Nearness and Guidance -> Knowledge and Wisdom = Peace and Prosperity

justamuslim

Peace,

Okay. I will try to sit down and write my next post soon since you seem barely able to wait. Well, it takes some time to finish a good post, so I need a good amount of time and concentration, as well as inspiration to write anything.

God bless you

Sure can understand that and also relate. I am yet to post on wudu and ablution thread trying to get all my thoughts together in addressing hawk99.

You bring up some important concepts - wisdom/Wisdom, relying on God.... I suppose while awaiting your next posts, I can share my thoughts thus far commenting. But really am looking to read your next posts.

You think a whack on the head would help speed up the process to get you going? ;D

Man_of_Faith

Nearness and Guidance -> Knowledge and Wisdom = Peace and Prosperity

Post 2 ? Nearness and Guidance part 1

Peace be unto you,

In the last post I introduced my thread and what its contents will be. Now we will delve deeper into the topic and I will discuss the first link in the chain; ?Nearness and Guidance?, which I consider is the first step one will need to take once they have discovered the Path of God and Faith has entered the heart.

Not do I command you to do the following, but I always state my intention before I initiate a monolog with God such as this; ?? I seek your Nearness and Guidance?? and I add the following phrase as an intensifier ?? as well as protection from the evil one and his followers?. I feel these phrases have filled their intended purpose for me, but this is nothing which is sanctioned by the Quran and it is a mere aim of my personal development. Still, I believe this is the initial aim of someone who chooses to follow the Light of God.

I am sure we should always implore God for our needs in life and this will bring us closer to God, meaning you gain his Nearness by doing this as you put your trust in Him. It is a kind of proximity and it means allegorically to ?walk along the beach with the Lord?. The Most Gracious will lend his powerful hand and where your energy runs out He will carry you. This is surely the assistance God is mentioning in the Quran when He promises to help those who are steadfast and have Faith in Him.

There is a famous poem which was inspired to a certain woman named Mary Stevenson in 1936 which reads
?One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints. Other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, ?You promised me, Lord, that if I followed You, You would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed You the most, You have not been there for me??

The Lord replied ?The times when you have seen only one set of footprints is when I carried you.??

Some variations of this poem exist on the Web, but I believe this one to be the original. The alternatives are adapted to Christianity with Father or Child and thus I disregard them. I personally take this poem as that God continues to inspire humans through all ages and that He did not stop in the 7th century. As you can read in the poem it means to hand yourself over to God entirely and put all your trust in Him.
The reason I put Guidance on the same level as Nearness is that I believe when one gets closer to God, then God will provide Guidance at the same time or at least soon thereafter. Guidance is, according to me, pretty misunderstood and some people believe that God only guides through the Quran, which I believe is wrong. God is not confined to some Book and will guide as He pleases. Many are the generally called blessed men who lived through the ages and many of them lived while the Quran was not yet revealed, and these people were guided. They had put all their trust in God alone and that He will lead them straight, on a straight Path. The Quran was sent down as a blessing, a bonus because God is the Most Gracious, Most Merciful and to set things straight. It is a Guide for those who seek Guidance, but not without permission by the Lord. However, the Message has existed all along and the Mosaic Law revealed to Moses millennia ago is still contained within the Quran. These words were few and were inscribed on stone tables on the Mount Sinai, but apparently they seem to be long gone. They are left within the Old Testament of the Bible slightly corrupted with stoning as a punishment for breaking the rules which is a punishment of Pagans. Moses? people were told to uphold the Law which only seemed to have been Ten Commandments at the time and this Law is still valid as of today.

Jesus was, centuries later (maybe a millennium or even 1500 years, but I am not sure), upholding the Mosaic Law and was simply exposing the clergymen of his time as well as bringing news of the Kingdom (Heaven). He was not there to sacrifice himself for mankind or any of the usual invented stories, and he was not a god or the son of God. He was simply a Messenger, although a very blessed one powerfully infused with the Holy Spirit (the direct spirit of God). Jesus seems to have been some kind of beacon in the timeline of Prophets, although I am not truly sure in which manner. Anyway, like every other Messenger he was a sign for mankind that God is present, always watching. He brought news for the Believers and clear warnings for the enemies of God (the clergymen and other hypocrites as well as those who disbelieve altogether). God decided to ?bring him back to base?, so He made the people believe they killed him while he brought his soul back before harm and suffering came to him. Almost instantly, and even before he is gone, he is the object of idolization by throngs of people who treat him as a lord.

