There is no chronological order of events, and there is so much repetition that it is enough to make the reader lose track.

Well, that's your own opinion. The more I read it, the more interesting it gets for me. I also believe the repetition is needed, to keep remembering important issues, because humans tend to forget very quickly. Maybe you're not as openminded or patient as you believe yourself to be. Many Quran alone followers would disagree with you on this matter.

If you look at a footnote from the 'Quran a Reformist Translation' on verse 3953 for example, it states the following
The pronoun in "my
servant" refers to God, since according to numerous
verses only God can be the master. This sudden shift
in pronouns is called iltifat (conversion, turning one's
face to someone) in Arabic literature, which is
defined as "the change of speech from one mode to
another, for the sake of freshness and variety for
the listener, to renew his interest, and to keep his
mind from boredom and frustration, through
having the one mode continuously at his ear." On
this and other literary aspects of the Quran, I
recommend Neal Robinson's book Discovering The
Qur'n A Contemporary Approach To A Veiled Text
(1996, SCM Press Ltd.). For other examples of iltifat,
see 359; 6941-47; 161-2; 3915-16; 8925-30;
20113-114; 6718-19; 544; 20124; 751-3; 238;
1137; 5045; 12-5; 1988; 5217-19; 1672; 4535;
3038; and 7039-4; 171-3; 1795; 3953; 1022.

We often miss little but important details like this when reading a translation.

Everytime I read the Quran myself and look at its explanation of pure monotheism, it sounds logical to me and strengthens my faith (as the Quran says it will do), especially when I hear the so-called scholars of organized religion's explanation of monotheism - which has a lot of hidden polytheism in it which also doesn't make any sense.

?And whenever there comes down a Soorah, some of them (hypocrites) say ?Which of you has had his Faith increased by it?? As for those who believe, it has increased their Faith, and they rejoice. But as for those in whose hearts is a disease (of doubt, disbelief and hypocrisy), it will add suspicion and doubt to their suspicion, disbelief and doubt; and they die while they are disbelievers?

Some are also wondering 'How do we know God is not lying?', but I believe God has placed a natural instinct within us that can recognize truth or falsehood, if we would use our reasoning.

As verse 3030 of the Quran implies, recognizing God ALONE as our Lord and Master is a natural instinct. We are born into this world with such an instinct
"Therefore, you shall devote yourself to the religion of strict monotheism. Such is the natural instinct placed into the people by God. Such creation of God will never change. This is the perfect religion/system, but most people do not know."

Peace.

I have recently made a choice to initiate myself into the Universal Sufi order. Now, they take lessons from all religions. In the coming days, I am supposed to get initiated.

If you want to keep any religion, that's fine with Universal Sufis. So, I can be a Quran only Muslim and join the order. I was told that I don't need to give up anything.

So, the question is Is what I am about to do setting up partners with God?

Thanks

I also used to study and love Sufism a lot (especially the Mevlevi and Bektashi order) before I became a Quran alone follower.
But there is a lot of hidden Shirk..

An interesting video which also reminded me of some Sufi teachings
https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtkGgtExLcY

https//lampofislam.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/the-first-commandment-of-islam-has-no-name-in-it-except-gods/

What do you guys think of this article by Rashad Khalifa? (For clarity I don't agree with everything RK says and believe he made mistakes and I also don't reject 2 verses)
https//sites.google.com/site/evidenceofgod/quran/appendices/app10-god-s-usage-of-the-plural-tense

It sounds like shirk and it looks like he forgot about verse 5016?
"We created the human being, and We know what his soul whispers to him. We are nearer to him than his jugular vein."

@ meem noon
Thank you for sharing the verses brother. So we've got these

2443 Do you not see that God drives the clouds, then He gathers them together, then He piles them upon each other, then you see the soft rain coming out of them? And He sends down hail from the sky from the mountains to afflict whomever He wills, and He diverts it from whomever He wills. The brightness of the snow almost blinds the eyes.

3048 God Who sends the winds, so they raise clouds, and He spreads them in the sky as He wishes, then He breaks them into fragments, then you see the rain drops come forth from their midst. Then when He makes them fall on whomever He wills of His servants, they rejoice!

359 And God is the One who sends the winds so it stirs up a cloud, then We drive it to a town that is dead, and We revive with it the land after it had died. Such is the resurrection.

So isn't it perhaps wrong to think verses 2 and 3 of Surah 77 are about angels who stir the clouds and drive the winds? Aren't the above shown verses proof that God is running everything and is in control of everything?

