ISLAM Q&A

Raheel,

What do you think of Irshad Manji's book 'The Trouble With Islam - a wake-up call for honesty and change"?

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englishmajor,

I would like to read your comments regarding my last post about Irshad Manji's book:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/a2k-post1607861.html#1607861

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thank you, muslim 1, for your time and patience in your answer. I will continue to read everything I can find on the subject. I still have many questions which will only be answered by study.

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Steve (as 41oo) wrote:

my question is, how can G W Bush and Osama bin Laden worship the same God?

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Steve (as 41oo) wrote:

Steve (as 41oo) wrote:
my question is, how can G W Bush and Osama bin Laden worship the same God?

It doesnt have to be a long answer, just a sentence or two will do.

Next question. If "NOTHING" occurs but through the will of Allah, what do you think of Allah killing 30,000 + innocent muslims in Pakistan?

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Sorry for my late response, I was so busy in the last 6 days...

Steve (as 41oo) wrote:

my question is, how can G W Bush and Osama bin Laden worship the same God?

You know Steve that in history, there were many wars between people having not only the same God, but the same religion, the same belief system, the same way of life.
When political reasons emerge, they completely cover the religious causes.

Steve (as 41oo) wrote:

If "NOTHING" occurs but through the will of Allah, what do you think of Allah killing 30,000 + innocent muslims in Pakistan?

One of the tenets of faith in Islam is to believe that Fate (Decree, Destiny) good and bad is given by God (Allah in Arabic). 'Bad' here is from our limited perspective (as humans).

For example: imagine a believing mother who looses her beloved child. It's a most inimaginably difficult event for her. We, as humans, may think it's a bad thing.
Yet, if the mother is patient, enduring without protest or complaint, if she praises her Lord (Allah) who gave her that child, if she accepts the Decree of her Creator: she will be awarded the eternal, ever-lasting Paradise where she can meet her child again. So definitely it was a good thing for her.

All our prayers and invocations are with our sisters and brothers in Pakistan. Patience, patience, patience and faith is all what I can advise my sisters and brothers in those hard times.
"Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits, but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere, Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return":- They are those on whom (Descend) blessings from Allah, and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance." [Glorious Qur'an 2:155-157]

All Praise be to Allah alone.

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thanks for your replies muslim1

I'm very sorry for all the people who have been caught up in the tragedy in Kashmir. Whilst I admire Islam's exhortation to the people to endure the unendurable, I cant help thinking that Allah and Mohammed are of no use to someone trapped in a collapsed building. I think it is too much to ask someone (you mentioned the example of a mother losing her child) to accept that it is all for the best.

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Questions ?

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don't know too much about Islam as much as I do about christianity, but according to my understanding, muslims and christians supposedly worship the same God, is this true? And if so, why are they different religions?

thanks!

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??????? wrote:

don't know too much about Islam as much as I do about christianity, but according to my understanding, muslims and christians supposedly worship the same God, is this true? And if so, why are they different religions?

thanks!

Hello and welcome to the forum,

We believe,as Muslims, that there is only One God who created the Universe and all of mankind, and I think Christians as well as Jews will agree that there is only one God who created the Universe and all of mankind. If you pick up an Arabic translation of the Christian Bible, you will see the word "Allah" where "God" is used in English.

Now, even though Muslims and Christians believe in the same God, their concepts about Him differ quite a bit. For example, Muslims completely reject the idea of the Trinity or that God has become "incarnate" in the world.
Muslims believe that God is the "Most Merciful", and that he deals directly with human-beings without the need of any intermediary. We believe that God is in complete control of everything, so there is no need for atonement or blood sacrifice.
Moreover, Christians do not believe in Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) while Muslims believe in all the Prophets.

In short, we have the same God but our concepts of Him are not exactly the same. It explains why, as you mentioned in your post, Islam and Christianity are different religions.

And Allah (the Arabic word for God) knows best.

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Thank you for responding kind sir!

As from my understanding from reading the bible, christians believe that the only way to be reconciled to God is through the Son, which would conflict with what the Quran teaches. The Quran according to what I have read teaches that by "good works", Allah will faithfully grant us paradise, and according to the Bible, it teaches that our "good works" are like filthy rags to an Absolute Holy and Pure God, and that our own merits cannot give us access to Heaven but through the blood of Christ alone, how do you reconcile the Christian beliefs with the Islamic beliefs, if you believe you can?

God Bless!

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Muslim1

Your description of Islam is short and very clear. I agree on all except when you say that Muslims believe in all the prophets. They believe in only some of the prophets of the Old Testament.

