Hello, Rebels
-
Salam Sister.
I am really impressed that at such young age of 25 you have attained the maturity to analyze the issues from an independent perspective. This is surely a gift. Perhaps much more valuable gift than any relationship with any individual. Preserve this gift!
and I am not Muslim...at least, not right now.
Nor am I a Democrat! I mean I am not political supporter of any party named Democratic Party. But of course I believe in democratic principles. From that perspective it is not incorrect to call me a democrat.
If you have stayed with this forum long enough, you should by now understand that, from Qur?anic perspective, ?muslim? is not someone who subscribes to a set of religious dogmas, nor someone who belongs to any ethno-religious group OR believes in a particular ?divine book? / messenger. Abraham ? who is often called ?the precise muslim? in Qur?an never knew about Qur?an or Muhammad, nor did he know about Moses, Jesus, Torah or the Gospels. Muslim is anyone who voluntarily submits to his/her God gifted senses of right and wrong, good and bad as an inviolable obligation to the One who gave him/her the gift of life. Muslim is anyone who upholds his intellect and conscience as his/her direct obligation to God.
So, while you may not feel inclined to join the religious group named ?Muslims? ? I have a feeling that in your heart you may be striving to be submissive (muslim) to God.
I was raised Christian and have no issues with my religion at this time, nor do I feel God pulling me away from there. ? ? Not to sound like a "crazy" here, but I don't believe in one religion for everyone. Our God made us so vastly different, no part of me can believe that He truly expects us to all agree on something as significant as the details surrounding Him, especially when we have so many different accounts and possibilities.
Well, I was not raised Christian, but I believe I am becoming one after studying the Qur?an! I accept Jesus as the Christ (savior / messiah) ? and I believe he is the one who liberated the Children of Israel from believing in God as a ?jealous deity?? to teaching them God as the Father (More precisely, Originator) of every one of us. And thus he transformed the religion of an ethnic group ? into a religion open to entire mankind. He called the children of Israel towards believing in the same God who taught all men ? irrespective of race and religion ? what is good and what is bad. He called them towards the same God who gave mankind their conscience and intellect ? just like He gave them their vision and hearing. His teachings, as we still find in the Gospels, was and continues to be some of the most sublime and precise teachings of human morality and judgment. And it is more than possible that one would be guided aright if one follows those teachings.
And so was Muhammad and the teachings he brought through Qur?an.
But the problem begins when we take Jesus or Muhammad from their role of Christ or Messenger and make them into something they are not meant to be. When someone equates Jesus with God ? it creates the doorways to preach incorrect teachings / ideology in name of Jesus and pass it on as the command of God. That was the path taken by the crusaders and Hitler. It is absolutely critical to maintain the distinction between God ? who created you and me with our senses of right and wrong, and Jesus the Christ who was God?s word living within us in flesh. Only when you maintain this distinction you can be rest assured that the Christ could not have possibly taught anything that goes against human morality and judgment. Only when you maintain this distinction you can challenge any deviated preacher who may be inclined to pass on incorrect teaching in the name of Jesus. Even if you are not ready to rebel against the "religious teachings" that you have grown up with by proclaiming "Jesus is not God" - in your heart you need to realize this distinction.
Similarly, when someone equates the folklore passing around in the name of Muhammad with the word of God which is preserved in Qur?an ? it creates the doorways to preach incorrect teachings / ideology in name of Muhammad and pass it on as the command of Allah. That is the path taken by the ISIS and Boko-Haram. It is absolutely critical to maintain the distinction between word of Allah ? who created you and me with our senses of right and wrong, and the ?religious teachings? which is passed on to us through generations. Only when we maintain this distinction we can be rest assured that the messenger of Allah could not have possibly taught anything that goes against human morality and judgment. Only when we maintain this distinction we can challenge any deviated preacher who may be inclined to pass on incorrect teaching in the name of Muhammad. Even if your friend is not ready to rebel against the "religious teachings" that he has grown up with by proclaiming "I do not follow manmade Hadith" - in his heart he needs to realize this distinction.
So, what can you do to reconcile between your family and the friend? Well, first of all I?d suggest that you check with your friend whether he agrees that our conscience and intellect is our inviolable obligation to our Creator. In other words if someday someone calls him towards a ?religious cause? that conflicts with morality ? does he agree that being against human morality the cause will be by-default a call of devil and thus null and void? If you can be convinced that your friend has this understanding right - you can take him as a reliable friend. But if you find that your friend is ready or willing to take human preachers as partner to God to overrule his God-gifted conscience and intellect ? then you better be careful.