Free-minds translation
771 By the winds which are sent.
772 So the gusts then blow.
773 And all that is scattered about.

Clear Quran translation
771 By those unleashed in succession.
772 Storming turbulently.
773 Scattering far and wide.

Rashad Khalifa translation
(Angels) dispatched in succession.
To drive the wind.
Stir up clouds.

Only Rashad added angels here. I also wonder why these translations differ so much from each other..

I've got the same problem with 1311.. some traditionalists (or people unknowingly influenced by traditions) translate it as angels taking turns in guarding us humans, but doesn't the Quran also teach us that God is our Only Guard and Protector?

Thank you all for your replies.

What that friend basically says is that believing that God needs 'helpers' such as angels is also setting up partners with Him and contradicting some other verses. He says that many people either mistranslate most verses or take them too literally.

@ meem noon
I've read the link you posted, thanks. It's an interesting article, but what confuses me are things like angels who 'stir clouds and drive the wind'. Isn't there another verse that explains God alone controls the clouds?

It reminds me of a belief upheld by most Sunni muslims who say angels also control the raindrops (the Quran mentions no such thing if I'm not mistaken). The Quran alone friend of mine said it has little difference of the ancient polytheistic faith of the Greeks, who also believed different entities are controlling different aspects of nature.

@ Timotheus

Yes, when I looked into the Quran Reformist Translation, I also noticed that they have translated angels as 'controllers', which also seemed so wrong to me since God is indeed the Only One in control.

I share the same beliefs as you do regarding the angels.. I see them as creations of God who fully submit to Him alone and carry out His commands, without believing they are part of Him.

I guess the big question is Why does God have 'helpers/workers' when He is in full control over every atom? (1061) and is the doer of everything? (817) Because most verses give me the impression He absolutely doesn't need them.

http//www.quran-islam.org/articles/part_5/our_beloved_ones_in_heaven_(P1493).html

The Quran is speaking about an Injeel that was revealed to Jesus while he was alive. Not about an Injeel that was written years after he died. That means according to my understanding that today's New Testament is not the same as the Injeel the Quran speaks about. Please see this article
http//www.quran-islam.org/articles/part_5/are_previous_scripture_uncorrupted_(P147.html

Peace.

Not exactly the reactions I was hoping for.. D I think everyone is just assuming something without actually listening to the videos? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

If you'd carefully watched the videos of Rashad he said that we DO have a choice... to side with God's kingdom or not. When you do, God is taking over and is running everything in your life, testing you, etc.

You can't blame murder, rape, etc. on God because that is the own doing of man. Satan inflicts the damage (by God's law) as soon as a person decides to leave God's kingdom and listen to Satan instead.. as explained in the videos.

And the devil will say, after the judgment had been issued, "GOD has promised you the truthful promise, and I promised you, but I broke my promise. I had no power over you; I simply invited you, and you accepted my invitation. Therefore, do not blame me, and blame only yourselves. My complaining cannot help you, nor can your complaining help me. I have disbelieved in your idolizing me. The transgressors have incurred a painful retribution."

"Anything good that happens to you is from GOD, and anything bad that happens to you is from you. We have sent you as a messenger to the people, and GOD suffices as witness."

By the way, what do you guys think of these verses from chapter 57?
"Anything that happens on earth, or to you, has already been recorded, even before the creation. This is easy for GOD to do."
"Thus, you should not grieve over anything you miss, nor be proud of anything He has bestowed upon you. GOD does not love those who are boastful, proud."

Footnote by Rashad
5722 We are absolutely free to side with God, or with Satan. God happens to know precisely what kind of decision each of us will make. The video tape of your life, from birth to death, is already recorded. See Appendix 14 http//masjidtucson.org/quran/appendices/appendix14.html

What do you guys think? How would you explain this in simple English? Doesn't this confirm that Rashad is right in the videos about God running everything?

Peace.

Again, you are limiting the meaning of the word 'sajdah/sujood' to physical prostration just like you did with 'worship' in your other post ) According to the Quran the trees also 'prostrate' to God. Everything in nature submits to God's law. It doesn't always have to have a physical ritual meaning. I myself interpret it as angels who are serving/helping us because God commanded them to do so.

God indeed said that he would put a representative (Adam) on earth. This is because God already knows what will happen in the future. He is Knower of the unseen and the seen.

