PRIMARY misconception of non-"muslims" and "muslims" alike
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May peace be upon you-
I would like to examine the following statement 'Many articles and books have been written about a religion called Islam that is followed by over one billion muslims worldwide'
I believe the concept of such a statement is contrary to the teachings of the Quran. What exactly is "a muslim"? I suspect that this number (one billion) is a count of the number of people that refer to themselves as "a muslim". I believe that this excludes from the count the number of people that follow God's guidance but do not call themselves "muslims". It also includes (in my experience) a tremendous number of people who call themselves "muslims" but do a poor job of following God's guidance.
What exactly is meant by ""? Does this suggest that they are "following the 'religion' in conformance with God's guidance"? Or might it simply mean that these people have labeled themselves "muslims" and so they get to be counted as one who "" the "religion" regardless of whether they are actually following it or not? (A tangent question might be does the definition of the arabic word "muslim" have more to do with whether or not one actually FOLLOWS God's guidance vs. one who merely CLAIMS to follow it?)
I believe that the PRIMARY misconception of non-"muslims" and "muslims" alike is the misconception that the Quran suggests that only those people who recognize the Quran as God's guidance (and/or Muhammad being God's prophet) should be counted as "muslims".
Back to my original point I suggest that the statement I wish to examine above fuels the most damaging misconception about The Quran as God's guidance. It claims that the "religion" that is "followed" is ONLY followed by "one billion people" - and that this "religion" is "Islam" and is "followed " by people who call themselves "muslims".
I believe the Quran teaches us that AlKtab was given to all prophets and that the Quran is an explanation of AlKtab. I don't find that other sects have corrupted AlKtab any more than people who call themselves "muslims" have done. Yet those who call themselves "muslims", who HAVE the Quran (i.e. the only accurate recording of God's guidance), behave no differently than other sects by taking the same position as other sects, a position that I find the Quran teaches us NOT to take
"".
Furthermore, I would argue that on judgment day, the group of people who have personally ENCOUNTERED God's guidance will be held MORE ACCOUNTABLE than those who have not. And I would argue that those people consist primarily of two groups 1) those who had the privilege of having a prophet personally teach God's guidance to them, and 2) those who have been exposed to the Quran
But as I believe history has demonstrated (and I believe the Quran makes quite clear), HAVING God's guidance has NEVER stopped mankind from creating sects and distorting God's guidance in favor of mankind's perceived self-interest. In this regard, I find that most people who call themselves "muslims" prove to be no different than all the other "sects" of mankind.
In peace-
Samson -
Peace Samson,
May peace be upon you-
I would like to examine the following statement 'Many articles and books have been written about a religion called Islam that is followed by over one billion muslims worldwide'
I believe the concept of such a statement is contrary to the teachings of the Quran. What exactly is "a muslim"? I suspect that this number (one billion) is a count of the number of people that refer to themselves as "a muslim". I believe that this excludes from the count the number of people that follow God's guidance but do not call themselves "muslims". It also includes (in my experience) a tremendous number of people who call themselves "muslims" but do a poor job of following God's guidance.
What exactly is meant by ""? Does this suggest that they are "following the 'religion' in conformance with God's guidance"? Or might it simply mean that these people have labeled themselves "muslims" and so they get to be counted as one who "" the "religion" regardless of whether they are actually following it or not? (A tangent question might be does the definition of the arabic word "muslim" have more to do with whether or not one actually FOLLOWS God's guidance vs. one who merely CLAIMS to follow it?)
I believe that the PRIMARY misconception of non-"muslims" and "muslims" alike is the misconception that the Quran suggests that only those people who recognize the Quran as God's guidance (and/or Muhammad being God's prophet) should be counted as "muslims".
Back to my original point I suggest that the statement I wish to examine above fuels the most damaging misconception about The Quran as God's guidance. It claims that the "religion" that is "followed" is ONLY followed by "one billion people" - and that this "religion" is "Islam" and is "followed " by people who call themselves "muslims".
I believe the Quran teaches us that AlKtab was given to all prophets and that the Quran is an explanation of AlKtab. I don't find that other sects have corrupted AlKtab any more than people who call themselves "muslims" have done. Yet those who call themselves "muslims", who HAVE the Quran (i.e. the only accurate recording of God's guidance), behave no differently than other sects by taking the same position as other sects, a position that I find the Quran teaches us NOT to take
Furthermore, I would argue that on judgment day, the group of people who have personally ENCOUNTERED God's guidance will be held MORE ACCOUNTABLE than those who have not. And I would argue that those people consist primarily of two groups 1) those who had the privilege of having a prophet personally teach God's guidance to them, and 2) those who have been exposed to the Quran
But as I believe history has demonstrated (and I believe the Quran makes quite clear), HAVING God's guidance has NEVER stopped mankind from creating sects and distorting God's guidance in favor of mankind's perceived self-interest. In this regard, I find that most people who call themselves "muslims" prove to be no different than all the other "sects" of mankind.
In peace-
Samsonbravo bravo bravo
Wow - I expected to at least get "flamed" for my post... but nothing! Wow!
That is because most of the people here follow God alone and what you wrote is in harmony with what The God says.
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Peace,
I don't think you posted anything to controversial.
Believe it or not its the political discussions that get some of the most replies. Applying the deen to the real world is where the arguments come up =P
oh and homosexual threads are pretty big to haha.