Stuck between a rock and a hard place

[Looking 4 Hope]

For months now I have had trouble believing in anything. I use to be Christian then i became agnostic. I have tried to force my self to believe in Christianity and i can not do it. With the type of people in my family and that i know its right to be Christian if not your going to hell etc. But i do not feel Christianity is correct there is way too many holes in it. I believe there is a god i just hope he helps me. In the bible it says to not judge people but i know if i ever came out and even said i am not Christian everyone would look at me in a different and wrong way.

[Salahudeen]

Hello looking 4 hope, I would just like to tell you that you're not the first person to feel like this, infact many people revert to Islam from Christianity. Below are some video's of people who have reverted to Islam, they share their story on how they were looking for the truth, maybe you can relate :)

[Insaanah]

Greetings, Looking 4 Hope, and welcome to the forum.

I use to be Christian then i became agnostic. I have tried to force my self to believe in Christianity and i can not do it.

But i do not feel Christianity is correct there is way too many holes in it

I guess, if I'm right, the main problem will be the main belief of Christianity, namely the trinity, or God having a son, which is not logical and doesn't make sense. Why would God present to you as the main belief that your salvation depends upon, something illogical?

In the bible it says to not judge people but i know if i ever came out and even said i am not Christian everyone would look at me in a different and wrong way.

Ultimately, it is God's judgement of you that matters, and whether He is pleased with you. I guess they would look at you differently, because in their eyes you've strayed away.

But, what if, you find a belief that is logical, makes sense, appeals to instinct, and is the actual belief that you are supposed to have about God, and the actual belief you are supposed to have about Jesus (peace be upon him), i.e. it is what Jesus (peace be upon him) actually preached?

Perhaps your relatives won't be happy because they don't know what Islam actually is, some people have negative views about Islam without really knowing what it's all about. Also people can be very set in their ways.

Some things you should know:

Islam is the only non-Christian religion which makes it an article of faith to believe in the central figure of Christianity, i.e. Jesus Christ (peace be upon him). If a person calls himself a Muslim and doesn't believe in, respect, or love Jesus (peace be upon him) then he is NOT a Muslim. No other non-Christian faith has this stipulation.

We believe that Jesus (peace be upon him) was one of the mightiest messengers of God, and that his mother Mary (peace be upon her) was one of the most pious and noble ladies to ever walk the face of this earth.
We believe that he was the messiah, translated as christ.
We believe he was born miraculously without any male intervention.
We believe that he gave life to the dead with Gods permission.
We believe he healed those born blind and lepers with Gods permission.

However we do not believe that Jesus (peace be upon him) ever claimed divinity, or that he was God, son of God, or that he said "Worship me". Nor do we believe that he himself ate, or allowed the eating of pork. We also do not believe that he was crucified, nor died for anyones' sins. In Islam, each person is accountable for their sins, and each baby is born sinless. God is Just, and it is not in the nature of a Just and fair God to make one person die for the sins of all humanity. It also limits the power of God that he could not forgive mankind without making a sacrifice. In Islam, If you commit a sin, you repent sincerely, and ask God directly for forgiveness. He is Forgiving, Merciful. That's it.

We believe in One Eternal and Immortal God, who has no associates whatsoever in His Divinity, no sons, daughters or grandchildren or relatives of any kind, and we believe in all the prophets that He sent to mankind, whether we have heard of them or not. That includes the final Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). We are not allowed to pick and choose those we believe in. They didn't preach different faiths, but said to people "Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord, and associate none in His Divinity." We do not reject any of the prophets (peace be upon them), neither do we exaggerate the status of any of them to something it wasn't (i.e. divine). We believe in them as they were: the noblest of human beings chosen by God to guide mankind. Islam is the only religion that accepts all of them, and does not discriminate against any of them.

We also believe in the existence of all the books of God i.e. Bible, Torah, Psalms of David (peace be upon him), and any other books that we have not been told about, revealed before our time. We also believe in the angels, and Day of Judgement.

All the Messengers of God preached the same message, which was to worship ONE god. The message didn't suddenly change when it came to Jesus (peace be upon him) with a three in one god. Jesus (peace be upon him) preached the same message that Moses (peace be upon him) had preached earlier:

'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Jesus's brother in Prophethood, and the last of the Prophets, came preaching exactly the same thing. Thus by becoming A Muslim you are following Jesus's original message, what he actually preached. As a Muslim, you love, respect and honour him more than you did when you were Christian.

God is One, with no sons or daughters or relatives of any kind, He is not similar to humans in any way, and He is eternal and never dies. He is the only one that can answer prayer, no human being who has died, has any power to help us, we pray to God only. The Qur'an is 100% God's word, unlike the Bible.

I found the following excellent link which gives commands that are common between the Qur'an and the Bible (such as abstaining from pork, alcohol, women covering themselves, prayers and washing before prayer, Jesus peace be upon him not being divine etc etc), which Muslims follow and Christians don't, and it gives you all the Biblical (and Qur'anic) references to back it up.

http://www.irf.net/index.php?option=...128&Itemid=146

Various issues are discussed and then the conclusion is reached that, actually, Muslims are more Christian than the Christians themselves! All because they are following the unadulterated teachings of Christ (peace be upon him). But it's explained in a nice, non-condescending and non-patronising way.

In summary, I leave you with the following food for thought:

Compare this:

A religion where there is one God composed of God being in three persons (who are all God), one of the persons (god the son) had to live on earth and die for three days, then had to be killed by humans in order to bear the sins of mankind and in order for God to prove His love to us and to forgive our sins; and a holy book that now has many authors some of whom never met Jesus (peace be upon him) and contains contradictions.