And, about 600 years later, Muhammad is inspired by God and put to trial and seemingly manages to pass the trials, with assistance from God, and the Quran is revealed to Him. The Quran is the exact wordings of God, much like the stone tablets revealed to Moses, but way more detailed this time. It is the perfect source of scriptural information. The same as with Jesus, Muhammad is later treated as a lord and the Law-giver and a strong source of authorization to issue inhumane and ungodly rules for generations of so-called believers, which unfortunately the majority of people seem to have fallen prey to.

Before Moses came, Abraham arrived and there existed no scripture at that time. Everything was based on hearsay and the world population was small. I am not sure at all when Abraham lived, but I infer that he lived about 2000 years before Jesus, about 4000 years ago. I can by no way guarantee that this information is correct however. Take my guess with a grind of salt. Very little was written down of anything and what you knew was spread verbally. The only apparent other-than-verbal communication was paintings and inscriptions. As far as I know any uniform written language was not yet invented. This is why we have so little information from Abraham except what is written in the Quran. The Bible has tales about him, but it is difficult to know which are fairy tales and which are true. That Abraham was guided is proof that Guidance does not necessarily come by scriptural means. Guidance will come when we seek God?s Nearness, and that is a Truth from the Message, particularly when Faith is entering our hearts.

Between and before the above stated Prophets there were many more who ever roamed the face of the Earth, but I did not mention them here. They are also important as signs, but you can read about them yourselves if you are interested. They all had their own personalities and were not at all alike on the personal level although they shared one thing in common, Faith in God alone. They were not idol worshipers and they followed the righteous tradition (which was to live in the way of God) of their ancestors and they relied upon God for Guidance. Their ancestors only told them the important things like worship only the Lord and there existed not all these nonsense which were spread through the today so-called hadith. When they said to follow the ways of our ancestors Abraham and company, as retold within the Quran, it meant to embrace monotheism. God?s religion has never been complicated and filled with hundreds of rules but those rules that exist are pretty simple.
Pretty much everything of the practices were ideas of the Ummah (community), ie the uniformity of prayers and those fundamental things. I am pretty sure that there is no Rakah pattern or the other ideas taught by hadith of Muhammad and they may be later inventions. The word Salat basically means to contact God, not truly the commonplace prayer ritual. Do not get me wrong, I believe in prayers and God has told us to regularly make contact with Him throughout the day, and even at night.

I think prayers or communication with God was never questioned. It is very obvious that one should implore and rely upon his God frequently. And what is the first thing that comes to mind when we wake up in the morning? Well, communication with the Lord as is the foremost all the time. The same goes for the night when we retire for the day. Moreover, commonsense tells that some communication and imploration during the day fits in well in a Believer?s life.

The practices of God?s religion do not divert much from past prophets before Muhammad. All have had their Salat (contact/communication) and Zakat (good deeds/behavior or something like that in my understanding).

As far as I have understood the only prerequisites to reach God?s ?Kingdom? is to

Believe in God and His absolute authority
Believe in the Day of Judgment
Be a righteous person

If someone claims that you need to do more than this apart from some minor details explained by God in Quran you should not believe them. If you have more things you do they are personal commitments for God and nothing mandatory prescribed by God.

I think all (especially some of them like Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad) are idolized against their will and they were very modest and humble. They have their own days of commemoration and they are treated highly, more than a healthy hero of their people. We can follow their example, but we do not do so by having days for them or constantly including them in our humanly ceremonies or rituals.

