"The Religion of Truth" - A good book?

[reasonableph8th]

Hello,

I am a Christian researching the truth-claims of Islam and desire to learn more about what Islam teaches (I think I’ve come to the right place!). To begin, can anyone tell me if the book, “The Religion of Truth” by Abdul Rahman Ben Hammad Al-Omar is a recommended book for learning more about Islam? If so, I have a few question that this book brings up.

Thank you!

[crayon]

Heya reasonable, welcome to the forums!
I'm afraid I've never read that book, but maybe someone else here has?..

If you like, though, maybe you could just ask the questions you have about the book? Unless we wouldn't be able to understand without having read it..

[reasonableph8th]

Yeah, good idea - doesn't seem like too many have read this. No responses, anyway. One question was this - the book says that Muhammed was the last prophet. What about Mahdi? Is Mahdi not going to be a 'prophet?'

[crayon]

Yes, Muhammad :arabic5: is indeed the last prophet, the Mahdi is just a righteous man, who happens to be a descendant of the prophet, that will appear in the future. He will be joined by Jesus and will restore justice and peace on earth and defeat all evils.

Here's a more detailed explanation about the mahdi:

"There are more than one authentic hadith indicating that the Mahdi, may Allah be pleased with him, will appear at the end of time. His appearance is one of the portents of the Last Day. Among the hadiths are the following:

1- Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reports that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "At the end of the time of my Ummah, the Mahdi will appear. Allah will grant him rain, the earth will bring forth its fruits, he will give a lot of money, cattle will increase and the Muslim Ummah will become great. He will rule for seven or eight years."

2- `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, says: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The Mahdi is one of us and a member of my family. Allah will guide him in a single night." (Reported by Ahmad)

3-Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri states that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon, said: "The Mahdi is of my lineage, with a high forehead and a long, thin, curved nose. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice as it was filled with oppression and injustice, and he will rule for seven years." (Reported by At-Tirmidhi)

4- Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, says that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘‘Jesus, son of Mary, will descend, and their leader, the Mahdi, will say, 'Come and lead us in prayer.’ But he will say, ‘No, one of them should lead them as an honor to this Ummah from Allah." (Reported by Muslim)"

source

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[reasonableph8th]

Man, that's awesome, thank you. You also answered a number of other questions about Mahdi. Thank you.

Second question this book raises: He says there are 100 levels of Heaven the least of which is 70 times greater than any wealth and luxury a king could have on this earth. What type of person, then, would attain to the least of the levels? The non-practicing Muslim perhaps? Or even, as a devout and pious Christian, would I be able to enter at least one of the lowest levels?

With an answer, if possible, could you please quote the Quran on this matter (which I need to get a copy of, too)? Thank you.

[crayon]

No problem. :]

The lowest level of paradise will be for the people who believed in the oneness of Allah, but were tempted by this world. So they completely believed in the message of islam, Allah, the prophet, etc. but they had lots of sins. They would spend a certain amount of time in hell, and then be admitted to paradise.

Muslims believe that when the prophet muhammad :arabic5: came with the quran, all the books previous religions before him (Judaism and Christianity) were annulled, because they had been changed by humans, and were no longer in their original divine form. So a christian or jew must follow islam to enter heaven, since it is the last and only unchanged message from Allah. The prophet :arabic5: said: "Anyone of this Ummah, whether a Jew or a Christian who heard about me and died without believing in what was revealed to me, he will be among the people of the Hell-Fire"

