was exposed to torture, it is difficult not losing hope and fall victim to the whispers of Satan, who was probably cheering that I would lose my fight, or even causing the trouble elektro rotfl
But I am sure you are right, zulf, if I would be exposed to the same thing now as of today I would not (enshallah) lose an inch of faith, even if it would be double the pain as the last time. It is your faith status which determine how steadfast you are. Surviving one disaster and receiving a reward and blessings for the steadfastness, will increase the chances you will endure without giving in the next time, if you are truly faithful pr
hmm You probably mean if we expect too much from God? Easiest for ourselves is if we never expect anything, I mean, we can be blessed with provisions, then suddenly everything is removed from us, as a part of an upcoming new trial and we humbly accept these new living conditions, but of course imploring God that He will be merciful with His new test hail
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I wasn't talking about what we expect from God... rather I was talking about our conceptual conditions on God... that is, our image of God. For example, there are many people who reason like this "Religion claim God is merciful and all-knowing and all-powerful, but since there are injustices and misery in the world, Religion must be wrong and hence God doesn't exist."
Imagine a person who claims to be religious, but never really had any major problems in life. Life always tended to be a bit dull, safe and ordinary... until a major personal disaster struck. This person now starts questioning the existance of God just because this disaster doesn't fit with his previous beige, moderate and feel-good version of faith in God. This Mr Applepie had conditions on God which made his entire faith shake, and perhaps crumbel, when things really got tough. This weakness in conviction depended entirely on his world view, his image of God and in other world his own limitations. God is God, reality is reality... so why did his faith change? Well, perhaps it wasn't very genuine with a strong foundation in reality. Hope this made it a little more clear.God is God. If we go up and down in faith... depends on us and not on God.
Cheers!
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Salaam zulf,
Alright, I know what you mean now. It sounds like the average human brickwall
God bless you
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I wasn't talking about what we expect from God... rather I was talking about our conceptual conditions on God... that is, our image of God. For example, there are many people who reason like this "Religion claim God is merciful and all-knowing and all-powerful, but since there are injustices and misery in the world, Religion must be wrong and hence God doesn't exist."
Imagine a person who claims to be religious, but never really had any major problems in life. Life always tended to be a bit dull, safe and ordinary... until a major personal disaster struck. This person now starts questioning the existance of God just because this disaster doesn't fit with his previous beige, moderate and feel-good version of faith in God. This Mr Applepie had conditions on God which made his entire faith shake, and perhaps crumbel, when things really got tough. This weakness in conviction depended entirely on his world view, his image of God and in other world his own limitations. God is God, reality is reality... so why did his faith change? Well, perhaps it wasn't very genuine with a strong foundation in reality. Hope this made it a little more clear.God is God. If we go up and down in faith... depends on us and not on God.
Cheers!
Here is described this man
And there is a man with conceptual understanding and psyche amongst human beings he owes and professes allegiance to Allah the Exalted in a state of mind upon a verge.
Thereat, if pleasantness has become his fortune, he contented himself with such allegiance.
And in case an irritating and unpleasant situation afflicted him; he about-faced.
He has thus caused to himself the loss in this World and the Hereafter.
This sort of about-facing is what the manifest loss is truly. -
Salaam Mazhar,
That was right on spot!
It was the verse which explain this conditional worship of the Almighty.
God bless you for complementing our talk and backing it up from the Quran.
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Salamun alaika,
Perhaps each person is described in Qur'aan under sub-classifications with reference to psyche and conduct.
Know the certain fact that We have sent towards you people the Book Grand Qur'aan .
The peculiarity of this Book is that the mention psyche, inner nature and conduct of you people is detailed therein.
Would you still, after finding yourself mentioned therein, not reflect rationally? -
Salaam Mazhar,
True, we can find ourselves in the Message. Most of us can identify ourselves with the life of various messengers at different parts of our lives, for example. The stories of the messengers can reflect a huge variety of different situations one may face.
The Message should be an inspiration for the Believers, otherwise it would be strange. If we cannot identify ourselves with it then it would be more difficult to embrace its fineness, would it not?
Anyway, thank you for your input and further inspiration to my thinking.
God bless you, that you may enter the Gates of Heaven
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Salam
They were worshiping idols as you said. What does worshiping idols have to do with praying towards the Ka'ba?
Because the Kaaba is a black cube and the black cube is linked with Saturn worship and Saturn = satan??
I read about saturn death cult and cube cult and i am really not sure if a muslim should pray towards a cube even he knows that this cube is only a symbol- the question remains a symbol for what?
whatever
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Peace All,
When I sit down to eat, I naturally thank God. I do this, because it pleases God and it pleases me. Before I read the Koran at night (this is my salat), I perform wudu. I do this, because it pleases God. I would regard both actions as rituals if they were done without thought, mechanically. Take for example the person who prays 5 times a day. In between the prayers the person may act like unpeacefully and in an unkind manner. This renders his prayers a mere ritual, because he obviously has no regard for the little people. X
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peace
Dawn has a great point. I agree.
JewishDude
peace Salam, shalom, peace peace -
Salaam,
I have started to think this minor ablution is about keeping yourself spiritually clean, after performing it you feel a lot better. I do this ablution each time I have been to the bathroom. And when I feel I need to be refreshed, it feels better afterwards.
Also a true Believer (or those who think like me) can fall into prayer at any moment of the day and it is handy to always be clean.