With this:

A religion where God is One, has no children or relatives, and is indivisible. He is Eternal and can never die. He forgives our sins if we ask sincerely. Each person is responsible for their sins, and each baby is born sinless. The holy book is 100% the word of God and is unchanged with no contradictions. There is no discrimination against any of the Prophets that God sent, and all Prophets are believed in.

Peace.

[aadil77]

For months now I have had trouble believing in anything. I use to be Christian then i became agnostic. I have tried to force my self to believe in Christianity and i can not do it. With the type of people in my family and that i know its right to be Christian if not your going to hell etc. But i do not feel Christianity is correct there is way too many holes in it. I believe there is a god i just hope he helps me. In the bible it says to not judge people but i know if i ever came out and even said i am not Christian everyone would look at me in a different and wrong way.

Hi and welcome

Since you've come to an islamic forum, I'll give you the islamic view on christianity: till a point in time christianity used to be a true religion of god, same with judaism, the people who obeyed god and His prophets (eg; Jesus, moses, abraham etc - peace be upon them) and adhered to their commands were true believers at the time. Now what we believe is that these faiths have been changed over time, man has altered the holy scriptures revealed to the prophets, so now they cannot be relied upon. In christianity people eventually turned prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) into a god, a son of god etc. In judaism people rejected the prophets. So both faiths have become flawed. So what we believe is that god sends a last and final prophet - Muhammad (peace be upon him) and to him god reveals the last and final message - the Quran. We refer to god as Allah, its an arabic word which means god but it can only refer to one true Creator. Allah has told us that the message of the Quran cannot be changed or altered - so basically He has promised to protect it.

So what I now recommend is that you read the Quran, we believe it is the literal word of Allah, its been revealed in a very poetical form - you won't see this in the english translation. Read it and judge for yourself.

You can get a translation for free or quite cheap from here: http://www.idci.co.uk/home.php

or alternatively you can read it online over here: www.Quran.com translations by Pickthall and Yusuf Ali are the best ones to read

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[Woodrow]

For months now I have had trouble believing in anything. I use to be Christian then i became agnostic. I have tried to force my self to believe in Christianity and i can not do it. With the type of people in my family and that i know its right to be Christian if not your going to hell etc. But i do not feel Christianity is correct there is way too many holes in it. I believe there is a god i just hope he helps me. In the bible it says to not judge people but i know if i ever came out and even said i am not Christian everyone would look at me in a different and wrong way.

Just speaking on my own experiences of leaving Christianity and what I learned. When one leaves Christianity on the basis of finding they believe it is a false teaching, their life is shattered and it is very difficult to to keep from feeling that God might not exist. There follows a difficult time of agnosticism.

In my case this time of agnosticism lasted about 40 years. During that time there were frequent doubts about the existence of God. My heart had become quite hardened against all religions. Yet, when I finally grasped the message of Islam, I knew I had returned home and immediately said the Shahadah.

So, my advice is do not give up hope and constantly Ask Allaah(swt) for guidance. May you avoid the long hazardous path I once walked.

[Amat Allah]

May Allah lead your way to the path of the endless happiness ...Ameeen

[saeed.iqbal]

Looking 4 Hope: I hope and pray that you come to a true conclusion about your search for the purpose of life.

You do not have to change your national or cultural identity to become a Muslim. It is just your religious identity that would need change. People might or might not look at you the wrong way. Think about it, who do you care how one looks at you, The Creator or the creation?

Bible is the launch pad to Islam. Before Islam, at the time of Bible, it was the Truth, Light and the way to God but now the Holy Quran is the way to God.

Feel free to do your research :)

[MEG]

For months now I have had trouble believing in anything. I use to be Christian then i became agnostic. I have tried to force my self to believe in Christianity and i can not do it. With the type of people in my family and that i know its right to be Christian if not your going to hell etc. But i do not feel Christianity is correct there is way too many holes in it. I believe there is a god i just hope he helps me. In the bible it says to not judge people but i know if i ever came out and even said i am not Christian everyone would look at me in a different and wrong way.

Hello,

This is a journey that you must go through. I went through the same and felt lost when I was doubting God's existence. I resorted to researching into miracles that could not be Scientifically confirmed (such as the Miracle of the Sun). I also remembered all my prayers that have been answered and how my Mum was cured when she went on a pilgrimage as her last hope at surviving. There is also a miracle that has been examined by NASA and some by atheist Scientists.

Don't worry about people thinking about you in the wrong way. If people do that then they are not true Christians (Christian means 'follower of Christ) and Christ strongly opposed any form of judgement as only God has this right.

[Ramadhan]

NO promotion of other faith is allowed in this forum.
Read again the forum rules.
As you are a new member, I am giving you the benefit of the doubt of not knowing the rules, but if it continues, I will report you.

Hello,

This is a journey that you must go through. I went through the same and felt lost when I was doubting God's existence. I resorted to researching into miracles that could not be Scientifically confirmed (such as the Miracle of the Sun). I also remembered all my prayers that have been answered and how my Mum was cured when she went on a pilgrimage as her last hope at surviving. There is also a miracle that has been examined by NASA and some by atheist Scientists.

Don't worry about people thinking about you in the wrong way. If people do that then they are not true Christians (Christian means 'follower of Christ) and Christ strongly opposed any form of judgement as only God has this right.