Nearness and Guidance -> Knowledge and Wisdom = Peace and Prosperity

[muslims]

I interpret ayat in that verse you talk about as signs and not the actual literal passages. Not exactly the same interpretation we have.

If you do not believe the signs which make you determined that God exist and that you will stand trial in front of God you will be among the losers because the whole chain of what is in the creed Islam is never fulfilled. It is not Qur'an exclusively that is required but Faith in God and the Last Day, Realm or his Message which has been the same all the time. If you fail to acknowledge God and His Message your deeds, no matter good or bad, seems to not mean anything at all on the Judgment Day and you have failed on Criteria 1 and 2 but fulfilled 3 which mean nothing anyway. We need to remember it has been Islam at least from the time of Abraham and he did not have any access to Qur'an but he discovered about God and thus he came to know that he would stand trial.

Salam

If you wish, there is nothing wrong to interpret it as "signs" and if one reading the whole Qur'an, the word must refer to "Ayat" or "actual literal passages" and it can be "proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations etc". If it is to be treated as "signs", then it is signs specifically mentioned by Allah in the Qur'an. This is the "main premises" from the Qur'an and the basis that Allah wants human to start their comparison or reasoning and learn from. Therefore, it is the "actual literal passages", and then expand from there, from the "Muhkamat" and not the "Mutasyaabihat" (Allah's trap) (37) (1039).

This is so since everything must start from the Qur'an (constitution) and the meaning expands from the Qur'an according to the types of ayat and its "priority (awwaliyah)". That is why we must first "Islam" (submission) to the Qur'an, yet, faith is still not in our heart. It is Allah who will insert faith in our heart, based on level of our submission to the ayat in the Qur'an (just). Therefore, faith or believe or not believe, is something not for human to decides and therefore, it is the Qur'an exclusively that is required; ie. Submission (Islam).

The bedouins say, "We have believed."

Say, "You have not believed
but say, 'We have submitted,' <- Islam
for faith has not yet entered your hearts. <- no faith, faith is equal to "monkey love"

And if you obey Allah and His Messenger <- Islam, vs. disobedience, all or any part of the Qur'an
He will not deprive you from your deeds of anything <- see below
"NOT DEPRIVE OF ANYTHING" means does not require "FAITH". In fact, does not even have to believe in Allah existence!
Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." <- as long we submit, Allah is forgiving, even if we have 0% faith

The believers are only the ones
who have believed in Allah and His Messenger
and then doubt not
but strive with their properties and their lives
in the cause of Allah
It is those who are the truthful.

Say, "Would you acquaint Allah with your religion
while Allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth
and Allah is Knowing of all things?"

They consider it a favor to you that they have accepted Islam

Say, "Do not consider your Islam a favor to me.
Rather, Allah has conferred favor upon you
that He has guided you to the faith <- it is Allah who will give us faith, not human
if you should be truthful." and based on our ability to "obey" to simple rules; ie. Islam
(4914-17)

Therefore, the focus for our salvation is not relating to "what we believe or not believe", BUT what we "obey or disobey". This means it is the Qur'an exclusively that is required, ie. "actual literal passages" and observation on the "DO NOT" prohibition (method, refer here). What we believe is the bonus to our salvation.

It is not Qur'an exclusively that is required but Faith in God and the Last Day, Realm or his Message which has been the same all the time. If you fail to acknowledge God and His Message your deeds, no matter good or bad, seems to not mean anything at all on the Judgment Day and you have failed on Criteria 1 and 2 but fulfilled 3 which mean nothing anyway. We need to remember it has been Islam at least from the time of Abraham and he did not have any access to Qur'an but he discovered about God and thus he came to know that he would stand trial.

Since the day the Qur'an has been perfected, it is Qur'an exclusively that is required and submission without faith is sufficiently enough for one to enter Paradise. Allah does not require faith for one to be in paradise. The minimum requirements is Islam (submission) and they will be the companions of the right, even with 0% faith or not sincere, and as long they obey 100%, from level of his understanding. Those who fail are the one who denies all or any part of the Qur'an, those who ignore the word "DO NOT" in the Qur'an, even 1%. They are companions of the left. The highest achievements are "faith" without doubts and no grieve, while live in the cause of Allah and obeying all rules in the Qur'an. Therefore, we don't need to fulfill all the criteria or complete the circle to enter the Paradise.

And you become three kinds

(1) Then the companions of the right <- based on submission (Islam), even 0% faith
what are the companions of the right? <- not yet certain to be in Paradise, may also be in the Fire

(2) And the companions of the left <- deny all or any part of the "DO NOT" prohibition, even 1% - borderline
what are the companions of the left? <- certainly to be in the Fire, the transgressors

(3) And the forerunners, the forerunners <- based on submission, and level of faith (complete circle?)
Those are the ones brought near <- certainly to be in Paradise
In the Gardens of Pleasure
A company of the former peoples
And a few of the later peoples <- Why? Refer here
(567-14)

There is not upon the doers of good any cause <- Islam, submission
(991)

Allah does not charge a soul
except its capacity <- Islam, submission, even with 0% faith
(2286) and, capacity is referring to"signs" or clear and "actual literal passages"?

These were my views. Allah knows best.

Peace

[muslims]

continue

---

He will not deprive you from your deeds of anything <- see below
"NOT DEPRIVE OF ANYTHING" means does not require "FAITH". In fact, does not even have to believe in Allah existence!
Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." <- as long we submit, Allah is forgiving, even if we have 0% faith

Further, it is may become big mistakes or errors not to believe in Allah existence and merely obey what is in the Qur'an
but that is not the issue since Allah says, "Allah is Forgiving and Merciful"
and the term "Allah" itself is the "Mutasyaabihaat" which no human beings are able to control how to believe in Allah. (sura al-ikhlas)
Therefore, it is Allah who will "guided us to faith" in His existence
based on the level of our submission on all the "clear" rules from the Qur'an
and surely, "Allah will not charge a soul except with that within its capacity "; ie. our faith, believe or not to believe in Allah

Therefore, "obedience" to the rules in the Qur'an is the most important things for our salvation.
ie. the "actual literal passages", the Muhkamat, and not the Mutasyaabihaat.
our "faith" is totally dependant on our level of submission to the Qur'an
and the terms "Muslims"
do not necessarily mean the so-called "Muslims" in today's world definition
ie. the sectarian definition of Muslim

"We hear and we obey"
(2285)

And remember the favor of Allah upon you
and His covenant <- Islam is a contract to obey
with which He bound <- Qur'an is the terms and conditions of contract
you when you said,
"We hear and we obey" <- Never ever breach your contract!
and fear Allah
Indeed, Allah is Knowing of that within the breasts
(57)

These were my views, the non sectarian or non religious views. Allah knows best.

Peace all

[Man_of_Faith]

Salaam,

I do not agree with this but we can agree to disagree. Thanks for sharing your thoughts though.

[muslims]

Salam

These are only my views and you don't have to agree. I agree to disagree. handshake

Peace.

[Lena]

Peace Man of Faith and Muslims I have really enjoyed reading your posts. I believe in God 100%, believe in the angels, the Judgement Day and make an effort to regularly do righteous deeds for others but no matter how hard I try to be 100% obedient to God's message, I continue to committ sins. There are times when I am really exhausted from the struggle against the sinful part of my nature. Especially when I am physically or mentally tired and in a weak spiritual state, I fall down under Satan's influence. I place my trust in God, pray that I will be protected against Satan, go for a few years on the straight path feeling spiritually at peace, then wham!! Satan fells me with a knock out blow when I least expect it. Sometimes I can quickly pick my self back up, repent and ask God's forgiveness, with a renewed committment to obey God. Sometimes it takes me a longer time to find my way back to the straight path and I need the support of righteous non judgemental people.

