salaamun alaikum

that was brilliant Ayman....thank you so much for that.
I have in fact, just been talking about this with my sons, and i was saying that God is specific, and that we should not decide that "oh, its just a little change, it doesnt matter"

Thank you -)

peace aisha,

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

thank you -)

I like your style! Dont worry, its gets easier with time. I started out doing the above too. The following site might help www.studyquran.org
I find, when you've narrowed it down to a few possible words, use www.openburhan.com or a phonetic search to find the specific one you want.

Here is what I have, with some clarification to help

wa (and) kalbuhum (their dog) basitun (stretching) thiraAAayhi (its two forelegs) bi (with/in) al (the) waseedi (enclosure/entrance)

the root of "kalbu" is Kaf-Lam-Ba, see PRL for every occurrence of KLB/dog in 'al quran' (the reading), pay particular attention to 54 which provides evidence for a total rejection of the traditional Muslim myth about dogs.*

the root of "basitun" is Ba-Siin-Tay, see PRL which allows you to read every occurrence of the specific word "basitun" in 'the reading'.

the root of "thiraAAayhi" is Thal-Ra-Ayn, see PRL, the specific word also occurs in 6932.

the root of "waseedi" is Waw-Sawd-Dal, see PRL for possible meanings.

thanks for that wakas. I already use openburhan....its a really good site. Still takes me ages though. Like you said, it will get easier with time.

*I just thought, could it be "the father of cats" was anti-dog, hence the anti-dog hadiths? Just a thought.

lol...is that Abu Huraira?....does his name really mean that?...i thought that was too funny when i read it...how coincidental about the anti-dog hadith.

If you wish to study 'the reading' word-for-word, I strongly recommend the following books

Noble Quran word for word
http//www.dar-us-salam.com/store/q11.html

Dictionary of Quran
http//www.amazon.com/gp/product/0963206796/ref=ord_cart_shr/103-2856847-2025461?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance&n=283155

thank you for that. Thats exactly the kind of thing i was looking for yay (sorry, just had to try that smiley out -))
peace
aisha

Peace,

My reply was neutral as i already suspected you had a different reason to ask. So if you read carefully you see i say it in general, and not specificaly to you. And the verses about the angels are enough proof for your ex to 'shut up' as they clearly show they are always with you in every situation.D

If he starts nagging, ask him this If dogs really scares away angels, it means that this verse is nonsense as these people only have to bring in some dogs

4380 Or do they think that We do not hear their secrets and private counsel? Yes indeed; and Our messengers are with them, recording everything.

Enjoy your dog...... bravo

Peace and love.....

-)...thanks. The verses about the angels are excellent. I hadnt thought of going from that angle. See?....i was asking God to help me out on this...and then this happens!....lol

Seriously, that is a great argument. Thank you so much
aisha

salaamun alaikum

thank you for replying. However, i think maybe you misunderstood me. I do not believe that hadith are meant to be taken as guides to our religion. The reason i was asking, was that i want a dog (as do my 4 kids) and i want to discuss this first with my ex (sunni) husband. Now, i already know that he has no argument....ie

me i'm getting a dog
him its haram
me says who?
him hadith
me why dont you have a beard?...or do you perhaps pick and choose which hadith are to be followed?

(lol)

so i KNOW that there is no such decree from God, in fact, i believe that God mentioned the dog in that verse deliberately.
I just wondered what the actual translation was....."threshold" or "in their midst"

Anyway, this whole "dogs are dirty" thing is nonsense.
What if a person had 10 cats and they weren't houstrained?
What if the people were dirty?

But thank you anyway for your reply -)
aisha

Hi
I joined here a while ago, but havent posted much. I've been doing my own studying about religion in general.
Of the many things that i have encountered is the whole evil paradox thing. And the free will paradox, which i believe can be joined together.

Now most Muslims, i think, believe that we have free will. Indeed, i have read discussions here that have tried explaining free will and why evil exists.
The whole paradox thing goes (as i am sure most of you know), like this

If we have free will, then God doesnt know everything we will do
If God knows everything we will do, then we dont have free will

Let me stop here, and point out that i almost understand the concept of God being outside of space and time, and that its not so much that God forces us to do something, just that He knows what path we will choose.

But this leads onto (IMHO) to the evil papradox. If God knows that men will do evil and chooses not to intervene, then He cannot be All-Loving.
Anyway, i'm sure you know how the rest of it goes.

My point being, that i thought free will DID exist in Islam. But then i read verses like those that say God guides whom He wants, and misleads whom He wants.

And THEN i found out that a lot of Muslims actually dont believe in free will.
These verses seem to support that belief.

So my question is.....if God is guiding and misleading whoever He wants....then it would appear that we dont have free will. In which case, God is making evil people do evil things.

If anyone can help clear things up here, i would appreciate it. -)

sorry....its me again (i have so many questions....but will limit to this one and the other one i already asked)

Everyone says "insha allah" when they mean "if God wills",
but the other day i found these verses

"and never say about anything, "Behold, I shall do this tomorrow" (1823)

"without (adding], "if God so wills." And if thou shouldst forget , call thy Sustainer to mind and say "I pray that my Sustainer guide me, even closer than this, to a consciousness of what is right!" (1824)

the arabic words for Gods will, seems to be...."yashaa allahu"

is this right?....or is it the same as insha allah?.

Another thing that struck me about this verse, is that it is a beautiful example of God giving detail (He even tells us what to say if we forget to say "if God wills"....and the sunnis claim its not detailed enough!)

aisha peace

salaamun alaikum

i am new here, and first off want to say how much i have enjoyed reading this forum for some time now.
I have a question about chapter 18 (the cave), verse 18.
I have a particular reason for asking this, its because of the hadith which states that an angel wont come into the house of someone, if there is a dog there.
Now this verse, translated by Yusuf Ali, is

"Thou wouldst have deemed them awake, whilst they were asleep, and We turned them on their right and on their left sides their dog stretching forth his two fore-legs on the threshold if thou hadst come up on to them, thou wouldst have certainly turned back from them in flight, and wouldst certainly have been filled with terror of them"

but in some translations i have seen....it says that the dog was "in their midst"

now only having the ability to read some arabic, i often compare verses, so i can find similar words, and therefore figure out which word means what. But i cannot do that here, so need the help of someone who speaks arabic.

Where, in

"Watahsabuhum ayqathan wahum ruqoodun wanuqallibuhum thata alyameeni wathata alshshimali wakalbuhum basitun thiraAAayhi bialwaseedi lawi ittalaAAta AAalayhim lawallayta minhum firaran walamulita minhum ruAAban"

that....is the word for "threshold" or "midst" ?

which is the correct translation?

thank you in advance for any help you could give me

aisha peace