I started reading the Old Testament
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I am now in th 15 chapter of Genesis and just finished the story of Noah and entering Abraham. There is a whole lot of information in the Ot concerning human history with many names and places. The language is vey allegorical and very narrative. It will take me some time but I am so far enjoying it. I have already noticed that the OT can be easily misinterpreted if you do not step back and look at exactly what it says rather than what you think it says. I have also noticed that the language is very similar to Arabic even thought I am reading it in English. Many terms or phrases that are in English have a different meaning if you translate the OT in Arabic or its Hebrew origins.
So far I noticed that the stroy of Noah uses "world" and "earth" but when you translate that to Arabic it does not carry the meaning of the whole world or whole earth just the earth and world around the speaker or user of that phrase. We say in Arabic the earth is raining or the world is raining, but in English it sounds like the whole world or whole earth.
I also noticed the OT is huge in size. It will take me some time but I am hoping I will finish this in a few months time as I like to take my time. I will be posting some comments as I read along.
I alsno noticed that like the Quran, Noah lived for 950 years although I am not sure what is meant by "years" here. But however the OT uses a lot of allegorical meaning such as "he walked with God". Meaning he was a man of God. Now I finally know why people say the OT should not be taken literally but for someone of an Arabic background, that comes natural.
I also noticed that there are comments made in hindsight in the OT. Thats means after the events some people try to make sense of what happened and why. However the event itself may not actually reveal that. There is the story of Abraham and Lot where Lot was said to have lookd at the pasteur and choose to go where the pasteur is greener. Now how would they know that unless Lot revealed his intention which to me is unlikely. Maybe he did or maybe some later prophet received that information. Clearly there is some human element in all these but so far it is identical to the Quran with just more info and commentaries.
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I heard somewhere that the Problem that most English Speakers go through when reading the Bible and following
Westernized Christianity, is that like 90% of them Read it Literally.
There are like 7 styles of writing and different simultaneous meanings however most look at Literal meanings Only.Even with the New Testament as well. I think there are many Times that events happen and are not just "Literal" but Deeply Spiritual and significant.
I.e. The "Forbidden Tree/Fruit, Jesus sleeping on a Boat, the Mountain/Burning bush, The Holy ground, the two snakes, Solomon's temple, The 6days/period,Swine, etc... All Seem to have more than just Literal Meanings.
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I was reading it too, but stopped when I couldn't find any answer to the question who were the wives of Adam's children, were they their blood sister or some people different? cos I feel if they are their sister that will be incest. can somebody pls help me out?
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I was reading it too, but stopped when I couldn't find any answer to the question who were the wives of Adam's children, were they their blood sister or some people different? cos I feel if they are their sister that will be incest. can somebody pls help me out?
I am Unsure, So Allah Forgive me if I am Incorrect...
Apparently, From some hadith it says a Man found out in a Vision that there were Many Generations of "Adams" before our current Adam.
Apparently, Adam is the name of the First of a Generation. (perhaps something symbolic)...Also, it has been said in the bible that Cain (Adams son) was guilty of murder, and it says there was Other People in the land.
So therefore, that would lead the reader to believe that those other people were perhaps the remaining people from the Previous Generations of Adam.
I think its very hard to say since it cannot be looked at Literally.Any One have thoughts or Help?
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Peace,
Any One have thoughts or Help?
All life has unique 4 bit chemical code pattern similar to computer program which gets copied to every new program/descendant over time with slight errors or mutations although the base program is still evident in every creature which at some point in time there has to logically be an original pair similar to tracing ancestry back to a common ancestor only at a much larger scale evident from DNA Y chromosome passed from father to sons although it can be different mothers.
Even without DNA knowledge it is obviously deduced that at some point an original pair most have existed since 92 natural elements or in other words rocks left alone in time will not one day decide to mate on their own then write posts about it unless they were precisely programmed as such.
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I heard somewhere that the Problem that most English Speakers go through when reading the Bible and following
Westernized Christianity, is that like 90% of them Read it Literally.
There are like 7 styles of writing and different simultaneous meanings however most look at Literal meanings Only.Even with the New Testament as well. I think there are many Times that events happen and are not just "Literal" but Deeply Spiritual and significant.
I.e. The "Forbidden Tree/Fruit, Jesus sleeping on a Boat, the Mountain/Burning bush, The Holy ground, the two snakes, Solomon's temple, The 6days/period,Swine, etc... All Seem to have more than just Literal Meanings.
This is quite correct. Unfortunately a few hundred years ago, the Christian (Catholic) Church decreed that the bible (both old and new testaments) was the "Word of God" therefore had to be taken literally and no other interpretation would be permitted. Many Christian denominations still believe this; but many others now understand that the bible is a collection of books written many years after the event and, in some cases, mistranslated.
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8And the child grew, and was weaned and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
10Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
11And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.
12And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
17And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
This is refering to the Beersheeba and not Mecca right? tempt
28And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
30And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
31Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.
32Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
34And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
Ka'ba? hmm
Do Oldest Mosques Point to Beersheba?
Some 200 mosques in Mecca do not point to the Ka'bah for prayers. Neither do the oldest mosques in Iraq and Egypt.The Wasit Mosque (built 705 A.D.) and the Kufa Mosque (built about 698 A.D.) align with a point in northwest Arabia, not with Mecca. According to Islamic tradition, Mohammad's household taught that Kufa Mosque was founded by Adam. Another tradition states that it was built by the angels in accordance with Gabriel's revelation to Prophet Muhammad. No other narrator of Islamic tradition has referred to this however.
The oldest mosque in Egypt is Fustat in Cairo. It dates to the reign of Qurra b. Shira between 709-714 A.D.
The oldest mosque in Saudi Arabia is Quba Mosque (shown right). It was rebuilt in the 1980's.
All mosques have a niche called a "Quiblah" which shows the direction of prayer. The older mosques are aligned with a point north of Mecca but south of Jerusalem. If early mosques were aligned toward northern Arabia or Jerusalem, a Qiblah facing Ka'bah represents a later development. Source BBC News
The Qiblah of the oldest mosques in Mecca, Iraq and Egypt do not align with Mecca. Instead they align with a point in northern Arabia. This has caused some Orientalists to speculate that they may be aligned with Jerusalem, but the calculations don't work out. The Qiblah of the earliest mosques face a point south of Jerusalem but north of Mecca.
This suggests the possibility that the older mosques are aligned with a shrine in the area of Beersheba. This is likely since Beersheba was Abraham's southern settlement, where he lived with his wife Keturah, whose six sons are the ancestors of Arabian tribes who dwell in the region of Mecca and the Southern Arabian Peninsula. Read more here.
Posted by Alice C. Linsley at 559 PMhttp//jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/04/older-mosques-point-to-beersheba.html
Interesting stuff. Will keep you posted.
http//www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Dome_Of_The_Rock/qibla.html