So I have some questions - how can we be 100% obedient at all times in our life when we are only human? Perfection is a quality of divinity not of human kind. Isn't it true we are all sinners? How do we attain that permanent state of spiritual peace when we are in an ongoing jihad with Satan until we die!! Are any of us so arrogant as to feel we have done enough to secure our place in heaven? Is there a spiritually mature Free Minds Muslima (female), who would like to be my mentor, confidante and support during the down times?

[muslims]

So I have some questions - how can we be 100% obedient at all times in our life when we are only human? Perfection is a quality of divinity not of human kind. Isn't it true we are all sinners? How do we attain that permanent state of spiritual peace when we are in an ongoing jihad with Satan until we die!!

Salam

Thank you and what you asked is too high, which many are not willing to pay for the price. Many are just "wishing" but not really serious about attaining it, or not serious enough.

However, I believe if it is "too perfect", then it is "too perfect".

What else should it be? ???

We are indeed, only human, and that's why we have Allah.

Further, it is the behaviour of a True Auliya... perfection, ie. optimizing good, bad, mistakes etc.

Therefore, we cannot be 100% obedient at all times in our life.

It is in fact the most irrelvant question since "obedient and perfection is a process". (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

It is only Allah that can make us perfect and be 100% obedient at all times in our life.

Allah has promised
those who have believed among you <- conditions, the process to believe?
and done righteous deeds <- justly balanced, understand and communicating with the Sunnatullah (IQRA)
that He will surely

(1) grant them succession upon the earth <- Khalifa, and of course, not like world leaders today
just as He granted it to those before them all or many of them are not known by the public, but in control

(2) and that He will surely
establish for them
their deen <- 100% obedience - perfection
which He has preferred for them

(3) and that He will surely <- no fear, or grieve - "attain that permanent state of spiritual peace"
substitute for them
after their fear, security

(4) they worship Me <- free from shirk of any kind, refer here - 1, 2, 3, and 4
not associating anything with Me

But whoever disbelieves after that
then those are the defiantly disobedient
(2455)

It is You we serve <- serve comes first, only then eligible to ask for help
and You we ask for help otherwise, logically, no help.
(15)

The Process

However, Allah cannot make you perfect if "you wants" to be perfect.

There is no such things as "I want".

It doesn't work that way.

It is always working in the opposite direction.

That is, you must "not be perfect" for "Allah to makes you perfect".

Therefore, there is no "I", "I want" or "I am", "I this..", "I that.." or even "I feel" .. too many "I's", and of course, not even "I" and "Paradise" or "Hell Fire". Allah is not our slave, we are .. and there is nothing in our ibada is for Allah, it is actually for ourselves, ie. solah, fasting, sadaqah, righteousness etc. It is the deen, our deen, not Allah, and for our benefits. Allah don't need our ibada etc.

Therefore, what is for Allah?

All that we do is for ourselves, and there is nothing for Allah.

Who is Lord?

Isn't He is the One who supposed to be our Lord?

This is the factor that determines the "attain that permanent state of spiritual peace", and it is in conflict with the Sunnatullah, ie. 1 & 1.

Since this is a complicated issue.. I just put in summary, something that you can get some idea on its process.

What does Allah want to see from us?

http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9605723.msg338195#msg338195

http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9605723.msg339592#msg339592

What should we do?

http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9605723.msg336189#msg336189

http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9605723.msg336800#msg336800

Okay, how? (Allah's standard)

http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9605723.msg337102#msg337102

Why?

http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9605723.msg335950#msg335950

Proof?

http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9605723.msg335891#msg335891

Some example?

http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9605723.msg336010#msg336010

Consequences

It is You we serve
and You we ask for help
(15)

And when your Lord proclaimed
'If you are grateful
I will surely increase you
(147)

Understand the Qur'an... which will bring us to 100% obedience.

This is the process for the "attain that permanent state of spiritual peace", but as I said, many not willing to pay for the price. Therefore, it is a very complicated question, because they are "unwilling" or just "wishing".

These were my views. Allah knows best.

Peace

[Man_of_Faith]

Salaam Lena,

Thanks for your positive criticism. I have tried to put all my thinking power into this topic and hopefully some inspiration from the One.

There is a simple answer to your question about sins and fact is that we are sinful by nature and also the pressure from Shaytaan in this world is immense. I will be completely honest with you; I also commit sins and I think most, if not all, of us commit sins, but an important thing is to be conscious about your sins and try to do something about them and purify yourself with God's help. With God's Nearness and Guidance we can minimize our sinful behavior although I doubt we can eliminate them altogether unless we "become a Jesus" who might have had a certain advantage over us. I do not know how "purified" a person can become though and I suspect you can reach pretty high levels where you have a very good control over your sins, but you still can probably not say that you have never sinned.

Muhammad, as according to Qur'an, seem to had come to Faith and was still warned for some obvious mistakes such as judging two men by their looks where an appealing man was preferred instead of a poor blind man or when he let his wives had him make an unwise decision. We are not invulnerable to sins even if we are Messengers.

Moses killed a man of the Egyptians because he wanted to protect one of his people without asking for what reason they fought and the next day the same man was engaged in a fight again, and consider that God even forgave manslaughter you shall know the mercy of the Lord. Moses was honest with himself and God and confessed that he had been subdued by the devil, and suddenly as he had this realization a man (as a blessing) came and warned him that Pharaoh's people were out to get him so he escape. You see, the lives of the Prophets and Messengers were filled by mistakes and probably not only those which were highlighted in Qur'an and previous scriptures, so do not you worry about your sins my friend Lena.

One of them even rebelled, Jonah (Yunus) he boarded a ship and disobeyed God because he was fed up with his "assignment" and then swallowed by a fish at sea but he repented and thus God showed him His immense mercy and Jonah could continue his assignment after being miraculously ejected from the sea-creature's belly and up on the seaside.

Noah tried to defend his disbelieving and disobedient son and was met pretty harshly by God's words (I felt God was really angry in this narration) and he repented to God and God was forgiving and let him off the ship in peace.

You see, dear sister Lena, that the Messengers could sin pretty badly and still be forgiven by God and even continue their Messengership because they were honest in their Faith and they repented wholeheartedly and perhaps did not think of the consequences of their actions at first such as when Moses killed the Egyptian, think of the feelings of the Egyptian's wife and family and their immense sorrow at the loss of their beloved despite being of the oppressing faction the Egyptian might have been innocent of blame and might have just been defending himself against the one of Moses' people, a case of assault.

There is a moral lesson for all the narrations God makes in Qur'an (and possible older scriptures if they are not lies) and one has to listen carefully to them and only the intelligent ones will understand them thoroughly. I must admit that I think expressions from the Bible's Gospel testaments are authentic and coming from a man of God for they are sure wise.

Please do not be afraid as long as you keep being mindful of God and working towards purification. Follow my advice with the circle of Faith or not, but keep God in mind at all times and seek to be a Righteous and pious Believer. Please seek God's Nearness and Guidance and you will, God willing, get Knowledge and Wisdom and in the end you will have Peace and Prosperity. Follow this advice and I can guarantee you in the Lord's name that this is what you shall get. Stay strong and keep being steadfast.