364 Say, ?O! Fraternity of the book - (let us) come to a common term between us and between you ? that we do not be slave to (anyone) except Allah and that we do not associate any partners with Him, and that some of us do not take the rest as masters from beside Allah.? Then if they turn away ? then say, ?Bear witness that we are submissive (muslim).?
(My personal translation from Qur?an; cross checking encouraged.)
Based on what you have already mentioned about your friend I am assuming you will find your friend on the side of God (i.e. ready to uphold his God gifted senses of right and wrong as the primary obligation to God.)
If that is the case, then you can go back to you family and ask them if they too believe that upholding our God gifted senses of right and wrong is our the primary obligation to God. Hoping they would agree, you should be able to convince them as long as we humans can agree on this basic principle ? we can work together and even live together in a family. And that?s the triumph of humanity over the forces of separation pushed by the devils.2213 Mankind used to be a single community. Then Allah animated the prophets, as bearer of (glad) tidings and as bearer of warnings, and sent down with them the book in truth to judge among mankind in what they differed in it. And none differed in it except the ones ? they were given it from after clear proofs which came to them - envy among them. Then Allah guided those who had faith regarding what they differed in it from the truth with His authorization. And Allah guides to straight route whomever He wills.
(My personal translation from Qur?an; cross checking encouraged.)
God/Allah is your Master and our Master. So let?s be slave to Him. That is the straight route.
May Allah guide us all.
Regards,
Arman -
A little about me, I am a 25 year old American female, and I am not Muslim...at least, not right now.
The word 'muslim' is a word that has a meaning..
Originally it was not a name or label for a member of a specific cult/religion.
The word lies in the same domain as "honest, compassionate, kind, patience"..
It's a word that describe's one character..muslim people are spread everywhere, across many nationalities, cult and religion. In similar manner as honest people are spread everywhere.
The recommendation to be muslim is being constantly communicated throughout the ages, from ancient books up to today's self help book.
In the Gospel it appears in
"Let Your will be done also in the earth, just as it is in Heaven"I was raised Christian and have no issues with my religion at this time, nor do I feel God pulling me away from there. I do, however, have a new found interest in Islam and have been committed to learning more about it in any way I can. This interest was triggered by my relationship - I entered into a relationship with a Muslim man about 1.5 years ago. Given the not-so-great reputation of Islam in the world, I get a lot of flack for this. He's a great man, but my family has a lot of issues with his religion. I've taken it upon myself to refute any "horrors" of Islam they hear about and know about.
The religion of Islam, Christianity, Judaism is full of 'horror' if you read the history.
It all caused by PRIDE, ARROGANCE, HATRED and GREED.Jesus didn't start the religion of Christianity in the same manner as Muhammad didn't start the religion of Islam.
Originally, I didn't know anything about Hadith - I didn't know it was considered part of Islam
Hadith and Priestly Decree is part of the religion of Islam.
The inventor of Islam mimics the operational model of Christianity and Judaism.
If you join the cult you need to obey your priest and everything he say without questioning..I knew only about the Quran. My boyfriend had told me that Islam was about following the Quran and the Prophet's Sunnah,
Your boyfriend is incorrect Islam, like any other cult, is all about following the decree coming from 'religious authority'..
Not to sound like a "crazy" here, but I don't believe in one religion for everyone. Our God made us so vastly different, no part of me can believe that He truly expects us to all agree on something as significant as the details surrounding Him, especially when we have so many different accounts and possibilities.
You're not crazy at all.. it's the religious who are actually crazy... there's no one religion for anyone..
Religion was invented not with "God" in mind, for the inventor of religion; Gods/Deities is just a tool to reach their end goal.
Which usually revolves around; POWER, WEALTH and MIND CONTROL.Of course I believe there is ultimately one Truth, but I don't necessarily believe that we have that Truth. I do believe that there is a "truth" for every person, and that every "truth" serves a purpose - whether it is to "test" how we treat those who differ, to challenge and help others grow in their beliefs, to aid our submission to Him, or to simply bring comfort to someone's life. This is also why I believe in the Quran, but I don't feel it necessary to convert (of course, that could change at any time). At this time, I am comfortable that God wants me here as a Christian.
Religion is not about seeking truth either, that's why questioning is heavily discouraged.
It's all about 'following the leader without questioning'...And my advice is not to convert to one religion/cult, if you can you should be thinking of 'uncoverting' yourselves from any religion OR convert yourselves to as many religion as possible.
