Belivers, Muslims, and conversion
-
Hello everyone,
I found this article on believers and Muslims.
https//www.free-minds.org/mumins
I thought it was very helpful and I was hoping you all could help me clarify and explain some basics of Islam.
My background is having studied Judaism for the last few months and mysticism, Buddhism before that, and I grew up Christian.If I am believing monotheist and I live a generally moral life (doing as many good deeds as I can, and doing more good than bad). I would be a believer and go to paradise when I die. Right?
If I say the Shahada of ?There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God? then I become a Muslim, right?
Is accepting Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the messenger of God mean that I accept the Quran as true? Literally true or mostly true or having deeper/esoteric meanings (like the Sufis)?
If I become Muslim am I then expected to pray and make a pilgrimage? Do I need to pray five times a day in the traditional way? Can I be a Muslim in secret or do I need to tell my family even if it would cause major issues?
If I can't pray the traditional way or travel to Mecca am I better off staying a believer than becoming Muslim? In Judaism, if I can't live an orthodox life it's better to stay a non-Jew noahide than accept the extra laws that I can't live up to.
I thinks that's plenty of questions to start off with.
Thanks,
Fred -
minimum requirements for becoming a muslim(peacemaker)
1 believe in one God(supreme being/ultimate power/different from all the creation)
2 do righteous things( helping people/stop mischeifmaking/stop cruelty)
3 believe in last day( a judgement done on the deeds by a higher being)if you beleive in that system of nature then its mean you are peacemaker(muslim) and it has nothing to do with religion/label/cast/race/status
whatever label you inherited from your ancestor is not your fault and God is not that illogical to judge you by labels..
you dnt need to say shahada , if you beleive in above three things by default you come back to same loop what quran suggest and what every messenger of God suggest from adam to prophet muhammad..
if you are following above three you are automatically following God commandments/God scriptures
but you must b sure what is actually from God and what is the interference of human when he address something to God..
when a human do interference its testable through differetn ways .. -
Thanks for the replies. The article does say believing is higher. I realized that this group is progressive form of Islam and would put things differently than other sources. But I think this is the most helpful to me. I'm most interested in mysticism and studied Zen and Kabbalah. What is amazing about the Quran is it speaks of the same things that I have discovered in my own searching before I read it.
I was frustrated with the laws and authority of humans in both Judaism and Buddhism. I felt led to a strong monotheism beyond all other doctrines and reliance on God's guidance alone. I also think mysticism should be more about prayer and moral self improvement than mastery of esoteric knowledge (which Kabbalah is prone to). The Quran in the 2nd and 3rd surrah (as well as the example of the Prophet) speak directly to where I'm at I think.But what is your understanding of how you submit to Allah? What does that look like? From Quran that is clearly needed beyond just believing in order to be fully righteous. It also seems repentance and seeking protection from our sins in mentioned frequently.
Thanks, Fred
