Salam alaikum warah7mat allaho wabarakataho.

There is no compulsion upon entering islam but when he becomes muslim and than leave islam and propegate another religion; in that case he would be executed according to the law of treason. Remember that treason is punished by death in many countries including the states.

Personally I see many apostates in this site. If We had a khalifah they would not be here anymore therefore I ask them to repent. The problem with quranists is that they think every tom Dick and harry can interpret al quran al karim. Anyone from the street can spent two min in reading a verse and 'understand' it.

We sunnites don't believe that each and everyone can interpret the quran according to his own desires and wishes therefore We always read the quran with TAFSIR.

It is such an unfortunate state of affairs that people such as these decide to 'completely' and 'utterly' ignore the aayah in the Qur'an. I thought the aayah I quoted were pretty clear and easy to understand. They would rather follow the man-made laws and ignore Allah's instructions. The words of our creator. The supreme. And what is the word describing this activity? .

Brother and sisters who make the effort to come to this website - please, let's open up our hearts and minds, please, let's listen to Allah and not people who our forefathers have made 'leaders'. Remember - there is only one right (huq) - the rest is wrong (baatil).

I agree fully with Jafar.

We seem to be forgetting that Allah says very clearly in the same aayah in which he forbids riba, that business is not forbidden!
If someone lends me money so I can afford to get a roof over my head, and in return he agrees with me that I pay him interest - and he even checks that I can afford it (and does not force me to sign on the dotted line) - both of us are gaining! It's a deal! It's business! Contracted business written, agreed and signed by both parties!!

What is forbidden is "al-riba"; and this is explained in the Qur'an. If we wrongfully/unfairly consume someone else's possessions, then that is al-riba. So for example if someone lends money to someone with the intention to rip them off, and possibly even possess their property - that is al-riba. Theft is al-riba. Taking bribes is al-riba. Being a lying agent is al-riba.

Business is not al-riba.

I implore brothers and sisters to think of this... in so called islamic countries such as Pakistan, India etc - they are drowning in al-riba through crime, bribery etc, yet they make the point that interest on a mortgage or a current account is forbidden!!! Where are we???!?!

I also agree that Allah does not mis-guide.
Hoppean, I can see you are quite strong in your views and the way you explain them, but if you but look back at your explanation you will see the contradictions in your explanations, and the Qur'an cannot have any contradictions. You say, "Yes, one must confess that it is God who misguides them", but then you also say, "Well that would be directly contrary to what scripture teaches, that man is responsible." Do you see the contradiction? And it is this contradiction that, for me, suggests that the normal translations, which are in line with what you say, are incorrect, and Mohammad Asad's translation is correct.

I think what is causing your confusion is that you are taking each word literally, not considering the context and the way in which Allah explains his aayah to us through other aayah, and pondering over the essence of Allah's law that comes through from the Qur'an.

There simply cannot be any logic in Allah willfully misguiding his creations. Why would He then give us the instructions to become mu'min? How could there be justice on the Last Day if He has misguided people Himself?

Finally
(3957-59) On the Day of Judgement people will claim that if Allah had guided them they would have become ?muttaqee?, and they would want a second chance. However, Allah?s message (the Qur?an) was given to them, but they rejected the messages and were filled with false pride (that they were good people).

I do not think it could any clearer than this.

Allah-hu-Akbar

Salaam
Many thanks for your response. Could I just be clear on one thing please? Are you saying that your understanding is that if someone is misguided, Allah's will is involved?

Reason I ask is that this is an important point. I find that in some/many of our communities, where 'wrong' happens people say "It was Allah's will, that is why it happened". I feel it leads to a passive mindset and at an extreme level, one might say we are blaming Allah for the ills of this world. Whereas as per the quranic aayah I looked at and quoted above, there is a clear message of personal choice and free will given to mankind, supported by the need for perseverance, and indeed this is what makes man different and superior from other living beings.

Where Allah's will is involved, my understanding is that this is in the form of the perfected laws of nature He has created, including the laws of 'cause and effect'. Every action we take has a result, and the result is programmed through the laws that Allah willed.

Grateful for clarity as to whether your suggestion is that Allah's will is involved in misguiding - other than the laws of nature he has created. Would Allah 'will' some people to be misguided? What judgement will they receive on the Last Day?

JZK

Apostasy ? Turning away from Islam

In many so called Islamic countries, it is considered that people who turn away from Islam should be punished/killed. The Qur'an gives us the knowledge, alhamdulillah, that this is wrong. We have no right to punish individuals who choose to leave Islam. Allah has given everyone the freedom of choice and it is for Allah to judge all individuals on the Last Day.

