I'm back from the dead
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G'day y'all...
It was about 3 years ago when I first posted here an introduction of myself. Although I matured way more than I could ever conceive necessary (and come to think about it I may still need maturing for somebody in my 30s), I cannot help but add my thoughts on this forum because I support the "Protestant" or sola scriptura principle concerning the Quran even though I'm somewhat a Sunni...
But a Sunni who is suffering major crises of faith (yes, crises in plural), so my belief in God has been on the edge lately. I am wondering what keeps you guys going when you are in the minority of the Muslim World? What do you do when you suffer doubts in God, the Sacred Scriptures, and in the Greater Good? I have to ask because there ought to be a community of Muslims that can give me better answers than "Just be patient, pray, read the Quran and fast more (than only in Ramadan)".
I have to add, although I really don't like talking poorly about anybody or groups, like I said I have matured from being a close-minded literalistic Sunni Muslim... I gotta ask what makes you guys oppose the mainstream current of the Muslims around you who are generally along the lines of Sunni, Sufi, Shia and the non-practising Muslims who come from such backgrounds? I am sick and tired of assimilating with other Muslims when I disagree with them or I'm tired with them in many matters, doctrines and interrupting practices. I'm tired of their judgemental attitude and how they have little qualms about condemning others around them to Hell (after all, downtown Sydney we are the minority in the Australian population).
Last night I saw Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykha Safia Shahid and Dr Shadee Elmasry https//www.newislamicdirections.com/nid/programs hanging out with their associates at a local Sydney caf? following their afternoon talk at the main Sydney mosque which was priced at $70 per ticket. Now I am mentioning this so you don't think I'm just an invisible Sunni popping up out of nowhere... I am quite active in my field of religious participation but down the spiral of secularism because of being tired of over one decade of routine robotic rituals combined with lack of divine intervention and intellectual stagnation. I also attend an Anglican Church every Sunday in addition to typical boring Friday prayers (which is full of Middle Eastern politics and repetitions of the usual lectures).
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G'day y'all...
It was about 3 years ago when I first posted here an introduction of myself. Although I matured way more than I could ever conceive necessary (and come to think about it I may still need maturing for somebody in my 30s), I cannot help but add my thoughts on this forum because I support the "Protestant" or sola scriptura principle concerning the Quran even though I'm somewhat a Sunni...
But a Sunni who is suffering major crises of faith (yes, crises in plural), so my belief in God has been on the edge lately. I am wondering what keeps you guys going when you are in the minority of the Muslim World? What do you do when you suffer doubts in God, the Sacred Scriptures, and in the Greater Good? I have to ask because there ought to be a community of Muslims that can give me better answers than "Just be patient, pray, read the Quran and fast more (than only in Ramadan)".
I have to add, although I really don't like talking poorly about anybody or groups, like I said I have matured from being a close-minded literalistic Sunni Muslim... I gotta ask what makes you guys oppose the mainstream current of the Muslims around you who are generally along the lines of Sunni, Sufi, Shia and the non-practising Muslims who come from such backgrounds? I am sick and tired of assimilating with other Muslims when I disagree with them or I'm tired with them in many matters, doctrines and interrupting practices. I'm tired of their judgemental attitude and how they have little qualms about condemning others around them to Hell (after all, downtown Sydney we are the minority in the Australian population).
Last night I saw Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykha Safia Shahid and Dr Shadee Elmasry https//www.newislamicdirections.com/nid/programs hanging out with their associates at a local Sydney caf? following their afternoon talk at the main Sydney mosque which was priced at $70 per ticket. Now I am mentioning this so you don't think I'm just an invisible Sunni popping up out of nowhere... I am quite active in my field of religious participation but down the spiral of secularism because of being tired of over one decade of routine robotic rituals combined with lack of divine intervention and intellectual stagnation. I also attend an Anglican Church every Sunday in addition to typical boring Friday prayers (which is full of Middle Eastern politics and repetitions of the usual lectures).
Salam,
God increases faith for the believers. Note that sectarians are not true believers, but in the categories of disbelievers, idol-worshippers, hypocrites, and rejecters.