Here's an authentic hadith about the very last person to enter paradise:
"Reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet (salAllahu `alaihi wa sallam) said:
Some of the people will stay in Hell (be destroyed) because of their (evil) deeds, and some will be cut or torn by the hooks (and fall into Hell) and some will be punished and then relieved. When Allah (subhanu wa ta'ala) has finished His Judgments among the people, He will take whomever He will out of Hell through His Mercy.
He will then order the angels to take out of the Fire all those who used to worship none but Allah from among those whom Allah wanted to be merciful to and those who testified (in the world) that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah. The angels will recognize them in the Fire by the marks of prostration (on their foreheads), for the Fire will eat up all the human body except the mark caused by prostration as Allah has forbidden the Fire to eat the mark of prostration. They will come out of the (Hell) Fire, completely burnt and then the water of life will be poured over them and they will grow under it as does a seed that comes in the mud of the torrent.
Then Allah will finish the judgments among the people, and there will remain one man facing the (Hell) Fire and he will be the last person among the people of Hell to enter Paradise. He will say, 'O my Lord! Please turn my face away from the fire because its air has hurt me and its severe heat has burnt me.'
So he will invoke Allah in the way Allah will wish him to invoke, and then Allah will say to him, 'If I grant you that, will you then ask for anything else?'
He will reply, 'No, by Your Power, (Honor) I will not ask You for anything else.'
He will give his Lord whatever promises and covenants Allah will demand.
So Allah will turn his face away from Hell (Fire). When he will face Paradise and will see it, he will remain quiet for as long as Allah will wish him to remain quiet, then he will say, 'O my Lord! Bring me near to the gate of Paradise.'
Allah will say to him, 'Didn't you give your promises and covenants that you would never ask for anything more than what you had been given? Woe on you, O Adam's son! How treacherous you are!'
He will say, 'O my lord,' and will keep on invoking Allah till He says to him, 'If I give what you are asking, will you then ask for anything else?'
He will reply, 'No, by Your (Honor) Power, I will not ask for anything else.'
Then he will give covenants and promises to Allah and then Allah will bring him near to the gate of Paradise. When he stands at the gate of Paradise, Paradise will be opened and spread before him, and he will see its splendor and pleasures whereupon he will remain quiet as long as Allah will wish him to remain quiet, and then he will say, 'O my Lord! Admit me into Paradise.'
Allah will say, 'Didn't you give your covenants and promises that you would not ask for anything more than what you had been given?' Allah will say, 'Woe on you, O Adam's son! How treacherous you are!'
The man will say, 'O my Lord! Do not make me the most miserable of Your creation,' and he will keep on invoking Allah till Allah will laugh because of his sayings, and when Allah will laugh because of him.
Allah will say to him, 'Enter Paradise,' and when he will enter it, Allah will say to him, 'Wish for anything.' So he will ask his Lord, and he will wish for a great number of things, for Allah Himself will remind him to wish for certain things by saying, "(Wish for) so-and-so.'
When there is nothing more to wish for, Allah will say, 'This is for you, and its equal (is for you) as well.'
Abu Hurairah said, "That man will be the last person of the people of Paradise to enter Paradise."

Here's a link that describes what I talked about some more:
PARADISE

As for verses from the quran, it doesn't go into details about the different levels of paradise much, but here is a description of paradise in general that quotes many many verses: DESCRIPTION OF PARADISE

[reasonableph8th]

Hmmmm... interesting. Thank you. So what does a Muslim have to do to go directly to Paradise and not spend a little time in Hell?

[crayon]

Well first off, he has to be a muslim, of course. When he says the shahadah (testimony of faith), he has to fulfill these 7 conditions:

1. Al-`Ilm (Knowledge of the meaning of the shahadah, its negation and affirmation)
2. Al-Yaqeen (Certainty – perfect knowledge of it that counter-acts suspicion and doubt)
3. Al-Ikhlaas (Sincerity which negates shirk)
4. Al-Sidq (Truthfulness that permits neither falsehood nor hypocrisy)
5. Al-Mahabbah (Love of the shahadah and its meaning, and being happy with it)
6. Al-Inqiad (Submission to its rightful requirements, which are the duties that must be performed with sincerity to Allah (alone) seeking His pleasure)
7. Al-Qubool (Acceptance that contradicts rejection).