Now, roughly 1400 years after Muhammad and about 2000 years after Jesus, we have the Quran and God to rely upon. Most people interpret the Quran as Muhammad was the seal of prophets and that there will be no more prophets emerging on the face of the Earth. Considered how often the Quran is misinterpreted I am myself not sure about the passages stating this information and in my head I find that Messengers would still emerge when blessed men reach far and God would excel their Believer status. Also considering the state of God?s religion, I would not rule out that God could have another Messenger in His plans. God does not actively guide through His Book, but by Himself personally, generally known as through the Holy Spirit. The Quran is what it is, it is scriptural information, even though the author is God Himself. The text or book is not magical on its own and will guide people only through their Wisdom and Knowledge.

However, God?s religion should in theory not be difficult to practice at all since we are spoiled with the Quran, but since Guidance is not connected to the Quran it does not matter if some people have Quran or not. Only muslims (peacemakers) will find Guidance as well as Nearness. We need to work on our personalities and behavior before God will actively guide us into Believers. And Believer status means Wisdom and Knowledge which muslims do not possess (yet). In my opinion, a muslim does not necessarily need to have a strong Faith in heart, they ?want to believe?, they are still searching and need to actively work, as I stated above, on their personality and behavior.

Just to make things more complicated, we are all muslims even when you gain the extra tag Believer, but there is a considerable difference between the two, and that has to do with Faith, and lack of real Nearness and Guidance, such as when you truly feel God is near and guiding you. We may of course deceive ourselves and believe we are guided, but then it is imagined nearness and guidance. A person who does not live by the ways of a muslim will surely not be near God or guided, so we can easily say that they lack Nearness and Guidance. You must see such things in others from their behavior. The example of the above can easily be understood by studying the Quran and why some people believe they are guided while they are not and that is because they are hypocrites. Are we not actively working for the last part of the chain about Peace, we will not be rewarded by the first two parts of the chain, it is that simple. This is why I refer to it as a chain.

According to me, you shall put yourself in God?s hands, trusting that He will lead you straight. Close proximity to God will grant you Guidance and in its turn will lead to the next part of the chain, Wisdom and Knowledge. And in the long run the reverent Believer (mo?meen) will feel a clear reward of Peace and Prosperity. When Knowledge and Wisdom starts to be granted to the Believer then information like the Quran and its meanings will become clear to them. They will see that the Quran sets out clear guidelines for those who have chosen to follow God. I will talk more about the next step in the next post.

I am not sure whether I covered everything I wanted in this post or not, so there might be a Part 2 of this category. I brought the poem up because I discovered it by chance some years ago and I thought it touched my heart entirely. Also, I think I slipped into things irrelevant for my topic and I hope you excuse me and you still like what I wrote.

God bless you

supportpeacenotwar

Peace be upon you Man of Faith,

Thanks for your second installment. Those comments about guidance I find particularly important. I also really believe that God swt guides all He will in many ways. The whole nearness and guidance thing really fits my understanding to - that as soon as one sincerely asks the One who Created them to guide them, then they get that guidance. Once again, I don't have much time right now to look it up, but there could be a verse in the Quran I believe that states that some Messengers came without books - so the studying of a book was not meant for all people in all times. It could be for us now because of the way our society has developed, the way in which Prophet Muhammad was the seal of the Prophets or other things. Allah swt knows best.

There will still be people in today's world who don't have access to the Quran and I believe they can be guided just as much to fundamental Islamic principles as someone with the Quran. I mean - why else is the Quran a Reminder? It's because much of it is what we can already understand I believe if we seek Allah's swt guidance sincerely even if we don't have a book or recitation.

With regards to Abraham - I definitely would say he was guided without the scripture at first - he used his own God given reasoning and he was always a monotheist as described in the Quran. I just want to add that later there was a scripture of Abraham as mentioned "the scrolls of Abraham and Moses." 8719. these may not have been similar in composition to the Quran but they were a type of scripture that Abraham would have received later in his life.

God bless you for your efforts

Man_of_Faith

Peace supportpeacenotwar,

Thank you for reading all my text, hope it was not to dull to read and thanks for your support.

I am doubtful if Abraham ever wrote anything since written language was probably not invented at that time. Personally I think it may have been hearsay which was later written down and part of today's Old Testament. It is equal to hadith one can say.