Abandon "Sunnism", and submit to God alone. You have all proof in Quran.
To answer how most believers do it, it's not us but God who helps us
5822 You will not find any people who believe in God and the Last
Day leaning towards those who oppose God and His messenger,
even if they were their parents, or their children, or their siblings,
or their kin. For these, He decrees faith into their hearts, and
supports them with a Spirit from Him, and He admits them into
estates with rivers flowing beneath them; abiding therein. God is
pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. These are the
party of God. Most assuredly, the party of God are the winners.Salam
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Greetings and Peace, all group
@Shadowscholar welcome back and please don't try to eat my brains! <zombie joke in reference to thread title> Besides
4912 O you who believe, you shall avoid much suspicion, for some suspicion is sinful. And do not spy on one another, nor shall you backbite. Would any of you enjoy eating the flesh of his dead brother? You certainly would hate this. You shall observe GOD. GOD is Redeemer, Merciful.
Regarding being among a minority
6116 And if you obey most of those on the earth they will lead you away from the path of GOD; that is because they follow conjecture, and that is because they only guess.
Regarding why oppose? Many don't actively oppose, but choose to not blindly follow what we found others doing. Those who take the deen for a popularity contest or who blindly follow others are welcome to all of the consequences of their actions.
3121 And if they are told "Follow that which GOD has sent down." They say "No, we will follow what we found our fathers doing." What if the devil had been leading them to the agony of Hell?
Most who don't mix extra-Qur'anic hadith with the deen prefer to be polite to others, and ISA to invite others to the deen. Since the people here come from all backgrounds and all countries, it doesn't make sense to bother/annoy others; people can and do change. No person is fit to be the spiritual judge of another--that is only for ALLAH.
4133 And who is better in saying than he who invites to GOD, and does good works, and says "I am one of those who have submitted."
4134 Not equal are the good and the bad response. You shall resort to the one which is better. Thus, the one who used to be your enemy, may become your best friend.
If it is difficult sometimes to not be part of a much larger community, I think that is is merely a test and an honor to be tested. After all, humanity is not the goal--ALLAH is.
292 Did the people think that they will be left to say "We believe" without being put to the test?
293 We had tested those before them, so that GOD would distinguish those who are truthful and so that He would know the liars.
Beg pardon if the following is redundant, ISA it may demonstrate why we cling so tightly to our beliefs
22 This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guide for the righteous.
482 Do they not reflect on the Qur'an? If it was from any other than GOD they would have found in it many a discrepancy.
6114 "Shall I seek other than GOD as a judge when He has sent down to you the Book fully detailed?" Those to whom We have given the Book know it is sent down from your Lord with the truth; so do not be of those who have doubt.
6115 And the word of your Lord has been completed with truth and justice; there is no changing His words. He is the Hearer, the Knower.
6126 And this is the straight path of your Lord. We have fully detailed the revelations to a people who remember.
159 Indeed it is We who have sent down the reminder, and indeed it is We who will preserve it.
1689 And the Day We send to every nation a witness against them from themselves, and We have brought you as a witness against these. And We have sent down to you the Book as a clarification for all things, and a guidance and a mercy and good tidings to those who have submitted.
2530 And the messenger said "My Lord, my people have deserted this Qur'an."
2951 Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book that is being recited to them? In that is a mercy and a reminder for people who believe.
316 And from the people, there are those who will purchase a baseless narrative with which to mislead from the path of GOD without knowledge, and to make it a mockery. These will have a humiliating retribution.
3923 GOD has sent down the best narrative, a Book that is similar, dual. The skins of those who are concerned towards their Lord shiver from it, then their skins and their hearts soften up to the remembrance of GOD. Such is the guidance of GOD; He guides with it whoever He wills. And for whoever GOD misguides, then none can guide him.
