Those verses aren't talking about avoiding children or avoiding worldly life... they're about not getting distracted away from allah and concentrating on what one may think of what children should get. Such as when parents start giving their children whatever their children pester the parents for. Or parents giving material things to keep the children happy. Or parents not teaching their children about islam, or saying "oh my child, you can do whatever you like", were as Jacob father of Yusuf may peace be upon them both, rather told his sons quran 2132 that they dare not die without islam.

These are blessings, the distraction is that where you could get distracted, but blessings and rewards from raising good kids is there. Not only that but in this life they are a distraction from what is to be found better and more in the hereafter.

Well when people don't have children, most of the reasons giving as I've heard is "career, education, success stability first".

You can certainly be rewarded for raising righteous children. It is your responsibility to do so. But if you dont want to bother with kids, and concentrate on other righteous endeavors. That's perfectly valid too.

Certain people dont want to have children for career, education, success, or simply don't want to. It is their perrogative. Like I said, reproduction is not mandatory. there are others that want to wait until they are "stable" first, which makes sense, Financially, it keeps the rest of society from paying to raise your kids. Practically, children are huge responsibility and require immense time. If you can't commit to that, it's better not to have kids. What you invest is what you get.

How can people not prefer to have children if they aren't brainwashed or pre-occupied with running after money, or willfully preventing the birth of a child?

Simply because all devotion should be to God. Anything that distracts you including children you should avoid. Is there a law that mandates reproducing? Most people do it since everyone else does or due to hormones. It's an experience you CHOSE for yourself, God willing, of course. Why do you equate the desire not to have children to running after money? When in fact, the Quran mentions children and wealth together in many verses referring both to as objects of distraction

See 310, 3116, 955,969,3435,3437,5720,5817,6030,639,6414,6415,7011,7121

Please! Some people simply prefer not to have children ... nothing to do with being brainwashed, hating kids, or preferring to accumulate money. We're all different, there's no need to bash people who chose a lifestyle different from our own.
nope

Well Said. Also consider

828, 764, 3437 5720, 639

639 O you who believe, do not be distracted by your money and your
children from the remembrance of God. And those who do this,
then they are the losers.

3437 And it is not your money or your children that will bring you
closer to Us, but only those who believe and do good work, they
will receive double the reward for their works, and they will
reside in the high dwellings in peace

Peace,

I am here with an open question. Read the following verse,

O tribes of Jinn and humans, if you can penetrate the outer limits of the heavens and the Earth, then go ahead and penetrate. You will not penetrate without authority.

There will be sent against both of you projectiles of fire and copper, and you cannot win. 5533,35

How do you match this with current scientific knowledge, it will take billions of years moving at the speed of light just to get there!!! We will die before getting out of the milky way galaxy!! God won't have to send any projectiles, just sit back and watch us die. But if you look at my avatar, it makes good sense.

Anyone with an opposing opinion.

This sounds pretty reasonable. good observation.

You're the only who doesn't use their brain, and you are extremely ignorant and presumptuous. I can't believe you call yourself a Muslim yet can be this misinformed and still act like you know the answers. Truly sickening and pathetic, you should be ashamed.

To the OP, please don't take offense to that, I wasn't speaking to you and I know you were just asking and honest and legitimate question, but you are completely wrong in all of your assumptions. For some reason, you assume that a lunar calendar has 365 days in a year. If that were the case, then YES, Ramadan would always correspond to the seasons, every year, but it does not.

However, the lunar calendar only has 354 days in a year. Yet, it still has 12 months. 11 days shorter than a solar year. This means that for every 3 years, the lunar month of Ramadan "moves up" a month compared to the solar calendar. Therefor, over the course of 9 years, Ramadan switches to an earlier season altogether. Over about 36 years (approx), the entire year is cycled through, and the cycle starts again.

I hope now you can understand how Ramadan can change seasons now. The lunar and solar year do not line up perfectly, and every year the month of Ramadan starts 11 days earlier compared to the solar calendar.

BTW I think its great that you are spending your time and money to volunteer and help actually TEACH children, the Quran, not just how to say it. Very admirable and brave.

Peace.

Salam,
Thank you for helping me clarify things. I want to clarify to you I don?t assume the lunar calender is 365 days. If you refer to my earlier post, you will see I don?t even refer to a lunar or a gregorian calender. What I was using is just plain simple logic. This logic prevails no matter what calender you use, even if you make up your own! So yes, I can see how the current islamic calender will lead you to have fasting at various seasons over time.