In both of the above option, you'll avoid yourselves from being fanatically attached / identified yourselves with one religion.
And keep your sanity above the insanity of any religion / cult.Last and not least welcome welcome welcome
-
Harmony to you sister,
Welcome to the forum. I hope you do not mind that I make some commentary about your post just like my brethren here did. No harm intended with anything I write but only to help.
A little about me, I am a 25 year old American female, and I am not Muslim...at least, not right now.
Muslim is not a member of an organized religion called Islam, Muslim is an Arabic word for a person who has faith inside his or her heart. Ignorant people who have interpreted the book called Qur'an were unable to grasp what "God" intended with this descriptive word. In Arabic it has more connotations, but for a person used to English it can best be summed up as 'faith' although it refers to harmony, (spiritual) health and well-being. Some say security and safeness which can be connoted with faith, even trust.
When you greet someone in Arabic (and Hebrew) with 'salaam/shaloom' you basically wish them well, like 'be you safe', although in ground and bottom the word speaks of faith and restfulness of heart, which you accomplish if you are 'aslama l'Rabb', i.e. faithful to the Rabb/Sustainer/Foundation. Some advocate it connotes 'submission' which it does not. Arabic has other words for that.
I was raised Christian and have no issues with my religion at this time, nor do I feel God pulling me away from there.
That is fine. You can continue with it, but you may like to tone down on the 'Christian' label you attribute to yourself and merely refer to the fact you have faith in "God". Jesus was a very good man and I have no problems with him and I know him better than Muhammad actually which is a man who have been stained and blackmailed by ignorant people for the past 1000 years and whose real character only comes forth if you interpret Qur'an as it was intended to be read. And then the real Muhammad looks much like Jesus in character. Ahmad, the (spirit) name actually means to be 'goodly'. Another thing is that people misunderstood what Jesus wanted to tell the world with his assimilation with "God" and that Father was in him and he was in the Father. He talked about spiritual assimilation and joining the realm of the Father just like the person who preaches Qur'an wants to convey in an uncorrupted interpretation of it.
Jesus said that "you will all be "children of the Father" if you do like me". He did not mean he was literally a straight-off son of God. He was a prophet (nabi=enlightened one) and one that was like a spiritual powerhouse by having utter control over the 'Holy Spirit'.
What Jesus taught, Muhammad taught (I have my personal suspicions about the phenomenon of Muhammad though) and there is not really any difference between the two except they were different individuals with their own specific personalities and probably way of articulating themselves. So a person who does the works as Jesus did is fine off, only there is a huge confusion regarding whom Jesus was for some people as they equal him with "God" which Jesus clearly protested when he uttered the Mosaic Law about whom you shall serve
6The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been
handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.
7All this will be yours, if you worship me."
8Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written 'You shall worship the Lord, your God, and
him alone shall you serve.'"However, I understand if you hesitate to "convert" to the war-religion of Islam and strange Pagan practices and stuff. I would then advise you to remain Christian rather than adopting that label. The Christ's teachings were better than Satan's. But if you accept Qur'an as a narrative which is founded of something from "God" you can continue to study it with a critical eye.
I do, however, have a new found interest in Islam and have been committed to learning more about it in any way I can.
It is good that you got your eyes up on Qur'an. Remain interested and keep the teaching of the Christ.
He's a great man, but my family has a lot of issues with his religion. I've taken it upon myself to refute any "horrors" of Islam they hear about and know about.
I understand this. My family also reacted when I mentioned subtly about my interest in Qur'an a few years ago.
Originally, I didn't know anything about Hadith - I didn't know it was considered part of Islam, I knew only about the Quran.
It is not part of Islam. It is the words of Satan and his collaborators. The Muhammad you read about in various interpretations of Qur'an is not the real Muhammad either, but he is disguised under a ton of false inferences of what the Arabic language says.
I will openly admit a bias at this point, because I am in love and I want to ease the fears of my family, and I have found nothing that says I can do that with Hadith as part of the picture. However, that has not clouded my judgement, my interpretations, or my logic. I still want to find the truth and at this point, I simply cannot believe that the truth is in Hadith.
It is not. It is like Jesus said about ravenous wolves representable clothing who fabricate worthless narratives. However, the Arabic text is authentic from which is called Qur'an, albeit corrupted in interpretation. Satan used another strategy in instead of manipulating the text, instead caused words and grammar to have entirely differing connotations.
I have been in a month-long debate with a guy over the necessity of Hadith (over 100 messages back and forth) and it is not going anywhere. He is certain he is correct, but nothing he has shown me convinces me he is. This is a large part of why I am finally starting an account here - I will likely need the assistance of those who have studied more than I have.
