Here to learn

[pony]

Hello,

I am here to learn. I feel that the image of Islam presented to us in the United States is usually skewed and one sided; (I'm sure that's a little cliche, but it's the way that I feel.)

I have read some but I am searching for more. I feel that the best way to learn about a Religion or a culture is to listen and talk to people. However, I live in the United States in a very rural area that has little tolerance or patience for anything or anyone not white or Christian. So, talking to Muslims face to face is difficult here, which is why I have turned to the internet.

Please try to be patient with me. I know very, very little about what may offend and what may not. My intent here is not needle and poke, but to interact and learn. But please feel free to explain if I say something too offensive and why it is so. (I will freely profess ignorance here. I am trying to change that though.)

Also, any books or on-line references anyone can point me to would be greatly appreciated.

I will probably lurk for quite a while and read, before I interact in another thread. So most of you will probably forget about me before you hear from me again outside of this one. :giggling: But once I do start talking I will be asking a lot of questions, and most of them will probably seem pretty silly... But I suppose it can't be helped.

If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask of course.

Thank you, and I'm glad to have found this place.:D

[Brasco]

Welcome! Peace be with you!! :D

Feel free to ask anything that is on your mind :D Here you can read: http://www.islamicinformation.net/20...-nutshell.html

http://abdurrahman.org/

and if you have any questions regarding to these sites or topics on these sites, just ask :D

masalam!!

[pony]

Thank you! Those links are very helpful. I have found a few things here as well.

I do have a question (already) about pictures of people and animals. As an artist this is something that peaked my interest on a more personal level I suppose.

I guess I still don't really understand why a painting or a picture of a person or an animal is such a bad thing.

I need to look into that one a little more though. I'm still a little confused. And it looks like this question has been done to death, but maybe you can explain it more succinctly.

My husband just came home so it's time for me to get off of the computer, so I'm probably done for tonight.

Thanks again.

Thanks again.

[Brasco]

:sl:

To draw pictures by hand of humans and animals is Haram (proscribed) according to these Ahadith (collection containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him):

Ibn `Abbâs relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever makes an image in this world, he will be requested to breathe life into it on the Day of Resurrection, but he will not be able to do it.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Mulsim]

Ibn Mas`ûd also relates that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: “The severest of penalties on the Day of Resurrection will be given to image makers” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Mulsim].

So, making statues of humans and animals is the most proscribed thing of image producing and to draw pictures is the second. All of them will get the severest punishment from Allah ta'ala.

Pictures (in books) such as used by children for playing and for learning are allowed according to this hadith:

Aishah said: “I used to play with dolls in front of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) with my friends …” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Mulsim]

These pictures are for education and there is no danger that someone would worship them :)

and on photography...well, the scholars are in two minds about that. I would say it is not Haram, since it is an act of capturing a reflection like the reflection of an image on a mirror :)

Insha'allah, this answers your question :D

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[pony]

Thank you Brasco. That does help alot.

I'm still looking into this one and chewing on it. As an artist, it is pretty close to home-so to speak-and I want to maintain objectivity. I have to confess to some puzzlement still however, but it's rather personally based. I'll have to sort through it a bit more.

I do have another question (or two).

Is it permissible for a non-Muslim read the Qur'an? Or would that be considered disrespectful?

I've looked on here for an answer to this one and couldn't find it. (I'm probably just not looking in the right places.), and I've cast around on-line a bit, and still couldn't find anything definitive.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that a 'non-believer' should not even touch the Qur'an. Am I remembering incorrectly?

[Brasco]

The arabic Qur'an is the direct speech of allah ta'ala and we muslims do our obligatory washing (ablution) before touching the arabic qur'an. As for translations, these are just an interpretation. It is not the word of God. Therefore it is premisble to touch that Qur'an without washing. If you can speak arabic and read arabic then before you touch the arabic qur'an, take a shower and then read or ask a muslim to show you the quran to read. But you can always read a translation! and touch it!

peace be with you :D

[pony]

Thank you! :D I've been unsure about that for some time.

[Muhammad]

Greetings pony,

Welcome to the forum. It is a pleasure to have you on board. We have had many people like yourself coming here to ask questions, so you will find people to generally be quite helpful and understanding.

One thing to remember about the Qur'an is that it is a message for humanity, not just Muslims. It is supposed to be read by everyone. So bearing that in mind, there's no problem with a non-Muslim reading the Qur'an. It is true that one is required to be in a state of ritual purity before touching the Qur'an, but as non-Muslims tend to go for translations, then there is less of an issue as the brother explained above.

You can actually find websites having the whole of the Qur'an, both Arabic and English, online. You can also listen to its recitation, which I would recommend, because the Qur'an is supposed to be heard and listened to. Of course, knowledge of Arabic would make this more fruitful, but nevertheless non-Arabs can still gain a taste of the profound beauty of the Qur'an just by listening to it being recited.

Here's a good link where you can read and hear the Qur'an at the same time:

http://www.quranexplorer.com/Quran/Default.aspx

You can select different reciters to hear different voices. Press 'play' in the bottom left-hand corner to begin.


I look forward to seeing more of your posts. For simple questions about Islam, you can make a thread in Discover Islam, where a moderator will have to approve it before it appears.

Peace.

[Banu_Hashim]

Is it permissible for a non-Muslim read the Qur'an? Or would that be considered disrespectful?

Yes, it is. As Muhammad said, the Qur'an is a message for all of humanity, not just for the believers. I would encourage you to read the Qur'an yourself :)

The only "requirement" is that you treat the book with some respect and are in a clean state when you handle it. Otherwise you are free to read as much of it as you like.

According to the majority of opinions the Qur'an is only the Qur'an when in it's original Arabic form, even then its true miracle is said to be limited to the recitation, as the bound book is more correctly known as a mushaf - a copy of the Qur'an. English translations you find are only an attempt at an interpretation of a translation of the Qur'an. But, of course you can still understand the general message of the Qur'an in translations.

Any more questions you have, don't hesitate to ask.

Peace.

[pony]

Greetings pony,

Welcome to the forum. It is a pleasure to have you on board. We have had many people like yourself coming here to ask questions, so you will find people to generally be quite helpful and understanding.

Thank you for the welcome, and it is pleasure to be here.

The links are very, helpful, and thank you very much for those as well.