And then he must try his best to do all the good deeds he can, and avoid bad deeds as much as he can. He must give to charity, be kind to his neighbors, perform prayers, etc, and must not backbite, steal, be rude to his parents, etc. On the day of judgement there will be a scale, one side will contain the good deeds, and one will contain the bad. If the good deeds weigh more, he will go straight to heaven. If that bad deeds weigh more, Allah will either forgive him, or he will spend a certain amount of time in hellfire. Eventually though, all true muslims, who honestly believed that Allah was one, will enter paradise.. Although of course, one would try to get into heaven sooner rather than later. :p

[reasonableph8th]

Although of course, one would try to get into heaven sooner rather than later. :p

lol... true! Continuing the questions, though... how is forgiveness obtained? I mean, is it arbitrary or is there reasoning behind it. I read somewhere that 'Allah will have mercy on whom he will have mercy..." But what is the reasoning behind the forgiveness? Allah is just, is he not? If so, then shouldn't sin be punished for all and not only whom 'he chooses?' That doesn't seem like operating in justice. Forgiveness, yes. Mercy, yes. Justice... not really. In fact, aren't justice and mercy mutually exclusive? i.e.: one is getting what you deserve (justice) and the other (mercy) is NOT getting what you deserve. How do you reconcile the two? How can Allah be both just and merciful according to the standards of judgment which you just laid out for me?

[IbnAbdulHakim]

^ Peace !

i thought about this question myself before


you see i think that Allaah knows best, naturally he knows our insides, our desires, our intentions, our achievements actions and fruitions. He knows it all, therefore he knows to what extent we deserve mercy and to what extent we deserve punishment. Yes Allah will forgive whom he desires and wills but his will is always in contrast to his mercy.


I hope that at least makes it a little clear,



and jizakAllaahu khair sis crayon , beautiful answers



Assalamu Alaikum

[reasonableph8th]

[QUOTE=IbnAbdulHakim;961192 He knows it all, therefore he knows to what extent we deserve mercy and to what extent we deserve punishment.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for taking the time to tackle this. And it helps... but not wholly. What you said here makes sense... but if Allah is just, then he must punish sin, no? Simply forgiving it is not just. You would not consider a judge in this life just if he simply dismissed a murderer from the court because the murderer said he was sorry. That would not be just. Justice demands payment for the sin. Is not our sin in this life the same? So then it is with that understanding that I asked how Allah can be both just and merciful? Where is the justice if he is merciful and forgives us?

Bottom line: on what basis can he forgive us and still be just?



(Again, thank you all for your time and patience with me on these questions)

[IbnAbdulHakim]

Peace !

on what basis can he forgive us and still be just?

on the basis that we earned that forgiveness through sincerity and actions known only to Allaah.

Allah would not unjustly forgive us, and understanding this will help you realise your answer...

[جوري]

In Chapter 6, verse 12, God repeats his law of Grace and Mercy for mankind again. The literal meaning of the words is: God has written upon Himself (has made obligatory on Him).

Again in Chapter 7, verse 156 God repeats “His law of Mercy and Grace” in the following words:
“With My chastisement do I afflict whom I will – but My grace overspreads everything: and so I shall confer it on those who are conscious of Me and spend in charity and who believe in Our messages.”

In an authentic tradition of the prophet, God says of Himself: “Verily, My Grace and Mercy outstrips My wrath.”


Allah swt is the best judge of whom is deserving of what.. and it is certainly a concept beyond our scope....
mercy that is given this world is 1% of that which he has willed upon himself on the day of judgement.. (if I am wrong on this someone more knowledgeable pls correct me)

:w:

[aadil77]

Thank you for taking the time to tackle this. And it helps... but not wholly. What you said here makes sense... but if Allah is just, then he must punish sin, no? Simply forgiving it is not just. You would not consider a judge in this life just if he simply dismissed a murderer from the court because the murderer said he was sorry. That would not be just. Justice demands payment for the sin. Is not our sin in this life the same? So then it is with that understanding that I asked how Allah can be both just and merciful? Where is the justice if he is merciful and forgives us?

Bottom line: on what basis can he forgive us and still be just?



