Can a Moralist Atheist be mu'min - Issue Revisited
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Peace All,
I am wondering if anyone can point out a single instance in quran of the word "amina" or its derivatives being used in relation to the preposition meaning "in" rather than "with".
Imraan
Groan! Now I feel compelled to answer your passive aggressive comment! "FAITH in" does that sound better! All the same, belief in God is my point, if you don't believe, then how can you have faith? voodoo
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Faith, trust, security, are all part of belief.
There are two different aspects of the same group of words.
There is one meaning which is to think or suppose something to be correct. The Arabic counterpart is Za Nun Nun.
There is another meaning which is to feel secure or safe, e.g. someone is self-confident. The Arabic counterpart is Alif Miim Nun.
In Arabic the two aspects use completely different roots so there cannot be a confusion like in English. A'min signifies when a person is confident as in "secure at heart". You cannot think or suppose something to be true with A'min but there has to be an absolute peace at heart.
The problem in English is that both words faith and believe are ambiguous in meaning, so they can mean that you think or suppose something to be correct. You cannot merely believe God to exist and use the word Amin in Arabic because it is too weak confidence. When you have amin this means confidence without doubt.
Also, if unspecified in discourse, amin alone refers to one's self-confidence primarily, it is to talk about the integrity of a person and how safe and secure they feel.
For this reason, amin is often left untranslated in texts because they doubt themselves how to translate the word properly into another.
Be well
Qarael Amenuel -
Peace All,
I am wondering if anyone can point out a single instance in quran of the word "amina" or its derivatives being used in relation to the preposition meaning "in" rather than "with".
Imraan
The preposition Be is difficult to directly translate into English and have it make sense. But "amin b'Allah" means something more like "confidence with Allah" than "confidence in Allah", i.e. the traditional understanding of Allah makes it sound a little silly. So it is like "your Amin (confidence) is with Allah". It has to do more with trust than believing, like you are relying on Allah and the power of Allah. As mentioned, the strongest connotation is safety and security, the feeling of "peace at heart" because you know the power of Allah is potent and is with you and therefore you have no doubt.
What is important however, is to know what Allah is as a phenomenon, but that I will not delve into on this forum. I tried to help you with the word Amin in conjunction with the "beh" preposition.
Be well
Qarael Amenuel -
peace
I was not talking about what we think or feel. I am speaking about something that only a believer would experience. Call it the English Belief, Security, Peace, Guidance, Trust, Reliance, Servitude all have the flavour of what I am trying to convey. You must KNOW that God exists with doubt, if not then belief, faith, confidence, trust, safety, security etc... in God has not entered the heart.
4914 "The Desert-Arabs say, "We have believed." Say, "You have not believed yet; but say , 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts. But if you obey God and His Messenger, He will not diminish any of your deeds. God is Ever Forgiving and Merciful-to-all." (Safi Kaskas)
jedi
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Don't worry about some of the comments they are just playing semantics.
peace
I noticed! Thank you for the support, I was starting to feel quite violent! voodoo I felt like I needed the Free-Minds Forum version of the Oxford English Dictionary, as my copy was rendered Gobbledy Goop! jedi