Your opinion on understanding the prophet outside of Quran & "celebrating" him?
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I have two questions I thought maybe you guys could shed some light on for me. I guess they are personal in nature to an extent, as I'm having trouble deciding what is wrong or right. Perhaps I'm making a big deal of nothing also, so my apologies if my questions seem silly.
First... I'm a little bothered by the idea of limiting my knowledge of Muhammad via Quran alone. I don't mean as in following Quran alone or following Muhammad by using what the Quran gives me as an example. The concept of following Quran alone is what I seem to be leaning towards more and more.
What I'm having trouble with is the idea that there is nothing good within the hadiths. I am interested in learning about Muhammad on a more human level, his personality and things of this nature. While I don't want to substitute the Quran for hadiths that may or may not give an accurate portrayal of the prophet, I'm not really sure if learning of him via hadiths would be a harm or a benefit to me.
I mean, suppose I read a few stories within hadiths (or books based in hadiths) and I feel it is an accurate representation of the type of character he would have. It conforms to Quran, and doesn't set out rules and regulations but simply paints a portrait of the man. Would understanding hadiths in this way go against the Quran in some way? How would this be any different from learning about any other historical figure in history via texts that may or may not be fully accurate?
The second thing I'm having trouble with concerns music that praises Muhammad, some of which I've started to really enjoy. Do you feel personally this somehow sets up the prophet as an idol for those who enjoy this? Now I don't pray to the prophet in my prayers, I don't even mention him in my prayers, as I do feel this much would be wrong of me. Prayers are for God. And while my mind is telling me I'm making too much out of this music business, I'm not sure if I should feel uneasiness in singing along with tunes that talk about the greatness of the man. I mean... one can see the greatness in a person without glorifying them as they would God... right??
Is there room in religion to learn about, and celebrate, the personality and character of those God chose to deliver his message, or is this coming too close to being idol worship?
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Peace Putradivi
I have two questions I thought maybe you guys could shed some light on for me. I guess they are personal in nature to an extent, as I'm having trouble deciding what is wrong or right. Perhaps I'm making a big deal of nothing also, so my apologies if my questions seem silly.
First... I'm a little bothered by the idea of limiting my knowledge of Muhammad via Quran alone. I don't mean as in following Quran alone or following Muhammad by using what the Quran gives me as an example. The concept of following Quran alone is what I seem to be leaning towards more and more.
What I'm having trouble with is the idea that there is nothing good within the hadiths. I am interested in learning about Muhammad on a more human level, his personality and things of this nature. While I don't want to substitute the Quran for hadiths that may or may not give an accurate portrayal of the prophet, I'm not really sure if learning of him via hadiths would be a harm or a benefit to me.
I mean, suppose I read a few stories within hadiths (or books based in hadiths) and I feel it is an accurate representation of the type of character he would have. It conforms to Quran, and doesn't set out rules and regulations but simply paints a portrait of the man. Would understanding hadiths in this way go against the Quran in some way? How would this be any different from learning about any other historical figure in history via texts that may or may not be fully accurate?
The second thing I'm having trouble with concerns music that praises Muhammad, some of which I've started to really enjoy. Do you feel personally this somehow sets up the prophet as an idol for those who enjoy this? Now I don't pray to the prophet in my prayers, I don't even mention him in my prayers, as I do feel this much would be wrong of me. Prayers are for God. And while my mind is telling me I'm making too much out of this music business, I'm not sure if I should feel uneasiness in singing along with tunes that talk about the greatness of the man. I mean... one can see the greatness in a person without glorifying them as they would God... right??
Is there room in religion to learn about, and celebrate, the personality and character of those God chose to deliver his message, or is this coming too close to being idol worship?
You should not limit yourself to anything in trying to know 'Muhammad The Messenger' and there is nothing wrong in reading or studying "The Hadiths" , provided that you do not take hadiths as a source of law or as something that explains The Qur'an . Hadiths like any other books or magazines can be a good read , there are many good things to be learned from it as well as some good jokes and hilariously funny stuff and incredible stories . We are to take good moral lessons from anything we read . There are many books written about Muhammad by all and sundry , and there is no law against reading those books .
About music praising Muhammad The Messenger of God , if you enjoy it , continue to listen to it , but why only music about praising Muhammad but not the other prophets and messengers ? are you not aware that as believers we must not differentiate/discriminate from one messenger to the other ? What is special about Muhammad the messenger of god that he is singled out for this praise and adulation ?