God would never tell us to commit shirk. Shirk is the only 'religion' the Quran has a problem with. The Quran tells us that God is sufficient for us and closer to us than our jugular vein, while shirk tells us that God is not enough and that we need intercessors, intermediares, other deities, etc. and thus, underestimating the true Power of God.

Yup that's how the ancient israelite's cosmology looks like..
I give the wonderfully drawn illustration below which fits perfectly with your description..

http//wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/files/2012/11/Ancient-Hebrew-view-of-universe.png

And that narrow path, labeled the "Gate of Heaven" is well guarded by Angels, the Devil commonly uses that narrow path to sneak into the heaven and ear drop the ongoing discussion in "Heavenly Conference". The angels uses the stars as missiles / projectile to drive away the Devil..

1516-18
It is We Who have set out the zodiacal signs in the heavens, and made them fair-seeming to (all) beholders; And (moreover) We have guarded them from every evil spirit accursed But any that gains a hearing by stealth, is pursued by a flaming fire, bright (to see).

376-10
We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars, and for guard against all obstinate rebellious evil spirits, (So) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the Exalted Assembly but be cast away from every side, Repulsed, for they are under a perpetual penalty, Except such as snatch away something by stealth, and they are pursued by a flaming fire, of piercing brightness.

675
And we have, adorned the lowest heaven with Lamps, and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones, and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.

728-9
(Demons are speaking)'And we pried into the secrets of heaven; but we found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires. 'We used, indeed, to sit there in (hidden) stations, to (steal) a hearing; but any who listen now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush.

Reminds me of this article
http//quran-mystery.blogspot.nl/2015/12/quran-speaks-about-firmament-of-heavens.html

And the following documentaries
https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=debcXgOi0T0

https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1DQSBI42Eg

https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBuPiVzQLxo

God gave us free will. We can't blame him for all the problems caused by humans. God guarantees us a happy life if we simply follow His commandments (verses 1697 and verses 1062-64). But the majority of people do not even believe (12103) and the majority of the believers commit shirk/idol worship/polytheism (12106) without even realizing it and the majority of muslims have already deserted the Quran (2530) and traded it for blindly following their sects/madhhabs, clergymen/scholars and hadith/hearsay. The majority doesn't use their own God-given intellect/reasoning.

Quran 10100 "...and He will place defilement/wrath upon those who will not use reason."

Quran 1442 "And do not think that God is unaware of what the wicked do. He is merely delaying them to a Day when all eyes are watching."

Also, I've posted some videos in a new Topic I started today called 'Is GOD running everything?'. Perhaps you could check them out

Peace.

Do we need to worship God? If God says that he gave Adam of his Spirit. Than doesn't it mean that We too have a share of Gods Spirit? So do we worship each other? Our selves?

Depends on how you interpret 'worship'. I myself prefer the translation 'You alone we serve' in stead of 'You alone we worship'. Serving God by 'serving' mankind and doing good to each other sounds more logical to me than limiting the meaning of 'worship' to simply performing rituals.

And how do we know that the Quran in its entirety was never changed? What if the verse that says that God will preserve the book in its entirity was added, by humans? To not let anyone question its truthfulness ? So later some humans could add verses or delete some verses out of the book?

To me, the fact that every sect/madhhab today (sunnism, shiism, alevism, ahmadism, salafism, sufism, etc.) is contradicting the Quran is one of the many proofs that God preserved the message. Some examples

• The Quran says it explains itself (111-2), while all sects say you need hadith to explain the Quran.
• The Quran repeatedly says it's easy to understand (5417,22,32,40), while sectarian scholars say it's too difficult for you.
• The Quran says it's the only source of guidance (456, 73, 6114) while each sect claims you need their books too.
• The Quran speaks negative about blindly following clergymen/scholars (73, 931, 3367), while sects say you need to follow their interpretation.
• The Quran says it contains an explanation of all things (12111, 1689, 1854), while sects claim it doesn't.
• The Quran says we shouldn't divide into groups and differ after the signs came to us (3103, 3105, 3032, 6159), while the majority of 'muslims' today say you need to follow one of the four sunni madhhabs in order to be guided (each with it's own set of harams and halals, contradicting 16116).
• The Quran says we should only call on God in the places of worship (721 and a prayer should be directed to God alone (1314), while all sects also call upon others in their own fabricated prayers (like tashahhud and tawassul, calling upon the prophet and/or his family).
• The Quran says all intercession belongs to God alone (3944) and that not even the prophet can save us (3919, 7221-22), while all sects believe the prophet (or sometimes other saints included) will intercede for us in the Hereafter.