I am better now than I used to be and I praise God for that and that I have become closer to Him, but I suppose I have to work my whole life to become satisfied with the result. This is the result of my devotion to God and that I struggle hard to serve the Lord in every way I can even if I might not always please Him in my ignorance, but I have tried to be steadfast and I was determined that God would be real even if I had not yet Faith grown in my heart and eventually I reached a point where I realized I had not doubt whatsoever anymore. And the constant signs from God that I perceive reassures me further more and are perhaps a reward for being steadfast in Faith. No intention to brag, I just want to share that so someone can see how good the reward is for having believed and begun to receive Peace and Prosperity.

We are tested throughout our whole lives and when we have come to Faith we are tested in new ways and it can be applying the new Knowledge and Wisdom we have acquired in situations when others are preventing us from being righteous and then we need to deal with this too and it can be hard (from own experience) and we have to continue being steadfast even after Faith has come to our hearts and we (God willing) fulfill Islam's criteria.

It is this intention to purify yourself and become better which is most important and being kind and generous is a very good start to reach a good moral character. Qur'an is very thorough in telling the steps on how to better yourself and get rid of negative traits such as arrogance and selfishness. "Kill your ego" is a very good expression which signifies what has to be done in general. The optimal scenario would be that if we just gave away all our annual income and only lived moderately and spent much time helping others in various ways. Certainly those with big egos would exploit you, but I am sure that God would also help you and God said to the people to use their brains and be wise, in the end you would be able to see those who really need help against those who just want to be exploitative and hoard money fraudulently.

With big Faith you will likely be able to invoke God's wrath and be able to get people punished by those who exploited you and if not that God will take care of them in the end, you can rest assured. No reason to cry over spilled milk. Laughs best who laughs last. But best is to offer the other cheek if they hit you on one cheek, allegorically, and try to meet cruelness with kindness. It is hard, but yet the best solution. Revenge is never beneficial except for your ego. I recommend to try to meet evil with kindness, it is an interesting alternative and you might see perhaps unexpected results as in walking out as the winner in the end even if you were fooled and ill-treated at first in various ways. Jesus (allegedly) said "And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well" and it might not make sense from a first glance but if you consider it from different angles you might understand what is good with it. Evil and vice might impress you and seem an easy way to slide through a life, but it only leads to destruction and the person who follow God's guidelines in His Qur'an will see that the cheap material gains are not worth a penny compared to coming to Faith.

Are any of us so arrogant as to feel we have done enough to secure our place in heaven?

I do not want to call myself arrogant and I do not know my fate, but my mind is quite at peace about this and I do not worry much. I take the requital from the Lord and I am aware that for any bad I do I am responsible. No I do not know if I am destined for Heaven or Hell, but I am not afraid. Not sure if you can know subconsciously within your soul when you are ready, but I do not feel I am ready yet, I have lots to fulfill still. But no, it does not stress me much anymore except some people in my vicinity act as brake pedals unfortunately but my trust is in the Lord.

So I have some questions - how can we be 100% obedient at all times in our life when we are only human?

See the paragraphs above where I talk about the Messengers and Prophets.

God bless you and good luck on your journeys

[Man_of_Faith]

Peace and Prosperity (Righteousness)

| http//farm6.staticflickr.com/5546/10816793444_18c10caea7.jpg
| Okay. Let us continue with the final part of my thread's contents which is Peace and Prosperity which basically can be related to Righteousness. If you have studied my thread and what I have said up until now I think you will understand why I put it under just this category. After I am done presenting this part of my studies I will elaborate more on what I have been writing all the time until now and hopefully more intricate Wisdom. The whole purpose of this thread was to encourage Wisdom through a more more graphical presentation of the Message of God. Not saying God's Message in Qur'an is inadequate, but this is only a bit more "streamlined" but nothing blasphemous.

When you have reached this far onto the chain, your faith is reflected through your actions very convincingly and you certainly are aware of the living and you appreciate God's provisions that he bestows upon you. It could also be regarded as an engine which fuel is faith and through this use of fuel one is able to run the whole ship towards righteousness. To reach Islam one needs to balance all these three parameters decently and well. Maintaining Islam upon death and it will be safe to say that one will be happily enjoying God's promised Paradise. And a steady and devoted service to God will also mean an inner peace or harmony within the soul which was the basic intention with my terminology "Peace and Prosperity" and even if you are exposed to further trials until your departure from this world, you will meet them with a feeling of harmony and peace with many beneficial blessings in form of both material and abstract provisions.

This can be equaled to lending God your time and life and in return you get back more than you originally invested even if regarded for the weaker in Faith as a waste of time and money.

The stronger in Faith will realize the importance of a good character and will sacrifice more of both time and money, but will amaze him/herself over how rich he/she has become both in harmonious and prosperous ways. We need to remember true wealth is not exactly about the money. One's accumulated wealth is worth absolutely zero at the time of death and I mean absolutely Z E R O. No need to even save the money excessively but rather be generous and kind. And, for some surprisingly, God will actually often reward you so even if you use money on others you might as well end up with more provisions later. It is this dependance upon our materialistic and illusive things that we possess we have to reduce. Best is to not even see them as your own things but rather something you received as a blessing from God and hold on to temporarily.

That was the end of this categorical talk and I hope to soon delve more intricately into what I have just discussed up until now. If you have any questions or something to add about what I wrote feel free to reply here in this thread.

[Man_of_Faith]

About being of an ultimately good character in Islam

I will mix in some signs that God's creed is about being a kind, goodly character who treats people without insult and arrogance. God's Islam is like Jesus preaches in the Gospel of Christianity's Bible which has been denied (by some). Poor behavior is not a desirable trait in Islam and will show that 1/3 of Message was not understood but in fact has deeper roots such as disbelief in Realm and honest Faith in God

2044 ?So say to him soft words, perhaps he will remember or be concerned.?

4134 Not equal are the good and the bad response. You shall resort to
the one which is better. Thus, the one who used to be your enemy,
may become your best friend.

5226 They said ?We used to be compassionate among our people.?

7310 And be patient over what they say, and depart from them in a
good manner.

9017 Then he has become one of those who have believed, and exhort
one another to patience, and exhort one another to kindness.

Apart from these obvious verses from Qur'an one must consider what the word being good and righteous connotes, so with that in mind behavior is basically repeated about several times per chapter of the Message.

Basically from this verse is the foundation of Islam and its three criteria (as according to my diagram)

262 Surely those who believe; and those who are Jewish, and the
Nazarenes, and the Sabians, whoever of them (1) believes in God
and the (2) Last Day (which I refer to as Realm) and (3) does good works; they will have their
recompense with their Lord, and there is no fear upon them, nor
will they grieve.

I.e

• Belief in God - Nearness and Guidance - Faith (takes patience and steadfastness and lot of contemplation upon our existence)

• Belief in Realm - Knowledge and Wisdom - Faith (God does for you with honesty and proximity to God, does not take much action)

• Righteousness - Good works (Peace and Prosperity is a reward) - Actions (and way of living)

Verily, God's creed is not much harder than these three easy steps yet we humans make it harder upon ourselves with lots of conjectural ideas and idiocy. Well, being righteous is hard enough let alone reassuring yourself that God is really real. Achieving these three steps is a great triumph and is a winning concept. No more needs to be accomplished to have Islam and salvation. Sorry if I make my posts like a dummies guide to God, but it is the easiest way to invite to God.

God bless you

[GODsubmitter]

Beautifully put!

But I should only add to all that an unshakeable trust in God, and faith, or knowledge, that He is the Only One God Alone, and there is none beside Him.

Peace

[Man_of_Faith]

Absolutely true, GODsubmitter. Complete certainty is a long term goal for the one who seeks the Truth.