3927 And We have put forth for the people in this Qur'an from every example, that they may take heed.
There are many threads detailed with this reasoning. The following is one example
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9606190.msg376364#msg376364
Those that claim that we "need" extra-Qur'anic hadith to explain things are like the people of Moses (peace upon all prophets) when instructed to slaughter a heifer. Our instructions are simple, easy, and few. There are many ways to pray, for instance--not just one way.
267 And Moses said to his people "GOD orders you to slaughter a heifer." They said "Do you mock us?" He said "I seek refuge with GOD that I not be of the ignorant ones."
268 They said "Call upon your Lord for us that He may clarify which it is." He said "He says it is a heifer neither too old nor too young, an age between that. So now do as you are commanded."
269 They said "Call upon your Lord for us that He may clarify what color it is." He said "He says it is a yellow heifer with a strong color, pleasing to those who see it."
270 They said "Call upon your Lord for us that He may clarify which one it is, for the heifers all look alike to us and we will, GOD willing, be guided."
271 He said "He says it is a heifer which was never subjugated to plough the land, or water the crops, free from any blemish." They said "Now you have come with the truth." And they slaughtered it, though they had nearly not done so.
May ALLAH see fit to Guide all seekers.
peace
~Abdul-Hadi
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G'day Shadowscholar
You're tired of bigotry around you..
Bigotry is a term used to describe a prejudiced or closed-minded person, especially one who is intolerant or hostile towards different social groups (e.g. racial or religious groups), and especially one whose own beliefs are perceived as unreasonable or excessively narrow-minded, superstitious, or hypocritical.
Bigotry arises from "Collective Narcissism"..
Collective narcissism is characterized by the members of a group holding an inflated view of their ingroup. Collectively narcissistic groups require external validation. Organizations and groups who exhibit this behavior typically try to protect their identities through rewarding group-building behavior.
Example; We are the Purest Race, Truest Believer, Truest Religion, Chosen People, Most Enlightened, Have the Holiest Book, Purest Book, Purest Language, Leader Of The Free World, The only group that will go to Heaven etc.. etc...
Collective Narcissist think along these lines
• I wish other people would recognize the authority of my group
• My group has all predispositions to influence others
• If my group ruled the world it would be a much better place
• My group is extraordinary
• I like when my group is the center of attention
• I will never be satisfied until my group gets all that it deserves
• I insist upon my group getting the respect that is due to it
• I want my group to amount to something in the eyes of the world
• Not many people seem to understand the full importance of my group
You are attending "Other group's gathering" beside your own?
That's a good start... a very good start..
Attend more gathering of other groups!..
Pick anything that you choose.. Jewish Service, Buddhist meditation or Falun Gong's public exercise... anything...And when you encountered a social narcissist / bigot.. don't be too judgmental... yet observe them from the angle of WHY and HOW they developed such mentality.. try to understand them..
The main goal is actually inward... trying to steer ourselves as far away as possible from becoming a bigot / narcissist ourselves..
Salam
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I have to ask, when you advise me to submit to God alone, what do you really mean? How am I not submitting to God alone being a Sunni? Am I missing something here? Don't I already believe in the Quran?
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I have to ask, when you advise me to submit to God alone, what do you really mean? How am I not submitting to God alone being a Sunni? Am I missing something here? Don't I already believe in the Quran?
Salam,
some beliefs of Sunnis is idol-worshipping, and they also follow books that are not from God but from humans and their devils.
For example, Sunnis reverence prophet Muhammed so much they have made him a partner with God. When you bear witness, do you mention Muhammed besides God? During Salat, is it for God, or is it also for Muhammed and the angels? Is it God alone who can save you from Hell, or is Muhammed an intercessor besides God, while in Quran it's stated that all intercession belongs to God? Why hasn't God mentioned Bukhari and Co, and why do people follow hadiths and then claim it's from God? Same goes for other sects too, such as Shia, instead they have made "Ali" the most important.There are so many things that they have forgotten to submit to God alone.
I recommend you check the articles section of Free-Minds. Many good articles that explain it better than me.http//free-minds.org/articles
Choose categorySalam
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I think you are looking for a religious affiliation label. Anyways it's not important, for you or God. To be a "muslim" or a "muumin" or a "ansari" or a "rabani". You should be all of them. It's something that reflects on your actions, when you are alone, or when you are in an everyday situation where you can do the right thing but you rather "ignore it" or so.
