I'm in Seattle, our dawn/dusk time is about 18hrs. Its been fun yeah

I would consider anyone who sincerely wants to be held accountable for their actions as an adult. In my family, that's about 10yrs old. At that point, we call our sons/daughters young men/young women. Psychologically speaking, development isn't (complete) until mid-20's, but that's late-enough to have already been conscripted to military service, start a family, and graduate college.

To any minority in US, commit a crime as a 16yr old and chances are you're being charged as an adult(I have a few family members who this happened to) even though legal "adulthood" is at 18. To many people, the concept is very fluid. It changes depending on the subjects of reference (the person and what action you're referring to). To me, it is not fluid. If you are biologically capable of having children of your own(or at an age where it is common to be able to but had some traumatic experience) then you are an adult and have to be accountable for your actions, like having children.

'Lower the gaze and do not stare at the women' has become the opposite 'stare at the women to check they are dressed appropriately so they are not guilty of attracting your gaze'

That's a golden quote. And true. I have a friend, who's Anglo-American non-Muslim, and she lived in Egypt for 1.5yrs. She said she's never been a more mean person in her life than when she lived there due to constantly raging at men that harassed her.

I agree.

Am just disappointed that someone would give up after a short-time here just because she seemed to find it difficult that people all thought differently...talk about being closed-minded, rather than free-minded, lol.

bravo

Welcome, Indiana!

I too had problems with the 189738972398 supplications I was told to say when I reverted. Now, I don't really say any of them, but I see their purpose. I think they're supposed to keep you mindful of Allah in all that you do. But if you can do that w/out saying a specific pattern of words, I don't see the issue. That's how I feel about it anyway.

peace

Why do people need to think alike, was the name of the website 'free-minds' confusing?

I take the "free-minds" as meaning being critical of information and taking an active role in your learning/interpretation of things. I expected to find similar thinkers in that respect, and I have.

peace

These two seem contradictory

I don't think it's contradictory. The people who want to practice safe sex buy more condoms when they're more active. The unsafe people have sex more, but still don't buy condoms. And there are a lot more non-condom users than there are users.

peace

But don't mind some friendly guys.

Friendly guy checking-in. Welcome back! May Allah help you find that which you are seeking.

peace

Salaam,

Thank you Wakas. I'll use this as a reference, but as sister diamantinehoneybunch has noticed, problems with the translation. I'll use it for subject references then go to the source for how to actually interpret the ayat.

peace

I'll be with you guys(gals) in-spirit! Stay strong!

group

peace

I believe everything is from God, so does Quran. I will praise God and then to his Prophet Mohammed for the message.

Don't forget to praise Isa, Ibrahim, Adam, Noah, David, and all the rest too ;D

peace

God-alone Islam, or Quran alone Islam, or Quranism, or whatever you call it... suffers from one weakness, and that is that it is still based on the religion they try to get away from. It becomes like a compromise... of soft version of the traditional Islam. The view of the quran is still influenced by tradition... even when hadith n sunna are thrown out.

There should not even need to be a name for Quranism, or for someone who follows the quran alone. What the quran talks about is so universal and natural that putting labels on the system, and the followers, just creates another sect. Label create division. Labels may DESCRIBE something or someone, but when USED for identification, it creates division.

I don't describe myself as a "Quranist" or "God-alone Muslim". I think of myself as a critical thinking Muslim, and I would heavily argue anyone that tried to place me into a particular Muslim philosophy. When you critically assess each issue, spiritually, or politically, you transcend labels. Labels, when used for philosophy, are meant to describe people who differ decision-making to other people who are the "leaders" of that label. I feel like nobody in here fits into that.

But there needs to be proof that there is no free will or free choice because nothing suggests it. But there is no free fate very surely. If God willed something then it does not matter what you did to prevent it but it will happen. Even if you are many in a fortified castle you would die against a small army if God willed or wills. You would die from a cold if God decides that.

I believe we have that proof already through the two examples I gave earlier. Sodom/Gamorrah and the Flood. God chose to revoke the free will of those individuals and end their lives at that moment.

I suppose we could say we have free will until God decides otherwise. I think Him ending free will is the exception though, not the rule. And that the point of the scriptures and prophets were to give us the opportunity to submit to Him on our own accord.

Peace existential,

Congrats on your 100th post .

Thanks!

Could you expand on this a bit more?

Being the all-knowing while not forcing us to make decisions are not mutually exclusive. I think the focus should be shifted from, "Did God know I was going to make x or y decision?" to "Does God know what I did and will I be judged by it accordingly?" To which the answer is yes.

That was the part above ^^^ that I was wanting to get at. Could you expand on that?

Sure.

When people refer to poor decisions that they made, or bad things that happened to them, the cry is often something near, "If Allah knew this was going to happen, why did He let it?" or "Did He know this event x was going to happen?" The result of that question, to the weak-minded individual may lead them further from God.

I would argue that, that particular question is based on a misunderstanding that leads one to place blame on Allah instead of themselves.

In the Quran, 854 times over, the trilateral root word ('ayn lam mim) appears. From what I've read, and please someone else jump in and correct me if I've missed it, it's always present or passed tense.

(Yusif Ali) Say Whether ye hide what is in your hearts or reveal it, Allah knows it all He knows what is in the heavens, and what is on earth. And Allah has power over all things.

This is one example. Here is another.

(Shakir) Do they not know that Allah knows what they keep secret and what they make known?

The context of those is that Allah knows what you did or are doing. He gave us critical thinking, and a vessel(our bodies) to perform actions based upon those thoughts. He is aware of what we do, and is taking the most diligent of notes on our actions. Not just what we do, but why.

