Allahu Akbar* means Allah is greater*, remembering Him who is always greater then any comprehension, thought or being is the way to freedom. Allah is (in allways and always) greater.

*quick lesson in arabic

*greater= akbar
smaller= asghar
great= kabeer
small= sagheer
greatest= al akbar
smallest= al asghar

they dont have the book introduced in verse 22 . ie., they dont have the book sent with the prophets .the books they have are man-made books like the books of Hadiths . you dont think that "Al Kitab" would refer to the Sahih Bukhari, or "Ahl Al Kitab" would refer to the 'people/followers of Hadith books' .

thats what i understand from the Quran .

salam.

This where the word "al furqaan" comes in, the critereon. And the verse"speak about Allah only the truth", truth can be proven outside the words of men, wether written or spoken because of the fact that man can be wrong and has the ability to lie and deceive. In the bible we have the verse It is better to seek refuge in The Lord then to trust in man" psalm 118 verse 9.

What is the truth and thus can be proven? there is a creation so it is logical and true that there is a creator, afterall something like a table can not exist without someone making it, so this applies to everything even the fibers and even atoms and smaller or greater. The ultimate in everything is One so He IS One Creator/God.
And because He created us and sustains us through His creation and nothing is ours and everything is His, we are obliged to be thankful to Him, and do a mending work as to preferably leave the people in a better state then when we came to it (the world). Kufr which is translated as "disbelief" means more "ungratefulness" and thus only a "kafir" is ungrateful to his Creator.
The true basis of service is thankfulness, and if one is unthankful then he should serve out of fear because He does not love the ungrateful...and fear which man is created with should only be placed in it's creator...He has the most right to His creation and He knows best what to do with His creation, The Merciful.

say "O people of the book, ye are upon nothing UNTILL you make standing(uphold) The Torah, The Evangel and what has been sent down to ye from your Lord.....

This is from chapter The Table.

We as muslimeen are commanded to urge and commend what is known (al ma'roof which is translated as good in many interpertations)....so also to urge the jews and christians (the people of the book) to uphold their given book.

"and what has been sent down to ye from your Lord" is for instance the message that Jesus was not the begotten Son of Allah and that Allah is not 3 but 1. to "Speak about Allah only the truth" and truth is something that can be proven through another way then the words of man, man afterall can be wrong, lie and deceive.

I do however believe that those who go by the koran also fall into the category of "people of the book", it depends however on what their relationship is to the koran.

The koran is sent as a reminder, an announcement of good news(for those who already were grateful to Allah and did good and mending works) and as a warning.

To your question wether i always use "such outstanding scenes" to explain my views the answer is no, i am not a film maker...but if that scene was worked out further and put in a movie it would show another view concerning the punishment of flogging a "die hard" adulterer.

The hypothesis probebly comes over as corney -(does it make you feel slightly ashamed? i wonder why lol )- but the point is that a fornicator who has been punished with 100 lashes will have a harder time fooling young women....that was the main idea behind the silly scene...anyway what does that face you put there mean? did you read the whole post and found something conflicting in it or is it just in connection to my "hypothetical situation"?

All i can say in this subject of Mariam is that clearly an angel in the form of a man was sent to her by Allah, then when she was pregnant and the people saw her they said she fornicated...someone who is guilty of fornication would not be confident facing her people with a pregnant belly, she however has faith in Allah and is a thankful servant (unthankfulness, that is kufr and guilt)
Fornication is not proven in islam unless 4 people witness the act, one who accuses a woman of fornication without bringing 4 witnesses is considered a liar and i believe is even to be flogged 80 times and never will a testemony be taken from him again. Take the example when people even gossiped that the wife of the prophet had fornicated with the man who brought her home because she lagged behind from the caravan. Allah is very serious about accusing someone of fornicating without 4 witnesses.
One is not allowed to look into ones window, or go into ones house without invitation...so the only way one would be found guilty of fornication is when it is done outside, in the open and when Allah decrees that 4 people would witness it...this would clearly mean Allah wishes these people to be punished for their acts with 100 lashes it is very unlikely to be caught in the act by 4 people while taking precautions and making sure no one is arround, but when it is done in the middle of the road or in public it becomes harmful to others who would witness it and maybe even their childeren. The main idea is that it is not allowed to accuse or gossip about others, especially in the subject of fornication, but when 4 witness it it clearly needs to be dealt with,
(stoning is not a quranic law, and it says alot that such a harsh punishment is not even mentioned once in the koran but is applied to muslimeen, i mean if it was a punishment for muslimeen why does not Allah mention it even once in the quran while it being such a severe punishment but mentions only lashes....)