It is hard to convince a stubborn man who is not open-minded. And many people are arrogant and they trust people who in return were arrogant and deceptive and representable so that you may think they are knowledgeable. People are also far too trusting in historical sources such as dictionaries and classical understanding of individual words and grammar.
Not to sound like a "crazy" here, but I don't believe in one religion for everyone.
There is only one "religion" for anyone and that is faith. No Paganism, no strange rituals and stuff but only being a good person. Religions/sects are created by men.
At this time, I am comfortable that God wants me here as a Christian.
You can remain that since Jesus delivered the presently least corrupted message.
Anyway, my apologies for the introductory novel. I look forward to our future discussions
And my apologies for a complicated reply.
Have faith
-
Hi Sister,
There is no compulsion in religion, if you want to disbelief carry on, if you want to have faith, carry on. Maybe you want to read the quran at least to understand what are the so called "Quraniyyun" believed? My advice is, it will be though if you convert to "islam" while you questioning the hadist, even for the one who was born Islam like me can be very dangerous. Better rethink about it.
-
Peace sister.
Here are some notes about "hadith" and why Qoran is the complete message.
See what you think?
http//submission.org/App19.html
GOD bless you.
Peace. -
Not to sound like a "crazy" here, but I don't believe in one religion for everyone. Our God made us so vastly different, no part of me can believe that He truly expects us to all agree on something as significant as the details surrounding Him, especially when we have so many different accounts and possibilities. Of course I believe there is ultimately one Truth, but I don't necessarily believe that we have that Truth. I do believe that there is a "truth" for every person, and that every "truth" serves a purpose - whether it is to "test" how we treat those who differ, to challenge and help others grow in their beliefs, to aid our submission to Him, or to simply bring comfort to someone's life. This is also why I believe in the Quran, but I don't feel it necessary to convert (of course, that could change at any time). At this time, I am comfortable that God wants me here as a Christian.
What is a Christian and what is a Muslim and what is a Buddhist and what is a Satanist? You should perhaps address what makes you hesitant to "convert" and what "conversion" even means to you or what do you imagine in association with the term?
The Christian practice is the practice of Islam, all you should add to your life is the inclusion of the worship practice for your own benefit, if you believe in the Qur'an then you're already a believer, all you have to do is worship now in that ancient fashion that was practiced around the whole world, even by Christians originally.
As for what you said, the Qur'an says the same
2267
For every community We assigned devotional acts so that they be ones who perform rites. So let them not bicker with thee in the command. And call thou to thy Lord. Truly, Thou art on a guidance, that which is straight.548
We have sent down the Book to you with the truth, fulfilling revealed in the previous scriptures and determining what is true therein, and as a guardian over it. Judge, therefore, between them by what God has revealed, and do not follow their vain desires turning away from the truth that has come to you. To every one of you We have ordained a law and a way, and had God so willed, He would have made you all a single community, but He did not so will, in order that He might try you by what He has given you. Vie, then, with one another in doing good works; to God you shall all return; then He will make clear to you about what you have been disputing.6108
Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance. Thus have We made alluring to each people its own doings. In the end will they return to their Lord, and We shall then tell them the truth of all that they did.
If you want to learn more about the Qur'an, Islam, and Comparative religion, and to become an even more devout Christian, please feel free to email me at [email protected]
Islam (surrender) simply can mean, in its extended meaning "finding peace/relief/healing through total surrender/submission/total acceptance of the Reality/Truth (Al-Haqq) which is the Ultimate (Allah/God) alone (who is like nothing, as in not made of information, but makes all information).
The "Mu" added before Islam makes the term "Muslim" meaning "One who performs Islam" or "One who finds peace/relief/healing through total surrender/submission/total acceptance of the Reality/Truth which is the Ultimate alone (who is like nothing, as in not made of information, but makes all information)".
Who would not want to be that? A true Christian would definitely be that. Islam is not a unique religion that differs at all from other religions, all the religions at their highest level and teaching are Islam, they all promote Islam, Islam is the term for the "core" or "proto" religion of the world, the religion behind all religions, the action that leads to paradise that was spoken about by even Buddhists, Hindus, and whoever else.
I can teach you all the religions, even Satanism and Luciferianism, and I would be teaching you Islam through them if I taught them correctly, because they are all just linguistic frameworks used to describe one thing ultimately or can be used to describe one thing ultimately.
