islam (Creator, homosexuality, mission, prophet, pray)

[ayani]

yousaf....

i'm writing to you as a muslim on the verge of, most likely, converting to Christianity.

what i did find that i liked a lot was a simple theology, a unifying theology, much beauty, and truth. and the asma-al-husna. yet i didn't find peace... honestly. or inner truth and happiness. in other words, i didn't find spiritual life, or certainty.

i found myself arguing angrily with Christians, offended over issues that before islam, wouldn't have caused any offense, and winding up insulting people over these issues, and nearly severing ties with some very dear people.

i have become very, very good at arguing logically for the Quran. yet i have found that i don't have much inner peace. mostly logic, indignation, and inner barriers.

[wednesday]

Unfortunately religion divides more than it unites, the united fight against everyone else. Converting from one religion to another may not guarantee hapiness as well-being, but you will never know if you never try. However, are you sacrificing more than you stand to gain? Does your family accept your decision? All that set aside do whats best for you, no one can tell you which god to follow, what to wear or what to think.

[yousaf]

Originally Posted by ayani

yousaf....

i'm writing to you as a muslim on the verge of, most likely, converting to Christianity.

what i did find that i liked a lot was a simple theology, a unifying theology, much beauty, and truth. and the asma-al-husna. yet i didn't find peace... honestly. or inner truth and happiness. in other words, i didn't find spiritual life, or certainty.

i found myself arguing angrily with Christians, offended over issues that before islam, wouldn't have caused any offense, and winding up insulting people over these issues, and nearly severing ties with some very dear people.

i have become very, very good at arguing logically for the Quran. yet i have found that i don't have much inner peace. mostly logic, indignation, and inner barriers.

sister i really wish allah guides you. whomsoever allah guides no one can misguide whomsoever allah misguides no one can guide. sister if you can't find peace in islam you won't find it anywhere. there is a good debate i reccomend you to watch it's titled the quraan and the bible in the light of science between zakir naik and william cambell

[yousaf]

sister what i can say with firm belief is when you start practicing islam fully , not just being a quraanic muslim but also the sunnat of the prophet when you bring this into your life you will have inner peace

[Muffled]

Originally Posted by yousaf

is there any one who after reading the quraan and hadith had a problem with islam, if there are any please explain what you didn't like thanks

yousaf

I had problems (as a Christian) with some passages that I read in the Qu'ran but the Holy Spirit guided me into a true understanding of them. I was reading a version authorized by the governement of Saudi Arabia and it had footnotes. I had to stop reading the footnotes because they were so bogus. I haven't read all of the Hadith but what I have read of it leads me to believe that it is not the word of God. It makes interesting reading but I would not try to establish doctrine based on it. Also I have read that the authenticity of the Hadith is in question as in the Book of Thomas which is not in the Biblical Canon because it lacks authenticity.

[ayani]

Originally Posted by yousaf

sister i really wish allah guides you. whomsoever allah guides no one can misguide whomsoever allah misguides no one can guide. sister if you can't find peace in islam you won't find it anywhere. there is a good debate i reccomend you to watch it's titled the quraan and the bible in the light of science between zakir naik and william cambell

brother, i used to believe that, i really did. yet the hadith are... distressing. full of conflict, contradiction, and often times violence.

now, does the Bible totally make sense to many people? is the theology easy to follow? no. what attracted me to Islam was the simple theology. yet i wasn't finding peace there, honestly. some really good, sensible ideas about faith and creed, but not much peace.

i wanted very much to surrender my life to what was Real and True, and i compared the NT to the Quran. what always kind of bugged me, is if the Quran is so true, how did it so bluntly mess up the story of Jesus' birth? and actually, the Quran doesn't say anything bad at all about Jesus, and says his followers were compassionate. "islam" means "surrender", Yousaf. what of a Christian who surrenders to Jesus?

the other night, Yousaf, i had a dream. i was asking for guidance and peace, and had been reading stories about Muslims finding truth in Christianity through dreams. so i kind of asked for a vision. i reveieved one. many times, Y, i had asked within myself if the Quran was God's true word, and i never really heard that still, small voice say "yes!"

[not4me]

Ayani, I thought you were a Christian but then also left Christianity (please, correct me if I am wrong). I have never argued with you about anything when you called yourself a "Qur'anic Muslim" but let me talk now.
To be honest with you, it amazes me how our beliefs can change that fast. I read posts of yours about Christianity, it's really surprising how you changed your views like this.

