Salam loli,
I'm not an expert. ...I don't even know how to use the concordance p (and forgive me if i sounded too formal here)

But here are some pointers

1. 379 and 39/10 & 39/53 -->> They do NOT contradict each other.
   Take a look at these verses again...

379 It was not to a human that God gives him The Book and the judgment/rule and the prophethood then he says to the people "Be/become worshippers/slaves to me, from other than God". And but "Be knowledgeable Lord worshippers with what you were teaching The Book and with what you were studying ".

3910 Say "You my worshippers/slaves those who believed, fear and obey your Lord, to those who did good in this the present world (is) a goodness/beauty, and God's earth/Planet Earth/land (is) spread/abundant , truly the patient are fulfilled/completed their reward without (an) account/calculation."

3953 Say "You my worshippers/slaves those who neglected/ignored on themselves, do not despair from God's mercy, that truly God forgives the crimes all/all together, that truly He is the forgiving, the merciful."

As you see,
"BE my worshipers" =/= "my worshipers"

The first sentence is a command/suggestion, while the second sentence merely acknowledged the situation.
An example, hmm, American Idol, Jordin Spark. Jordin Spark was just doing her thing on stage, and zap! Many began to make her their idol. Did Jordin stand on the stage and said, "Make me your idol" ..? No, she did not.

Now, let's say Jordin one day decided to follow the Quran. . .. what does the quran tell her to say? And, secondly, why do you think the quran tell her to say, "..." and, thirdly, what might be the consequences/impact after Jordin says "..." ? D

2. As to your question, to whom 39/10 & 39/53 are addressed to,

The answer is right in the verses. "You, my worshipers/slaves"

.... The Quran is for all time, for everyone.

3. Please see the verses after those that you have posted... 39/11, 39/12 ; 39/54, 39/55... I believe these verses are also what God tells us to "say "...." besides 39/10 and 39/53...

Meaning, there's more to say ".."

4. I'm not sure about this aspect... but, aren't the quranic verses do not have punctuations such as comma and quotations?

salam, hope this helps.

Salam R,

You have a unique way of sharing the beauty of Islam with people, and i admire the fact you are open in praising Allah with your own way without the fear of what other people will think of you... i truly admire that trait..
I also believe that your way will be received by a great number of people..more than those who read this thread, ..if you share Islam and praises in the poetry section, not only on this forum, but on poetry corner in general... because of your poetic skill. Just a suggestion by the way.

peace,
A

Burhan,

With what he had went through (as stated in the intro), ...it's definitely not the fear ..or running away.. but RSW is strategizing..

I had actually considered that, burhan. But total immersion in another culture will ALWAYS cause us to see things from a different point of view;

I second that.

If I submerse myself in Sunni culture, for example, I am definitely going to have a Sunni bias; so I decided against it for now in favor of objectivity. But who knows? I still hope to at least visit there someday.

I am raised in a sunni culture, but speaking from experience, i can say biases are not permanent....nor can it stick with you if you decided not to cling to it.

peace )

RSW,

You're right, you don't have to justify your belief to other people. I asked that question is because what you have posted (of contradicting hadiths) can be of good use for all of us... Your experiences and knowledge are valuable. I'll use some of those examples you have given above and show it to you know who.

Thanks.
Peace,
katara

I needed to follow hadith, and the more I read those hadith the less legitimate they seemed to me... I assumed they knew more than me so I just did what I was told for a while, but I couldn't reconcile the miracle of the Qu'ran and life itself, even the relationship between GOD and man, with what I read in hadith.

RSW, some examples of the hadiths as said, please?

To add to what you have brought up,

Free-minds's search engine is not that great anymore...
Great thread are lost, and harder to find as many posts come up.

Something has to be done, perhaps categorizing the posts, or add links to key words.. i don't know.

salam,

Try www.emuslim.com 's word-for-word translation.

As for knowledge, i personally read the quran from the beginning towards the end rather than jumping here and there looking for one issue/topic.

Take one thing at a time. If salat issue is not revealed fully to you yet, then don't be sad, just follow what is revealed to you gradually. One step at a time. Don't be haste, be patient, because it might be better for you that things are revealed one at a time. A good believer is one who is patient.

peace.

Your 5th station, which is disorienting, might lead to the 6th station, which is one below the highest questioning the existence of French-speaking purple frogs. As for the highest 7th level ask the jedi jedi

D amused

That could be a possibility,too... more so for extreme philosophers who entered insanity-reality. hehe.