So you can be a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a "Pagan", a Buddhist, a Hindu, and whatever else simultaneously if you define things carefully and know what you are saying, and even simultaneously an Atheist, a Satanist, a Luciferian if you carefully define things, because all these are just linguistic frameworks of certain terms and similar terms which can be used to refer to the same Ultimate Truth.
So I encourage you to take up my offer, and in doing so, you will also find your Christianity strengthened and clarified, even the Trinity will make sense if it is explained properly and carefully and how the idea developed and how it is now been vastly misunderstood.
So again, my email is [email protected] and I believe you can benefit greatly from learning these things.
-
Harmony to you,
I also used to think that the "Mu" meant "one (who)", but it does not. The suffix (e.g. MuslimEEN) used in the Arabic word is what defines "one(s) (who)". The Meem is a grammatical function giving a derivative and reference which could be translated as "thereof (be)". It is a passive reference. It gives a status condition, information, regarding the subject in question based on the context.
Have faith
-
I apologize for any mistake or misleading statements I may have made and I appreciate the assistance greatly (in the case of mentioning it above, I did not wish to bog down the reader with too much specificity regarding the interesting rules in Arabic grammar, and I hope that my statements are not too greatly misleading or inaccurate that it should cause any to falter or go vastly astray)
To clarify
The document at the following link http//peterhallman.com/Passive.pdf says on page 6
"The participial prefix mu- does not induce a change in the form of
the stem.
Participle formation in the non-form I verbs therefore preserves the (underlying)
vowel melody of the imperfect stem. And since the active/passive distinction is
expressed though the vowel melody of the stem, participle formation preserves the
expression of active and passive in the stem.Passive participles are formed by prefixing mu- to a passive stem.
Active participles are formed by prefixing mu- to an active stem.
mu- is a general derivational affix that attaches to an imperfect verbal stem and forms a
participle. The passive morpheme co-occurs with the participial morpheme mu- in
the passive participles. Note that this appears to be unlike English, where passivization
and participle formation are said to be encoded in a single morpheme, the participial
marker -en, in alternations like write~written, take~taken etc. But I will ultimately show
that Arabic and English are more similar than it seems."Someone else wrote
"2. MU- a participle prefix meaning the person or thing to which the ACTION of the verb H-M-D has been APPLIED. It is attached to a derivative of a verb. "
Wikipedia has
"The word muslim (Arabic , IPA ; English /mzlm/, /mzlm/, /mslm/ or moslem /mzlm/, /mslm/) is the participle of the same verb of which islm is the infinitive, based on the triliteral S-L-M "to be whole, intact"."
"Burns & Ralph, World Civilizations, 5th ed., p. 371.
Jump up ^ Entry for ?lm, p. 2067, Appendix B Semitic Roots, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Boston, New York Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ISBN 0-618-08230-1."Etymonline says
Muslim Look up Muslim at Dictionary.com
1610s (n.), 1777 (adj.), from Arabic muslim "one who submits" (to the faith), from root of aslama "he resigned." Related to Islam.
Mussulman (n.) Look up Mussulman at Dictionary.com
"a Muslim," 1560s, from Turkish musulman, from Persian musulman (adj.), from Arabic muslim (see Muslim) + adjective suffix -an.
salaam Look up salaam at Dictionary.com
Muslim greeting, 1610s, from Arabic salam (also in Urdu, Persian), literally "peace" (compare Hebrew shalom); in full, (as)salam 'alaikum "peace be upon you," from base of salima "he was safe" (compare Islam, Muslim).
"A participle is a form of a verb that is used in a sentence to modify a noun, noun phrase, verb or verb phrase, and thus plays a role similar to that of an adjective or adverb"
http//www-01.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAParticiple.htm
"The mu- prefix forms a noun from the verb, making either the agent or the passive recipient of the action.
e.g. mu
allim =teacher (active noun). muallam = taught person/thing (passive noun).muhammad = praised one (passive noun).
some verbs have a different form to express the same idea, e.g. kaatib = writer (active noun). maktuub =written thing (passive noun).
Asker's rating & comment
4 out of 5
Thanks the way it was being used for both active and passive was confusing me since a lot of other languages use separate forms for agent and recipient!"
http//www.peterhallman.com/Predicates.pdf page 12 says
"Classical Arabic back vowel /u/ in mu-. This diachronic change did not affect the vowel of
the form I passive participle, however. It was ma- in Classical Arabic as in Modern
Lebanese Arabic. The fact that the diachronic vowel change failed to affect maf9uul
indicates that it is truly a different vowel from that of the participle forming morpheme,
suggesting that ma- of maf9uul is a different creature altogether from the participle forming
morpheme. Furthermore, nothing like a participial prefix is evident in the active participle of
form I faa9il. So if ma- in maf9uul is actually the participial prefix mi-, we lose the
generalization that mi- attaches to all and only morphologically complex verbs and are left
without an explanation for the absence of any form of mi- in the active participles of form I.