I would contend based upon the uses of the trilateral root word ('ayn lam mim), and what was revealed to us in the Torah and Gospel, that you should view Allah's knowledge as it relates to us humans in the context of him being ever aware(or knowing) of that which we do. Therefor, there is no trick we can pull on Him. There is no crime that goes unwritten, nor no positive unwritten.

God would not have given us free will if he intended to write our paths in stone. If he did that, there would be no way to test the true believers from the non-believers. In fact, that is another analogy to be made.

If our lives are a test for God, consider Him to be the omnipresent, all-knowing, teacher. We can cheat on our test, but He will know. We can study, and perform well, and He will know that too. If someone had a distinct advantage(blessing) on the test(wealth or something that others lack) but did not use it to achieve a comparable portion to that advantage, then He knows that too.

The Quran tells us that Allah knows things that we will never know, but I feel that we have been given many signs that surely has given us free will and that He knows all that we do.

I hope that extrapolation helps.

peace

Salaam all,

I believe that you are conflating a "set in stone" understanding of God and a "multiple pathway" understanding of Him. For example, two things are certain now of you...that you were born, and that you will surely die.

Between those two certainties, you can do any number of activities. Allah knows that which you want to do, that which you can do, that which you do in fact do, and the consequent paths that derive therefrom.

Being the all-knowing while not forcing us to make decisions are not mutually exclusive. I think the focus should be shifted from, "Did God know I was going to make x or y decision?" to "Does God know what I did and will I be judged by it accordingly?" To which the answer is yes.

God gave us free will, and when He chooses, we pay for our decisions. In the story of sodom/gamorrah, a whole community was removed. In the great flood of Noah's time, all perished but that which He deemed worthy of being saved. For most of us, we'll see Him on the Day of Judgement.

I'd like to sum this up with an allusion to Feinberg's Theory of Freedom and Rights, which I linked somewhere in here before. A part of that speaks of word freedom being too ambiguous. For there are 2 types of freedom. Freedom from, and freedom to.

As individuals in His kingdom, we are free to choose our path. We are however, not free from paying for the decisions that we make.

peace

PS, this is post #100 for me! Group hug! group

Since a few months ago (last year) I have been doubting His intervention in other creature's life or at least my own life. I still believe He exists but I hardly pray because I often don't feel He would answer.

What should I do?
What is your proof that He answers your prayer and intervenes in your life?

Salaam Yuliana,

I believe God will help you as long as you stay humble and sincere in your devotion to Him. I do not feel as though our prayers are always answered immediately, as we are not always completely prepared for that which we request.

For example, I read the first three surah's when I was 19, and it did nothing for me. I put down that Quran, and didn't read another until I was 23. That time, before I began reading, I asked God to help me find something in this book (I was a confused and somewhere between atheist and deist). By the time I got to the same point I had reached the last time I opened the Quran, I knew I was a Muslim all-along. That was 4 years later.

I think about that often. Had I found the enlightenment at the age of 19, I was not in a place where I could have properly critiqued and learned as I have now. I was completely pigeonholed into a very restrictive schedule with no time or money, or support from fellow Muslims. When I found Allah at 23, I fully embraced Him and haven't looked back.

If you sincerely come to Him with a request, and remain humble and patient, I believe you will receive that which you have requested.

peace

I believe sectarianism is a religion even if someone called themselves as an atheist etc. . . they are religious people.

and I believe Islam came to end the ideology of religion and sectarianism. . .

It did. And yet people still found a way to fall right back into sectarianism a generation after the prophet.

no sectarianism and maintaining human unity are the "core values" of Islam, no idolism, it is the "highest priority". .
therefore it doesn't matter if they are good or bad people, but if they are sectarians and oppress people
or promoting oppression and war through sectarianism, or condemn other religions, traditions and cultures etc
they will lose their head. . . others issues are left for Allah to decide

I'd rather people keep their heads and have an opportunity to repent and contribute to a more just world. I believe that is in compliance with the values Allah gave us. And when it is time for people to lose their lives in this world, God is sufficient to make that happen (The flood, sodom and gamorrah, etc)

and maybe in the next few years, very soon. . . there will be jihad between Muslim, to change leadership
to fight those who make Islam as a religion, and it will happen very fast, as equal to life in Mecca and Medina
and then...many countries will go bankrupt, disasters etc . . becoming poor countries
and they will have no money to go into war or build military equipments etc
then there will be war against the sectarians, and within the next 130 years from now. .
The ideology of Islam (no sectarianism) will rule the world for the next 700 years

The blue I agree with, the red is already happening in many places.

May we, as the community that does not hold equals to God or use uncritiqued examples to serve Him, not be afraid to openly, and peacefully, challenge that which has led many astray.

peace

Welcome Sister!

May you find with this family of analysts a new home! group

peace

People do recite the quran... or rather they imitate the sounds of the Arabic. Typically there is no comprehension what so ever of the text itself.

That's why I learn in English before Arabic. But I really need to take a break from reading and just focus on learning Arabic '(

As far as I know, it's not mandatory for Sunni, but more like special sunnah practice ---> "Fasting in Sha'ban".

http//www.newislamicdirections.com/nid/notes/fasting_during_shaban

http//askaquestionto.us/question-answer/shaban/the-significance-of-fasting-shaban

http//www.islaam.net/main/display.php?id=1719&category=130

http//www.islamicity.com/Articles/articles.asp?ref=IC0409-2468

http//www.missionislam.com/knowledge/shaban.htm

http//www.dailyhadith.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=69.0

http//www.albalagh.net/general/shaban.shtml

http//www.sunnah.org/ibadaat/shaban/ghunya_shaban_frame.htm

http//salaf-us-saalih.com/2010/07/15/deeds-are-presented-to-allah-during-shaban-today-is-3rd-shabaan/

Ok, thanks for all those links. So her stating that is was "mandatory" has more to do with her families/mosque values in complying with hadith.