Having a crisis of faith
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I'm truly questioning right now whether my experiences in this world are evidence of a divine God or if they are mere creations of my brain chemistry.
I'm also questioning whether the Qur'an which I've set so much trust and faith in is truly a divine document.
Which I did not expect to have as a convert. I'm beginning to question the validity of my own beliefs and experiences with God.
It's an extremely strange feelings because I've built my current identity around the belief that God is real, and my main goal in life should be to serve Him.
I don't even know what to think right now. I was watching a video of a Muslim who deconverted and it led me to a couple other videos and now I'm just unsure like is there a chance I'm wrong? I've read atheist material before and never has it affected my faith or belief like this. I think since I chose to convert 2 years ago that this is the first time I'm TRULY doubting God's existence and the relevance of my "worship". Whether trying to live by the Qur'an is really worth it and if the God I'm praying to is actually acknowledging me somewhere.
I think back on the experiences where I thought I "felt God" and I question whether I was truly connecting with the divine or whether some chemicals in my brain made me feel an intense emotion. I have no evidence to suggest that God is real yet still I believe.
Is the Qur'an truly from God? That is the question I must answer. Is it truly a clear book without contradiction? If there is even one contradiction or man-made letter in the Qur'an then it is not from God. I look at the Christians who put their faith in a book with as many flaws and holes and clearly man made material as the Bible and I wonder why they blindly follow it but I have no evidence that my own holy book is divine.
Just experiencing a lot of doubt right now.
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Peace Faithful=Jinn.
I suppose there is no harm in reading even more materials, if you have some spare time, please have a look at
http//www.total-loyalty-to-god-alone.co.uk/website-pages/test-page/
The journey is tough. the test is hard. The reward is worthwhile.
May the Lord keep guiding all those who seek HIM Alone.
Peace.
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Is the Qur'an truly from God? That is the question I must answer. Is it truly a clear book without contradiction? If there is even one contradiction or man-made letter in the Qur'an then it is not from God. I look at the Christians who put their faith in a book with as many flaws and holes and clearly man made material as the Bible and I wonder why they blindly follow it but I have no evidence that my own holy book is divine.
Just experiencing a lot of doubt right now.
The Quran as book material by itself is a man-made letter... it's useless if it didn't inspire you, or you didn't do any cross-checking with the real signs that you can see, hear or feel from the reality around you..
Many of the so-called Christians didn't put their faith in the books of Gospel, they put their faith on the interpretation of it as made by their priests...However.. the material put forward in the Gospel.. is inspiring.. and enlightening... at least for me..
From my perspective; the gospel told a story of a young and wise Jewish guy who made his struggle against an oppressive organized religion. He didn't create any new religion.. he just told the people of the truth...
And he paid a 'high price' for it.. Because he was perceived as a 'threat' to the status quo of his time..I found some books in the Tanakh, Gospels and Quran to be a perfect fit of each others... it cross-referenced each others and it does serves as a correction to each others..
Mind you that nowhere in the Quran there's something which claimed the Quran to be more superior than the other books.. The sales person of religion 'religious' always said so to make people buy their product convert to their religion..
If you thought about deconverting from the cult/sect/religion called Islam (tm) I think it's a good path for you..
Although make sure that you didn't convert to any new cult/sect/religion once you do.. as otherwise it will be quite useless..Salam / Peace
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Please visit website www.resurgentislam.com
Insha allah the articles will make you more focused on the truth -
Well it's kind of nice that you're questioning, blind acceptance wouldn't be so wise.
If i had to boil it down, One of the reasons God created us was to see which one of us would do the best works (672, 187, 117)...Thus as a foundation, do good and be a nice person, Forgive and pardon people.... God guides those who are Nice (684, 37121)
Also
God's Systems of Guidance and Misguidance
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9603904.0 -
Peace Faithful=Jinn.
I suppose there is no harm in reading even more materials, if you have some spare time, please have a look at
http//www.total-loyalty-to-god-alone.co.uk/website-pages/test-page/
The journey is tough. the test is hard. The reward is worthwhile.
May the Lord keep guiding all those who seek HIM Alone.
Peace.
"The journey is tough. the test is hard"
That has been my experience.