To believe in the Quran is one thing, it is good, as the Quran is a good reminder and a book of Truth. But to live by the Truth requires more than reading the Quran. It's a true test of your faith.If you think about it, we rationalize things and forget that God is here, seeing, listening and acting. How many times do you say to yourself "I'll just ignore it, that way I'll stay out of troubles", or " that would waste some of my time, better ignore it" etc etc. God is well aware of all this, and so are we. The truth is that we do not completly surrender to God alone, but rather, we surrender to logic, probabilities, society, the government, fear, hate...;
Also, you shouldn't view "religious matters" as "religious matters", the "religion" is the system. It's not a sunday activity but an everyday choices and actions.
O you who believe, be GOD's supporters, like the disciples of Jesus, son of Mary. When he said to them, "Who are my supporters towards GOD," they said, "We are GOD's supporters."
It is not conceivable that a human being unto whom God had granted revelation, and sound judgment, and prophethood, should thereafter have said unto people,61 "Worship me beside God"; but rather , "Become men of God by spreading the knowledge of the divine writ, and by your own deep study ."
O you who have attained to faith! Be conscious of God with all the consciousness that is due to Him, and do not allow death to overtake you ere you have surrendered yourselves unto Him
O you who believe, why do you say what you do not do?
To know the path is one thing, but to walk the path is a whole other thing. For that, you don't need a label, nor do you need approval from some group.
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Brothers, I have simply asked what about me is not being Muslim or on the converse what do I have to do in order to become a Muslim (according to your Quran-only definition)? I am yet awaiting an answer. I'm not being argumentative here but none of you have given me an explicit answer other than implying that I'm supposed to read the Quran for myself and then subject the sacred text to my own interpretation.
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Brothers, I have simply asked what about me is not being Muslim or on the converse what do I have to do in order to become a Muslim (according to your Quran-only definition)? I am yet awaiting an answer. I'm not being argumentative here but none of you have given me an explicit answer other than implying that I'm supposed to read the Quran for myself and then subject the sacred text to my own interpretation.
I was a sunni born into a muslim family but not ultra-religious. My journey started when I read the translated version of Al-Baqarah with a lot of add-ins being commentaries from the translator. Somehow after going through the whole chapter I was strongly convinced that the Quran is to be read on its own and I abandoned hadiths although I was quite familiar with hadiths. Al-Baqarah made a very strong impression on me. And then my search for truth began. I went into Sufism, mysticism, cult and comparative religious studies. In my search for truth, I began questioning salat, ramadhan, zakat, haji and all so called religious activities including prohibitions that was popular in sectarian islam like do not touch pigs, do use goods made from pigs, do not keep dogs as pets etc. As I read the Quran further, I found that whatever is practiced is rarely consistent with the Quran for example how many Salat in a day, beginning and ending the fast, Friday prayers, zakat and haji. The toughest choice you have to make is leaving behind old religious practices, as you go out of your comfort zone and you realised that your foundation of faith collapses. And then you are lost! You find yourself despairing and lost! After years of searching you find ultimate truth but it causes you to destroy all believes and practices of your old sunni days. Of course all the while you need to continue reading and studying the Quran otherwise you will not get to this stage.
I am not an Arabic speaker, most translations I?ve read are in English. I took a practical approach, I?m not a linguist and Allah already says it does not matter what language the Quran is written in to be a clear sign that anyone can study the Quran without knowing Arabic. The Quran also provide pointers on how to approach it (i) be sincere in your quest ? you are looking for guidance and truth, (ii) read and follow the passages that you understand, (iii) you don?t have to follow passages you do not understand despite reading in your own language (do not force understanding, there are many such passages, some people get confuse between prohibition and parables, most get misled by their own mischief like killing non-muslims or in the name of god), (iv) trust in Allah to reveal to you the correct understanding in time (some subject may never be reveal to you because of irrelevance, but do not worry only Allah grants knowledge to those he wills not other people), practice what you understand, persevere reading the Quran on daily basis as prescribed in the Quran. If you do as the Quran says, your journey has begun. You are now on a platform specifically for you based on your understanding of the Quran and you solely rely on Allah for guidance. For example, PERSONALLY, the verses on inheritance is somewhat difficult for me to understand even translated BUT the answer for me is found earlier in Al-Baqarah where Allah says that we need to write a will before we die, thus for me the solution is to write a will instead of relying on the inheritance laws.