But what I was asking is, is that logical? It is completely logical for the acutal month of ?ramadan? as defined by the islamic calender to occur in summer, fall, winter, spring. I see this. The islamic calender is set this way. But what I fail to see is how can the actual ?revelation of the quran = fasting time? change seasons? Allah has revealed the quran in a certain month and that certain month surely has to fall into a certain season. Whatever that season is should equate to the time of fasting. Do you follow me? If Allah revealed the quran during summertime, NOTHING CAN CHANGE THIS FACT. Islamic calender can change ?the month of ramadhan? to any season, but the fact that quran decesended during the summer when it was HOT outside cannot change. If the quran was revealed when it was winter, NOTHING CAN CHANGE THIS FACT. And therefore, even if the ?month of ramadhan? changes, the night of revelation and the season of revelation must remain the same and it is in this season we need to be fasting. Do you see what I?m saying? Please, if my logic is flawed, help me.

What's wrong with the current method of Azhan? Was not Mohammed PBUH the Messenger of God?

Or do you think the current Azhan is shirk and all Muslims are idol worshippers now and have been for 1400 years.

I'm just amazed that no one has thought of this from the Progressive Muslims side over the years, if it were such a problem or issue.

Anyway,

Salam,

Thank you for your comment. The problem I see with the current Azan is the "bearing witness" of the messenger. Yes, Mohammed PBUH WAS the messegner of God. Of course, he is no longer with us as far I know. This is why (in addition to various other reasons) I have a problem with this. I can't possible bear witness to someone I have never seen. And it is my understanding that the current azan states ?I bear witness that mohammed IS the messenger of GOD.? At the least, it should correctly state Mohammed WAS the messenger of God. If I had to choose only one reason from the many arguments I have as to why I believe Mohammed PBUH should not be a part of Azan, I would cite these two verses

"God bears witness concerning what He has revealed to you. He has revealed it with His knowledge. And the angels bear witness as well, BUT GOD IS ENOUGH AS A WITNESS" 4166

"We have sent you as a Messenger And God suffices as a witness..." 479

You asked if I believe the current Azan is shirk? Yes, if I am to believe the word of my Lord, then yes, the current azan goes against what Allah is teaching me. And yes, it is shirk then to bear witness to Mohammed in Azan or Shadah or anything else or ever! However, accepting Mohammed WAS the messenger of Allah is crucial of course. There is a big difference between bearing witness to the messenger and accepting the messenger.

You asked if I believe All muslims are idol worshippers now and have been for 1400 years?

Please don?t forget You are I are both Muslim ( I am assuming you are). Allah has deemed this specific name for us in the quran. I try my best not to be amongst those who are committing shirk. Whether I am truthful or not, I don?t think I?ll know until the day of judgment. It is not my place to judge whether all muslims are idol worhshippers and I certainly can?t tell you about those that lived beyond my time my 23 years of existence. However, I do know the current azan goes against Allah?s word, so therefore it is not something I intend on upholding in any way.

You said, you are amazed that no one has thought of this from the progressive muslim side if it were really a problem?

This is the type of thinking that gets us into problem. Why can?t it be you that ponders over Allah?s word and points out something? It doesn?t have to be someone else. Also, one reason why I put my thoughts out in public is for feedback?If someone can show me how I?m wrong in thinking a certain way, I want to change it and I want to better myself. So if you want to tell me I?m wrong, I would love to see some verses from the quran and Inshallah, come to the truth. I?m also pretty sure there are others that have thought of this?Is there anyone else here that would like to validate what I?m saying as far thinking bearing witness to the messenger in shahada or adhan is a problem?

Yes it is from islamic finder. I love listening to Azaan... I feel so peacful when I hear azaan, I remeber as a child waking up to the morning azaan, it's embeded within my very soul. But I just can't stand the bearing witness of the prophet part, for now, I tune it out. I'd love a monotheist azan. Anyone else who is interested, please respond. We can get this done, Inshallah. yay

Welcome to the Forum! Thank you so much for posting your story. I am so excited that there are other bengalis out there following God Alone path. Btw, I visited your website. Unfortunely, my bangla reading skills are very limited. I will certainly recommend your site to my family and friends. welcome

Salam Madhoshi

I wish you well on your path and your newly discovered knowledge of an alternative, and as most of here believe, a true spiritual path. As a fellow Bangladeshi, I must say it makes me very happy that there are others beside myself and my mother and sister, from our country, who have made the choice to see things differently.