This proves to me (among many other things) that the Message (Quran) is being guarded, while the teachings of men are quickly distorted and corrupted. The Quran is a true Criterion, exposing all false beliefs. Praise God.

Peace be with you.

Interesting theory. I believe some of you are referring to Rashad Khalifa? It reminds me of Quran verses 381, 4136 and the following verses

"And a believing man from among the people of Pharaoh, who had concealed his belief, said "Will you kill a man simply for saying 'My Lord is God', and he has come to you with proofs from your Lord? And if he is a liar, then his lie will be upon him, and if he is truthful, then some of what he is promising you will afflict you. For God does not guide any transgressor, liar." (402

"And Joseph had come to you before with proofs, but you remained in doubt regarding what he came to you with, until when he died, you said "God will not send any messenger after him." It is such that God sends astray he who is a transgressor, doubter." (4034)

"And they thought as you thought, that God would not send anyone." (727)

Some Quran alone muslims strongly reject the idea that there can be more messengers after Muhammad, but judging by these verses alone I cannot say Rashad was no messenger of God. Although I believe there is some miracle of 19 in the Quran, I am not a 19-er who focusses a lot on 19 nor use it as a common denominator. I respect Rashad Khalifa and watch some of his videos, but do not agree with everything he says, as even messengers can make mistakes according to the Quran (2252).

According to Qoran GOD has not stopped sending messengers and He will keep sending them as long as there are humans walking

Peace good logic. Could you refer to the verses? Thanks.

Salam,

I am looking into this as I am not happy with law-giving.

Will revert in a couple of days as "learning-process" is most likely replacement.

I was thinking the word Salat could mean 'support' or 'reaching-out/follow closely'. A colleague of mine believes as-Salat refers to the Reading (Quran) itself. I can understand why you picked 'law-giving'.

But why not just leave it as 'Salat' in the English translation and let the reader decide? It's obvious Salat can have a wide meaning. What you could do is include an extra page in the preface with an explanation about the possible meanings of Salat. Seems like the best decision in stead of changing it every now and then )

Peace.

Another interesting view
http//quransmessage.com/articles/the%20compilation%20of%20the%20quran%20FM3.htm

When I read about the two waters who are seperated by a barrier and do not mix in the Quran, I think of this
https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1ua9iBRWQU

That being said, here is another interesting article about the 'firmament'
http//quran-mystery.blogspot.nl/2015/12/quran-speaks-about-firmament-of-heavens.html

A video by flat earth muslims
https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTI1VRrLqro

Author of quranite.com (Sam Gerrans) who also believes in the flat earth
https//www.quranite.com/the-flat-earth-in-the-quran/
https//www.quranite.com/the-sky-in-the-quran/

Thanks for the answers so far guys, but it's still not a 100% clear... There should be an easier explanation.

I still don't understand the following the Quran says in verse 262 "Surely those who believe; and those who are Jewish, and the Nazarenes, and the Sabians, whoever of them believes in God and the Last Day and does good works; they will have their recompense with their Lord, and there is no fear upon them, nor will they grieve."

So let's say a Christian or Jewish person, who believes in their own scripture, prays to God alone without committing idol worship, believes in the Last Day, has good deeds, but REFUSES to believe in Muhammad and the Quran, can he still go to heaven?

Verse 262 makes it look like they can, but other verses in the Quran seem to imply they can only reach salvation by also accepting Muhammad and the Quran.. so why even mention 262?

good logic, thank you too for your answer and I understand that Submission is the only religion acceptable by God, but even Submission includes accepting every messenger and signs from God..

Some think it's better to watch people doing it instead of actually committing the sin yourself based on verse 431 "If you avoid the major sins that you are prohibited against, then We will cancel your existing sins and admit you to a generous entrance."

But still, watching porn can destroy relationships and marriages.. Something like that can only be from the devil, our sworn enemy. Because of porn, many people have a false idea of love and how a healthy relationship is and often lose intimacy with their partner.

Hollywood actor Terry Crews actually made a short video about his porn addiction to warn people
http//www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3461279/Terry-Crews-reveals-pornography-addiction-bad-went-rehab-wife-threatened-leave.html

Thank you all for your answers and your help )

If there are any more opinions from others I would love to read them.

Peace be with you.