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Jinn, salaam.
Could you kindly post links to the materials which instigated your questioning? I feel this may provide an opportunity to explore ideas and give an insight to what exactly the issues might be, thus providing the opportunity to eliminate your concerns (or not, as the case may be!)
Salaam.
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The Quran as book material by itself is a man-made letter... it's useless if it didn't inspire you, or you didn't do any cross-checking with the real signs that you can see, hear or feel from the reality around you..
It took me quite some time to come to the same understanding, i.e the qur'an as book material itself is a man made letter.
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"The journey is tough. the test is hard"
That has been my experience.
Re the Quran - currently a big challenge for me is that the original parchment verses written by Mohammed i.e the first Quran are not in existence(were burn't?) All the current ones we have including the oldest in Turkey and Yemen were written down later by people other than Prophet Muhammed and it seems that a similar process to the Catholic Church's conference of Nicene took place where a standardised text was put together to cement a certain factions power and control over the empire. From the time of Abu Baker it seems that some of the Quranic laws were not followed, and the Umma descended into factions and power struggles even though they were supposed to be devout Muslims and were so close to Prophet Muhammed - yet they still went far astray, makes me wonder what hope is there for us?
So then with no original Quran, it comes down to accepting Rashid Khalifa as a messenger and that the "miracle" of the mathematical code 19 has preserved the original Quran in his translation (through deletion of the 2 verses). But this assertion of false verses is contradicted by the Quran itself in 4142 "No falsehood could enter it, in the past or in the future" Yet Dr Khalifa told us falsehood did enter it and all those Muslims in the past were reading a corrupted Arabic Quran! Also there are the other questionable aspects of Dr Khalifa's messengership mentioned on FM postings. To make things even more confusing, we find that many of the Arabic words used in Quran are open to various different interpretations, and that there are very different ideas about the "true" meaning of words inccluding even Allah and different understandings of practices such as hajj and salat. Also the historical and archeological records show evidence that contradicts traditional understandings and interpretations of Quranic events.
Furthermore, Arabic is a gender specific language using the male form for pronouns instead of female form of pronouns and God instead of Goddess which does not sit well in a 21st century of non sexist language awareness and not ascribing a gender to the Almighty. The archeological records shows that the earliest worship practices were matriarchal and involved a monotheistic "Mother" Goddess, who was later given a male consort and gradually replaced with worship of both male and female Gods & Goddesses.These religions were later actively oppressed by the patriarchal religions of Judaism, Islam & Christianity and thats how the male pronouns came about.
Another point of dissension is that there are some Quranic laws and values that are applicable throughout all time periods for societies continued positive development, but there are others that are specific to the Middle Eastern tribal societies of that time period only. Where is the Source of all Good, light and Happiness in all this??? Sometimes the Quran seems to me to be such a confusing mess!!!! Would The Almighty really expect us to wade through all of this to understand our committments.
I can only pray that The Almighty wll forgive me for my confusion and uncertainity and guide me to the straight path. -
Peace Lena.
God is absolutely clear. Every single believer is tried according to the burden they can carry.
Only GOD knows how each one is tried.
41;42 Is not a contradiction if you take the context - Falsehood will be eventually, easily detected-
Let us give the following example
Say I decided to add verses , take away other verses, publish my new "Koran", Then say" Look GOD did not preserve HIS word since I have a different "Koran" in my possession".However What I added or taken away could easily be detected.Also the rule/proof/law ...That is preserving the word of GOD will be used as a detector tool.
GOD wants submission and total loyalty to HIM Alone, not to words or a book or anything else...
HE then will make sure the true believer understands and follows only HIS word, after a very hard journey and an even harder testing period. GOD must bring out the true conviction of the believer. GOD also tests different generations with different rites/ways/...
May GOD help the true believers show patience and perseverance until they attain certainty.
Peace. -
I from time to time used to have these fleeting doubts. I really hate calling them that, because they are more like questions that last around 5 seconds.
I remedied this just by rereading the Qur'an. When you recognise the majesty of the book, and how accurately it portrays the nature of humanity as well as the natural world itself, and the subtlety upon subtlety veiled in the wording -- even when translated into the English language, I have no doubts in my heart left that this book and this deen is from Allah.
