salam... i didnt read everything, just skimmed, can't be on long now. but i just wanted to say the part about the Prophet living his life for us, i didnt mean it like being our savior or ba3rifish shuu. i meant what he had to go through to spread Islam etc etc. nothing like dying for our sins or anything like that.. nothing like that.

Please do not try correcting Allah. He knows best what He said and for what.

True, it is only He that knows best what he said and for what--and the only person that knows more than we do on that is Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. I am not trying to correct Allah-- and I never did. When i quoted the ayah as"..So take what..." the too periods in the beginning were to show that there was more to the ayah. I did not mean to "correct Allah" by not quoting the ayah in full, however, it was my mistake.

The verses quoted above is all about Obeying His messenger, not about following His messenger. I hope you understand the meaning of obeying.

obey To carry out or fulfill the command, order, or instruction of.
To carry out or comply with (a command, for example). To submit, to do as told
follow To act in agreement or compliance with; obey
...these definitions seem to be synonymous. fattaba'ooni--obey, follow...when one follow someone, one obeys... i don't see sense in obeying someone and not following, or vice versa... the words are synonyms.

gosta go... again, i apologize if i came off rudely or anything. honestly, i was just taken aback. it wasn't a good feeling.

may Allah the Exalted reward us by our intentions-- as the hadith of the Messenger of Allah goes "Innamal a'amaalu binniyyat"-- verily deeds are (judged by) intentions-- and may He open our hearts up to the truth.

and thank you layth.. mashaAllah. I say that statement based on a hadith of the Prophet peace be upon him when he says that the greatest love is for Allah's sake and one of the 7ppl shaded on the Day of Resurrection will be two who met for Allah ta'alas sake and parted for His sake.

uhibbaka fillah. and in response one can say.. i forgot the arabi, sorry... but it means may the one for whose sake you love me, love you. it's beautiful mashaAllah.

The shahada is to bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad peace be upon him is His Messenger. To believe and not follow is well, Im not sure, because never did I think that Muslims can say that we dont need to follow the Prophet peace be upon him. He lived his life for us, so we could say ash-hadu anna lailahaillAllah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa Rasuluh. He cried for us because he worried about his ummah Ummati Ummati. We were what he worried about when he was dying. To not follow his sunnah is a problem, and I know you dont need to have a phd or be an md or have gone to school to know that to deny the reality of the obligation to follow and obey him is an even bigger problem.
I know that you all have your reasons to believe what you believe, and I respect that, but honestly, when someone says we shouldn't follow the Messenger... man. It worries me. This is what the Ummah has come to-- Denial of the one who lived his life for us. And we wonder why the Muslims are "suffering." To not follow the Prophet.. that's gotta be one of the greatest sufferings. And yeah maybe I'll read some articles on this site, see what else there is... but By Allah, never will I fall into this.. movement, with the will of Allah ta'ala. Please, think about what I've said and do something, make a change... these beliefs aren't going to help anyone.
fii amanillah.
with love, for the sake of Allah, and there is no love greater than that..
your sister

wa alaikum as salam wa rahmatullahi wa baraktuh,
first off, i apologize if i came off in a disrespectful manner or tone or anything of that sort-- it was not my intent. forgive me if so.
secondly, Allah the Exalted tells us in surat al-Hashr ayah 7 (597) "..So take what the Messenger (salAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you. And be concious of Allah, for verily Allah is strict in punishment." In surat al 'Imran ayat 31-32 (331-32) Allah ta'ala also tells us, "Say 'If you love Allah, follow me Allah will love you and forgive you your sins; for Allah is oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.' Say 'Obey Allah and His Messenger' But if they turn back, Allah loves not those who reject faith." Allah ta'ala says in surat al-Nisa verse 59 (459) "O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, If ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day That is best, and most suitable for final determination (ahsanu ta'weela)." Allah ta'ala also tells us in that same surah (469) "All who obey Allah and the Messenger are in the company of those on whom is the Grace of Allah--of the Prophets, the sincere, the witnesses, and the Righteous. What a beautiful fellowship."
There are atleast another 21 ayat that I have found that tell us to follow Allah AND His Messenger peace be upon him. I will write more later inshaAllah.
But on a last note, reading that last ayah "All who obey Allah and the Messenger are in the company of those on whom is the Grace of Allah--of the Prophets, the sincere, the witnesses, and the Righteous. What a beautiful fellowship," there should be no doubt in whether or not following the Messenger peace be upon him is obligatory. If we have all studied our religion correctly, to the core, we would know that to live a life of Islam without the advice and rulings laid down by the Prophet (by the will of Allah for the Messenger "never said out of his own desire" (533)) would be impossible. And if everyone who believes that the Quran should be the only thing followed, then not following and obeying the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him is not following the Quran, for Allah ta'ala has told us numerous times to obey him.
And Allah knows best.
Jazakum Allahu khairun for your time.

Oh and if you've studied and researched for years and now believe that the sunni and tabi'oon and tabi'een etc are false, then one's research must be relooked, because there is a problem in that. Sunni and shi'a are sects that arose during the caliphate of Abu Bakr because they believed that Ali should've been khalifa. When Ali bin abi Talib was killed these sects strengthened. More alter inshaAllah.

salam all. i read one sentence on your homepage in which you stated that the Islam that we follow today isn't Islam, but Sunni, Shi'a, etc, and basically, the "progressive Muslim" is the right one. With all due respect, if your Islam was in tact, and your understanding of it was pure and not misguided by whatever it is, you would know and understand and fully accept that to be Sunni is Muslim, for Sunni is following the Messenger salAllahu 'alayhi was sallam and the book that he was given--the Quran. And in following the Prophet salAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam, he has given us the authority, as was by Our Creator, Exalted is He, to think for ourselves, along the lines of sunnah and the tabi'een and tabi'oon, etc etc. That's it for now.
Allah knows best.
May Allah the Exalted guide Us all.