Hypothetical situation
girl"so you love me?"
man"yes baby and i wish to marry you..."
-they start kissing-

-girls starts feeling his back and feels where he got lashed-
girl"get out of my house now you dirty fornicator!".

I am sure that Sameritan who made thegolden calf that made sound also knew how to make a battery and what could be called a "speaker"...i mean gold is a conductor right?

The name "Allah" which is oftenly called "the arabic name for God" can not be other then the first name given to The God of man. Here i will explain why

If we look at the sounds in this name we find first the letter "A", A is the first letter in many if not most "Alphabets" because it is the easiest one to make, all one needs to do is open the mouth, breath out and use his or her vocal cords. When a baby is born the first sound it makes is when it opens it's mouth and breaths out while using the vocal cords. It became a letter once it was first conciously made by the first concious man whom we call Adam.
Adam would not use the first letter he conciously made to describe anything or anyone else except Him whom he regarded the most important One, his God, Him whom he considers above him and all else, to describe this he pointed up with his tongue in his mouth after pronouncing the A and thus he got the "LL" sound, then when his lungs nearly ran out of air he dropped his tongue and got the "a" and the "hh" sound (the hh sound is also what you hear when one dies, his last breath). In Arabic the "Ha" is the last letter in the alphabet, logically so.

Allah
A, The first (letter)
LL, Up (above all and everything)
A (the first)
H (the last)

A faithful person when he dies will not wish to mentioned any other name then his God, with his last breath God would sound more like "Goddahh".

A is what we come in the world with(the baby at brith and it's first cry)
LL is what a person of faith reffers himself to and holds on to (He who is up, above all and everyone)
A The first
H The Last. (the sound we make when we breath out our last breath in this world)

http//www.clearvision.com.pk/perspectives.php?func=show&id=50
Salaam
I am pleased to inform you that our website (www.clearvision.com.pk ) is updated for Jan 2006, as published in our editorial calendar. In this update we have published the following essays submitted by our members
Ad-Deen and its relevance to our Community In this essay we discuss that Ad-Deen is not simply a set of rituals but a system, based on the principles of Quran, which gives an opportunity to all Muslims, individually and collectively as a community, for self-improvement
http//www.clearvision.com.pk/perspectives.php?func=show&id=47
Quran and honor of human beings
God has honored the Children of Adam. In this essay we discuss that all human beings must be treated with honor, respect and regard, without distinction of any kind, such as the color of their skin, their race, line of descent, social background, national origin, gender, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, education, occupation, job, wealth, property or any other status.
http//www.clearvision.com.pk/perspectives.php?func=show&id=46
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Our Messenger In this essay we have selected three significant achievements, out of many, relating to three different aspects of his life as a reformer he abolished female infanticide in Arabia; as a strategist he planned and executed a peaceful surrender of Mecca; and as a leader he laid the foundation of a community which grew and prospered long after him.
http//www.clearvision.com.pk/perspectives.php?func=show&id=48
Book Review Parables in Quran
In the book review we present the book The Parable of the Quran by Prof. Ahmad Hasan Qurashi.
http//www.clearvision.com.pk/perspectives.php?func=show&id=49
Your suggestions are always welcome. I sincerely hope these essays will help all of us to better understand the wisdom of Quran and Sunnah.
Warm Regards,

-Posted on request of [email protected]