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??????? wrote:

As from my understanding from reading the bible, christians believe that the only way to be reconciled to God is through the Son, which would conflict with what the Quran teaches. The Quran according to what I have read teaches that by "good works", Allah will faithfully grant us paradise, and according to the Bible, it teaches that our "good works" are like filthy rags to an Absolute Holy and Pure God, and that our own merits cannot give us access to Heaven but through the blood of Christ alone

Thank you for your response.

In Islam, the "good works" are certainly important, but the primary factor which determines whether a person goes to Paradise or not, is the mercy and forgiveness of almighty Allah (God).

Do you think it is fair to consider the good deeds of a person as "filthy rags"? Consider a man who commits only very bad deeds (crimes, adultery, theft...) without performing any "good work", if he truly accepts the Christ as his savior, he will (from a Christian viewpoint) access to Heaven. Do you think he deserves that?

In Islam, we can't accept the concept of salvation through the blood of Christ, because it does not give any importance to the efforts and deeds of a person. Can you tell me how some very righteous people who were born well before the Christ (like Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses... peace be upon them) will be saved?

Also, I can't imagine how God would have a son. How can an "Absolute Holy and Pure God" (to use your words) have a son? Doesn't this affect His Purity, Holiness and Majesty? If priests can't marry and therefore have children (because maybe it affects their purity), why do Christians attribute a son to God, the Creator and Sustainer of all mankind?

??????? wrote:

how do you reconcile the Christian beliefs with the Islamic beliefs, if you believe you can?

If the reconciliation between all the beliefs of Islam and Christianity was possible, then there would be one instead of two distinct religions.

mansio wrote:

Your description of Islam is short and very clear

Thank you, mansio, for what you wrote. It is my honor and duty to present my religion Islam as best as I can.

mansio wrote:

on all except when you say that Muslims believe in all the prophets. They believe in only some of the prophets of the Old Testament.

In Islam, A Prophet (Nabi) is a person to whom God reveals something, and he passes on what God has reveals to him. If he is sent with that to those who go against the commandments of God, to convey a message from God to them, then he is a Messenger.
By name, 25 Prophets are mentioned in the Glorious Qur'an.

Now, if a person falls into the above definition, then he is a Prophet in Islam, regardless whether he is mentioned in the Old Testament, the New Testament or any other religious book.

And God (Allah) knows best.

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I agree Muslim1 that Islam is more consistent in its beliefs than Christianity. Its clearly absurd that the patriachs of the old testament who obviously did not know Jesus are in someway denied access to heaven, whereas some scoundrel who converts to christianity on being diagnosed with a terminal disease is, according to christian doctrine, welcomed into paradise.

but to me that is just an example of the logical supidity of many religions. To me christianity is silly, judaism racist and Islam intolerant. Given a choice of one out of the three only, I would chose silliness with all its inherent contradictions. The central message of Christianity is love one another. Actually I dont find that silly. Its pretty profound. That one should "turn the other cheek" and "Love thine enemy". Where does it say that or anything similar in the Koran?

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Thank you for taking your time to respond muslim1!

I had trouble posting for some reason, I had to repost my entire response since the forum kicked me out after pressing the "preview" button. Wonder why?

muslim1 wrote:

Thank you for your response.

In Islam, the "good works" are certainly important, but the primary factor which determines whether a person goes to Paradise or not, is the mercy and forgiveness of almighty Allah (God).

Do you think it is fair to consider the good deeds of a person as "filthy rags"? Consider a man who commits only very bad deeds (crimes, adultery, theft...) without performing any "good work", if he truly accepts the Christ as his savior, he will (from a Christian viewpoint) access to Heaven. Do you think he deserves that?

In Islam, we can't accept the concept of salvation through the blood of Christ, because it does not give any importance to the efforts and deeds of a person. Can you tell me how some very righteous people who were born well before the Christ (like Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses... peace be upon them) will be saved?

Also, I can't imagine how God would have a son. How can an "Absolute Holy and Pure God" (to use your words) have a son? Doesn't this affect His Purity, Holiness and Majesty? If priests can't marry and therefore have children (because maybe it affects their purity), why do Christians attribute a son to God, the Creator and Sustainer of all mankind?