Of course it does not stop you from joining forums to share your thoughts and findings but you will note that all discussion in the forums will never give you the complete satisfaction of confidence like Allah can give you in the event He reveals to you the wisdom from the Quran.
Even reading translated versions, the feel of authority from the Quran is not lost and I always feel that Allah is communicating personally to me through the Quran and later when wisdom from it is revealed within you it is like a sudden realisation of truth ? sometimes this happens when you are sharing some information with someone else and even when you are alone doing nothing.
You will also note the differences between muslim and mukmin in the Quran. We are first muslim when we accept the Quran to guide us. We become mukmin when we actually follow the Quran?s prescription. One becomes kafir when one understands but unwilling to accept the Quran?s teachings as guidance. Muslim, mukmin, kafir is just an attitude towards the Quran?s teachings. The best thing about the Quran is it serves you for your salvation and the Quran contains all relevant teachings in every religion so you don?t have to make effort to learn other religions because a lifetime is not enough to get all the exciting wisdom from the Quran.
That?s my journey, you don?t have to believe me and you need not follow anyone but you must start with reading the Quran and follow its inherent guidance one day at a time. The message and the messenger is bound together in the Quran (Allah shall reveal the Quran within you, and you become some sort of messenger when you relay and practice the truth from the Quran and do not hide it), so you need not look for new messengers outside yourself.
Salam
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I agree with the essence of your message, hanslan. We should be personally asking for God to guide us.
The problem is... What if God does not ever answer you?
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I agree with the essence of your message, hanslan. We should be personally asking for God to guide us.
The problem is... What if God does not ever answer you?
Then guide yourself, use the superior spirit you were bestowed with.
Be well
Amenuel -
I agree with the essence of your message, hanslan. We should be personally asking for God to guide us.
The problem is... What if God does not ever answer you?
salam
He doesn't answer those who have set up partner with Him. Have you read in Quran about the people in the sea with ships...they wanted to be saved so they implored God alone. He saved them, but when they were saved, they set up partners with Him again.
Also, patience is important, and other things such as maybe it's something bad for you...
Read this, good articlehttp//www.free-minds.org/why-are-prayers-unanswered
Salam
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peace
indeed i respond to the call of the caller when he calls, so let them respond to me and believe in me so that they might be rightly guided.
God will not change the conditions of a people untill they change what is within themselves..the choice is ours, God has unlimited grace, mercy and provision at our disposal, but as he mentions in the quran he only send it down in limited proportions, to enable us to complete our purpose, or otherwise be stuck in limbo waiting because we havent..
a good teaching i was blessd with recently is that he sends down enough provision for his will to be accomplished, always, he will not send down too much provision to someone with evil intentions, only enough so that they are eventualy purified from their evil, or destroyed by it, likewise for a righteous person he sends down enough to bring out there righteousness.
i cant recall the exact verse but something along the lines of 'we will test you to bring out your true qualities'
patience is a virtue, something i struggle with much, but, besides all else, strive to know yourself, and once you know and can truthfully accept your strengths and weaknesses, and work on all of them to bring them out into gods perfect righteous will, then things become alot easier.
peace
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I agree with the essence of your message, hanslan. We should be personally asking for God to guide us.
The problem is... What if God does not ever answer you?
