I renounced my faith in the divinity of the Qur'an today
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There is a reason why that islam is the fastest growing religion today.
Better cross check your source for that..
As they always change the statement in accordance to season...
If the mode is "Go people! Sell! Sell! Sell! Expand! Expand! Gain more customers believers"
They say what you said above..Yet if the mode is "Our bottom line is not good... gain more $$$ from existing customers believers"..
Then they will say "Our competitor (can be either Christians, Shiites, Catholics or others but usually it's Christians) started to gain market share is turning our people into a 'murtad', our source of money religion is at threat, support us people! donate all of your $$$ to us in the way of Allah! for the religion of Allah! Otherwise in X years all of our people will be a murtad.. (apostate)".Salam / Peace
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I just realized it... perhaps it's true...
Christianity and Islam was created for low, primitive people BY another low, primitive people who were trying to take advantage of their naivety and ignorance rotfl rotfl
And Jesus didn't invented Christianity, it was a bunch of clerics who did that centuries after he died , in similar manner as Muhammad didn't invented Islam, it was a bunch of clerics who did that centuries after he died..
Salam / Peace
When thinking about it it's not so far fetched indeed... This maimonides is true.
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Those with a rational bent of mind in overdrive, may find some comfort in reading G A Parwez's Exposition of the Qur'an which is way off the beaten track.
Author of many books including "Islam, a challenge to Religon" he has been responsible in Indo Pak to wake people up to a reading of the Qur'an without reading secondary sources into it.
http//www.tolueislam.org/Parwez/expo/exposition.htm
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Fasting has a tendency to give you more energy to the mind, letting you feel more pure in mind and body, and lets you think more clearly and makes it easier to go 'deeper' into spiritual matters. At least for me, and after the first initial days when the body gets used to the change.
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When things get complicated, and we get confused, and frustrated... it's better to just relax, ask/pray for insight and understanding, and just wait... and not rush or push. Just leave everything. Also when we get frustrated and confused in trying to understand the quran... we should relax. Confusion arises from us being mixed up from all sorts of influences and faulty understanding. Truth is never causing confusion. There is no need to keep the quran as the foundation or center of one's faith or belief or whatever you call it. It's better to go inside yourself and pray to your creator, without preconceived ideas and conditions. Just ask for better understanding and to be shown the truth, whatever it may be. And we should ask to be able to handle it, and to love it. What's not to love about truth? We can return to the quran later, with better understanding. One should not underestimate the quran.
)
peace
That, Zulf was a good post. We all have our questions and doubts. We also get clarity with confusion.
We all have our ups and downs; those who don't are the dead in graves!!
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I will try to answer your post by my TheCreator's permission, inshaAllah.
Problem with you brother is you are solely based on translation. 419-10 talks about "earth" only, making of it is 2 days , then keeping mountains in it and other things, all in 4 days . Then 4112 says 2 days for making of heavens and other thing in it .
Hence only 6 days in all. If you imagine there are not even small contradictions, how come such a big contradiction is left out? You may understand it if you take a close look.
Again problem with your understanding. You don't see the words used in AlQuraan, you took it as general understanding. 262 and 569 never said that Christians and Jews go to paradise. And also you missed all three conditions, 1) have to believe in Allah, 2) believe in hereafter 3) do corrected deeds, then their reward will be with their Lord and they will not fear nor they grieve. Where is paradise came in between?
929 asked you to slay Christians and Jews? Very well translated bro. Check again.
Again! You did not look at AlQuraan or its words used properly. Please look at Arabic words because "you" is used for singular as well as plural in English, this is a problem of English language not a problem of AlQuraan.
478 says whatever evil comes to THEM is from their hands, and everything good is from Allah.
479 says whatever good comes to YOU is from Allah and whatever evil comes to you is from your own hands .
Aayat needed!
Anyways, please check 225 and compare it so called science.
Again translation problem. Please check 1334, 1990 , 594.
True, FINALLY God is the One who guides or misguides whom He wills. This is a big but concept you have to understand. God is the final channel for everything. Every deed has to get approval from God, either be it good or bad. If a person decides to get away from the path of Allah, until and unless Allah approves it, he is no way can get away from His path and vice versa.
Hence Allah is the one who guides or misguides whom He will, if He don't approve, the case gets back to normal. And He always try to protect and try to keep His servants on track. But people chose their way by force.
Hope you understand what I am saying.
This is also a big concept. I agree, this makes no logical sense, but it is not Allah who punishes you but it is you who put yourself in punishments.
We are in a huge program, designed by Allah, based on formulas. Everything is on your finger tips, clearly saying if you press this button, it will delete your files, if you press this button, it will format your hard disk, if you press this button, virus spread over all your contacts, etc.