Hi Sarah,

It helps us to give better feedback if you provide important explanation about palmistry, how it works and what's involved etc, and then ask specific questions...

peace.

I would say the highest stage of the process ("muslim" turning "Quran Alone&quot is pondering the existence of Allah, that is, questioning the main point of Quran's message (e.i.,fear and obey God).... and then submission to Allah by believing in the quran...

Just some food for thought
...Those items in the list, rather than being ordered in stages, those items might be connected to one another in a circle. A person could reach "Quran Alone" by starting at any point/item.

Dear Wakas,

There is no strawman argument here. Let us discusus what you actually said

Now, the Quran tells us that people who deny the messengers have gone astray.

Basically, it means the different stages a Muslim who turns to the "Quran Alone" view goes though on their journey of increasing knowledge/discovery, with stage 5 being the highest level

5. Questioning the existence of historical personalities (like nabis and rasul).

Questioning doesn't automatically means denying.
Rejection can come after questioning, but not all the time.

Mr.humble, right now you're assuming that

we = one person/identity

Is that equation/assumption itself correct?

There's an ayat that says it's not right to claim credit from what you did not do. ..and many verses that say to tell the truth... So, if the message is sent down by many, then the acknowledgment of those involved is appropriate. I'm saying, "we" must be representing more than one identity/person.

There are definitely many routes to "Quran Only".. (cuz i didn't went through those stages...) but surely all routes make us at some point of time &, and require us to hmm and hail ?

I wonder what will i do if i encounter these three hadiths

Bukhari, Book 41, Number 7147
Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri

Allah's Apostle (peace_be_upon_him) said Do not take down anything from me, and he who took down anything from me except the Qur'an, he should efface that and narrate from me, for there is no harm in it and he who attributed any falsehood to me - and Hammam said I think he also said "deliberately" - he should in fact find his abode in the Hell-Fire.

Book 25, Number 3640

Narrated Zayd ibn Thabit
Al-Muttalib ibn Abdullah ibn Hantab said Zayd ibn Thabit entered upon Mu'awiyah and asked him about a tradition. He ordered a man to write it. Zayd said The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) ordered us not to write any of his traditions. So he erased it.

Muslim Book 007, Number 3163

Ibrahim al-Taimi reported on the authority of his father 'Ali b. Abi Talib (Allah be pleased with him) addressed us and said He who thought that we have besides the Holy Qur'an anything else that we recite, he told a lie. And this document which is hanging by the sheath of the sword contains but the ages of the camels, and the nature of the wounds.

Don't look further than your skin.

Turn your senses backwards and look deep inside your self...towards your Heart...there in you end,
and GOD begins.

???

Easy folks...What if there are multiple gods that are not conflicting?

Multiple gods that are not conflicting, working together in harmony..can only mean, they have to be dependent on each other. Being dependent on each other also equals to dependency on the created system. The universe's Creator cannot be bounded by His own creation.

Both's plan cannot work if either one (out of the many gods) decided to change = hence, both are not omnipotent.

Multiple gods makes no sense,
because a creator cannot be dependent on his creation

hmm, is that really how God wants us to do good? by COMMANDING us to do it? i don't know, then in most cases it wouldn't be sincere, people would do it because they HAVE TO not because they want to.

What about, i WANT TO do what i have to do as God's believer/creation/servant...
simply because it is our duty to do good deeds?

I'm just offering another different perspective... )

Do good deeds simply because
God is our Lord and He has commanded us to do it

AceOfHearts,
Love the article!
peace.

Yes, Darcus, i agree with you that he is certainly too young to understand and too young to make a choice.

And, look at me, look at others around you, especially those at this forum... It is God who guides, and make astray whoever He wills. There'll come a time when he's ready to understand or listen, that's when you try to open his mind. For now, let him be, and trust in God.

Your son, imho, seems to be a person who links you and your in-laws together... and he is also as a person that both parties try to gain control of. A tug of war of ego. Like you said, he is too young to understand, so how can he be indoctrinated (be taught of their practices and belief) ?

It is God who guides and make astray. Trust in God.

I asked ealier why is it hard for you to see him dress and act like them, is because.. perhaps knowing the reason behind your stress can be the first step in achieving inner peace, and perhaps, peace with your in-laws.

I humbly think that it would be a valueble experience for your son if he experience AND UNDERSTAND both sides... islam and culture (i.e, your relative's practices).