(Again, thank you all for your time and patience with me on these questions)

Yes thats true, if you sin aginst yourself then Allah can forgive if you repent sincerely, but if you sin aginst someone else then you will have to ask the person for forgiveness first in order to be forgiven fully, otherwise if Allah wills he will punish you in this world in order to prevent the much worse punishment in hell

But all this depends on your intentions, your will, whether you repent sincerely etc

Don't worry God will deal justly with everyone on the day of judgement:thumbs_up

[reasonableph8th]

Thank you guys... moving on w/ more questions that arise in my mind from the reading of this book:

The following quote is found on p. 45:

“As for the enemies of Allah, although it is the duty of the believer to detest them because they are detested by Allah, yet the believer is authorized to call them to Islam and explain its noble meaning to them; they may be guided by such a call and embrace Islam. But if they reject it and refuse to submit to the laws of Allah, a Muslim is permitted to fight them until idolatry is uprooted and the religion of Allah gains victory over polytheism”

What are your thoughts about this? BTW, this book is "printed and published by Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da'Wah and Guidance. Kingdom of Suadi Arabia" Does that mean anything to anyone?

Thanks!

[IbnAbdulHakim]

Peace


The spreading of islaam can only be truelly accomplished under the governance of a khalifah (an islamic state). We ask the disbelievers to pay jizyah (much like the zakaat we pay so there is no injustice here) and if they refuse we fight them (only under the governance of a khalifah which is not present at the moment). If you find it hard to accept this then try to think about the ones who hoard wealth, with riches upon riches and have all the luxuries of this world and give only the tiniest amount to the poor. It is these people the jizyah attempts to correct !


Also.. when you find the truth my friend, it is the wish of every muslim to destroy corruption from the lands... and only the corruption. Why do we want to spread islaam? You do know that even if we spread islaam we will not force anyone to stop practising their religion, Allah says in the Quran not to slander another religion lest they slander Allah and his messenger sallallahi alaihi wasallaam. No, rather we spread islaam hoping to destroy immorality and help people gain some dignity and morality. To rid this world of its shameful state


if you have cure of cancer - you would spread it - to benefit people - and heal them - it is seen as Islam benefits and CLEANSES the people in a similar way

[crayon]

"As for the enemies of Allah, although it is the duty of the believer to detest them because they are detested by Allah, yet the believer is authorized to call them to Islam and explain its noble meaning to them; they may be guided by such a call and embrace Islam. But if they reject it and refuse to submit to the laws of Allah, a Muslim is permitted to fight them until idolatry is uprooted and the religion of Allah gains victory over polytheism"
What are your thoughts about this?

Hello again, reasonable,
Well first off, one must understand what is meant by "enemies" of Allah. I'm not quite sure what context the quote is taken from.. But anyway, I consider an "enemy" of Allah to be someone who actively assaults and aggravates islam/muslims, whether that be physically or verbally. Those people are to be looked down on, because Allah looks down on them. If the writer uses "enemies of Allah" to mean "non muslims", then I disagree. Non muslims are not to be detested by muslims, merely their actions of disbelief, such as attributing a son to God, praying to other than Allah, etc. Here's a verse from the quran that describes this all perfectly:

"Allah does not forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on account of [your] religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them justly; surely Allah loves the doers of justice. Allah only forbids you respecting those who made war upon you on account of [your] religion, and drove you forth from your homes and backed up [others] in your expulsion, that you make friends with them, and whoever makes friends with them, these are the unjust." 60:8-9

As for the second part of your question, the writer implies the way to act in an islamic state. An islamic state is a system with a complete form of ruling and governemnt, so naturally, like any other government, those who do not adhere to its regulations will be held accountable for their actions. As for forcing non muslims to accept islam in an islamic state, it is completely unallowed. There is no complusion in religion, as is stated in the quran. Non muslims are free to worship as they like, as long as they adhere to the laws. However, in today's world, no islamic state exists, not even countries like Saudi Arabia or Iran follow the complete word of islam.

And Allah knows best,
Hope that helps!:)

[Umar001]

Hello,

I am a Christian researching the truth-claims of Islam and desire to learn more about what Islam teaches (I think I’ve come to the right place!). To begin, can anyone tell me if the book, “The Religion of Truth” by Abdul Rahman Ben Hammad Al-Omar is a recommended book for learning more about Islam? If so, I have a few question that this book brings up.

Thank you!

Hi dear follower of Christ, I hope that you enjoy your stay and find it fruitful. I do not know of the book, there are many books authored by Scholars within Islam, our, meaning the Muslim body, Criteria between knowing their accuracy is the Qur'an and Sunnah, sources of Islam, upon the original understandings. We do not allow inovation into the religion as our Prophet Muhammad, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, did not allow so.