Same way for goods, if you press this button, your system gets cleaned from viruses, if you press this button, all unnecessary files will be deleted from your hard disk, etc. etc.
Now its your choice to click what buttons you like, if you click wrong buttons knowingly, and if it effects your system, how can you blame Allah?
For example A Calculator based of formulas. If you click willingly 2 + 2 and love to get 5, you are not gonna get it, how much you try. This is how Allah system works. Everyone has the program on their finger tips and all are given free will to click what they want. So, please don't blame my and your TheCreator.
Your rest of the post also having problem with translations or your understanding. Please check or discuss in detail.
May Allah protect us and increase us in knowledge and guide us to His true path pr
mmKhan
"...God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their..."
26 BEHOLD, as for those who are bent on denying the truth 6 it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or
dost not warn them they will not believe. (27) God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their
eyes is a veil; 7 and awesome suffering awaits them.
Footnotes
6 In contrast with the frequently occurring term al-kafirun ("those who deny the truth",
the use of the past tense in alladhina kafaru indicates conscious intent, and is,
therefore, appropriately rendered as "those who are bent on denying the truth". This
interpretation is supported by many commentators, especially Zamakhshari (who, in his
commentary on this verse, uses the expression, "those who have deliberately resolved upon
their kufr". Elsewhere in the Qur'an such people are spoken of as having "hearts with
which they fail to grasp the truth, and eyes with which they fail to see, and ears with
which they fail to hear" (7179). - For an explanation of the terms kufr ("denial of
the truth", kafir ("one who denies the truth", etc., see note 4 on 7410, where this
concept appears for the first time in Qur'anic revelation.
7 A reference to the natural law instituted by God, whereby a person who persistently
adheres to false beliefs and refuses to listen to the voice of truth gradually loses
the ability to perceive the truth, "so that finally, as it were, a seal is set upon
his heart" (Raghib). Since it is God who has instituted all laws of nature - which, in
their aggregate, are called sunnat Allah ("the way of God" - this "sealing" is
attributed to Him but it is obviously a consequence of man's free choice and not an
act of "predestination". Similarly, the suffering which, in the life to come, is in
store for those who during their life in this world have wilfully remained deaf and
blind to the truth, is a natural consequence of their free choice - just as happiness
in the life to come is the natural consequence of man's endeavour to attain to
righteousness and inner illumination. It is in this sense that the Qur'anic references
to God's "reward" and "punishment" must be understood
To read online please visit
http//asadullahali.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the-message-of-the-quran.pdf
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I recently stopped doing the ritual prayers, as taught by Dr Rashad Khalifa PhD, altogether.
Particularly reading the following thread confirmed my doubts about Islam and specially salat
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=8029.msg17311#msg17311
So, as the title of this thread says, I am doubting the divinity of Qur'an, and I do not know what to think about Islam anymore... if I look at the reality and the end-result of today Muslims, my impression is appalling.
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Peace Godsubmitter,
I looked up the prayers of Zaroastrians on Youtube. They don't even remotely resemble the Muslim prayers.
Here, take a look
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoZ1nFfUUpQ
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"...God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their..."
26 BEHOLD, as for those who are bent on denying the truth 6 it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or
dost not warn them they will not believe. (27) God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their
eyes is a veil; 7 and awesome suffering awaits them.
Footnotes
6 In contrast with the frequently occurring term al-kafirun ("those who deny the truth",
the use of the past tense in alladhina kafaru indicates conscious intent, and is,
therefore, appropriately rendered as "those who are bent on denying the truth". This
interpretation is supported by many commentators, especially Zamakhshari (who, in his
commentary on this verse, uses the expression, "those who have deliberately resolved upon
their kufr". Elsewhere in the Qur'an such people are spoken of as having "hearts with
which they fail to grasp the truth, and eyes with which they fail to see, and ears with
which they fail to hear" (7179). - For an explanation of the terms kufr ("denial of
the truth", kafir ("one who denies the truth", etc., see note 4 on 7410, where this
concept appears for the first time in Qur'anic revelation.