Peace

[Indelwyn]

THANK YOU MAN OF FAITH! bravo

[Man_of_Faith]

Further simplification of the Message is possible

Please see this

2112 No; whoever (1) submits himself to God, while (2) doing good, he will have his recompense with his Lord. There will be no fear over them, nor will they grieve.

Here in fact God narrows his criteria down to two, so one can in fact say that Belief in Realm can be integrated into Belief in God as a Faith part of the creed. This by no means indicate that my circular diagram is wrong, but it is fully possible to further split the Faith into two parts, (1) Faith and (2) Actions, proving my second circle in the diagram to be fully applicable. Praised be God for helping me out on this as I had not anticipated this coincidence. When we honestly believe in God seeking His Nearness and Guidance and accept His creed without associating partners with Him, the Realm part of Faith comes sort of automatically.

But we must remember that very few people ever get beyond the first threshold of monotheism as we can see in this verse from Qur'an

12106 And most of them will not believe in God except while setting up partners.

And this is the reason for the above, i.e. most fall prey to this

6116 And if you obey most of those on the earth they will lead you away from the path of God; that is because they follow conjecture, and that is because they only guess.

Here you have everything from "friends" and spouses to religious leaders who will also threaten you with eternal Hell and call you kufr/disbeliever when you do not follow their religion. This is something many people, thousands of people, fall prey to and they indoctrinate themselves by following the stream and readily accept their conjecture. Refer back to the circular diagram and (1) and (2) from this post and you see that the Message is not so hard after all. What your friends actually promise you is eternal Hell while ironically saying the opposite. Yes, the Message is this simple, exactly. If God says;

2112 No; whoever (1) submits himself to God, while (2) doing good, he will have his recompense with his Lord. There will be no fear over them, nor will they grieve.

; this is what He means. There is no "hocus pocus" mentioned either here nor in any other parts of Qur'an except encouragement to meditate and "pray" for Nearness and Guidance as well as some things which are relatively obvious from anyone who is fond of you such as advising you not to intoxicate yourself/cloud your judgment by using drugs or into animosity and poverty through gambling. And apart from this (1) Mindfulness of God and Purification, He asks you to be (2) good.

In this way God is very kind and would be like a father to his son. God is very kind and clement. Apart from God's wise words it is quite obvious for the intelligent to see that substance (ab)use is most often leading to damage of the body and little gain. Qur'an is really a guidebook and mostly encouraged as a book to use as such, to give help what to ponder upon to realize that God must be really real.

I could of course hypothetically count among most, but Qur'an itself is a testament to that I speak of the Truth. There is no gain for me here and I ask for no money or fame. All I ask of you is to obey on (1) and (2) which will not lead you astray. And if you then slowly expand this into the criteria as mentioned in the circular diagram you have a winning concept. Unless you have done it already, pray God that you receive His Nearness and Guidance as well as protection from the evil one and his followers, and be steadfast and patient in His service. Submit to His will. (1) Actions and (2) Faith will lead you straight on the Path of Light. God did not make His creed complicated

2277 O you who * believe, kneel and prostrate and serve your Lord and do good that you may succeed.
2278 And strive in the cause of God its truly deserved striving. He is the One who has chosen you, and He has made no hardship for you in the system, the creed of your father Abraham; He is the One who named you ?those who have submitted? from before and in this. So let the messenger be witness over you and you be witness over the people. So hold the (1) Mindfulness and contribute towards Purification and hold tight to God, He is your patron. What an excellent Patron, and what an excellent Supporter.

Note I rather interpret the word as-salat as Mindfulness than contact prayer which is Monotheist Translation's choice of words. This word has been changed above. An interpretation as "contact prayer' indicates that as-salat is a kind of ritual which immediately makes God's creed way harder whereas when you simply call it Mindfulness naturally means to keep God in your mind and as the same time contact/connection. God said to hold regular salat although then He means to frequently bond with Him which needs no ritual. However, we may choose to commence physical movements to show gratification but then that is personal. There is no reason and logic in that God would repeatedly throughout the book promise Paradise for those who do traditional "contact prayer", particularly when people are so divided with their own styles of service to God, but when you change it into Mindfulness or it makes better sense.

• This may indicate that there is a certain inclination towards voluntary physical movement, but this does not explain almost total absence of the popular discussion about details of physical prostration. Qur'an is not unclear, if there were rituals like "contact prayer" in traditional regard there would have been details about this in the book, but now since as-salat is Mindfulness of God and perhaps expanded into Connection with God during special sessions of meditation and thinking and free-speech, no such details are required from the book. It is verily fully detailed and if it is fully detailed details of a physical ritual would have been printed out if they existed. Mindless rituals is a trap for those who listen to the majority of people as seen previously in this post. This behavior is stemming from Paganism. To us it seems like God is a neanderthal god which does only trigger on certain key words like in an adventure video game. It does not impress God. Salat is Communication and open to interpretation for yourselves, either by my simply put "Mindfulness" or your own words for it. Start rambling to God and it is Salat.

Remember

• Faith

• Actions

• Mindfulness of God and Purification

• All the good that you do

Related verses in the same context as the elaboration above are these

2111 And they said ?None shall enter the Paradise except those who are Jewish or Nazarenes;? this is what they wish! Say ?Bring forth your proof if you are truthful.?

Subsequent to the advent of Qur'an we could theoretically add Islam as per sectarian arguments here, perhaps under the heading "Muhammadan", if God would reveal another scripture. "None shall enter Paradise except those who are Jewish, Nazarenes or "Muslims;" this is what they wish!" could be a potential candidate for revision.

There is no creed to convert to as long as you fulfill (1) and (2), all else is as per conjecture. Becoming a man of Faith means carefully following God's intention with Qur'an to enlighten about Him to contemplate our existence and then
"realize that God is really real"

And then we can start talking... Hope all 1 and 2 did not make you dizzy while reading. Being a good fellow human being is hard enough for most people, at least it is for me. It is a big challenge God brought forth to His test, but with His help I have managed to improve myself. Have you?

Be GOOD, do like GOD by following in His footsteps

Please heed my Message and see that I am not arrogant, and I try to be friendly and kind just like my role model... God. Who can hope for a better role model. God did not shy away from showing His nice attributes throughout Qur'an and He did it with all right. Why not imitate God who says this in His verses

2207 ... God is kind to His servants.

12100 ... My Lord is Kind to whom He wills. He is the Knowledgeable, the Wise.

1947 ... He (God) has been most kind to me

2265 ... Indeed, God is Kind towards the people, Merciful.

8514 And He is the Forgiver, the Most Kind.

In the name of God, why can we not do like God?

These people were acting in the image of the Lord

5226 They said ?We (2) used to be compassionate among our people.?
5227 ?God thus blessed us, and has spared us the agony of the fierce hot winds.?
5228 ?We (1) used to implore Him before; He is the Kind, the Merciful.?

Do you think that only the followers of Issa/Jesus ought to be like this?

5727 ...And We sent Jesus, son of Mary, and We gave him the Gospel, and We ordained in the hearts of his followers kindness and mercy...

Remember, submitting to God does not mean living like a slave to God but as someone who lives in His way. In that regard God is not an individual, any man, God is God, the One. It is difficult to submit concretely to a superpower who does not really have any need for you or your submission, but if you live in His ways you show that you belong to His creed Islam. God has no need for you as a slave, He can just say 'be' and anything is. But if you can imitate even the slightest of God's good image then you will be part of His Realm also after this test is over because God will become your friend and you are good and complete, and you have Islam.