But there is an explanation for this if ma- is not a participial morpheme, namely the one just
stated mi- only applies to morphologically complex verbs (i.e. non-form I verbs, for
whatever reason). This leaves the matter of the role of ma- in maf9uul unresolved for now,
but this issue will be clarified shortly. The important point for now is that maf9uul differs
from the other participles in containing the prefix ma-."
http//www.academia.edu/208356/Syntactic_Classes_of_the_Arabic_Active_Participle_and_their_Equivalents_in_Translation_A_Comparative_Study_in_Two_English_Quranic_Translations
2
- Syntactic Classes of the Arabic Active Participle
The active participle (AP) is a morphological form derivedfrom a verb to refer to the person or animate being that performsthe action denoted by the verb. In Classical and Modern StandardArabic grammars, it is called /?ism-u l-faa9il/ 'noun of the agent'and it has two patterns; one formed from the primary triradicalverb and the other from the derived triradical as well as thequadriradical verbs. The former has the form , e.g./9aabid/ 'worshipping' and the latter is formed from the imperfectform of the verb by replacing the consonant of the imperfect prefix with /m/ and replacing the vowel before the lastconsonant with /i/ if it is not already /i/. Therefore, the normal pattern would be in most cases , e.g. /mukrim/'honoring'. In Gadalla (2000 187-94), I gave a detailed analysisof the phonological and morphological processes involved in thederivation of AP forms. This study focuses on the syntacticclasses of these forms and their English translations. Thesesyntactic classes can also be called positional or functionalclasses. For the term "functional", I adopt Trask's (1993 109)definitionPertaining to the grammatical purposes served byconstituents, rather than to their form. For example,the functional category
adverbial
may be realized by a lexical adverb, a prepositional phrase, an
3
infinitival complement or a subordinate clause.'Functional' in this sense contrasts with
formal
.Syntactically, the AP performs a number of functions. It can be used as a noun, adjective or tense form (i.e. replacing verbs).Wright (1967 1/109) considers it one of the "deverbal nouns",calls it the "nomen agentis" and calls the passive participle the"nomen patientis." In another place, he states that both of them are"verbal adjectives, i.e. adjectives derived from verbs, andcorrespond in nature and signification to what we call participles.... These verbal adjectives often become ... substantives" (Ibid1/131). He further explains this as followsWhen formed from and the
transitive
, these nomina agentis are not onlyreal participles, indicating a temporary, transitory or accidental action or state of being, but also serve asadjectives or substantives, expressing a continuousaction, a habitual state of being, or a permanentquality. ... But if from the
intransitive
andfrom , they have only the participial sense.(Ibid 1/131-2).Other linguists (e.g. Thackston 1984) treat the AP as an adjectivefor two reasons. First, it behaves morphologically as an adjective,specially in its inflection for gender and number. It makes itsfeminine, dual and plural by using regular adjectival suffixes.Second, although it can be used as a noun or verb, it oftenfunctions as an adjective. Thus, Thackston (Ibid 41-2) asserts?The active participle often functions, like the English present4
active participle in -ing, as a verbal adjective for on-going action,or the durative aspect.? On the other hand, Kremers (2003 145)distinguishes between verbal and nominal participlesVerbal participles often have the value of a clause,either a main clause, a subclause or a relative clause.Such participles have verbal properties, e.g., in beingable to assign accusative case. ... Nominal participleshave the value of a noun or adjective, and .... they arenot able to assign accusative case. Instead, they willuse the genitive or the preposition
li
'to, for' to licensetheir objects.Some Arab grammarians (e.g. Hassan 1980) define the APas a noun and some (e.g. Al-Andalusi 1990) define it as anadjective. But there is agreement between them that it cansometimes do the work of a verb. Hassan (1980 23 defines theAP as "a derived noun which denotes an absolute temporaryaction as well as its agent." Also, Al-Hashemi (2000 310)defines it as "a noun derived from the verbal noun of the activeverb to denote the person doing the action, with the meaning of renewal and incidence."On the other hand, Radwan (1987 19) defines the AP as"the adjective denoting an action, its incidence and its agent."Moreover, Al-Andalusi (1990 70) asserts that the AP is "theadjective denoting an agent, corresponding in masculinity andfemininity to the imperfect of its verb, and having its meaning or that of the perfect."