He does answer you but not in the way you expect. Silence is golden meaning we are to persevere following the Quran. We need to start the change slowly but certainly. First we don?t see any change even within ourselves. We must first accept that we cannot change anything around us because what is around us is the pre-set setting, only with god?s will things change. We can only change our perception of things as ?good? or ?bad? or everything as ?truth?. This is the freedom granted to us, our absolute choice and our guide to that decision is from our understanding of the Quran at that point in time. We need to make a deliberate choice of seeing positive even in adversity and it can go really extreme as in the parables in the Quran. Seeing positive need to be followed through with positive action despite adversity (or silence from god) you face, but there must be no violence in the actions you make.
Essentially the Quran teaches you to be a positive thinker first and follow through with positive actions. We also need to avoid violence and oppression in mind and action towards ourselves and others. Once this becomes natural to you, the world will start to change it just seems like on a hot day you can ask from god for some shade and some clouds suddenly blocks the sun.
You see god responds in all kinds of ways BUT the most common way is normally not noticed. The positive change within you is god?s response to your decision and action towards positive perception and actions. If you choose to be negative, then god will also respond accordingly where you will become more deep in negativity, despair, confusion, hopelessness and eventually you give up of god?s grace. It all starts from the choice you make and the eventual action to follow through. The choice and follow through action must be align.
To test faith, despite positive mind set and follow through actions the outcome is still negative. This is a signal for you to change the follow through action. Understand the story of Ayub where despite his positive mindset and follow through actions, god inspired him to change his action to cure him of his situation.
In short, the test is always about our perception and our trust in the Creator that made us. If you say you trust the Creator/god, then you need to follow his guidance through the Quran and nothing else.
Anyway if you are thinking about god responding to you directly like he did with moses, it is not an impossibility but to get to that point is totally god?s choice. The fact that if you are able to see positive and do positive actions despite adversity is already a good sign that god has responded to you by giving you the fortitude to do so and it only comes with perseverance.
Everyone has their own journey, I?m just sharing more common ones where one remains substantially a normal human being (but with an elevated status) not the mystical journeys some do encounter which in my opinion more perilous because it is easier to fail on those journey. To be on those journey one needs to be masterful of the Quran?s spiritual teachings where many have failed or trapped by the stories in surah Al-jin.
My advice is go back to the Quran, but this time take time to understand and contemplate, follow that which is clear to you and ask for fortitude and guidance, persevere everyday, perceive everything positively and follow through with positive action.
Salam
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Brothers, I have simply asked what about me is not being Muslim or on the converse what do I have to do in order to become a Muslim (according to your Quran-only definition)? I am yet awaiting an answer. I'm not being argumentative here but none of you have given me an explicit answer other than implying that I'm supposed to read the Quran for myself and then subject the sacred text to my own interpretation.
You are free to believe in what you like, but for the question you asked above this is the answer
Submission to God. If you do it through Quran then you will see victory. If you keep something in the middle of you and God you will go in circle like the rest of the sectarians. Quran has some instructions to get connected with Allah. Read the verses and make an effort to apply them to your life. And when I say this I do not mean doing rituals, but making changes in thought pattern and everyday actions. The idea of Muslim seems to be more about creating a sound state of mind than being a bot. Once the verses are practiced, you will become aware of what you are missing out and how things come to fruition. -
Thank you for your replies, guys. I appreciate it! bravo
By the way, I used to see some Sunnis frantically debate with you folks... But they've stopped now, haven't they? Did they give up?
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I have to ask, when you advise me to submit to God alone, what do you really mean? How am I not submitting to God alone being a Sunni? Am I missing something here? Don't I already believe in the Quran?
?If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future."
Lao TzeSubmitting to God alone Accepting / be at peace with your past, present and future..
Yes you can submit to God Alone even when you're a Sunni (Or Shiites, Jews, Christians, Buddhist, Atheist etc..) the labelling / social identity really doesn't matter. And Holy Books (Quran, Bible, Harry Potter etc..) has nothing to do with it either...
Thus the indicator of whether you're a "God Aloner" can ONLY be recognized by YOU.. yourselves... are you at peace?
The problem is... What if God does not ever answer you?
He always answers, you just have to listen better.True.. and sometimes you don't like the answer...