Then your training will be complete, unless you fall to the Dark Side of the Force (Shaytaan) jedi

Source (for quotes) Monotheist translation of Qur'an rev 2013

God bless you

[Man_of_Faith]

THANK YOU MAN OF FAITH! bravo

Peace,

Thank God, dear sister. He inspires me and He has been good to me. I take no credit in this as it is His Message. I lend Him my time only, and my body and soul. God's pen does never run out of ink. Please see me as your brother in Faith and serve the One. I claim nothing spectacular for myself so please do not think I try to be someone other than a humble Servant of God.

Peace and Prosperity as God deems fit for me is enough for me. If I can help others it suffices me. My aim with this study is to show the simplicity of God's Message whereas mankind makes it difficult. They even added connotations to words which never existed and made whole books on those words while they mean no more than connection or mindfulness as I put it. Thus you see the grace of God. My previous post show that God did not want to make the creed difficult. If all those sectarian rules are true then God would contradict Himself, do you believe God would contradict Himself as a superpower? Following the 2 or 3 steps is no easy thing for most people anyway.

God bless you

[Man_of_Faith]

Message or Book?

378 And from among them is a group who twist their tongues with the Message so that you may think it is from the Message, while it is not from the Message, and they say it is from God while it is not from God, and they say about God lies while they know.

379 It is not for any human being that God would give him the Message and the authority and the prophethood, then he would say to the people ?Be servants to me rather than God!? Rather ?Be Devotees for what you have been taught of the Message, and of what you have studied.?

Note This is from my hypothesis that kitab does not mean a physical book but rather message. With all kitab replaced into Message Qur'an makes much better sense in my opinion.

Few people that God sent brought with them physical books as far as I am concerned and this is a general statement in 379 and could illogically mean book. The contained books from within the Bible are not God's narrations and no books that God gave them. That it says al-kitab or the Message is because there is simply put just one Message and not several. And if you studied my very recent posts in this thread you will know what the Message contains. And a Jew or Christian can by God's terms not refer to a non-existent "book" which means he refers to the Message. Ahl al-kitab thus logically and basically means "Followers of the Message".

262 Surely those who believe; and those who are Jewish, and the Nazarenes, and the Sabians, whoever of them (1)believes in God and the (2) Last Day (which I refer to as Realm) and (3) does good works; they will have their recompense with their Lord, and there is no fear upon them, nor
will they grieve.

2112 No; whoever (1) submits himself to God, while (2) doing good, he will have his recompense with his Lord. There will be no fear over them, nor will they grieve.

In 262 you could add any group or people who argue that they are the ones that are correct about the Message, subsequently Islam as per traditionalists could be referred to here as well as long as they are monotheists. Yet they argue. But we need to remember

12106 And most of them will not believe in God except while setting up partners.

So those brothers and perhaps sisters who say that God is a "bookless" divinity are not so wrong, His Knowledge is in the Message and not necessarily in the book(s). Besides who needs a book when they know criteria 1 and 2 except to seek inspiration on how to better purify themselves and come closer to God. Qur'an is a guide and manual, but the Message is more abstract and intricate than that.

God bless you

[Man_of_Faith]

Descendants of Muhammad any reliable guides?

2124 And Abraham was tested by words from His Lord, which he fulfilled. He said ?I will make you a leader for the people.? He said ?And also from my progeny?? He said ?My pledge will not encompass the wicked.?

Qur'an is very thorough here that being a descendant of someone is no guarantee that it is safe to follow them. Woe to those who without questioning the teachings of descendants of Muhammad and rely on hearsay that the Prophet anointed a successor to him on his deathbed. Besides it is something anyone could say that they are a descendant of Muhammad. And our physical body is just a shell we have during our brief stay here on Earth. Even if Muhammad truly anointed a successor on his deathbed according to hearsay then "My pledge will not encompass the wicked" comes into play anyway.

A Messenger or righteous person is not right for what he is but for what he does. And man cannot live by words alone...

God bless you

Peace

[Man_of_Faith]

Messengers, Apostles or Missionaries?

God delivers clear warnings and Qur'an and people who act as Messengers and despite this people stubbornly adhere to their leaders and learned ones who are full of conjecture and "extra-religious" information

3366 On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say (2) ?Oh, we wish we had obeyed God, and obeyed the messenger?
3367 And they will say ?Our Lord, we have obeyed our leaders and our learned ones, but they misled us from the path.?

A person who preaches the Message is basically a Messenger. Obedience to what has been told is voluntary, but by studying my previous posts in this thread would only reveal that I speak of the Truth and that the Message is so dead-simple. And it is easy to preach the Message because it contains of so few steps yet you risk being persecuted for doing so.

Obey does obviously not mean to obey under any condition, but when someone tells the clear Message of God then it is wise to "obey" with the use of a word with a cold connotation. I would rather use the word "listen to" or "pay attention" or "heed the words".

Qur'an contains examples of what is obedience in past times

26176 The people of the Sycamore disbelieved the messengers.
26177 For Shu?ayb said to them (2) ?Will you not be righteous??
26178 ?I am to you a trustworthy messenger.?
26179 ?So (1) be aware of God and obey me.?
26180 ?And I do not ask you for any wage, for my reward is upon the Lord of the worlds.?
26181 ?Give full measure and do not be of those who cause losses.?
26182 ?And weigh with the balance that is straight.?
26183 ?And do not defraud the people of their belongings, and do not venture into the land corrupting.?
26184 ?And (1) be aware of the One who has created you and the generations of old.?

It is a cutout from dialogues that happened in the past and the Messenger basically told the people to be good and mindful of God. No more or less is the purpose of the Messenger; to deliver the simple yet important Message of God.

Here follows the narration of Lot

26160 The people of Lot denied the messengers.
26161 For their brother Lot said to them (2) ?Will you not be righteous??
26162 ?I am to you a trustworthy messenger.?
26163 (1) ?So be aware of God and obey me.?
26164 ?And I do not ask you for any wage, for my reward is upon the Lord of the worlds.?
26165 ?Do you approach the males of the worlds??
26166 ?And you leave what your Lord has created for you of mates? You are an intrusive people!? *

• This people had put into system to prefer men over women. This is the disputable story to see that God condemns homosexuality. This is not the discussion in this thread so please do not raise a dialogue on this matter here.

And Saleh

26141 Thamud denied the messengers.
26142 For their brother Saleh said to them (2) ?Will you not be righteous??
26143 ?I am to you a clear messenger.?
26144 ?So (1) be aware of God and obey me.?
26145 ?And I do not ask you for any wage, for my reward is upon the Lord of the worlds.?
26146 ?Will you be left secure in that which you have here??
26147 ?In gardens and springs.?
26148 ?And green crops and palm trees laden with fruit.?
26149 ?And you carve homes out of the mountains with great skill??
26150 ?So (1) be aware of God and obey me.?
26151 ?And do not obey the command of the carefree.?
26152 ?The ones who corrupt in the land and are not reformers.?

Hud's story

26123 ?Aad denied the messengers.
26124 For their brother Hud said to them (2) ?Will you not be righteous??
26125 ?I am to you a clear messenger.?
26126 ?So (1) be aware of God and obey me.?
26127 ?And I do not ask you for any wage, for my reward is upon the Lord of the worlds.?
26128 ?Do you build on every high place a symbol, for the sake of vanity!?
26129 ?And you take for yourselves strongholds, perhaps you will live forever??
26130 ?And if you attack, you strike ruthlessly??
26131 ?So (1) be aware of God and obey me.?
26132 ?And (1) be aware of the One who provided you with what you know.?
26133 ?He provided you with livestock and sons.?
26134 ?And gardens and springs.?
26135 ?I fear for you the retribution of a great day?