Consider the Qur'an references below

? People have a choice whether to believe or not (1829)
? People have been shown right and wrong (9010)
? We cannot compel people to believe. People have freedom of choice. Allah gives evil to those who do not use reason (1099-100)
? There is no compulsion in faith (2256). I.e. we must not force faith, or the extent to which someone practices their faith
? We are not responsible for the deeds of those who do shirk (6107) or follow the wrong path, and neither were the prophets (610
? We must not revile (i.e. insult, abuse, despise, berate) objects of shirk (610
? Allah will not forgive or guide those who sometimes believe and sometimes disbelieve, and then grow in their disbelief. They are hypocrites (4137-13. They will be punished in the hereafter (3106), (390-91)
? If a society turns away from the Islamic way of life, in time another community will emerge who Allah loves (554), as happened with the Jews
? Allah?s guidance will not come to those who reject the truth having previously been believers. They will be rejected by Allah, the natural forces (malaikah) and people. Their suffering will not be lightened ? except those who repent and then put themselves right (386-89)
? Those who turn away from the Islamic way of life and die as disbelievers, their deeds will go to waste and they will go to hell (471), (4725-1, (2217), (3090-91).

Because such people clearly have the time to die as disbelievers, it cannot be true that their punishment is to be killed by other humans (2217), (4137-13. What about their chance to repent?

Repentance (tawbah)

? (417-1 Allah?s acceptance of repentance is only for those who do evil out of ignorance/not knowing, and who repent before dying. It will not be accepted from those who know their deeds are wrong and repent when dying; or those who die as deniers of the truth

This means acceptance (forgiveness) is only if
(i) one is unaware that the deed is wrong and do not appreciate its affect on others
(ii) they undo the deed and then do right quickly
Those who are fully aware that they are doing wrong, how would they undo the deed? Their character is corrupted. How will Allah forgive them?

? (4226) Responding to repentance of those who believe and do righteous deeds
? (2867) Those who repent, attain to faith and do righteous deeds ? they could achieve paradise
? (654) Acceptance of repentance for evil deeds done out of ignorance
? (2570-71)For those who (i) repent, (ii) attain to faith, and (iii) do righteous deeds, Allah turns their bad deeds into good deeds (in terms of their character and its affect on society). This is because he who repents and does what is right (i.e. righteous deeds) has truly turned to Allah by their repentance
? (431) If we avoid major sins (i.e. those that cannot be undone, such as murder or rape), Allah will efface bad deeds and we shall enter paradise
? (254) Fataloo unfusakum ?Kill your nufs that is keeping you on the wrong path?. By doing wrong, we sin against the nufs

Repentance + Righteous deeds = Acceptance of repentance

The bond/trust/covenant/contract with Allah (A?hd)

Allah?s covenant refers to man?s moral obligation to use his inborn gifts given by Allah (intellectual and physical) and all his possessions (including wealth) in the way intended for them by Allah, in return for the rewards Allah has promised

(227) People who break their bond with Allah go astray. They cut was has bidden to be joined and spread corruption on earth

(20115) Allah imposed the trust on Adam, but he forgot it and had not firmness of purpose in him

(1695-96) We should not compromise our bond with Allah for a small gain. All the things we possess is bound to come to an end, and all that is with Allah is everlasting

(1734) We should be true to every promise, as on the Day of Judgement we will be called to account for every promise we made

(1691) We should be true to our bond with Allah. We should not break oaths when we have made them consciously (as opposed to those we may have made without thought, for which we will not be taken to task ? 2225). Allah knows all that we do

(9111) Allah has bought from the believers their lives and possessions, in return for paradise. This covenant was promised in the Torah, Gospel as well as the Qur?an. Nobody could be more faithful to this covenant that Allah. We should therefore rejoice in such a bargain!

(286) Those who buy the life of this world at the price of the life to come will find that their suffering will not be lightened and they will not be saved from punishment

The contract

(9111) Out contract with Allah, i.e. selling our lives and possession to His way in return for Paradise and a happy state.

(285) Requires total submission, part will not work

(187), (314-15) Materials on earth are test for us

(498-99) Helpless (e.g. disabled) people and those not shown the right way will/may be exempt from punishment

(49 We cannot make an excuse that we were too weak on earth to not do wrong (physically, mentally or politically)

See paper on ?Faasiq? for more details on the boundaries within our contract

DOES ALLAH ?MIS-GUIDE??

A number of Muslims claim (I have heard this particularly during Friday sermons) that whoever Allah guides, nobody can misguide, and that ?whoever Allah misguides, nobody can guide?. Can this be true? Would Allah choose to misguide some people?

(3957-59) When it is said that Allah guides who He wills, this is done by having the message delivered (i.e. the Qur?an). Those who are misguided are those who deny the truth (and we know from other aayah that those who deny the truth have their hearts locked).

(3923) Allah guides those who want to be guided

(144) Allah let?s go astray he who wills to go astray, and guides he who turns to him. See also (1327). See ?in-depth? study of 144 and 1327 below.

(226-27) Those misguided are only those who are ?faasiq? (i.e. transgress the set boundaries). i.e. Allah has set the boundaries/rules/bond/covenant. Those who break the bond/covenant go astray (man?s own free will and choice)

(615) Allah does not guide those who are ?faasiq? (transgress).

(1713) Our destiny, i.e. the results determined by our conscious choices, is set, and those choices will be clear to us on the Day of Judgement.