Every time I look at a bird now I remember Allah.
I guess what I'm getting at is, read the reminder, and see if it reminds you
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Okay I'll start off by posting the video which first inspired doubt. It was this video followed by 1 or 2 other videos that he suggested.
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-lUAT7fLAw
Now onto my dilemma. I was experiencing doubt that what I experience in this world as God may just be imagined by me. When I look at the world and my life I see the principles of the Qur'an playing out. I see good, evil, sin, and righteousness. I see angels helping us by the will of God and I see jinn whispering into our ears to lead us astray.
I thought I could "feel" the effects of the divine on this material plane. When I first read the Glorious Qur'an I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. It felt like a veil had been lifted from my eyes and that I was seeing the world for what it truly was for the first time. I was a blind man who had been granted sight.
But what if that's all the Qur'an was? What if it was JUST pretty words and my mind is creating this illusion that I'm praying to a God in heaven and that my faith in this God will somehow intervene in my life?
I put so much faith in the Qur'an and it may not even be divine.
But I think someone made a good point in that I need to put my faith in God above all else. Forget God, forget the Bible, forget an imam or pastor, forget mom and dad, but put faith in God alone above all other things.
I've also been struggling a lot to follow certain injunctions of the Qur'an and I feel far from God. I'm not happy right now. Sometimes I feel like I would have been happier if I never converted.
It's just hard to stay on the straight path and I have so much doubt. If the Qur'an is not the direct word of God why bother calling myself a Muslim? I think deep down I believe in a spiritual soul and some type of God. I don't believe we're just animals made of flesh and blood. But I'm feeling this sudden bout of uncertainty about whether the Qur'an is the Truth. Whether any of the religions contain all Truth.
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Okay I'll start off by posting the video which first inspired doubt. It was this video followed by 1 or 2 other videos that he suggested.
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-lUAT7fLAw
Now onto my dilemma. I was experiencing doubt that what I experience in this world as God may just be imagined by me. When I look at the world and my life I see the principles of the Qur'an playing out. I see good, evil, sin, and righteousness. I see angels helping us by the will of God and I see jinn whispering into our ears to lead us astray.
I thought I could "feel" the effects of the divine on this material plane. When I first read the Glorious Qur'an I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. It felt like a veil had been lifted from my eyes and that I was seeing the world for what it truly was for the first time. I was a blind man who had been granted sight.
But what if that's all the Qur'an was? What if it was JUST pretty words and my mind is creating this illusion that I'm praying to a God in heaven and that my faith in this God will somehow intervene in my life?
I put so much faith in the Qur'an and it may not even be divine.
But I think someone made a good point in that I need to put my faith in God above all else. Forget God, forget the Bible, forget an imam or pastor, forget mom and dad, but put faith in God alone above all other things.
I've also been struggling a lot to follow certain injunctions of the Qur'an and I feel far from God. I'm not happy right now. Sometimes I feel like I would have been happier if I never converted.
It's just hard to stay on the straight path and I have so much doubt. If the Qur'an is not the direct word of God why bother calling myself a Muslim? I think deep down I believe in a spiritual soul and some type of God. I don't believe we're just animals made of flesh and blood. But I'm feeling this sudden bout of uncertainty about whether the Qur'an is the Truth. Whether any of the religions contain all Truth.
Many moslems become moslems without ever reading a Quran... (Jesus, Jesus disciples, Moses, Abraham and countless of others..)
To 're-seek' (yes re-seek) the true God.. perhaps you should contemplate on the beginning... of your life...
The time when you knew not any languages... never heard of Allah, YHVH or any religion...And the only thing that you do know and trust.. (back then) is your Maintainer...
?Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.?
(Luke 1721)Salam / Peace
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Many moslems become moslems without ever reading a Quran... (Jesus, Jesus disciples, Moses, Abraham and countless of others..)
To 're-seek' (yes re-seek) the true God.. perhaps you should contemplate on the beginning... of your life...
The time when you knew not any languages... never heard of Allah, YHVH or any religion...And the only thing that you do know and trust.. (back then) is your Maintainer...
?Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.?
(Luke 1721)Salam / Peace
Right. And many believers died when the Quran was barely being revealed. Others saw miracles in front of their eyes and yet never believed. The Quran itself says that even if you were to show the disbelievers all the signs of the world they would call it magic and they have been spelled. So I think faith is an internal matter and not based on external factors. But that is just what I think.
I still think doubts arise from our experiences in life.
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I appreciate your honesty and sincerity "Faithful Jinn"
As far as discussions on this whole Forum...
We can argue endlessly, convincing each other of something, whether it is this or that...Man has not enough neurons to understand God! Similarly as monkey has not enough neurons to play chess!
The guy asks how do we know that God produced the Qur'an???
And was it only "once in eternity" event ever?
If not, ... then, it is all, as always, human all too human...
http//nietzsche.holtof.com/Nietzsche_human_all_too_human/index.htm
PS
I sometimes think people just enjoy posting posts too much... for the sake of argument? boredom? lack of real problems?Instead, perhaps
"God is everywhere and does everything.
God is within us and knows everything.
God is without us and sees everything.
God is beyond us and IS everything.
God alone IS."Excerpted from God Speaks by Meher Baba, p. 298
I thing personally that we will never know!
Do watch the Aronofsky's film "PI"! Very important! (perhaps for many of us here!)
http//www.imdb.com/title/tt0138704/
Don't worry, be happy!
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Peace GODsubmitter.
I like your sense of humour!
Search everywhere and everything and take your pick. You can use random sampling while you are choosing which way to follow/go.
Somehow your user name " GODsubmitter" tells me that you trust in GOD Alone?
May the Creator guide us to the truth.
Peace. -
Peace Lena.
God is absolutely clear. Every single believer is tried according to the burden they can carry.
Only GOD knows how each one is tried.
41;42 Is not a contradiction if you take the context - Falsehood will be eventually, easily detected-
Let us give the following example
Say I decided to add verses , take away other verses, publish my new "Koran", Then say" Look GOD did not preserve HIS word since I have a different "Koran" in my possession".However What I added or taken away could easily be detected.Also the rule/proof/law ...That is preserving the word of GOD will be used as a detector tool.
GOD wants submission and total loyalty to HIM Alone, not to words or a book or anything else...
HE then will make sure the true believer understands and follows only HIS word, after a very hard journey and an even harder testing period. GOD must bring out the true conviction of the believer. GOD also tests different generations with different rites/ways/...
May GOD help the true believers show patience and perseverance until they attain certainty.
Peace.sun Nice post. Thanks.
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But what if that's all the Qur'an was? What if it was JUST pretty words and my mind is creating this illusion that I'm praying to a God in heaven and that my faith in this God will somehow intervene in my life?
I put so much faith in the Qur'an and it may not even be divine.
But I think someone made a good point in that I need to put my faith in God above all else. Forget God, forget the Bible, forget an imam or pastor, forget mom and dad, but put faith in God alone above all other things.
This stood out to me as I have been there, done that, got the t-shirt, etc.
How about this what if your entire body, life, the fact that you have a brain, all were illusions inside your mind? Illusion is a biased term, try 'appearance' - synonymous yet free of cognitive bias. What if your mind itself were an appearance in something beyond it?
You see where I am going? How do you know the reality that is here, now, is real? I went through the same process and basically it came to an all-or-nothing scenario. Either I trust what I see 100% or feel that it is merely a slideshow. How much do you trust the ground you walk on? By that same measure you should trust all other things, because the same entity that is defining the ground you walk on is the one that is writing every single book.
Personally I found resolution by knowing that all I am is an appearance in the formless void. My body is born and it will die yet the void is there before I am born, is here now, and will be after I die. So that is surely the true reality to be trusted above all other things. And that void just so happened to give form to this reality containing the quran. Here's some food for thought. Think about it.
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Peace GODsubmitter.
I like your sense of humour!
Search everywhere and everything and take your pick. You can use random sampling while you are choosing which way to follow/go.
Somehow your user name " GODsubmitter" tells me that you trust in GOD Alone?
May the Creator guide us to the truth.
Peace.Thank you brother for your kind words )