What brought me here?
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Please read the verses in context. i have underlined the important bits. Also, you might want to watch this video which explains the verses in detail.
Thank you. I think more and more that I am a muslim.
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Thank you. I think more and more that I am a muslim.
I think you are already one.
262 Surely those who acknowledge, and those who are Jewish, and the Christians, and those who follow other religions, any one of them who acknowledge God and the Last day, and do reform, they will have their reward with their Lord, with no fear over them, nor will they grieve.
3122 Those who submit completely to God, while leading a righteous life, have gotten hold of the strongest bond. To God all matters will return.
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The way I see it is, Jesus was fully submitting to God and God's will was in Jesus as it is in us. Also God is our creator, So in that respect Jesus and God are one just as We and God are one.
bravo yay
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Hello John,
I have a question about your signature phrase i.e. "May God always be with you?". What do you mean by this?
Anwar Azim
It is quite simple really. My concept of hell is not a place or fiery pit or anything like that. My concept of hell is the absents of God and the punishment of hell is God sending you away from him for a period of time until you "see the error of your ways and apologise to him". Therefore by saying "May God always be with you" is praying that it never happens to you.
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peace John,
Welcome to the forum. Sorry for the belated reply.
What you said in your original post is in line with The Quran, although you probably already knew that. The only things I wanted to mention were the following
- I do not believe in hell. If God is our father, then what father would condemn his children to hell Eternal damnation, etc.?
There are various views on this, for those who follow The Quran. I have not studied it personally, but some views are "hell" is finite, so whilst one can say a person will remain in "hell" forever, that depends on whether "hell" is eternal. You may wish to read some of the notes in the Reformist Quran Translation.
- If I do not believe in hell, then I cannot justify believing in the devil as anything other than just a being that tests our beliefs.
From my studies, The Quran strongly implies there is a side to us that can whisper/plant evil/negative thoughts within us. So, "the devil" as you say is not necessarily an external entity, it may well be an internal component. There has been some discussion of this in this forum.
Lastly, I wanted to ask you a question. Where I live, there are many "Christians" and I have found that it is extremely rare that someone knows that The Quran or islam is accepting of Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc, their message etc (albeit, when I say accepting, I mean of their message of monotheism). From your experience, how many "Christians" would you say are aware of the Quranic viewpoint on this issue? If you say very few, is it just due to lack of knowledge or is what "Christian" institutions teach about The Quran or islam, neglect this or pay very little attention to this point? To me, this is possibly the most important point to bring to their attention.
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peace John,
Welcome to the forum. Sorry for the belated reply.
What you said in your original post is in line with The Quran, although you probably already knew that. The only things I wanted to mention were the following
There are various views on this, for those who follow The Quran. I have not studied it personally, but some views are "hell" is finite, so whilst one can say a person will remain in "hell" forever, that depends on whether "hell" is eternal. You may wish to read some of the notes in the Reformist Quran Translation.
From my studies, The Quran strongly implies there is a side to us that can whisper/plant evil/negative thoughts within us. So, "the devil" as you say is not necessarily an external entity, it may well be an internal component. There has been some discussion of this in this forum.
Lastly, I wanted to ask you a question. Where I live, there are many "Christians" and I have found that it is extremely rare that someone knows that The Quran or islam is accepting of Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc, their message etc (albeit, when I say accepting, I mean of their message of monotheism). From your experience, how many "Christians" would you say are aware of the Quranic viewpoint on this issue? If you say very few, is it just due to lack of knowledge or is what "Christian" institutions teach about The Quran or islam, neglect this or pay very little attention to this point? To me, this is possibly the most important point to bring to their attention.
It is true that the vast majority of Christians have no concept whatsoever of the "true" beliefs of Islam or the Quran. Most of them (including the clergy) just hear stories about it's content and think that the Hadiths and the Quran are one and the same. Therefore they view it as a book that tells Muslims to kill Christians. Many also believe that Allah is a different god from God. I have been trying for years to educate Christians about this major mistake. It is getting better, there are now more and more Christians that are opening their eyes to the sameness of all three Abrahamic religions.