(1829) The free will of man to accept or reject the truth , as the truth has been delivered ? through the Qur?an

(1794) Nothing stops us from believing except our own objections

(1010 The truth has been revealed to mankind (through the Qur?an). Whoever chooses to follow the right path, follows for his own good. Whoever chooses to go astray, goes astray for their own hurt. See also (3941)

(4146) Whoever does good deeds does for his own good, and whoever does evil does so to his own hurt. Allah never does injustice to His creatures ? see also (3941)

(3923) Allah guides those who wants to be guided. Whoever Allah ?lets? go astray can never find a guide ? see also (7186)

(1693) If Allah willed, he could have not given us free will (which results in us not being a single community). But he gave this to us and lets go astray those who decides to go astray, and guides those who want to be guided.

(3957-59) On the Day of Judgement people will claim that if Allah had guided them they would have become ?muttaqee?, and they would want a second chance. However, Allah?s message (the Qur?an) was given to them, but they rejected the messages and were filled with false pride (that they were good people).

(908-10) Allah has shown us the two ways (good and evil), and given us the faculties/tools with which to recognise good and evil (i.e.now it is our free will). See also (1829)

(2669) Allah guides those who strive hard in Allah?s cause

(4213) Allah guides those who turn to him (Munib)

In-depth study of (144) and (1327)

These aayah have two main parts. The common translation is as follows
(1) Allah misguides who He wills
(2) Whoever turns to Allah, Allah guides
This cannot be the correct translation since the first part alludes to Allah?s choice, whereas the second point refers to our individual choices. What if someone chooses to turn to Allah but Allah wills to be misguided? What would happen then? Therefore, this translation is illogical and incorrect.

The correct translation is
(1) Allah lets go astray (through His pre-determined, established laws of nature), those who choose to
(2) Whoever chooses to turn to Allah, Allah guides to the right path

This is consistent with (226-27) above, where it is clear becoming misguided is a result of man?s own choices rather than pre-determination by Allah.

The two key words are

• yudillu
• yuhdu

Dulla = to be diverted from the right path (intentionally or unintentionally); to waste, to make unsuccessful, to divert to the wrong path

See (215) ? choosing the wrong path in exchange for guidance (i.e. choice again)
(937) Lost/astray

(16-7) Praying to Allah to guide us on the straight path, the way of those who have Allah?s blessings, not of those condemned by Allah, or those astray

As we know, Allah guides those who choose to be guided, by turning to Allah and striving hard in Allah?s cause

(717 He who Allah guides (through established laws, as described in the Qur?an), he alone is truly guided. Those who He lets go astray this His established laws, they are the losers

Question Why do we pray to Allah to guide us when it is based on our free will?
Answer (i) to create our own spirit to make the correct choices
(ii) to create the mood, spirit, determination, inspiration

It is with this that we truly understand the depth of Allah?s guidance, as revealed in the Qur?an,

Salaam
I have been following the Free-Minds website for some time but this is my first post. I am based in London and am part of a very small group of people that gets together on Sunday morning every week for 2 hours and studies practical day to day issues in light of the Qur'an. Our study is based purely on the pristine message of Allah, and we are using this to 'correct' our practices and trying to rid ourselves of the Islamic 'rituals' and wrongs that have been taking us in the wrong direction for centuries.

There are 2 key things I thought about when joining this website, and I would be very grateful if I could receive replies on two particular areas I am thinking a lot about recently

1. If there is anyone else on this website that is interested in learning about the Qur'an, and is based in London, please feel free to get in touch with me if you wish to get involved.

2. We will be taking Allah's guidance from the Qur'an for the rest of our lives. This is an absolutely essential part of our lives and we should be referring to Allah's guidance in the Qur'an at every junction and cross-road we reach in our lives. However, what is also important is that we do someting 'practical' towards re-establishing the correct mindframe, teaching and system as guided by Allah in the Qur'an (note - this is not easy at all and may take centuries, but it is our duty to do something. i.e. we cannot simply gain Qur'anic knowledge and not do anything with it).

This is very difficult, but we have to somehow rid Muslims of the incorrect and corrupted understanding of Islam that is being propogated like a conveyor belt. One of the things I have been thinking is for the 'Qur'an'-only community to work together rather than in local pockets of people, because together something can be done. It may take 100 years to achieve something, and this may not happen in our lifetimes, but we have to plan and act now, because otherwise the next generation will arrive and like us their focus will be on simply finding out at some stage that the Islam being taught in the mosque is wrong, and they will be no further than us.

Would we somehow be able to use what looks like quite a diverse community here on this website to get together and do something? Indeed is something already being done? Has someone already been planning and thinking about things such as (1) how to set up a sustainable knowledge system around the Qur'an, (2) agreeing what the Islamic system that we have to work to establish, (3) creating a substantial network of like minded people (like on this website), that perseveres towards the same target, (4) establishing political influences if indeed that is required to establish the Islamic system eventually somewhere and (5) succession planning - i.e. for our next generation to continue and progress our goals, etc etc

Really grateful for any comments.

Wassalaam

Munib