http//www.yourdictionary.com/muezzin
"Origin of muezzin
Arabic mu'adhdhin, present participle of adhdhana, frequentative of adhana, to proclaim ; from udhn, an ear"
https//books.google.ca/books?id=kdWHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=mu+participle+in+arabic+means&source=bl&ots=TuRm6jtp3Y&sig=ridZMUItmmvs-owGkBbvFPVrJwg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZKOrVJSGLMXxoASVhoDQBA&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=mu%20participle%20in%20arabic%20means&f=false
The Mu explained as a "one who performs" may be more appropriate in describing the epithets of Allah in a general sense, rather than "that which has been performed on" or other passive forms for the participle which can either be active or passive depending on what it is appended to.
https//books.google.ca/books?id=18b-K9AMLlwC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=mu+participle+in+arabic+means&source=bl&ots=zj-L95UUJr&sig=g7V02Dnp_oZH4EnUlIDaPVAE41E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZKOrVJSGLMXxoASVhoDQBA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=mu%20participle%20in%20arabic%20means&f=false
So I apologize again for any misunderstanding in my statement, but in a very general sense the mu is often appended to words related to something being done either actively or passively, so to explain it to English speaking audiences in a simple way at first, I hope that I am not at all misleading them, since it is generally accepted as a truism or mainstream knowledge that the term "muslim" means "one who performs Islam" and the other words with mu attached to indicate a performer or the performance by an agent of something like the call to prayer, or teaching. Though like you showed, the matter may not be that simple but hopefully there is no great harm in explaining it as such initially in simple terms as a basic understanding for the meaning of these sorts of words without causing too great a confusion. I do apologize though if anything I said was really a major problem and thank you again for your bringing it up and allowing me the opportunity to clarify with the information above.
Some more comments from people
"Ok I think you mean when you put a in front of a word right? In MSA, not dialect? Well, it can be used to make a verb into the person who does the action or the place the action is done. It's way more complicated than that, but that's the condensed, simplified explanation. Here's an example
means to study and is a school, or a place of studying.
is sickness, and is a nurse, or someone who takes care of the sick.
is to cook, and is a kitchen, or a place of cooking.
Get it? Like I said, this is just a simplified explanation, but I hope it's helpful. It can also be used to make a word the...(Bear with me, been YEARS since my last English class) I wanna say it's called the participle? Like and which mean to request, and the requested. The first is the verb, and the second is the receiver of the action. Got it?"
http//sites.middlebury.edu/arabiclinguistics/files/2012/03/arabic_word_structure_ryding_3.pdf
This book also teaches the idea of "doer" in relation to "mu" or "agent which performs task"
https//books.google.ca/books?id=W9nSykbuJMkC&pg=PA221&lpg=PA221&dq=meaning+of+mu-+prefix+in+arabic&source=bl&ots=8S2mXAzTZk&sig=PQ7nhD10-W_WR9zHKaj8BqMv3RE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eKarVPmTEYvnoATS7oDADA&ved=0CFMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=meaning%20of%20mu-%20prefix%20in%20arabic&f=falsehttps//books.google.ca/books?id=Hq3Ig9x4iQkC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=meaning+of+mu-+prefix+in+arabic&source=bl&ots=9hsgckXqV2&sig=Pd3Q8gRQdYaR-AuzhLplacuxi1U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=q6erVJrmGNLmoATQ4YCADw&ved=0CB4Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=meaning%20of%20mu-%20prefix%20in%20arabic&f=false
https//books.google.ca/books?id=IfHQx5FUZW8C&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=meaning+of+mu-+prefix+in+arabic&source=bl&ots=uNfoOR24UM&sig=X38IJhSC1nt3zyR7vb_679AAiWo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=q6erVJrmGNLmoATQ4YCADw&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=meaning%20of%20mu-%20prefix%20in%20arabic&f=false
This calls it a personal prefix
https//books.google.ca/books?id=ZPDueSuWY1gC&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=meaning+of+mu-+prefix+in+arabic&source=bl&ots=oWkfbxe167&sig=_v29OYyOtPKLVI5nQCTqZH_ltog&hl=en&sa=X&ei=q6erVJrmGNLmoATQ4YCADw&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=meaning%20of%20mu-%20prefix%20in%20arabic&f=falseThis also says something like that and the usual "one who" idea which is generally presented
http//www.lemessieetsonprophete.com/annexes/Muslim_the_Word.PDFThis also
https//books.google.ca/books?id=uRGoSE8AFAAC&pg=PA227&lpg=PA227&dq=meaning+of+mu-+prefix+in+arabic&source=bl&ots=YMLyO3Gd6m&sig=2H5D0rDREwm8wGjBg1YkpNYyCso&hl=en&sa=X&ei=q6erVJrmGNLmoATQ4YCADw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=meaning%20of%20mu-%20prefix%20in%20arabic&f=falsehttps//books.google.ca/books?id=Ebj45xm6r_4C&pg=PA250&lpg=PA250&dq=mu-+arabic+participle&source=bl&ots=xfJnoyEEiF&sig=i2cYS5HVFpcilp8AaNkgW2inftI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TKGrVOjxDpTioATdgoGgAg&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=mu-%20arabic%20participle&f=false
I'm interested to know though if you could help me in describing how I would best describe the term to newcomers to Islam and the language of Arabic or how to best explain the prefix mu-?