Do I think that its fair to consider good works like unto "filthy rags"? Yes sir I sure do. According to the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 64:6), I think it would be fair since one of the biggest mistakes in humanity is to deny the truths handed to Gods ambassadors (prophets), unless you believe that Isaiah is a false prophet? When a person accepts Christ as their Savior, there is a "change of heart", i.e., there is geniune repentance and thus they turn away from their sins. Furthermore they are a "new creation" in God and their old sin nature has passed on, they now live according to the spirit and not the flesh. As a result their faith will "naturally" produce good works, however good works in and by itself cannot save the person since it is "SIN" which separates man from God. How will Noah, Abraham, Moses and the other prophets be saved? After Jesus atoned from the sins of the world on the cross and was buried, He descended into hades to remove the Old Testament patriarchs from what is referred to as "Abrahams Bosom" and into Paradise and took them to heaven. There is an entire section in the scriptures which teaches that they were justified by "their faith", not their deeds. When sin was committed before Christ came, animal sacrifices were performed to cover their sins, however this did not cleanse them from their sins from within, beginning with Adam. Only a perfect sacrifice can perform this, and Christ was this perfect sacrifice. When Christ cried out "It is finished" on the cross, the perfect atonement had been fulfilled. Now God extends the forgiveness of sins by Grace through faith, its there to anyone who is willing to accept this precious offer of Gods Grace through "faith". In Christianity it declares that "all have sinned" and come short of the Glory of God. Sin is the key word which separates us from God, and I believe that only through the shedding of Christs blood can we obtain forgiveness from God an receive Eternal Life. When we by "faith" accept Christs perfect atoning sacrifice by realizing that we are sinners worthy of death, we repent from our sins and no longer live according to our sinful lifestyle but a lifestyle which is pleasing to God, morally upright. It is often said in scriptures that works (good deeds) cannot save a person, it is also said in scriptures that "faith without works" is dead, dead faith that is. A person with Genuine faith will naturall produce good works, not that works can save anyone. An aspect called "repentance" is what "Steve (as 41oo)" failed to realize in the Christian faith.

muslim1 wrote:

If the reconciliation between all the beliefs of Islam and Christianity was possible, then there would be one instead of two distinct religions

.

Do you wonder how the God of Islam is supposedly the same God of Christianity and at the same time their doctrinal views clash? How can God allow confliction between His truth, can God author confusion or has one side been misled?

God Bless!

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??????? wrote:

How can God allow confliction between His truth, can God author confusion or has one side been misled?

No, God likes practical jokes.

How else do you explain him telling three sets of people that they are his chosen ones then letting them sort it out between them?

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Steve (as 41oo) wrote:

??????? wrote:
How can God allow confliction between His truth, can God author confusion or has one side been misled?

No, God likes practical jokes.

How else do you explain him telling three sets of people that they are his chosen ones then letting them sort it out between them?

My question is directed towards muslim1 since he is a muslim responding to questions concerning Islam, so please respect this thread. If you are not muslim1 or a muslim, then this question is not directed towards you.

God Bless!

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Well as you made reference to me

"An aspect called "repentance" is what "Steve (as 41oo)" failed to realize in the Christian faith. "

and in the absence of a reply from Muslim1, I just thought I would chip in with my straightforward answer to your question. If you find that disrespectful to you or this thread, then frankly my dear, I dont give a damn.

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Greetings M8!

In all fairness, since you decided to add your two cents worth on this thread in response to my posts, I decided to do the same just this once and then I will leave you with these thoughts to ponder on.

Steve (as 41oo) wrote:

Well as you made reference to me

"An aspect called "repentance" is what "Steve (as 41oo)" failed to realize in the Christian faith. "

and in the absence of a reply from Muslim1, I just thought I would chip in with my straightforward answer to your question. If you find that disrespectful to you or this thread, then frankly my dear, I dont give a damn.

In regards to all the disrespect and foolishness you have towards other peoples personal faith, the truth is always folly in the eyes of those who cannot truly see with their eyes, hear with their ears and especially understand with their heart. Actually your not the one who is going to get the last laugh, one of the greatest lies the Devil (Satan) has conjured up is to convince people like you that neither he nor God exists, and he has got you hook, line and sinker. And whether you believe this or not, he could care less. When you close your eyes upon death and realize that the very God you rejected and mocked is going to condemn you, it is no longer going to be a laughing matter, however it doesn't have to be this way. God extends His love towards all people, atheists, muslims, buddhists and etc. There is One Creator of all and there is but one absolute truth, and this truth is hidden to those who find it humorous and silly.

Quote:

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 4:3,4)

God Bless!

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you have no idea what i believe in

is that your best argument? to threaten those who challenge you with damnation? how pathetic

how truly truly pathetic

go back to your little world of superstitious and religious certainty. leave the real world for those who understand it better than you.

and may the hermetic maxim as above so below inspire you to seek illumination.

in hoc signo vinces

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