By the name of God, can you not understand what the Message is?

Be mindful of GOD and work towards your purification, and work righteousness.

Of course history repeats itself as it always has and people continue to adhere to their learned ones and leaders, no matter living or dead ones. And people complicate the Message by adding lots of things that are irrelevant. And to defend their practices they turn aggressive and hostile, further demolishing their work on criteria (2).

God bless you

[Man_of_Faith]

Do the atheists not reason like this?

Have you never heard your fellow humans around you utter this in either written or verbal form?

625 And from them are those who listen to you; and We have made covers over their hearts to prevent them from understanding it, and a deafness in their ears; and if they see every sign they will not believe; even when they come to you they argue, those who reject say ?This is nothing except fictional tales of old!?
626 (2) And they prohibit others from it, and keep away themselves from it; but they will only destroy themselves, yet they do not notice.
627 And if you could see when they are standing over the Fire, they say ?If only we could be sent back, we would not deny the revelations of our Lord, and we would be believers!?
628 No, it is merely what they have been concealing that has now become evident to them; and if they were sent back they would return again to what they were prohibited from, they are but liars!
629 And they had said ?There is only this worldly life, and we will not be resurrected!?
630 And if you could see them when they are standing at their Lord; He said ?Is this not the truth?? They said ?Yes, by our Lord,? He said ?Then taste the retribution for what you have rejected.?
631 (1) Losers are those who have denied their meeting with God; until the Hour comes to them suddenly, then they say ?We deeply regret that which we have wasted in it,? and they will carry their burdens on their backs; miserable indeed is their burden.
632 And the worldly life is nothing more than play and distraction, and the abode of the Hereafter is far better for those who are (2) righteous. Do you not comprehend?
633 We know that you are saddened by what they say; they are not rejecting you, but it is the revelations of God which the wicked disregard.

"This is nothing except fictional tales of old!" is an answer I got on an Islamic blog that I wrote on a couple of years ago. I felt saddened by this disbelief and that they cannot sense the Lord around them. How shocked this person will be when they stand in the courtroom with God on the Judgment Day. They are completely unaware and denying, and think that one is a neanderthal human for believing in God. God is adapting to these modern ages, but people think everything is just imagination from the past. And the traditionalists think we have to live in the Middle Ages to be able to follow the creed of God. Many people live in complete denial of meeting the Lord. And they belittle the people who believe and even write articles that claim that people who believe have less intelligence (which however is true for the hypocrites). The hypocrites keep people away from God. Ironically, Believers have two resistances, those who think they believe and force people to believe in their corrupted ways they do and the ones that do not believe at all and think they make the Believers a service by preventing them from their Faith.

The hypocrites express themselves somewhat like this

2111 And they said ?None shall enter the Paradise except those who are Jewish or Nazarenes (or "Muslim"? this is what they wish! Say ?Bring forth your proof if you are truthful.?

Nowadays, 1400 years after the advent of Qur'an Muslims could be added to this verse as well as seen within my parenthesis. They say that you have to convert to their Faith even if Islam is nothing you convert to, it is something you are or not. They call "their" prophets infallible and God knows what, while we know that there was no Prophet or Messenger without sin, except perhaps the special case of Jesus although he was surely a trap for those with a disease within their heart. Jesus is a good sign of how good a person can be, if they put their mind to it. But God is One and not three. The wise heed their Message and strengthen their Faith in God. The function of the Messenger is to invite to God by preaching the Message and if one becomes a Believer and do not fall to the trap of idolatry then this is a big success. Why do we humans always need idols? Needing lords or idols shows that you cannot form your own life and successfully bond with God.

People are very curious of why we are here and the answer is right in front of their eyes. If there is no purpose of existing one would not exist.

List of errors listed which will lead to failure (for atheists)

• Failure to believe - Opinion that God is an object of the imagination

• Failure to do good - And they keep others away from it too through their unfaithfulness

God bless you

[Indelwyn]

Enjoying this post very much. Is there more?

[Man_of_Faith]

Be good, one of two (only) criteria

282 And those who (1) believe and (2) do good works, they are the people of the Paradise, in it they will abide.

It sounds pretty simple, but of course it is not as simple as one may think when this is presented here, not to add that most people follow conjecture and listen to religious leaders and others, and thus lose focus on the real mission of Islam To purify our souls into betterment and become good beings, except the obvious discovery and realization that God exists which is why the Lord spends a substantial part of the book explaining how illogical it is not to believe in God.

It is surely amazing that mankind has always complicated things with lots of things in Islam while the Message has been so, sooo 'freaking' simple that anyone able to think clearly can understand and follow the creed. It sure is the (2) behavior and the deeds that are measured and can come in a grand variety compared to (1) Faith that is straight-forward since God is One, nothing else to argue about, the ultimate power of the Universe. And God wants people who have developed personalities and not Muhammad copies or Jesus copies but our own honest selves that can lead their own lives and stand on their own feet although relying on God and seeing Him as their superior.

Verse worthy of repetition

2112 No; whoever (1) submits himself to God, (2) WHILE doing GOOD, he will have his recompense with his Lord. There will be no fear over them, nor will they grieve.

How can I emphasize more on good in this verse and it is also echoed in other verses as presented and involved in other contexts of Islam too.

For those who still doubt my preachings I have this verse

2148 And to each is a direction that he will take, so you shall race towards good deeds. Wherever you may be, God will bring you all together. God is capable of all things.

This verse is unfortunately in the context of those verses which point at the disputable topic of Qiblah which I consider meaning spiritual focus and not a physical direction where people should pray towards but the creed itself is the Qiblah with its community ways, which might mean that cultural belongings is not entirely wrong and the identity and certain ways to be righteous can differ between them. I possess no further Knowledge to discuss any in depth on this topic other than I am sure it means the slight differences in spiritual views such as lighting candles in spiritual moments or any other ways as long as it does not derail into idolatry. That was my comments on Qiblah, but we can all debate what it means and it ought not to be overly important as you know by now in my thread now what Islam is about. It is a one-two creed.

Islam not more than simply balancing good vs. evil

It feels relatively fantastic that Islam is really not much more than good vs. evil, and rely on good which comes from God and get to know your Creator as well as bond with Him. And those who lack the intelligence to heed the clear signs of the Lord will eventually meet their doom. Some people simply cannot believe no matter what you do and are not working towards the good, means in God's eyes that you are not really believing either since you do not understand the Message, which Qur'an is part of, and obviously losing out on the minimum amount of Knowledge and Wisdom required in Islam as presented before in this thread and needs to be balanced together with the remaining parts. It is a big failure not to see that goodness is the fundamental part of Islam as seen in recent posts, and then that is not an understatement. Was that not the main point of the Gospel?

2195 And spend in the cause of God, but do not throw your resources to disaster. And do good, for God LOVES those who do good.

Simply put, God points out clearly that goodness is something that He loves and what other conclusion does the wise draw from that?

Let us continue with this verse revealed by God many centuries ago

2277 Those who (1) believe and (2) do good works, and keep their Mindfulness, and contribute towards Purification; they will have their recompense with their Lord and there is no fear over them nor will they grieve.

Note Contact prayer was changed into my understanding of Mindfulness. While it still may not be entirely accurate I believe that it is a much better and more accurate choice than contact prayer. I will try to meditate and seek more answers for the case of as-salat at some time soon, but not now although by looking at the root of that disputed word cannot mean more than the bonding and connection to God whereas I chose Mindfulness as my choice to describe the phenomenon in English while it is likely as translating Islam into English.

