But does not our conciousness continuesly pushes us to find the truth?
If they would have made any sense, I would have accepted it...I am a Muslim my choice not by birth"
Thanks for reading and posting a reply. I don't have to argue on same things over and over again. To be Jesus PBUH is a Prophet and Messiah and not God. We can agree on commonalities between Islam and Christianity and disagree on our differences with respect. As I said before, I am happy that at least you believe in God. Continue your search for truth and if you ask God to guide you to the truth, He will show you the right path.
Below is the translation of the opening Chapter in Quran which Muslims recite in every prayer, at least 17 times a day. Hope you benefit from this prayer one day:
Quote:1. In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
2. All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)
5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).
6. Guide us to the Straight Way
7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray. ( Quran, Chapter 1)
Luke 17
20When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
As for Jesus being (a form of) God or not, I don't mean to drag you into further discussion if you want to avoid it, but I am curious what your perspective on Holy Spirit is. Do you believe that God's Holy Spirit permeates the universe? Imo, in order to submit to God's will, you have to have access to His spirit and submit to it. Obviously the creation has fallen to sin in many ways, but at the same time the righteous/true path is available to those who earnestly seek it. So that to me means that Holy Spirit is available for us to seek/find.
This is another thing misunderstood by Christians. They have misunderstood miracles given to Jesus (Esa) PBUH and have taken him as God. They have misunderstood the Holy Spirit as part of God.
Quran has mentioned "the Holy Spirit" at various places and it is always referred as the arch angel Gabriel. Islam tells us that there are certain angels who have been assigned specific jobs. For example, an angel has been assigned to take out the soul when a person's time is over in this world. This angel is called Angel Azrael. The job assigned to arch angel Gabriel is to convey the message of God to Prophets. Since this angel brings guidance form God to Prophets for humanity, it is referred to as Ruh Al Quds " The Holy Spirit" because this angel is responsible to bring down Divine guidance for our souls.
As I have said before Islam is as old as humanity is. All Prophets were Muslims because they submitted to the Will of God and that is what Islam means. Quran came down to correct the human corruptions in Divine guidance and is preserved now as there is no more prophet to come after Prophet Muhammad PBUH.
Dots are very easy to connect if you read OT and NT. OT always referred to as one God and has so much emphasis on Divine law, in NT God all of a sudden God takes triune nature and Divine law is thrown out of the window to be replaced with love only. Quran comes and revived what has been corrupted. God is one just like it was always preached by all prophets and God knows what laws are best for human beings and hence you will find a very complete way of life in Islam.
There are details for every little thing you can imagine such as how to wash your body when one have intimacy with his/her spouse, laws about divorce, how to pray and when to pray, how to dress for men and women, what to read when one goes to rest room, how to wash when one go to rest room, what to read when one comes out of rest room, what to read when one goes to sleep, what to read when one gets up, what to read when one drives a car, what to read when one leaves his/her house etc.
You get the idea what I want to say. Islam is complete code of life where as in Christianity there is no law except love and you know that it is unrealistic.
You can't run your own home with love alone. Sometimes we need to be strict to teach our kids some valuable lessons. In our society, we have to punish those who commit crime, you can't solve world problems with love alone. Hence, you will see Islam has described punishments for those who spread evil in the society.
Why is it important to define things as being 'part of' God or not? If we are to submit to and honor God's will, we have to receive it. How does it help us to debate over whether Holy Spirit is part of God or not?
Ok, but why is it important to use this information to debate about Holy Spirit?
The fact that the universe is unified and not fragmented, and thus that there is a single God, is a universal message; as is the calling to submit to His will instead of opposing Him. I think the idea that Mohammad is "the last prophet" could be a misunderstanding based on the fact that the English words, 'last,' and 'latest,' are a single word in Arabic. Why would you assume that no one can prophecy after Mohammad? Doesn't prophecy just refer to interpreting God's will for others?
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Apostle of Allah and the Last of the prophets; and Allah is cognizant of all things.” (33:40)
How can the Quran mention driving a car when cars weren't invented yet when it was written?
All praise be to Allah, Glory be to Allah who has put this (vehicle or horse or camel or air plane etc.) under our control though we were unable to control it. Surely, to our Sustainer are we to return. [Quran 43:13-14]
That's the difference between Islam and Christianity. Starting point is not acceptance
Prophet should bring people to one message, if you think prophet should say that Christians, Jews and Muslims are all the same then what’s the point of revealing Quran?
Islam does not start with blind acceptance even though you insist it does but that’s your POV.
It was nice talking to you and I think it is time to say that we can agree to disagree respectfully.
This is very important, go back to first commandment. Worship only one God and don't associate anyone with Him. God is absolute one and when one associates partners with Him, it is not monotheism anymore. That greatest sin a human being can do is to associate partners with God.
You probably got the answer in my response above. All I was trying of explain that Holy Spirit is an arch angel and is creation of God. Associating anyone with God is the greatest sin.
…3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And seeing that the light was good, God separated the light from the darkness.