Insha'Allah we will try to find answers for your questions, though we are not scholars nor even full time students of the Islamic faith, so we may be a little slow in our research.

So far it seems the thread has touched upon various matters, i.e. The Mahdi is not a Prophet.

Christians and Jews who hear of the Prophet Muhammad and yet do not follow him, or who make God into Three parts, or who claim God has children and so forth are disbelievers according to Islam and will not enter paradise.

Also, that Almighty God forgives and punishes, and that His justice is not undermined by His willingness to forgive individuals. Also that a Muslim needs Almighty God's mercy to enter paradise. That a part of faith is also action, you may be familiar with the phrase contained in James, faith without deed is dead.

As for the quote which you have asked our thoughts on, then as sister Crayon mentiones, one has to understand the terminology of the author and his methodlogy and reasons behind writing.

I will touch on matters brought about though;

1. Hate for unbelievers, this is true, a Muslim should dislike people choice and actions of disbelief, this is not only in Islam but for example in all three faiths. One must understand though that there are different types of love and hate, I love my mother, because she is my mother, at the same time I truly dislike and detest her choice of not being a Muslim. But this hate should be a positive hate, a hate that makes me want to inform them about the truth, guide them to the straight path.

2. Fighting individuals because of their disbelief, then this again depends of various matters. Do you not agree that we must fight Satan? We should resist the devil and submit to God, as even your scripture claims. Moreover there are individuals who are driven by such evil desires, unlike individuals like you and me, who, God willing, want to worship God, these individuals require different viewpoints. And those learned amongst us with the aid of Almighty God try to look into the cases.

Out of curiosity, could you type the content page of the book you quoted from for us? So we get jist of what the topics are, please.

And Almighty God knows best.

Regards, Eesa

[reasonableph8th]

Again, thank you all for taking the time for these in-depth responses. My goal is, again, to learn as much about Islam as I can, and you all are doing a great job of educating me. As per your request, Al Habeshi, the context of the passage is this: it is in a small section titled, “Sovereignty and Legislative Power Are Exclusive Rights of Allah.” The section says this:

Sovereignty and legislative power are exclusive rights of Allah. This is an immediate conclusion of monotheism. No body has the right to enact a law contrary to the law of Allah. A Muslim should never govern or judge by laws different from the laws of Allah, nor should he give his consent to any form of judgment or government based on laws contrary to the laws of Allah. According to the Islamic faith, no one has the right to forbid what Allah had made legal, nor can he legalize what Allah had forbidden. Whoever commits intentionally such a deed or approves it is a disbeliever. The Holy Quran states that: <<If any do fail to Judge by what Allah had revealed, they are unbelievers>> (5:44).

One question on this: Is this why many Muslims in the Middle East wage war against America? That’s probably a HUGE question (and not really much of a concern to me), but I was just wondering if that’s a/the reason why. Continuing:

The mission of Allah’s prophets is to call people to believe in monotheism and behave according to its precepts. They try to deliver people from the bonds of man worship to the blessings of Allah’s service, and to convince them to submit to the laws of Allah instead of submitting themselves to man-made laws…

The servant believing in Allah is aware that all kinds of service should be dedicated to Allah alone and no partner with Him. He knows also that his duty towards prophets and pious men is to following their foot steps and express his love to them. [the original quote ends the section:]As for the enemies of Allah, although it is the duty of the believer to detest them because they are detested by Allah, yet the believer is authorized to call them to Islam and explain its noble meaning to them; they may be guided by such a call and embrace Islam. But if they reject it and refuse to submit to the laws of Allah, a Muslim is permitted to fight them until idolatry is uprooted and the religion of Allah gains victory over polytheism.

And that brings me to one more question on this topic… Allah detests unbelievers? If so… then does He desire for them to come to repentance and salvation? If so, why? If He truly detests them, He would prefer that they die, but if He desires their salvation, that denotes love for the unbeliever, does it not? Just a thought I had…

Again, thank you all for your time and patience. I have many more questions to come, I assure you!