" Say We believe in Allah and (in) that which had been revealed to us, and (in) that which was revealed to Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq and Yaqoub and the tribes, and (in) that which was given to Musa and Isa, and (in) that which was given to the prophets from their Lord, we do not make any distinction between any of them, and to Him do we submit " (2136 ) .
" The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between any of His messengers; and they say We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to Thee is the eventual course " ( 2285 ) .
136
" O you who believe! believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book which He has revealed to His Messenger and the Book which He revealed before; and whoever disbelieves in Allah and His angels and His messengers and the last day, he indeed strays off into a remote error " ( 4136 ) .
Reading the above verses may help us understand why we should not differentiate between god's messengers , and 'believers' only object and reject hadiths as source of law besides the Qur'an . There are other verses in the Qur'an that tell us that this Qur'an is the best stories and the best history if you seach the within the book , and you'll find that we can enjoy everything that is good from our Lord in moderation .
Peace
almarh0m
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Peace,
Respectfully.Sister, with all due respect, comapre prophet Muhammad from The Quran with prophet Muhammad from the hadith books. I did it and discovered that person portrayed as prophet Muhammad from the hadith, is not Muhammad, let alone a prophet. It is a lie against the prophet Muhammad.
However, if you read The Quran carefully, God willing, you'll see that prophet Muhammad is described very well in there, Thank God.
Glory be to our God.
peace. -
Why don't your broaden your focus by only not focusing too much on Muhammad?
Quran tell a lot of stories of protagonist characters
Moses (Moses occupies nearly 40% of Quran), Abraham, Jesus, David, Solomon, Cyrus (Dzul-Qarnayn), Zachary, Mary, John (The Baptist) and many others 'unnamed' good people. (Most of them are jews.. )And also the antagonist characters (as bad example)
Egyptian Pharaoh (Although it's not clear which pharaoh is it), Qarun and others 'unnamed' bad people.My understanding is One of Quran 'main goal' was to act as a guidance between 'good' and 'evil', 'the straight path' and 'the bad path'.
Thus it contains good and also bad example of deed done by people of the past.And Muhammad was just a messenger/courier for that guidance.
Just like DHL or FedEx or Post Company is just messenger/courier for a delivered package.
I never pay attention too much on DHL/FedEx, I usually pay much of my attention on the package that I'm receiving.Regarding music; there is no wrong in enjoying a tune/song which tell a story of 'great' people or praising of people (or things).
What is wrong is; you enforce your taste of music (or your belief) to other people who doesn't share your opinion or taste in music and labeling them as 'infidel'.PS I enjoyed "Hark The Herald Angel Sing" and "O Holy Night".
Peace
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Sister, with all due respect, comapre prophet Muhammad from The Quran with prophet Muhammad from the hadith books. I did it and discovered that person portrayed as prophet Muhammad from the hadith, is not Muhammad, let alone a prophet. It is a lie against the prophet Muhammad.
However, if you read The Quran carefully, God willing, you'll see that prophet Muhammad is described very well in there, Thank God.
Glory be to our God.
peace.I understand what you mean as far as the negative portrayal within many hadith, as I can see this with the very few hadith I've already looked at (and I'm definitely not looking towards hadith as a definitive description of who he was). I'm just seeking a little more depth into who he was. I'm sure Quran gives the best description, all that I need to know, but I'm just curious about the things that aren't necessarily "need to know" in regards to religion. Though perhaps I've just not read the Quran thoroughly enough at this point to see everything that is there. My focus is usually more about the message when I read Quran, so maybe I'm neglecting the things within it that are pointing out his character.
About music praising Muhammad The Messenger of God , if you enjoy it , continue to listen to it , but why only music about praising Muhammad but not the other prophets and messengers ? are you not aware that as believers we must not differentiate/discriminate from one messenger to the other ? What is special about Muhammad the messenger of god that he is singled out for this praise and adulation ?
My intention is not to discriminate or differentiate between them. I'm simply learning about Muhammad as a messenger for the first time in my life, and so I'm naturally curious to know more about him in particular. Not as a way to put him above all of the messengers/prophets, but to appreciate him individually in a similar way as I've grown up learning about and appreciating some of the others mentioned in Quran (like Moses, Jesus, Noah, etc).
Why don't your broaden your focus by only not focusing too much on Muhammad?
No problem with this at all... though I am a little weary of some christian sources, not because of the praise, but because some of it speaks of the trinity idea and it is something I moved away from long ago. But should I come upon things that focus on others, I'm definitely interested in it as well. As far as music goes, there's just not as big of a selection in regards to others mentioned in Quran (at least that I've seen so far).
My thanks to all. Peace.