7 A reference to the natural law instituted by God, whereby a person who persistently
adheres to false beliefs and refuses to listen to the voice of truth gradually loses
the ability to perceive the truth, "so that finally, as it were, a seal is set upon
his heart" (Raghib). Since it is God who has instituted all laws of nature - which, in
their aggregate, are called sunnat Allah ("the way of God" - this "sealing" is
attributed to Him but it is obviously a consequence of man's free choice and not an
act of "predestination". Similarly, the suffering which, in the life to come, is in
store for those who during their life in this world have wilfully remained deaf and
blind to the truth, is a natural consequence of their free choice - just as happiness
in the life to come is the natural consequence of man's endeavour to attain to
righteousness and inner illumination. It is in this sense that the Qur'anic references
to God's "reward" and "punishment" must be understood
To read online please visit
http//asadullahali.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the-message-of-the-quran.pdf
I guess I'm a denier of truth then. I practiced Islam for years and I would end my salat that God increase me in humility, increase me in knowledge, increase me in patience, guide me, and make me a true Muslim.
I guess atheism is what you end up with when you pray for truth?
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Peace Godsubmitter,
I looked up the prayers of Zaroastrians on Youtube. They don't even remotely resemble the Muslim prayers.
Here, take a look
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoZ1nFfUUpQ
That's not the individual prayer, it is a liturgy! (Youtube titles are arbitrary)
READ HE THREAD I posted the link to! -
I guess atheism is what you end up with when you pray for truth?
Splendid!
peace
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Faithful Jinn
As God is just and fair and merciful, you may want to search your soul for what you knew you were lacking but did not take the iniative to fix it and perhaps wishing for God to fix it for you.
There are many areas for me that I still find confusing in the Qur'an but I don't jump ship. I seek guidance with patience and prayer and making efforts to dust off the layers of pollution on the mirror of my soul accumulated by wilful neglect. I realize I need to work harder to clean my "mirror' so that God's guidance can reflect on it.
I avoid, as the Qur'an says, an attitude which the rejectors had, meaning"If God did not will, we would not be engaging in objectionable behaviour"
As they say, first deserve, then desire...!!
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INSATIABLE DESIRE TO CRITICISE THE QURAN
? When the Quran confirms the Bible, it is accused of plagiarism.
? When the Quran detracts from the Bible, it is accused of Biblical misinformation and a lack of knowledge of its contents.
? When the Quran confirms a non-canonical Biblical text (Apocrypha) or an extraneous rabbinical thought, it is accused of ignorance pandering to ancient traditions and myths.
? When the Quran confirms vestiges of truth from the knowledge of the ancients, it is accused of borrowing ideas that were in situ.
? When the Quran is in tandem with elucidatory scientific advancements and knowledge, it is cavalierly accused of nothing spectacular, but general knowledge known to the ancients.
? When the Quran challenges regressive social freedoms encouraged in the name of modernity, it is accused of being quintessentially archaic.
For the insatiable ardent critic, any form of unwarranted criticism is fair play.
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Faithful Jinn
As God is just and fair and merciful, you may want to search your soul for what you knew you were lacking but did not take the iniative to fix it and perhaps wishing for God to fix it for you.
There are many areas for me that I still find confusing in the Qur'an but I don't jump ship. I seek guidance with patience and prayer and making efforts to dust off the layers of pollution on the mirror of my soul accumulated by wilful neglect. I realize I need to work harder to clean my "mirror' so that God's guidance can reflect on it.
I avoid, as the Qur'an says, an attitude which the rejectors had, meaning"If God did not will, we would not be engaging in objectionable behaviour"
As they say, first deserve, then desire...!!
Then you're doomed to remain in the grip of Islam. I found what I saw as falsehood in the Qur'an and so I abandoned it. This is how people progress and advance. The fact that you find things confusing in the Qur'an and don't face them head on shows just how powerful religion is at controlling peoples minds.
I was confused like you. So I decided to face the problem and look at exactly what I was questioning. I looked at it with an open heart and mind and a rational perspective. What I found leads me to believe I have no reason to believe this book is from God, and with this revelation I renounce my faith in the divinity of the Qur'an.
I don't need a belief system that is an enemy of free thinking and hard questions.
I'd say the willful neglect is not in your soul but in your mind because when you face difficult questions concerning faith, it seems you say a prayer and stick your head in the sand like an ostrich instead of addressing your concerns from a rational point of view and making a decision on whether your concerns are valid or if you simply misinterpreted or misunderstood.
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As-Salaam Alaikum,
My brother I read a few post and I don't think this has been brought up.
If you look at Islam and the Qur'an from a Self-Knowledge perspective I think things would start to make sense to you. Contrary to popular belief, Allah is not a sole anthropomorphic diety suspended somewhere. Scripture says Man was created in (but more correct as) the image of Allah, meaning you yourself are a divinity, an avatar of Allah. Allah works through man, not for man, Allah's Will is manifested through man. Everything in creation is in Islam, only man has choice.