Especially if the answer is not inline to your liking thus supporting your 'ego'...
Nonetheless.. are you able to accept it? be at peace with it? although it doesn't suit to your liking.. -
G'day y'all...
It was about 3 years ago when I first posted here an introduction of myself. Although I matured way more than I could ever conceive necessary (and come to think about it I may still need maturing for somebody in my 30s), I cannot help but add my thoughts on this forum because I support the "Protestant" or sola scriptura principle concerning the Quran even though I'm somewhat a Sunni...
But a Sunni who is suffering major crises of faith (yes, crises in plural), so my belief in God has been on the edge lately. I am wondering what keeps you guys going when you are in the minority of the Muslim World? What do you do when you suffer doubts in God, the Sacred Scriptures, and in the Greater Good? I have to ask because there ought to be a community of Muslims that can give me better answers than "Just be patient, pray, read the Quran and fast more (than only in Ramadan)".
I have to add, although I really don't like talking poorly about anybody or groups, like I said I have matured from being a close-minded literalistic Sunni Muslim... I gotta ask what makes you guys oppose the mainstream current of the Muslims around you who are generally along the lines of Sunni, Sufi, Shia and the non-practising Muslims who come from such backgrounds? I am sick and tired of assimilating with other Muslims when I disagree with them or I'm tired with them in many matters, doctrines and interrupting practices. I'm tired of their judgemental attitude and how they have little qualms about condemning others around them to Hell (after all, downtown Sydney we are the minority in the Australian population).
Last night I saw Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykha Safia Shahid and Dr Shadee Elmasry https//www.newislamicdirections.com/nid/programs hanging out with their associates at a local Sydney caf? following their afternoon talk at the main Sydney mosque which was priced at $70 per ticket. Now I am mentioning this so you don't think I'm just an invisible Sunni popping up out of nowhere... I am quite active in my field of religious participation but down the spiral of secularism because of being tired of over one decade of routine robotic rituals combined with lack of divine intervention and intellectual stagnation. I also attend an Anglican Church every Sunday in addition to typical boring Friday prayers (which is full of Middle Eastern politics and repetitions of the usual lectures).
Follow the words of God, Quran, Gospel, Psalms, Torah, and all other Revelations that we can find in the Bible.
Stay away from sects such as that "Sunnis", "Roman Catholics" and the "People of the Talmud".
You mentioned the term Sola Scriptura? Then live by it right? And i think the "friday"/day of assembly prayer is mentioning the day of the Sabbath, since it told us in that verse not to work. And we know which day we rest on if we read the Torah.
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Salam,
some beliefs of Sunnis is idol-worshipping, and they also follow books that are not from God but from humans and their devils.
For example, Sunnis reverence prophet Muhammed so much they have made him a partner with God. When you bear witness, do you mention Muhammed besides God? During Salat, is it for God, or is it also for Muhammed and the angels? Is it God alone who can save you from Hell, or is Muhammed an intercessor besides God, while in Quran it's stated that all intercession belongs to God? Why hasn't God mentioned Bukhari and Co, and why do people follow hadiths and then claim it's from God? Same goes for other sects too, such as Shia, instead they have made "Ali" the most important.There are so many things that they have forgotten to submit to God alone.
I recommend you check the articles section of Free-Minds. Many good articles that explain it better than me.http//free-minds.org/articles
Choose categorySalam
Why would someone still want to worship Bukhari, Muslem, Ibn Madja, Tirmidhi, Abo Dawood and Nasai after seeying the Guidance and the Light? Why would someone want to stay a "sunni" after seeying the quran alone movement?
Every sect does have its own version of doctrines that are being spread in the name of Mohammed. How can you ever claim to be the right one, and how can you ever claim to have the words of Mohammed, since the Quran alone is sufficient and fully detailed? Why would someone ask for the words of a human being after receiving the words of God? Isn't that idolatry?
I still see some influence of the books of Bukhari, Muslem, Ibn Madja, etc. in you. Do you consider them as prophets? Those books contradict each other, let alone the Quran.