Hello
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Hi, my name is Natalie. I found this site while reading a Quran-only site and followed a link here. This is the first Islamic-related forum I've ever joined because when I first found Islam it was through just reading the Quran so when I found out about Hadith and how most Muslims consider belief in it a requirement, I decided to keep my new-found faith to myself and just continue calling myself an "agnostic former Christian" rather than jump into what I discovered was a major controversy.
I started reading the Quran over 2 years ago, just to see if all the negative things I'd heard about Islam were really true but ended up being drawn into it on a personal level. Before that, my only information about Islam was from what I'd heard in the media and one crazy cousin who converted through marriage and started telling everyone in the family that we were all going to hell for not being Muslims and talking about evil genies that live in the bathroom and other such nonsense. I was surprised to see that none of the negative or crazy things I'd heard were anywhere in the actual Quran. I was even more surprised to see almost all the beliefs I'd come to on my own, over the years as a non-religious person, written out so clearly in a religious book.
While I'm still relunctant to call myself a Muslim, after 2 years of studying the Quran, I feel like my personal beliefs are on solid enough ground to finally reach out to others and hear theirs. I don't know any Muslims IRL, and I'm nowhere near ready to go to a mosque or anything like that, so I hope to meet lots of people here willing to share their thoughts about Islam with me.
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Hi, my name is Natalie.
Hi Natalie! welcome welcome
I decided to keep my new-found faith to myself and just continue calling myself an "agnostic former Christian" rather than jump into what I discovered was a major controversy.
No problem, it really doesn't matter in what name that you call yourselves..
I started reading the Quran over 2 years ago, just to see if all the negative things I'd heard about Islam were really true but ended up being drawn into it on a personal level. Before that, my only information about Islam was from what I'd heard in the media and one crazy cousin who converted through marriage and started telling everyone in the family that we were all going to hell for not being Muslims and talking about evil genies that live in the bathroom and other such nonsense.
rotfl rotfl Well since you're a 'former christian' you've certainly heard the same things on 'the other side' ?)
I was surprised to see that none of the negative or crazy things I'd heard were anywhere in the actual Quran. I was even more surprised to see almost all the beliefs I'd come to on my own, over the years as a non-religious person, written out so clearly in a religious book.
Correction Quran and also (some books on) Bible is not a religious book, it's actually an ANTI-Religion book.
While I'm still relunctant to call myself a Muslim, after 2 years of studying the Quran, I feel like my personal beliefs are on solid enough ground to finally reach out to others and hear theirs. I don't know any Muslims IRL, and I'm nowhere near ready to go to a mosque or anything like that, so I hope to meet lots of people here willing to share their thoughts about Islam with me.
You don't need to go to a mosque to be a muslim.
And you don't need to call yourself a muslim in order to be a muslim.
islam is a 'character/attitude' it lies within the same domain as 'honest' or 'kind' or 'polite'.
Does honest people need to call themselves 'honest'?And you can find the 'teaching of islam' within nearly all book of wisdom..
Here's an example
Our Father, who are in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
Let thy kingdom come;
Let thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Salam / Peace
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Thanks for the warm welcome and the clarifications for usage of the term "Muslim". I was under the initial impression it was a catch-all term for anyone who acknowledges the Quran as Scripture, but got a little shaken when I started reading up on Islamic websites. It's good to see some other viewpoints.
@Jafar Thankfully, most of my family is religiously tolerant, so I didn't hear a lot of negativity growing up. No one even batted an eyelash when I left the church at 13 for atheism. The flip side of that coin, though, is that I had to learn pretty much everything related to spirituality on my own without any elder guidance.
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Thanks for the warm welcome and the clarifications for usage of the term "Muslim". I was under the initial impression it was a catch-all term for anyone who acknowledges the Quran as Scripture, but got a little shaken when I started reading up on Islamic websites. It's good to see some other viewpoints.
It's a catch-all term for anyone who sincerely accept God's will.
No matter how difficult it may be..@Jafar Thankfully, most of my family is religiously tolerant, so I didn't hear a lot of negativity growing up. No one even batted an eyelash when I left the church at 13 for atheism. The flip side of that coin, though, is that I had to learn pretty much everything related to spirituality on my own without any elder guidance.
In that case your family might be 'more spiritual' than you've ever realized..
Spirituality IS a journey that one must take alone..
Salam / Peace
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Welcome Natalie,
sounds somehow like my own story (which I haven't shared here yet)
I left the church at 14 (the earliest gate possible), started reading Quran to know what all these debates were really about, and got deeply touched by it - and often astonished as there are so many things inside you would not expect first of all, not trusting authorities...
And I am also still hesitant how to call myself, as it seems cheating people of I call myself with the same name as all these concrete-heads... -
@Jafar Yes, but does the lone journey have to be so lonely?!? ;D I'm half-joking. The more I study, the easier it gets. It also helps a lot to see what progress others have made on here.
@Reee How ironic is it that all the negative things said about Islam are actually drawing people toward the Quran? lol
I'd bet anything that you and I aren't the only ones to read it just to see if the naysayers were truthful. -
Hello
Richard