Since I pray each 3 hours it is many ablutions per day. Although, I "save" the ablution for the next prayer, unless I do something dirty.
I have thought the ablution does not need to be performed each time if you are already clean. It is not a ritual in that regard, it has the purpose it says, to wash yourself clean, that uncleanness will not distract your prayer.
Thanks for my words, hope they were not too dull to read.
God bless you
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Salam Man of Faith
water not only cleans visible dirt, but it has also clearly a big effect on our psyche. I can still remember well my wild teenage years, ) after a night of drinking, or general abuse the best remedy is a cold shower.
Our body is not only our vehicle, but also the mirror of our soul - the body shows how we feel, and will responded with some diseases by a mental health problem. Thus, a physical cleaning is always a mental purification.
A second aspect is related to the understanding of the SALAT. I would like to mention it here imagine if we understand the salat as a practical service in a Masjid (common place for the purpose to submit God), then the washing has clearly also a very practical reason. As we do not like to go dirty in a restaurant or to our friends - so we do not like to enter dirty in a 'house of God'.
So it seems to me possible that the menstruating women stayed away from a public salat, when we think about the hygienic condition in those time.
Salam -
Salaam,
The last thing thou said, sister, about menstruating women.
There is a verse which tells not to approach women when they have their menstruation, because their are unclean, so does that not mean that praying is also recommended to abstain from?
I mean, if a woman is unclean during this period, is it not wrong to approach the prayers in this condition when you should be clean?
What is ceremonial impurity as I could read in 443 of Abdullah Yusuf Ali' s translation of Quran?
I am not a sexist or anything like that, I was just thinking out of my interpretation of the Quran.
Meanwhile, I think that it is not the same as having intercourse, and women with their tools to stop the bleeding is quite efficient today, so it would not prevent praying more than a plaster on the skin.
My wife abstains from praying during her period, but that has to do with tradition.
Anyway, I think it is up to each woman to determine, some women maybe feel uncomfortable praying during this period.
Of course, what I wrote above is depending on whether you see Salat as a "ritual" or not (I think ritual is the most worn out word on this forum).
I say that people should live in a state of prayer at all times, so this means physical praying loss for a women would not mean everything in the world. Most of your Faith is determined upon your righteousness, such as charity and personality.
God bless you, believing women, and men
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There is absolutely nothing in the Qur'an by which women should not pray or fast while menstruating. The aya usually quoted as precluding it does not say anything about it and has nothing to do with that.
This habit or conception in muslim tradition comes from taking jewish hadith first as a rule and then looking in the qur'an for an aya which might serve to support that previous non quranic determination. To determine that from an aya which enjoings men not to bother women sexually when they are menstruating they can draw whatever they wish regarding prayer and fasting is a real mockery. That determination comes from hadith transplanted from jewish hadith and not from Qur'an.
And, the aya in question does not say that women are unclean during menstruation. Not at all and no way.
Salaam
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Salaam,
No, I never claimed the Quran says it is forbidden. And I was not including hadith or tradition in my reasoning. I was just thinking about the spiritual aspect of this, and my thoughts regarding the verses in the Quran and some hygienic issues that may arise due to menstruation, which may affect praying.
And, some women may not be able to fast during menstruation due to the loss of blood. It can probably be a bit unhealthy in such cases. Apart from this health issue, there is nothing preventing women from fasting during menstruation, the Quran does not say anything about that.
Also, if you feel unclean during prayer, it can be a distraction. I am no woman, so I cannot speak for them.
You shall not take things too literally, it is unhealthy.
God bless you
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I am not sure what you are getting at. What my point was was that if we are talking about rituals, nowhere in the Qur'an it is stated or hinted to that mentruation is or entails ritual impurity, blood or no blood it is not ritual impurity according to the Qur'an. Whether leaving aside ritual it can be messy or not, it does not have anything to do with ritual purity nor does it preclude prayers or fasting, nor has anything to do with how you feel or not feel. The way one may feel is nothing to do with ritual purity. One may be concentrated or not without any ritual impurity, that happens to everybody mestruating or not menstruating, but ability or inability to concentrate is not ritual impurity. That was the point and the issue, that to single out menstruation as something that may favour or unfavour prayers is not based on anything the Qur'an says nor hints at at all.
Salaam
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Salaam brother,
Why sound so upset?
In my personal interpretation the Quran may hint at something like I was writing, still I was clearly saying it was just my thinking.
The Quran does not say that praying while menstruating is forbidden, but I thought some women may feel uncomfortable doing so while having their period and may perhaps feel unhygienic, although I have never checked that question with a woman.
The ablution is meant to make you feel spiritually clean that you may approach prayers and a woman may not feel like that during this time was what I was trying to say. The Quran does not say anything like that, but you cannot always just read Quran reading its literal meaning thinking you cannot apply the phrases abstractly.
Now, it sounds like you think I believe it is forbidden for women to pray or fast during menstruation, of course it is not or otherwise it would have been made clear.
I never mentioned fasting to begin with, why did it enter the discussion?
I mentioned praying for women during menstruation could be a sanitary issue and make one feel unfit for physical prayers. It is nothing outright discussed in Quran, but could possibly go under 56 and 443. It was a sanitary issue, not to do with menstruation itself and prayer. Apart from this issue the physiological side effects of the period might also cause a distraction making it hard to focus.
Hope you can relax now that I have tried to clear out some misunderstandings.
God bless you