And at the time of Moses very little information was written down either and this is probably why the Law was inscribed on stone tablets. Written discourse was probably not widespread neither at that time, although I guess it must have been language on those tablets, maybe ancient Hebrew or Hieroglyphs.

But thanks for presenting 8719 to me, I will try to study the passage more in detail and work out its true meaning. But I am doubtful like I said that Abraham ever wrote anything down. Same goes for Noah. It is simply too far back in history for my logic to include written discourse.

Yes, you brought up another important aspect "Reminder". Well, it is a reminder of the one same Message which was there all along. And the Ten Commandments live on and are still valid.

God bless you

unknownuser

Good article Man of Faith, keep going, wanna wait to part 3 yay

supportpeacenotwar

Peace supportpeacenotwar,

Thank you for reading all my text, hope it was not to dull to read and thanks for your support.

I am doubtful if Abraham ever wrote anything since written language was probably not invented at that time. Personally I think it may have been hearsay which was later written down and part of today's Old Testament. It is equal to hadith one can say.

And at the time of Moses very little information was written down either and this is probably why the Law was inscribed on stone tablets. Written discourse was probably not widespread neither at that time, although I guess it must have been language on those tablets, maybe ancient Hebrew or Hieroglyphs.

But thanks for presenting 8719 to me, I will try to study the passage more in detail and work out its true meaning. But I am doubtful like I said that Abraham ever wrote anything down. Same goes for Noah. It is simply too far back in history for my logic to include written discourse.

Yes, you brought up another important aspect "Reminder". Well, it is a reminder of the one same Message which was there all along. And the Ten Commandments live on and are still valid.

God bless you

Peace Man of Faith,

It wasn't dull - I enjoy reading quite a lot of your contributions. I know English is a foreign language for some people here so I try to look past that and see the points they're making. In terms of the scripture and Messengers I would say from what I know thus far that Noah might not have had a scripture but maybe Abraham and Moses had a small amount written down and collected together in their time. I'm not actually sure when writtten language began but I know it was a long time ago, and that written languages have a long history in the Middle East. The original Torah was the Book of Moses, I believe, so whether or not this was just an oral message and then written down later, it's possble.

Man_of_Faith

Peace,

So my English is difficult to understand?

God bless you

supportpeacenotwar

Peace,

So my English is difficult to understand?

God bless you

Peace Man of Faith,

I take it this is addressed to me. That's not what I meant at all. I meant that when one writes or speaks in a foreign language, they may not use the same language or express themselves in the same way if they were writing or speaking in their mother tongue. So they may not have all the words/vocabularly to draw upon as they might ordinarily. I actually think your English is very good. I would love to be able to write in another language so fluently. (I'm not that fluent in my own mother tongue and I would love to be as fluent as you are, so maybe I should start practicing more).

unknownuser

So my English is difficult to understand?

No, Man of Faith, your english is in standart dialect, so it's easy to understand and it's same like what I study in the school.

You as an english teacher and by reading some of your posts, I recognize if your english is more expert than me.

Man_of_Faith

Peace supportpeacenotwar,

I am sorry. I should have known. Yeah, I understand what you mean.

I use English pretty much all the time, but I can always get better of course. Although all time spent with course books and other literature helps I guess. I have spent pretty much my whole life with English.

I ought not to brag, I try to see it as I am only a little better than I used to be. I am still far behind the best. Only sad thing is that my skill in my mother tongue is deteriorating since I speak less Swedish these days.

I stopped using contractions in forum posts for additional clarity, but I use them in conversation, and when I write a PM sometimes. Sometimes the written language even feels strange without them, but I am stubbornly continuing like this.

God bless you

(sorry I haven't replied to your PM yet, sister)

Peace Earthdom,

I try to express myself as clearly as possible although I tend to use formal words sometimes. You are right, little to no slang words or idioms.

Your English is understandable, but often the word order can be a bit off or an inappropriate word slips into your sentences, or there are verbs put in the wrong tense. It is called collocation. And at one point you said you 'demand an apology' which is pretty offensive/impolite or shows you are angry. I understood you meant you wished someone to accept your apology though. Thanks to being exposed to the most absurd sentences at work I can usually decipher even the most incorrect of sentences.