Originally Posted by Ayani

i wanted very much to surrender my life to what was Real and True, and i compared the NT to the Quran. what always kind of bugged me, is if the Quran is so true, how did it so bluntly mess up the story of Jesus' birth? and actually, the Quran doesn't say anything bad at all about Jesus, and says his followers were compassionate. "islam" means "surrender", Yousaf. what of a Christian who surrenders to Jesus?

Why are you so sure that the Qur'an messed up? Why it's not the NT the one that messed up?

what of a Christian who surrenders to Jesus?

Unfortunately, he surrendered himself to a man just like him.

I agree with what yousaf said. Inner peace is not something that you would magically find by mere saying "I became a Muslim" or I am a follower of any other religion. In my opinion, it's something that needs struggle with one's self, patience and practice. It is not an issue of theology only, yes creed is important because it's the basis on which every thing else is built but not everything. Believing in the one God won't make me, all of a sudden, taste the sweetness of faith but by practice. And you from the first moment dismissed these issues by dismissing the teacher, Muhammad. Muhammad is not a historical figure came and ended his job, no...he's alive between us by his teachings which were divinely guided. Let me say he is the practical aspect of the Qur'an. I get inner peace when I wake up in the morning and say "Praise is to Allah Who gives us life after He has caused us to die and to Him is the return." as Muhammad taught me, I get inner peace when I wake up at night and pray while people are asleep as he taught me, I get inner peace when I prostrate and say "O Allah, to You I prostrate myself and in You I believe. To You I have submitted. My face is prostrated to the One Who created it, fashioned it, and gave it hearing and sight. Blessed is Allah, the Best of creators" as he taught me, I get inner peace when I smile at the face of my sisters as he taught me, I get inner peace when I wear my hijab as he taught me, when I try not to upset my parents and obey them, when I help the poor as he taught me.....etc. Don't think that to do all this is an easy job, no, it needs from me to change myself, my heart and this needs practice, it needs continuous struggle with my own self until I reach to the level of tasting the sweetness of faith.

In addition, why not reading Islam from its sources? Why reading about Islam from a westerners' point of view who themselves studied it from its Islamic sources? Hadeeth is a huge science, there are scholars who are specialized in this field and many books were published handling what it seems "contradicting" hadiths, revising and refining hadith from any fabricated ones. What it seems contradicting are few compared to the amount of hadiths that reached us, subhan Allah, by dismissing hadith, we dismiss much wisdom contained in them.

I am sure I have many other things to say but maybe later.....

[K.Venugopal]

Originally Posted by Abu Khalid

Why would he allow you to enter heaven and your deeds to be accepted if you didn't believe in him on the first place?

Allah would of course feel no injustice in being partial to those who believe in Him because His stated aim in creating man is to have loyal worshippers (which worshippers, in turn, desire nothing more than become loyal slaves of Allah). "I have only created jinns and men that they may worship Me." (Quran - 51:56.) Though Allah repeatedly says He has no needs, He obviously had the need of worshippers, a need He felt so badly that not only did He create man solely to fulfill this purpose but also threatened eternal hellfire for those who do not worship Him. Allah, in effect, is being undignified.

[ayani]

not4me ~

i agree that finding inner peace is a struggle, not generally something that's spontaneous. i'm glad that you find peace in Islam, and for quite a while, i felt a similar peace when praising Allah and living as a Muslim. that's fine. i say i'm on the verge. this is difficult for me, as it's tied in to the larger picture of my life, my relationships, and my work.

i've been reading Islam at its sources- i was hoping to be able to be sola scriptura, Quran alone, yet many things there don't make sense to me. these issues are mine, and i don't mean to challange anyone with them.

the NT gives a very different account of Jesus' birth from the Quran. i enjoy worshipping with Christians, more so when i let go of my theologically charged anger over what they believe. honestly, on a personal level, i'm not finding much peace and certainty within Islam these days. yes, there are many interesting paralells between Islam and Christianity. both have the concepts of "surrender". but i feel within Islam it's a struggle to surrender, and i don't feel especially peaceful, or sure. if i had to give a "testimony" about Islam, what would i say? how would i express myself? logically, or emotionally?

Believing in the one God won't make me, all of a sudden, taste the sweetness of faith but by practice.

and yet interestingly, this is exactly the kind of sudden experience i read from many Christian converts, who were sincere in seeking, and had a conversion experience of some kind. it really is sudden with many of them, like a grace not struggled for. that is what i am reading, not4me. and that is what i see in the lives and faith of my Christian friends.