Asalammualaikum all
I am Yusuf Mohammad, I have not been muslim all my life, I started out under one of the many christian religions, I converted many years ago because of certain personal issues I was facing at the time and because of some (to me) very important questions I had regarding faith that I just could not find answers to that would sit well and form further assistance to what was a crumbling foundation of faith. so after much study (for a layman) i decided on Islam, I was lucky to have a very open minded teacher who was as honest as he could be when answering my questions, many times I read the Qur'An and many times we played internet tennis with emails going back and forth with my questions and his answers,
In short I found a religion that I could have faith in, Islam was a religion, no, I wont say was, IS, for me it still is a religion of understanding, peace and forgiveness, and for many years I have enjoyed living with my faith striving to do the best I can.
One of the best lessons I learned from my friend and teacher was this, in Islam we are encouraged to seek the truth, to think for ourselves and decide for ourselves which is the right path and follow it, throughout our life God will test us, but all the tests we face are set before us with the intention that our faith holds and we pass. When we die, we will be laid to rest and we will await the call to judgement day, and on that day, we shall stand before God with our lips sealed and our bodies will speak out against us, we will not be able to lay blame on another for our wrongdoings, we can not say that we were mislead by our religious guider or Imam, We will be judged on all that we have done, nothing will be hidden.
This is something I like, I liked it from the very first time I heard this, to some it may be scary, imposing, but in reality, the power to gain entrance into heaven is in me and my faith in God and my choices that decide on which is the more holier route to take.
My faith in God and his holy scriptures contained in the Qur'An has enabled me to shirk of the fear of the unknown, I do not fear spirits and conjuring's of crazy minds who tell stories to try and influence my mind. The Qur'An is the word of God, sent to the holy prophet (may peace be upon him).
Throughout my studies into various religions, there has been one common factor that has twisted the religions, and made them shadows of their former selves, that one common factor is man.
The holy Prophet was nothing more than a man, but he was a man that was guided by God and he was a man of great faith in God, and he put all of his trust in God, and God rewarded him for this, and he reprimanded the prophet too when he once changed that which was already written. Upon his time of death the Holy Prophet cried, not for fear of death, nor for longing of lifes brief riches, but because he asked God if anyone should follow and continue to lead the people of the book, and God declared to the Prophet that no one would follow to guide us on, we are all now in charge of our own destinies.
For about 270 years after the Prophets death man feared to write tales about his teachings, knowing indeed that the Prophet himself had spoken against this and had indeed burned all known copies of such writings once he knew of them, the prophet feared that these words reported in stories would be taken up and set in higher reverence than the word of God or be set aside the word of God and given as much reverence.
Today when I look at my beautiful peaceful religion I see that it is being torn piece by piece by man. Man is beginning to infiltrate into areas that we were clearly warned about in the Qur'An,
I see the news today where we are constantly portrayed as blood thirsty terrorists and I wonder why!? Why have not our religious elders stood up and made things clear, why is it they continue to sit back and allow this misrepresentation of our religion to carry on, Islam does not nurture nor does it advise to encourage acts of terrorism, it does not advise that we show any form of anger to others, is it not laid upon us to lead by example, and always show mercy to those who have wronged us? When the Prophet fought in the holy wars at the time of establishing Islam, never did he condone the slaying of innocents, and should slaves be taken, then they would be offered rights, and they would be cared for and not abused. Jihad? How can anyone call Jihad when we all know Gods last words to the prophet? God will no longer intervene, he will no longer strike down man against man, the only Jihad today is the personal fight we all have inside us in which we pray for guidance from God to choose the better path and have faith that in making our choices we have made the one that keeps us on the right path.
We are not terrorists, we are not anti social, we have a duty to care for the world and all of those who live in it, and we have a duty to lead by example and to teach peace and harmony through faith in God
I want to know from this group why these simple requests have been forgotten, why is our Islamic faith divided in such a way, why do people now place the Hadiths before the words of the Qur'An.
Why are we so insular today, why are we not all out there teaching by conversation, others who do not know what Islam is about, why are we not trying to set our record straight? we need to take a good long look at our own house and put it right before trying to put another's right
where do you stand?

Sorry this is a very long introduction, but I do love Islam and I have great faith, and I hope that we can all identify the influences that are eroding our religion and together as the brotherhood we started out to be, bring back the true values of islam under our one true God.