This website http//wahiduddin.net/words/99_pages/muqtadir_70.htm says "The Arabic prefix mu at the beginning of the word points toward the means by which something happens, or the embodiment of an action, leading to translations such as the one who is, or the one who does (similar to the suffix er in English)."
This website http//www.justaskislam.com/187/which-group-is-the-right-group/ says
"In English whenever we have a noun performing a verb, we add the two suffix letters; ER. But in the Arabic language many times you will find that the prefix letters of MU are used for the same purpose.
A few examples may help to better understand. We will compare the verb of each language to the one who is performing the verb
MU - prefix for the verb
Performing the verbs in ENGLISH
Performing the verbs in ARABICTravel
TravelER
Safar
MUsafarCall
CallER
Adhan
MUadhanPray
PrayER
Salah
MUsalahSubmit
SubmitER
Islam
MUslimA "MUSLIM" is one who follows or practices the action of "ISLAM"
In English, when we understand the "ISLAM" is an action, we might say that anyone who "Islams" is an "Islam-ER." Right? We see in the chart above, in Arabic the "Mu" preceding a verb indicates the same thing. Therefore, we would understand that the one who is actively doing the verb of "Islam" is a "Mu"-Islam or "Muslim."
Thank you, I'm happy for any more assistance on this matter, and I hope you enjoyed the variety of links provided regarding this interesting topic!
- Syntactic Classes of the Arabic Active Participle
-
I think your comment about there not being one true religion is getting the most attention, as it did for me. You mentioned a true path, and I think many can attest that this true path is to worship one God only. If any religion out there contradicts this path, then it is not a true system, and I can say there aren't many out there. In this age, based on what I've learned, each man is to be his own priest and own church, and I have not yet seen any religion other than the one of "submission to God alone" that advocates this concept in the highest sense. I may call myself Catholic if I wish, but I will never practice true religion if I worship anyone or anything other than God. Some may argue with me because the path which led me to Islam was not related to the Quran alone. I found my way here through astrology. Astrology is what led me to prayer, tolerance, charity, fasting, the humanness of Jesus, the Quran, and much more. I personally believe that God reveals astrology in the Quran, and I've found information supporting this belief. The Quran doesn't tells us directly to study math and science, but through math and science we are able to understand the universe with great depth. The same goes for astrology which provides the signs of heaven and earth of which God speaks in the Quran. I wish you the very best on your journey. Ultimately, the important things to keep in mind is that there is no compulsion in religion, and you should suffer no hardship in your quest to higher truth. A connection with God through systematic worship is what will take us right to where we need to be, not a debate on hadiths or definitions of true religion.
Martha
-
Welcome to the forum!
I was a Catholic, got interested and converted to Islam. And, believe it or not, I use Jesus' teachings as my 'Hadith', and Buddha's teachings to live my life. As for those 'official Hadiths', I take them as 'wise words' only -- if it's good and reasonable, fine; otherwise I disregard them.
Religion is only a 'brand', if not a football team trying to win fans.
-
Welcome to the forum!
I was a Catholic, got interested and converted to Islam. And, believe it or not, I use Jesus' teachings as my 'Hadith', and Buddha's teachings to live my life. As for those 'official Hadiths', I take them as 'wise words' only -- if it's good and reasonable, fine; otherwise I disregard them.
Religion is only a 'brand', if not a football team trying to win fans.
What a brilliant welcome message.. bravo couldn't agree any more with each of your words...
May Allah guide us all to the straight route.
Regards,
Arman