Here it continues with a verse which advocates good deeds in a manner that hints at it as the foundation of the whole Faith

3104 And let there be a nation from among you who (2) calls towards goodness, and (2) orders kindness, and prohibits vice. And these are the successful ones.

Dear brothers and sister; what other conclusion can you draw of Islam than a religion that wishes to establish Peace and Prosperity as ultimate aim?

• 3113 They are not all the same, from the followers of the Message are a nation that is upright; they recite the revelations of God during the night hours and they prostrate.
  3114 They (1) believe in God and the (3) Last Day (Realm) and order kindness and prohibit vice, and they hasten in goodness; these are of the good doers.
  3115 And what they do of good will not be turned back, and God is aware of the righteous.

If you "hasten" in goodness; how can you think that an benevolent God will give you lots of weird rites to distract you?

• Indicates that they are not necessarily "Muslims" by "label", but those who heed the Message either from the past, present or the future.

For those who love giving back in revenge and cannot easily get back to civil behavior

3133 And race towards forgiveness from your Lord and a Paradise whose width encompasses the width of the heavens and of the earth; it has been prepared for the righteous.
3134 The ones who spend in prosperity and hardship, and who repress anger, and who pardon the people; God loves the good doers.

436 And (1) serve God and do not set up anything with Him, and (2) do good to the parents, and the relatives, and the orphans, and the needy, and the neighbor who is a relative, and the neighbor nearby, and the friend nearby, and the wayfarer, and those maintained by your oaths. God does not love the arrogant, the boastful.

"Treat thy neighbor as thyself" was a wise old saying allegedly originating from past Messengers. This above verse practically says the same. We must remember that charity does not always have to just mean cash up front. A smile and physical service towards someone can be worth just as much as money, if not more. The verse indicates that by doing the elements of it practically means that you do the service of God, another inclination that Islam is about harmony and justice among the people.

457 And those who (1) believe and (2) do good, We will admit them to estates with rivers flowing beneath them; abiding therein eternally, in it they will have pure mates, and We will admit them to a vast shade.

4122 As for those who (1) believe and (2) do good works, We will admit them to estates with rivers flowing beneath them, abiding therein eternally. The promise of God is truth; and who is more truthful in saying than God?

• 4123 It will not be by what you desire, nor by what the followers of the Message desire. Whoever works evil, he will be paid for it; and he will not find for himself besides God any supporter or victor.
  4124 And whoever (2) works good, whether male or female, and is a (1) believer, then these will be admitted to the Paradise, and they will not be wronged in the least.
  4125 And who is better in the system than the one who (1) submits himself to God, and he is a (2) good doer, and he follows the creed of Abraham in monotheism? And God took Abraham as a friend.

• The sectarians from from the revelations that came with Muhammad and the ones who today worship Jesus as God's son; to decide or the Jews. Face it, my dear brothers and sisters, the religious practices have no real value at all except follow the one-two way of serving God as I advocate in my posts. And it is primarily for what evil you did which will lead you towards doom. God is so very clear that he repeats the same phrase practically once before this verse and then after it with emphasis on belief and good deeds, and worth mentioning repeats the same theme in a subsequent verse again.

4173 As for those who (1) believe and (2) do good works, He will give them their recompense and increase for them from His bounty. And as for those who are too (-) proud and arrogant, He will punish them a painful retribution, and they will not find besides God any supporter or victor.

• 4174 O people, proof has come to you from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a guiding light.
  4175 As for those who (1) believe in God and hold fast to Him, He will admit them in a mercy from Him and a bounty, and He will guide them to Himself, a straight path.

• Yes. Surely the Message is very clear in Qur'an. IF Hold fast to God THEN will guide them to Himself on a straight path. Note that Qur'an is not required although it surely was sent down as an extra mercy from the Lord as a guide with clear guidelines. What will help you is to translate kitab as Message or Knowledge instead of physical book and you will see more clear into the Message. Everything that is bound to physical objects in this world is a risk of idolatry. The Message is bookless and jumped from people to people even though the majority failed to heed the Truth in it.

• 56 O you who believe, if you rise to keep your Mindfulness, then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you have had intercourse, then you shall purify. And if you are ill, or traveling, or you have excreted feces, or you have had sexual contact with the women, and you cannot not find water, then you shall select from the clean soil; you shall wipe your faces and your hands with it. God does not want to place any hardship on you, but He wants to cleanse you and to complete His blessings upon you that you may be thankful.
  57 And remember the blessings of God over you and His covenant that He has bound you with, for which you have said ?We hear and obey,? and be aware of God; for God knows what is in the chests.
  58 O you who believe, stand for God and be witnesses for justice, and let not the hatred towards a people make you avoid being just. Be just, for it is closer to righteousness, and (1) be aware of God. God is expert over what you do.
  59 God has promised those who (1) believe and (2) do good works that they will have forgiveness and a great recompense.

• It is purely for the spiritual reasons that you do this and it is keeping a good hygiene. Feel how fresh you feel when you sense the "magical" water that God created touch your gentle skin. When you are clean it is easier to focus and keep the connection to God as it will be no distraction. The soil I suppose it must be clean sand which can be rubbed against the skin to remove the worst dirt. Have you never tried to clean your shoes against the ground? Obviously it is a last solution if you feel impure. Anyway, if it accomplishes nothing what is worth most is righteousness and goodness (2).

One of the verses which tries to convey the message that practically anyone who fulfills these criteria have a chance of Heaven

569 Surely those who (1) believe; and those who are Jewish, and the Sabians, and the Nazarenes, (* and the "Muslims&quot, whoever of them (1) believes in God and the Last Day and (2) does good works; then they will have nothing to fear nor will they grieve.

• Muslims here is not in the original script but would have been there in a revelation from the Lord if He would reveal one today, probably not with Muslim term but rather Muhammadan or similar.

Sorry that I repeat the same content in a long post, but I wanted to show you how repeated this content is in Qur'an and yet people even here on the forum argue about the fundamentals of Islam. Hope you persevere in reading this post as I hope you may change your approach to the Message and the Great Reading, God willing, after this.

Warnings about complicating the creed and traps

587 O you who believe, do not make unlawful the good things that God has made lawful to you, and do not aggress; God does not love the aggressors.

Have not the sects transgressed on this exhortation not to forbid lawful things and to aggress from right to left? There is no "love thy neighbor as thyself".

593 There is no sin upon those who (1) believe and (2) do good works for what they eat if they are aware and believe and do good works, then they are aware and believe, then they are aware and do good; God loves the good doers.

Eat in the name of God.

• 5100 Say ?The bad and the good are not equal, even if the abundance of the bad impresses you.? So (1) be aware of God, O you who possess intelligence, that you may succeed.

Trap, trap, trap. One may be fooled to commit evil because the crowd already does it. Behavior is contagious.

648 And We do not send the messengers except as bearers of good news and warners; whoever (1) believes, and (2) does good, then there is no fear for them nor will they grieve.

There is no Islam, only islam, so to say (even if it is easier to identify it as Islam, I use Islam anyways). "If I (3) follow the Message, (1) believe and (2) do good I am free from fear or worries about the future."

6151 Say ?Come let me recite what your Lord has made unlawful for you that you should (-1) not set up anything with Him - and (2) do good to your parents; and do not kill your children for fear of poverty, We provide for you and for them; and do not come near immorality, what is public of it and private; and do not take the life which God has made forbidden, except in justice. That is what He enjoined you that you may comprehend.?
6152 ?And do not come near the money of the orphan, except for what is best, until he reaches his independence; and give honestly full measure and weight equitably. We do not burden a soul except with what it can bear, and if you speak then be just even if against a relative; and regarding the pledges made to God, you shall observe them. This He has enjoined you that you may remember.?
6153 And this is My path, a straight one. ?So follow it, and do not follow the other paths lest they divert you from His path. That is what He has enjoined you to that you may be righteous.?