With this understanding you can go back to the Qur'an and understand the true gnosis it really is with this new understanding. You are an eternal being, always existed and always will. Terms like heaven and hellfire are just mindstates, Iblis is your carnal desires, the shaytans are the oppressive people of the earth, etc.
I myself started as a Christian, then converted to Sunnism. After really learning about it I started to have serious doubts about Islam, but I still was intrigued by the Qur'an because of its proofs and evidences, both scientifically and philosphically as stated before, and spiritually may I add. I started to study other forms of Islam like the Nation of Islam and then from there the Nation of Gods and Earths (Five Percenters), while I was also studying Gnosticism and Ancient Egypt. While I do not identify or associate myself with those groups, one major thing I learned from the Five Percenters is Knowledge of Self. Once I grasped that concept, my view on Islam and the Qur'an became concrete, especially after learning about the forged hadith which both the NOI and NGE also teach.
Just thought I bring up something that didn't get brought up yet and might have you thinking. Regardless of your descision you'll be fine brother, no one is going to lose their soul. It's an eternity of soul progression, if we didn't get something right this go around, we'll be incarnated right back here again until we do. One love.
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As-Salaam Alaikum,
My brother I read a few post and I don't think this has been brought up.
If you look at Islam and the Qur'an from a Self-Knowledge perspective I think things would start to make sense to you. Contrary to popular belief, Allah is not a sole anthropomorphic diety suspended somewhere. Scripture says Man was created in (but more correct as) the image of Allah, meaning you yourself are a divinity, an avatar of Allah. Allah works through man, not for man, Allah's Will is manifested through man. Everything in creation is in Islam, only man has choice.
With this understanding you can go back to the Qur'an and understand the true gnosis it really is with this new understanding. You are an eternal being, always existed and always will. Terms like heaven and hellfire are just mindstates, Iblis is your carnal desires, the shaytans are the oppressive people of the earth, etc.
I myself started as a Christian, then converted to Sunnism. After really learning about it I started to have serious doubts about Islam, but I still was intrigued by the Qur'an because of its proofs and evidences, both scientifically and philosphically as stated before, and spiritually may I add. I started to study other forms of Islam like the Nation of Islam and then from there the Nation of Gods and Earths (Five Percenters), while I was also studying Gnosticism and Ancient Egypt. While I do not identify or associate myself with those groups, one major thing I learned from the Five Percenters is Knowledge of Self. Once I grasped that concept, my view on Islam and the Qur'an became concrete, especially after learning about the forged hadith which both the NOI and NGE also teach.
Just thought I bring up something that didn't get brought up yet and might have you thinking. Regardless of your descision you'll be fine brother, no one is going to lose their soul. It's an eternity of soul progression, if we didn't get something right this go around, we'll be incarnated right back here again until we do. One love.
If everybody is left alone to form his opinions based on self-knowledge, and mankind is alone on this planet to create opinions about soul, spirit and invisible things, then there is no god who gave any scripture?
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Renouncing one's faith is the worst decision one can take in one's life. Just because we do not understand certain things, or because we don't like following God's rules. Whatever the reason, our very short existance on earth is not worth it. For anyone who isn't "dumb, deaf and blind", it's obvious that the earth, the universe and everything in it was created by God.
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Renouncing one's faith is the worst decision one can take in one's life. Just because we do not understand certain things, or because we don't like following God's rules. Whatever the reason, our very short existance on earth is not worth it. For anyone who isn't "dumb, deaf and blind", it's obvious that the earth, the universe and everything in it was created by God.
It's not about rules. It's about truth. I cannot stress enough that I care about TRUTH. It doesn't matter how much I do or don't want God to exist I am a seeker of truth not comforting feelings. I no longer believe it is true. I can't force myself to believe it, if God is real He can read my thoughts so pretending to believe won't mean anything.
I've simply come to a point of personal understanding after much thought, research, and analysis of the scripture and the premise of the Abrahamic faiths. The Qur'an could easily have come from man.
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Faithful Jinn,
I have been reading this thread, with interest. I think we all have questions about various things in the Qu'ran. I can completely respect your decision and the choice you have made. How can I say anything if you have done your own research. I may disagree, but I still respect what you have done, for your own beliefs. I wish you the best in your journey to the truth.
I have just two questions and I am interested in your response. You state it could have easily been written by man. When the Qu'ran was first recited (before it was compiled and written) do you think man could have produced palindromes orally on the fly? Not words but also sentences? Of course the most famous one I know is Rabbaka-fa-Kabbir.
The other question, I have always been fascinated with the science of Qu'ran on subjects man knew nothing about until much later (Embryology, Sensory characteristics of the skin, Geology, Oceanography and Astronomy) What is your take on this?
Thanks