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I did think that was the case.
Keep up the good work. And if you are unaware of this site, feel free to check it out and utilise its content
www.misconceptions-about-islam.com
It is only in its proofreading/testing phase at the moment, but will hopefully be officially launched later this year.
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I did think that was the case.
Keep up the good work. And if you are unaware of this site, feel free to check it out and utilise its content
www.misconceptions-about-islam.com
It is only in its proofreading/testing phase at the moment, but will hopefully be officially launched later this year.
Thank you, that will be very useful to me. bravo
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It is quite simple really. My concept of hell is not a place or fiery pit or anything like that. My concept of hell is the absents of God and the punishment of hell is God sending you away from him for a period of time until you "see the error of your ways and apologise to him". Therefore by saying "May God always be with you" is praying that it never happens to you.
rotfl Many people are confused about why I still call myself a Christian.
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rotfl Many people are confused about why I still call myself a Christian.
yes me too, I am very confused! hmm peace
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rotfl rotfl rotfl
;D
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Just saw your post and would like to say welcome.
I read your beliefs on your website listed in your signature and majority of the beliefs are exactly like my beliefs.
The hell issue I differ as you may have noticed other members do. This is a good thing I believe as it helps to discuss and learn further.
Look forward to your posts and hopefully some interesting topics on astrophysics and The God
PEACE
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Just saw your post and would like to say welcome.
I read your beliefs on your website listed in your signature and majority of the beliefs are exactly like my beliefs.
The hell issue I differ as you may have noticed other members do. This is a good thing I believe as it helps to discuss and learn further.
Look forward to your posts and hopefully some interesting topics on astrophysics and The God
PEACE
Thank you. (love the pic by the way)
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Hi John,
Thanks for your response. The expression implies that God is not always present everywhere, otherwise, the expression wouldn't make any sense. But then, if God is not everywhere, whatever happened to the assertion that God is everywhere, unless you don't believe that.
I understand what you are trying to say (i.e. essentially a time-out), but not everyone sees their errors during their timeouts. What is the guarantee that they will eventually see their errors and apologize?
"God", "Hell" or "Heaven" sound like mere concepts, having different meanings to different people.... everyone interprets however they want to believe. These are just my thoughts... so don't take it personally.
Anyway, thanks again.
Anwar AzimIt is quite simple really. My concept of hell is not a place or fiery pit or anything like that. My concept of hell is the absents of God and the punishment of hell is God sending you away from him for a period of time until you "see the error of your ways and apologise to him". Therefore by saying "May God always be with you" is praying that it never happens to you.
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It is true that the vast majority of Christians have no concept whatsoever of the "true" beliefs of Islam or the Quran. Most of them (including the clergy) just hear stories about it's content and think that the Hadiths and the Quran are one and the same. Therefore they view it as a book that tells Muslims to kill Christians. Many also believe that Allah is a different god from God. I have been trying for years to educate Christians about this major mistake. It is getting better, there are now more and more Christians that are opening their eyes to the sameness of all three Abrahamic religions.
Thats what happens with the vast maority of muslims too!
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Hi John,
Thanks for your response. The expression implies that God is not always present everywhere, otherwise, the expression wouldn't make any sense. But then, if God is not everywhere, whatever happened to the assertion that God is everywhere, unless you don't believe that.
I understand what you are trying to say (i.e. essentially a time-out), but not everyone sees their errors during their timeouts. What is the guarantee that they will eventually see their errors and apologize?
"God", "Hell" or "Heaven" sound like mere concepts, having different meanings to different people.... everyone interprets however they want to believe. These are just my thoughts... so don't take it personally.
Anyway, thanks again.
Anwar AzimThank you. I understand what you mean. To me God is not a concept, he is as real - no, more real - than you or I.
After death we have eternity to see the error of our ways, and don't forget, nearly all religions believe we will be enlightened after death.
peace