[reasonableph8th]

OK then... moving on (though I'd really like to eventually get your thoughts on Allah's thoughts toward unbelievers):

I am now at the point in the book that goes into intimate details about the daily prayers (when to sit up, turn to the side, bow down, and what to say when). I was wondering: from where does all this detail come? Was it commanded in the Quran? If not when was it elaborated upon and by whom?

[crayon]

The prophet :arabic5: said "Pray as you have seen me praying and when it is the time for the prayer one of you should pronounce the Adhan and the oldest of you should lead the prayer." (bukhari no. 604)

So the way we pray is an imitation of the way the prophet used to. The words and actions of the prophet complement the quran in that they provide further explanations and rulings, so for example, prayer is made obligatory in the quran, and the timings of them are mentioned, but the actual way of prayer is shown only by the prophets actions.

[reasonableph8th]

Ah, excellent, thank you. Another few simple, non-theological questions:

The book says on p. 95 that “Allah ordained Muslims to shave off their mustaches, trim their nails, pluck out their armpits and pubic hair…” Is this true? Where is it found?

On page 96, it says that money gained by practicing forbidden kinds of entertainment such as singing and dancing is also illicit and prohibited. Is that true? Are there no Muslim entertainers in the music industry?

And then on page 97, it says that a woman can work outside of the home, but she should abstain from working around males. Is this forbidden, or is it just advice?

I have a feeling that maybe all three of these are not 'doctrine' per se, but just advice taken from tradition or something. But I could be wrong. Are these generally accepted and practiced? Also, this was published in Saudi Arabia, so there are some cultural things to take into consideration as well.

[crayon]

Abu Huraira reported that Muhammad :arabic5: said: Five are the acts of fitra: circumcision, removing the pubes, clipping the moustache, cutting the nails, plucking the hair under the armpits. (Sahih Muslim, Book #002, Hadith #0496)

As for singing and dancing, there's currently a lot of controversy about them, and they are permissible, but there are limits. "Music" can be understood in many ways. Allowed music is singing a capella about topics of a non haram nature (like drugs, sex, drinking, etc.). Instruments (other than the daff, a one sided drum) are not allowed, and in the opinion of some, even the daff is only allowed during celebrations such as eid and weddings. Here's a two part video on music in islam that explains the issue quite well:
part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k9gdEAhYTo
part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NXFXRJXbp0
another link: http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/5000

As for muslim entertainers, they do exist, but i'm sure you're aware that just because someone does something it does not mean they are an ideal representation of what a muslim/christian/buddhist/etc. should be like.

Women working:

It is permissible for a woman to go out of her house for work, but that is subject to certain conditions. If they are met, it is permissible for her to go out. They are:
- That she needs to work in order to acquire the money she needs
- The work should be suited to the nature of woman, such as medicine, nursing, teaching, sewing, and so on.
- The work should be in a place that is only for women, and there should be no mixing with non-mahram men.
- Whilst at work she should observe complete sharâia hijab.
- Her work should not lead to her travelling without a mahram.
- Her going out to work should not involve committing any haraam action, such as being alone with the driver, or wearing perfume where non-mahrams can smell it.
- That should not lead to her neglecting things that are more essential for her, such as looking after her house, husband and children.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-âUthaymeen said: The field in which a woman works should be only for women, such as if she works in teaching girls, whether in administration or technical support, or she works at home as a seamstress sewing clothes for women and so on. As for working in fields that are for men, this is not permissible for her because it requires her to mix with men, which is a great fitnah (source of temptation and trouble) and should be avoided. It should be noted that it is proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: I have not left behind me any fitnah that is more harmful to men than women; the fitnah of the Children of Israel had to do with women.So the man should keep his family away from places of fitnah and its causes in all circumstances. End quote.
Fataawa al-Marah al-Muslimah (2/981)

source: http://www.islamonline.com/news/news...hp?newid=89664


As for these being culturally related, in some parts of the world, the essence is religion, but they add a cultural twist to it. Like for example, the conditions for a woman to work are all met, but she still is not allowed to work. A lot of the "religion" in the middle east has turned into culture, people no longer doing what they are supposed to do to worship Allah, but to uphold the norms and traditions of society..