God bless you

drfazl

Man of Faith
Salam

That was not a poem; a crystal clear assessment of her Life. Wow! For it is none but God Taught her the Words of the poem.

582 You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers to be the Jews and those who associate others with Allah ; and you will find the nearest of them in affection to the true believers those who say, "We are Christians." That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant.

582 You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the people of reflection are the Jews and those who associate the knowledge of their books containing their own concepts and ideas. And you will find the nearest of them in affection to the people of reflection are those who call "We are humble and have no arrogance before the Wisdom, the Almighty Truth."

And with regard to the wordings of the poem of Mary Stevenson, the True Believer in my opinion that I gathered in just the two lines of her

5331 And to Allah belongs whatever is in the skies and whatever is in the earth - that He may recompense those who do evil with the penalty of what they have done and recompense those who do good with the best reward

?One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints. Other times there were one set of footprints."

Just juxtapose the bold lines of the poem and the ayats' words. Allah was so near to her that in her dreams the angels by the leave of Allah made clear to her the ayat of Quran. One does not need Quran text to read, but spending time to reflect upon the Truth happening around one is sufficient to reveal from the Furqan, the Criterion from with in.

The two sets of foot-steps are 1. When you walk along side of God as taking as your companion; and the other when you exactly follow upon His footsteps, showing your obedience and dignifying Him, there is only One set of footstep.

fazl

mmmm

Thanks Man of Faith

I really enjoy reading your posts but I have to say there are many things about previous scriptures that, I think should be reevaluated.
For example I am not aware that in the Q anywhere is said Moses got the tablets that were made of stone...etc.
The fact that we as believers are asked to believe in what was given to all the prophets tells me that we have evrything in hands that they had...

Man_of_Faith

Peace mmmm,

You say they were not made of stone? Well, it does perhaps not say they were made of stone, but inferencing based on the era in which the Law to Moses was revealed they are most likely made of stone. They are tablets according to these verses

7145 And We wrote for him on the tablets of all things - instruction and explanation for all things, , "Take them with determination and order your people to take the best of it. I will show you the home of the defiantly disobedient."

7150 And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, "How wretched is that by which you have replaced me after . Were you impatient over the matter of your Lord?" And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by his head, pulling him toward him. said, "O son of my mother, indeed the people oppressed me and were about to kill me, so let not the enemies rejoice over me and do not place me among the wrongdoing people."

7154 And when the anger subsided in Moses, he took up the tablets; and in their inscription was guidance and mercy for those who are fearful of their Lord.

On what other item do you make an inscription if not on stone. And like I said above, in this age of mankind people wrote things on stone tablets when they wanted to write something down, as after all it is several thousand years ago. Inscription is an invention that preceeded writing with pen.

And based on the age, I am quite sure that Moses did not write down more than this script on stone. The Covenant God made with the 'Children of Israel' was inscribed on these tablets, ie what to do to be in God's favor. Considered Moses' people went out of Egypt and the way the local people wrote down their information, inscription is most likely the way the words from God were written down. Moses' people lived in Egypt for generations.

God bless you

Man_of_Faith

Peace,

I wanted to add that I bring practically no information which cannot be found within the Quran, and if I bring an external source, for example, from the Bible this is written out in one way or another. If I qoute Jesus from the Bible I say, for example, 'alleged' words of Jesus. I would not state "alleged words" if I qoute straight from the Quran.

The poem, which is claimed to have been written by the then 14-year-old Mary Stevenson in 1936, is another example. I never claimed this was Quranic information. The reason I qouted the poem is because it seemed divinely inspired as it more or less exactly describe Nearness and Guidance.

You need to remember, I am not of those who believe God only guides through the Quran. God is not confined to a book and as long as information follow the guidelines set out within the Quran it is righteous to follow it. I follow Quran as the only set of guidelines, and they make me choose what to follow and what to ignore in my life.

God bless you

Jango