Arabic is a very rich language. The Arabic word for latest is not the same used for last. Anyways Quran says:
Quote:“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Apostle of Allah and the Last of the prophets; and Allah is cognizant of all things.” (33:40)
Since Quran is the final word of Allah, I believe this to be true. After Muhammad PBUH there are many who claimed to be prophet and no one knows about them. Even a few who are known have very few followers. Truth will prevail and it is evident by increasing number of Muslims with every day.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
54Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say ‘He is our God.’ 55You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. 56Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”
58“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
To answer your question, the supplication is for riding any thing. At the time of Prophet Muhammad PBUH, people used to ride horses and camels and in our time its cars and airplanes. Same supplication is made regardless of what we ride. This supplication is part of Quran and translation is below:
Quote:All praise be to Allah, Glory be to Allah who has put this (vehicle or horse or camel or air plane etc.) under our control though we were unable to control it. Surely, to our Sustainer are we to return. [Quran 43:13-14]
I read your responses to my other comments and I disagree with those for the reason I already gave before in my previous posts. It does not make sense to me that God chnaged its nature. Jewish people believe in the same God as Muslim do, Christians have associated partners with God and still claim to believe in one God. It also does not make any sense to me that God will create human being who are so complex and will not tell them how to live their lives and how to do their daily tasks.
I have read other religions and did not find a complete way of life other than in Islam. I mentioned few things before which were very small on scale and probably have very little impact on society but does make an individual better. But Islam does not focus on an individual only, it's focus in mainly on a peaceful society. It forbids many thing which are considered right and legal in today's age. For example, interest system is strictly forbiden in Islam. It is one of the major sin because it promotes a society where rich becomes more rich and poor become more poor. It probably will not make sense to one who is used to banking system but let me explain. When someone like me buys a house, I have to buy the house by taking mortgage from the bank. I am taking the risk by borrowing that money on interest and when economy crashes, I will loose my job and could not pay my installments. Banks will kick me out of my house and sell same house to someone else regardless of how much installments I have already made. Bank was rich and got more rich, and I can be on the road because of this interest based system. This is evil and has destroyed many families.
Worlds wealth only belongs to probably top 100 wealthy people and rest of us are victims of interest based system. Islam says that if I have a bright idea about a business and I need money then I should go and discuss with rich people. If they agree with my idea then we sit together and write a contract. Both parties shall agree that they will share profit and loss.
Anyways, I can't write down whole Islamic finiancial system here but you get the idea. Similary the punishments for murder, adultry and other crimes are part of Islamic Justice system and are much more effective than our criminal justice system. Search and see if those make sense.
On the other hand in Christianity, I dont find anything on social problems and its solutions. There is absolutely nothing. Even for individual level, there is nothing other than love your neighbor thing.
There are no divorce and inhertiance laws. Most Christians think that they can't divorce their spouses but its okay to have extra marital affairs. Its not natural. People can have disagreements and if they do have disagreements then it is better to get divorce and marry someone else instead of cheating each other.
Idk. I love the beginning of the book of John:
Quote:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
And John 8:
Quote:
54Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say ‘He is our God.’ 55You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. 56Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”
58“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
These puzzling statements from the NT don't make sense directly, but yet they contain truth. I think they prove that Holy Spirit works in practice and reveals truth to all who earnestly seek. That is what I think Jesus was trying to teach by saying, "before Abraham was I am," but maybe you have a better interpretation to explain?
Behold! the angels said:
“O Mary! Allah gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be the Messiah, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah” (Quran 3:45).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
“Allah creates what He wills: when He has decreed a Plan, He but says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is!”
“Let there be . . .”
“The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: ‘Be’: and he was.”
“And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
For I am God, and there is no other
Thus says the Lord . . . ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God
The Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
HabibUrrehman wrote:
This is very important, go back to first commandment. Worship only one God and don't associate anyone with Him. God is absolute one and when one associates partners with Him, it is not monotheism anymore. That greatest sin a human being can do is to associate partners with God.
Livinglava Wrote
Can you explain exactly what this commandment means and why? I think it could be easily misinterpreted to demonize things it was not intended to put into question.
Quote:
Quote:Habib Wrote
You probably got the answer in my response above. All I was trying of explain that Holy Spirit is an arch angel and is creation of God. Associating anyone with God is the greatest sin.
Livinglava wrote
Why? God is the source of all creation. All the angels and everything is created by and through God, so everything is associated with Him. I think the problem is confusing/distinguishing good and evil. Going back to Genesis, the First Day, God first created light and then saw that it was good, and then separated it from the darkness:
Quote:
…3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And seeing that the light was good, God separated the light from the darkness.
Quote:
To answer your question, the supplication is for riding any thing. At the time of Prophet Muhammad PBUH, people used to ride horses and camels and in our time its cars and airplanes. Same supplication is made regardless of what we ride. This supplication is part of Quran and translation is below:
Quote:
All praise be to Allah, Glory be to Allah who has put this (vehicle or horse or camel or air plane etc.) under our control though we were unable to control it. Surely, to our Sustainer are we to return. [Quran 43:13-14]
Some people interpret references to 'vehicle' to refer to the body as the vehicle of the soul/spirit. How do you know when you are interpreting scripture correctly or incorrectly except through Holy Spirit, and even then, how can you know when you have been misled to believe revelation comes from Holy Spirit when it doesn't, except through Holy Spirit?
Scripture gives many examples of how God's message can be twisted to mislead. The serpent is the first example. An example I particularly like comes when Nicodemus asks Jesus how a person can be born again except by returning to his mother's womb. There was also conflict about whether to have Saturday or Sunday as Sabbath, but imo that conflict reveals that the meaning of resting on the seventh day isn't specifically to rest on the seventh day of the week, but rather to teach that rest is needed for humans and nature to heal and be restored. It is easy to take universal messages and apply them in ways that twist and pervert their true meaning. It happens all the time on the internet and elsewhere.
Oh and by the way, how much second commandment is fulfilled? Dont you see images in every Church?
