Why do I get the feeling...? (acceptance and going to a mosque)
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I feel sometimes as if the fact I follow Quran alone is so abhorrent to most muslims that I often don't have the courage to admit that this is what I follow. I often get the feeling that most muslims (sunni or shia) would be more accepting of me if I were to announce myself as a Christian who believes in the trinity than they would a Quran-alone muslim.
I don't understand this. Even with those who follow hadith beside Quran... what is so wrong with at least following the Quran? What is so horrible about it, that they would see someone who places another as Gods equal as worthy of respect, yet someone who shares their common belief in God with no equals to be frowned upon, simply because they do not follow hadith beside the Quran?
I am not sure why this bothers me so much, but it does.
I think part of it has to do with me trying to build up the courage to finally go to a mosque for the first time. I just can't do it though. The fact I do not wear a hijab is one reason... so even while I would be ok with wearing one to the mosque, I think I would have to deal with others looking down on me because I do not wear one all of the time. But the worst thing that continually comes to my mind is... what if someone asks me about my actual beliefs? What if they ask me which hadiths I follow? Or if I consider myself sunni or shia?
I feel like if I were confronted with those questions... either I play dumb, and feel incredibly weak and guilty, as well as probably end up being dragged into learning hadiths... that, or if I admit what I follow, somehow everyone in the mosque is going to find out and I'm going to end up so uncomfortable I stop going.
I am not sure what the point of me saying all of this is. I am just trying to work things out in my head, and it is obviously not working.
Should I give up on going to a mosque all together? Isn't going to a mosque for friday prayer something the Quran says I must do? Or have I mis-understood the Quran in some way? I thought this was what I read in the Quran, but then I seem to be getting information everywhere, so perhaps I am simply attributing this to the Quran when I should not be.
A question for anyone willing to answer How do you know, before you go into a mosque, what to expect? What is a typical mosque, in the united states, like? How do I find this out?
And is it truly important, according to the Quran, that I go to a mosque at all?
Peace and have a lovely day.
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Peace be unto you, sister,
I went to a mosque once. Once. I do not think I will do it again.
After prayer, where I was admonished for not saying the ritualized prayer, I spent the next hour-and-a-half being told on the virtues of Bakhari hadiths.
Raca.
If you do go, I'm interested in hearing how the experience goes. Just know you aren't alone out there.
Peace and blessings.
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I go to fridays but only because of my father. I don't talk much about Sunnism but I do speak to people I know only if I think they can handle that. People are just ignorant and don't know WHY you would give up in their mind the teachings of the prophet.
Just propagate Koranism in the net. You can reach far more people than in your personal life. Go to forums and chat rooms. Don't talk about these things to people that you know.
When I go to fridays I don't pay attention to the sermon.
Koranist generally have a habit of attacking Sunnis aggressively and this can make people hostile towards them. Going around saying that ka'ba is an idol and Tawassul is shirk and there is no Sunnah in Islam threatens people and makes them feel you are trying to challenge their faith.
Just go the net. You can communicate with so many people. Koranist are all over the net and slowly are spreading into the TV. You don't have to propogate yourself with people you know. They might think you think you are smarter than them. The internet is ours. Go to Christian sites, Jewish sites, atheist sites, Sunni sites, Shia sites, Ahmadi sites and see how the moderators behave. They are threatened and like you said would tolerate atheist and zionist before they would tolerate you.This means there is something about you they fear. And that is the Koran.
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Peace,
Its been 9 years since I started reading about Qur'an alone through Free-minds. At first I didn't want to be in the masjid because I felt like a lot of the rituals were shirk. I still believe that.
However, I kept going to the masjid. I've single handidly convinced dozens of people of the virtue of the Qur'an only method, and probably many more to find practices such as stoning etc to be inconsistent with Quranic teachings and thus haram. In fact its gotten to the point where the Imam has actually stated before quoting a hadith that "I know some of you guys don't consider Hadith important but I'm going to quote this anyway."
Most of these people still identify with Sunni or Shia Islam but there views on a lot of issues have become much more in line with the Qur'an. Some of them have become Qur'an only Muslims as well, while many of them have rejected all the hadith and others have rejected those hadith that contradict the Qur'an. I've found that the sisters have been highly receptive to the Qur'an only message and I've had the most success with Muslims of mixed ethnicity.
The point is we shouldn't back away from the Muslim community, we should engage them, however, engage them slowly, let them seep it in slowly. Explain to them what certain Qur'an verses mean, believe me many Muslims are happy to find out that stoning is not in the Qur'an, many sisters (and brothers haha) are happy to hear that the hijab is not wajib.
Have conversations with your Sunni/Shia friends if a controversial topic such as stoning comes up, mention that you've never seen stoning mentioned as a punishment in the Qur'an anywhere, (however don't mention your exact opinion on the matter right away, let your friends think about it for a few weeks first). Your friends will make up excuses to justify it BUT they will begin to start thinking and you'll find that they slowly become more open minded. Take it slow, it could take years. Most people are not seekers, they are merely Sunni/Shia because thats part of their culture. People that are on Free-minds talking about Islam tend to be seekers, wanting to learn more about Al-Islam and are willing to separate culture and religion. Most Sunni's and Shia's are not like that, in fact most people are not like that.
As long as you don't go in with a "your wrong, you have to see it my way!" attitude people will listen to you, Sunni's and Shia's aren't as crazy as we sometimes claim they are.
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After prayer, where I was admonished for not saying the ritualized prayer, I spent the next hour-and-a-half being told on the virtues of Bakhari hadiths.
This is exactly what I am afraid of. It is not that I am ashamed of my own beliefs, and it is not even that I feel the need to explain to them what my beliefs are, or somehow prove that I am right while they are wrong. I am comfortable accepting anyone at the mosque should I choose to go there... I am just worried that regardless of what I accept, they will be unable to accept me, and will feel the need push their ideas on me.
All I want to do is to be able to go to a mosque on friday, and be able to pray with a group of others, without either of us arguing over who is right and who is wrong. Debate is not something I intend to bring into a mosque, it is just something I feel I have to be prepared to deal with should I go.
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Peace be with you Putaradivi
From personal experience and those of other followers of The Qur'an , I found as you did that , the so called "Muslims" really hate The
Qur'an but revere the sayings of Bukhari and others like him. This is to be expected as The Qur'an has warned us about these people
( Qur'an 1015 , if memory serves me right ) . As for what you tell these so called Sunni/Shi'a regarding The Hadiths that you follow , I
suggest you tell them that , you follow The Hadiths of The Messenger of God 100% . ( since the Qur'an came out from the mouth of
the Messenger ) , then proceed to tell them all the relevant Verses regarding Hadiths .As for going to the Mosque on Fridays , speaking for myself , I only go to meet people there to engage them in discussions and Debate
about what Islam is all about according to the Qur'an and my current understading of it . I have not done any of the Traditional Form of
Prayers ( eg the Bending over one ) even inside the Mosque for years . this alone will prompt The Sunni/Shi'a people to ask you why
you did what you did ( not praying like them ) . So you will then have your opportunity to explain your form of Islam that you follow
i.e. Islam based on The Qur'an and Logic .Peace , almarh0m