Look at this and see that the Message was detailed already on Musa/Moses' time. The Message is "Believe in God and do what is right."

6154 Then We gave Moses (3) the Message, to complete for those who (2) do right, and to fully detail all things, and a guide and mercy that they may (1) believe in the meeting of their Lord.

The often so-called Mosaic Law is from here and you surely know what it contains, for example, you should not kill and equivalent punishment, i.e eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, however Jesus taught that it is better to forgive than to punish. Much more righteous! Forget "religions" and join God's creed of "i"slam right away with two easy steps to focus on.

6155 And this is a (3) Message that We have sent down which is blessed, so follow it and be aware, that you may receive mercy.
6156 Lest you say ?The Message was only sent down to two groups before us, and we were unaware of their study!?

6159 Those who have divided their system and become sects, you are not with them in anything. Their matter will be with God, then He will inform them of what they had done.

This is what the majority of people on Earth have done sadly enough instead of uniting under the very same Message and instead they follow only conjecture and invented ideas which distract them from the true service of God. Any person from any "religion" can serve and revere the Lord together by two easy steps, (1) reverence and glorification, and (2) "treating the other neighbor as thyself". God's verse does not mean that you have to freeze them out, but their strange practices and service of God is what He means that you shall not participate in.

6160 Whoever comes with a (2) good deed, he will receive ten times its worth, and whoever comes with a sin, he will only be recompensed its like; they will not be wronged.

Minor sins are not so bad as long as your are mindful of them and repent your deeds. Sometimes it is difficult to get away from certain behavior (perhaps homosexuality?), but we shall always remember that one who sins shall surely be forgiven lesser sins with a bunch-load of (2) good and beautiful deeds as long as he keeps away from the major sins such as idolatry which is the backbone of Islam (1).

6162 Say (1) ?My Mindfulness, and my rites, and my life, and my death, are all to God, Lord of the worlds.?
6163 ?He has NO partner, and it is to this that I was commanded, and I am the first of those who have submitted.?

Indeed, He has no partner and the Messenger/Apostle/Missionary is only a deliverer of good news as well as a warner. Submit to the Lord of the Universe and give up on idolatry. The Prophet or Messenger or whatever Message-bearer from God has no importance compared to the Master of the Universe.

72 A (3) MESSAGE that has been sent down to you, so let there not be any burden in your chest from it, that (2) you may warn with it; and a (1) reminder to the believers.
73 (2,3) Follow what was sent down to you from your Lord, and do not follow besides Him any supporters. Little do you remember!

God is very thorough in The Great Reading and people have the Truth right in front of their very eyes, but most are deaf and blind and their mind is diseased and locked from taking in the Truth.

732 Say ?Who has made unlawful the nice things that God has brought forth for His servants and the good provisions?? Say ?They are meant for those who believe during this worldly life, and they will be exclusive for them on the Day of Resurrection.? It is such that We explain the revelations for those who know.

"Where is my music? Where is my movie entertainment? Where is my (uncensored) Internet?" In certain locales the true Believers suffer because of the imbeciles. That is the day for millions of Iranians where I lived for a few years.

Say ?My Lord has made unlawful immorality; what is public of it and private; and sin, and aggression without cause, and that you set up partners with God that which He has never authorized, and that you say about God what you do not know.?

Always the sexuality is used as an aggression point for immorality as something to make an abomination while it means immoral as in deceive your wife or fool someone of money and many of the things The Great Reading goes through already up until this point. The funny thing is that traditionalists contradict the same verse with ideas and conjecture they have.

By the name of God; I should not even have to explain all this for you, but the Lord is Merciful, Most Kind. Do you not see that I wish to help you?

7188 Say ?I do not possess for myself any benefit or harm, except what God wills. And if I could know the future, then I would have increased my good fortune, and no harm would have come to me. I am but a warner and a bearer of good news to a people who believe.?

Muhammad was no superman, see? He was just an ordinary man who (1) believed and (2) did good and (3) believed the Message of old. Otherwise it is just a "say" command which anyone can say who feel hit by the urge to express the line. God blessed him because of this and he was a blessed man who excelled in this life and was promoted to Messenger/Apostle/Missionary and has a special link to God and at the same time part of God's plot.

Back to the good news for those who believe

742 As for those who (1) believe and (2) do good; We do not burden a soul except with what it can bear; those are the dwellers of the Paradise, in it they will abide.

Enough evidence already, or?

837 This is so that God will distinguish the bad from the good, and so that the bad will be gathered together into one heap then He will cast it all into Hell. These are the losers.

This life is just a test that you may show that you qualify for God's Kingdom which Jesus preached about and all other Messengers every came to the face of the Earth.

971 And the believing males and the believing females, they are allies to one another. They (2) order good and prohibit vice, and they keep their (1) Mindfulness, and they contribute towards Purification and they (1,2,3) obey God and His messenger. God will have mercy on them; God is Noble, Wise.

Obey as in follow the very extremely simple Message of Islam and we know that the Messenger is only to make the reverent remind themselves of the Message and warn the Disbelievers.

109 Those who (1) believe and (2) do good works, their Lord will guide them by their Faith. Rivers will flow beneath them in gardens of bliss.

My circular diagram is confirmed in this verse. When you follow (1) and (2), your Lord will guide you and it does not require The Great Reading necessarily even if it is a big bonus for the Reverent.

1026 For (2) those who do good will be good and more, and their faces will not be darkened or humiliated. These are the people of the Paradise, in it they will abide.

Following the actions of the creed leads you far on the path.

1123 Those who (1) believe and (2) do good works, and are humble towards their Lord; they are the dwellers of the Paradise, in it they will remain.

11114 And hold the Mindfulness at two parts of the day, and the near part of the night. (2) The good deeds take away the bad. This is a reminder to those who remember.
11115 And be patient, for God does not waste the reward of the good doers.

Being mindful of God all around the clock and doing good will remove the sins eventually when you get closer and closer to God through Nearness and Guidance.

1256 And it was such that We gave Joseph authority in the land, to travel in it as he pleases. We bestow Our mercy upon whom We please, and We do not waste the reward of the good doers.
1257 And the reward of the Hereafter is better for those who believe and are aware.

Something that happened to Joseph could also happen to anyone of us if we had the same caliber as these past righteous people.

1329 The ones who have (1) believed, and have (2) done good works, there will be happiness for them and a wonderful abode.

1423 And those who (1) believed and (2) did good works were admitted to estates with rivers flowing beneath them. In them they will abide with the permission of their Lord. Their greeting therein is ?Peace.?

Final verses narrated to you (promise!)

1630 And it was said to those who were righteous ?What has your Lord sent down?? They said (2) ?All goodness.? For those who have done good in this world there is good; and the Hereafter is goodness. Excellent indeed is the home of the righteous.
1631 Gardens of delight; which they will enter, with rivers flowing beneath them, in it they will have what they wish. It is such that God rewards the righteous.
1632 Those whom their lives are terminated by the angels, while they had been good, they will say ?Peace be upon you, enter the Paradise because of that which you have done.?

Such a friendly reception the righteous will get once they leave this world. Actions lead to Peace and Prosperity.

Source Verses taken from Monotheist Qur'an (rev. 2013) with certain minor modifications to the text