Peace and God bless

Sarah

Salam Sarah,
Thank you for your comment. I'm so glad to hear that there are other bengali's that follow quran alone. It can be a lonely world sometimes. I'm always trying to practice what I learn in the quran and it's quite difficult when your surrounded by people who say otherwise just because they have a different source (hadith/sunnah). I been trying to get my family to see quran alone path but it isn't going very well. But this morning, I did get my husband to get up and pray ON TIME and I'm trying to get my family to see it's not okay to miss prayer and think you can make it up later. The only thing you can really do is pray for forgiveness if you do miss a prayer.

As-salamu Alaikum,
Thank you all for your comments. .As I've stated in my earlier post, I knew Hadith were faulty even as a child from a gut feeling. 19 is how I was introduced to the conept of monotheism. I have not read the quran in its entirety yet, but inshallah I will finish it soon. I've ordered a copy of "The Message." But from my reading and understanding so far, based on these verses

2130 And who would abandon the creed of Abraham except one who
fools himself? We have selected him in this world, and in the Hereafter
he is of the righteous.
2131 When his Lord said to him ?Submit,? he said ?I submit to the
Lord of the worlds.?
2132 And Abraham enjoined his sons and Jacob ?O my sons, God has
selected the system for you, so do not die except as ones who have submitted.?
2133 Or were you present when death came to Jacob and he told his
sons ?Who shall you serve after I am gone??, they said ?Your god, and
the god of your fathers Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac; One god and to
Him we submit.?

I think of myself as someone who has submitted to the one and only God. As far as 19 is concerned, I have done some research on it, and I do believe it is a sign because 19 is how I was introduced to the conept of monotheism. But even without 19, I am now able to see that we were meant to follow the QURAN and solely the QURAN based on various verses throughout quran. I dont deny the miracle of 19, but it is not the only reason I am a submiter.

Salam,

I'm having some trouble understanding the initiation of evil. If all comes from God, does that mean evil also comes from god? Did God create Evil?

I have heard the argument that Satan used to be an Angel, and then he turned "evil." What caused Satan to do this? Satan may tempt all of us, and we may "sin." But how did satan manage such a sin? Who tempted satan?

Salam,

Please help me clarify this. I have seen my friendz and family fast in all months of the year. Some year they fast in the heat of summer in July, and some years they fast in the coldest of weather in December. To my limited understanding, I believe fasting has been decreed for us in the month of "ramadhan." And also I believe it's within this month that "the night of decree" occurs. When exactly this month is, what is meant by this "month", and when the night of decree is, as I know, is a topic still open to debate.

But what I fail to understand is why can't the millions of people who fast at various seasons throughout their lifetime, realize that this month of ramadan can't be simulataneously in the winter and summer. That this month (and the night of decree within this month) can't be on a winter in one year and summer in another year. It can only be on EITHER summer or winter. So if I believe the month of ramadan (just a random example) is in the month of July where you can see flowers everywhere you look, no matter what calender you use, eihter lunar, solar, or make up your own calender, You can change the name of the month, to any variable X of your choice, but the fact is, In month July or X, it will be hot and there will be flowers outside. If there are no flowers, and it's cold outside, then this cannot be ramadan.

How do people justify fasting every single month or seasons(spring, summer, fall, winter) and still think it's ramadan every time ? Is my logic flawed somehow? And anyone I've asked so far has said "it's a lunar calender thing." Of course, I'm making the assumption that the person has not moved out of a particular georgraphical region and is observering ramadan in a different month/season every year. Thank's for your help.

Salam all,
I did a quick search for this and didn't really come across anything. I have downloaded an azan application on my laptop and it goes off 5 times a day. However, I dislike/disagree with the bearing witness of Mohammed (PBUH) and I don't believe it should be part of the azan. Is there an azan available that reflects God Alone? I'd love to use that instead. If it's not available, can we work together to make this available? I feel ike this is something that can be done relatively easily. I know the number of times salat is conducted varies across the board here, but we can program the software to give you option about exactly when/how many times the call to prayer goes off? I'm not a software engineer, I'm actually a medical student. But I bet with some work if people are interested, we can certainly accomplish this, Inshallah. What do you all think? Sorry if I have posted this in the wrong section, wasn't sure where this topic would fall.

Peace,
Forgive me if this has been suggested already...but a chatroom would be awesome!!!

As-salamu-alaikum,
I just want to share with you my own miracle in the quran. It's a powerful testimony that God listens and answers our prayers. All we have to do it just ask him! but first, let me give you some background on myself so that you can understand where I'm coming from.

I was born in Bangladesh (bd), but my family moved to the USA when I was 8yrs old. Back in bangladesh, I was taught to read quran and pray in arabic. As a good child, I did just that. However, even in bd, I found it strange that we should follow Hadith/Sunnah despite the fact that they are not the literal words of God. This little fact was enough for me at even 8yrs old. It would bother me inside, and if I raised a question, I was told that God does not like being questioned and I would go to hell if I continued to do so. After we moved to the USA, i became even more rational, and all I could see was inequality between male and female muslims everywhere I looked. My mom would wear the hijab, and it would drive me nuts simply because I didn't understand why the same did not apply to men. From my prespective at the age of 12- why can't men just lower their gaze? we were living in the usa, it's not like hair is a "turn-on," it made sense that you should cover your chest. I felt like there were so many rules to follow and so much restriction on women, that I could never have freedom and religion at the same time. Thus, I chose freedom, and deserted religion. When my parents would ask me to pray, I would just go to my room and come out pretending like I'm actually performed salat. I felt guilty about this for a little bit, but eventually I got used to it and no longer felt anything.

When I was about 18yrs old,I decided that I wanted religion to be a part of my life cuz I felt "lost" inside. So I decided to study the quran on my own. I downloaded quran online, and I was so excited and I loved what I was reading until I hit the verse about wife-beating. I always belived that wife-beating was part of hadith, and quran would never tolerate such a thing....but there it was..I looked at several translation online..some even claming to "beat her lightly." This was unacceptable and a disgrace in my eyes. I could never follow a religion that encourages/tolerates domestic abuse. Thus, I looked no further and announed to my family what I've discovered and told them to leave me alone about Islam until I "figure it out."

In August of 2008, at the age of 21, I started medical school. My roommate is a very strong Christian and so we started to have religious conversations. She would tell me about Jesus, and I would tell her about Islam and Muhammed (pbuh). But I could never argue with her cuz I simply didn't know enough about Islam or what I did know didn't even make sense to me, so I couldn't advocate it. THIS WAS VERY FRUSTRATING. and so I asked myself, why in the world do I claim to be a muslim when I dont even really know the meaning?

A few months ago, I went to bed, and I just started crying because I knew I was so far away from God, and worst...my roommates argument of bible/jesus was getting into my head and I was afraid I would forever sever my tie with Islam and over time, I may even convert to Christianity. I wasn't really thinking about converting, but the fear was there. So I prayed, i just cried for hours and prayed that God please guide me in the right direction.

In the morning, I decided I was going to list out what bothered me about Islam the most and I would reasearch on it. I started with Hijab. So I did a google search about what the quran says about hijab....and this changed my life forever. I read an article that said quran does not even mention the word HIJAB and its actually in the hadith. Of course my childhood innate sense kicked in and said, "if it's not in the quran, you dont have to worry about it." this is all before I knew about Quran only or rashad khalifa or anything about this world. Of course I didn't forget about the wife-beating verse that made me turn back last time, so I convinced myself to re-examine it. So I kept seaching and came across submission website and my life changed forever.

For the last few months, I have been praying 5X a day and attening the mosque whenver I can find the time to do so...I have never ever done these things from my heart..or for so long at once without missing prayer because I finally found out that I am not alone..there is a ton of people who follow quran alone..and it's not based on just gut instinct, but based on evidence. Most importantly, the religion of submission is beautiful, rational, and as allah said, the intelligent would be able to follow.

Now for the miracle that has happened...

I was trying to tell my uncle (strict sunni) about quran only and the fallacy of hadith and sunnah, and he told me that I am not a "real muslim" unless I "OBEY THE MESEENGER BY FOLLOWING THE HADITH AND SUNNAH." So On friday 13th, 2009 at 630p.m, I went to the mosque and I prayed to Allah asking for a sign to tell me if I should follow the quran only or if my uncle had any sense in what he was saying. I wanted a sign directly from allah. I told Allah that my heart/brain was saying I need to follow quran only, but everyone around me thinks I'm crazy and I am not a real muslim. I asked him to direct me in the right path and give me a sign and I would be on the look-out for a sign. Shortly after prayer, I went with my husband to the mall and we watched a movie called "friday the 13th"....after the movie, i felt guilt for the first time cuz I didn't know there was so many inappropirate scenes in the movie..so I prayed for forgiveness in my car as my husband just watched stunned. When we got home that night, he asked me to show him "the miracle of 19."

So i went to Brother Pierre's website at www.islamrevolution.org, and I was going through Rashad's Khalifa's findings with my husband at around midnight. All of a sudden, my husband goes, "look maryum, sura 19 has the title of your name!" It was stunning, I've read the quran so many times, and did not make this connection..my name is Maryum..Sura 19 out of 114 suras is called "Maryum." I felt like Allah was holding my hand like a mother holds a child's hand and pointing to me and saying, "yes, maryum..19 is the right path!"

Allah has answered my prayer!