favorites?

[melindadenae]

Hello all, greetings from Atlantic Canada!

Just a simple question for you: what is your favorite part of your faith?

[MuslimInshallah]

Greetings from the Capital Region!

Welcome to the Forum.

(smile) Your question is an interesting one. It's like asking: which is your favourite child… A well-balanced parent will tell you: there is no favourite! There may be easier and harder to deal with children, but you love them all. So it is with the expressions of my faith. Some parts I find easier than others, but I love them all… it is a whole to me.

[greenhill]

Peace to you.

Welcome to the forum.

Usually it is the new members that introduces themselves in their first post and then ask questions in their subsequent posts. What is yours?

I have never really thought about it as by having a favourite I guess, then there must be the 'least' favourite. If it is the law, it is the law and it makes no difference if I like it or not, so I have learnt to live with it. On the spot, I guess I would have to say that Allah is most forgiving and merciful.

Maybe I will change my mind in the future.... ;D


Peace :shade:

[Muhammad]

Hello and welcome to the forum,

Thank you for your question. You may be interested in the following threads of a similar nature:

http://www.islamicboard.com/general/...ts-muslim.html
http://www.islamicboard.com/discover...-yourself.html

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[drac16]

The transcendental love of God [or 'Allah']. For us, God is not a far off creature that's barely involved in the lives of his followers, nor is he like ourselves. So, He's not someone who cares more about prayers for sports players than prayers for suffering people. He's not a good luck charm. When you have a view of God that's so *******ized, as is common among so many people, it only leads to pride or despair. You either think that God favours you because you've done enough, or that God doesn't like you because you're not doing enough.

Subhanallah...I better stop before I start preaching. Lol :P

Basically, the love of Allah azza wa jal is such that when you recieve it, you need nothing else. We want many things, but there's a big difference between wanting something and needing something.

[melindadenae]

Thank you so much for your reply. Your answer is a well balanced one; it seems to me that your faith is very important to you. Is that correct? Your description says that you are a female, so I have another question for you. I, growing up in the west, have heard so much about Muslim women and how they are treated (both good and bad). And through my studies of the Muslim faith I have learned that many of the ideas we have in the West of your faith are distorted.
So, could you tell me from your perspective what it is like to be a Muslim woman?

Thank you very much, peace to you.

[YusufNoor]

Hello all, greetings from Atlantic Canada!

Just a simple question for you: what is your favorite part of your faith?

hi Melinda!

welcome to the board! i was raised Catholic. to me, it just seemed like an odd religion. i loved some of the stories in the Bible, but most Christian denominations didn't seem to, in my opinion, follow the Bible. they might follow parts, but not all. i gave up on religion, but not on God. i'm not say i was "holy" or anything. i met a Jehovah's Witness, one day, and we because friends, sort of. he showed me one place in the Bible, where translators changed the word Passover, to Easter, Acts 12:4. study Bibles list the original word as Passover.

i was intrigued that some sleuthing could be done to see what else changed. i wanted to know where was the "church" that Jesus, peace be upon him, started.

We have 2 stories of Jesus, peace be upon him, overturning the tables of the money changers and 2 of the last ayats (verses) of the Qur'an to be revealed cite Allah as declaring war against those that charge interest, Al Baqarah 2:278-279:

O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of interest, if you should be believers. And if you do not, then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal - [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged.

I'm a person with the worldview that bankers are primarily responsible for the evil in the world, by backing/causing wars, and Islam singled the act of charging interest as a great evil! Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib, peace be upon him, even discussed this in his farewell Hajj message!

for me, it is one of evidences that Islam is true and that Jesus, the son of Mary, peace be upon them both and Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib, peace be upon him, are on the same page!

but my absolute favorite is Tawheed, the Oneness of Allah! you can prevent misguidance by understand Tawheed. the greatest sin in Islam is shirk, associating partners with Allah. think of it as any element of polytheism.

well, Tawheed is a wonderful gift! it is amazing! if you study it and know it, it offers so much protection, as well as insight into what is false!

if you are interested, i can explain further, i just didn't want a wall of text.

ma salam (with peace)

Yusuf

[MuslimInshallah]

Assalaamu alaikum Melinda,


I think you were addressing me (smile), as I don't see any other women on this thread.


Hmm, you ask an interesting question. What is it like to be a Muslim woman? You see, there are two dimensions to this question. There is the outer reality of everyday life. Which is, perhaps what you meant. But there is also the inner Reality, which is, really, what living in Islam is to me.


So I'll look briefly at both, if you don't mind.


Being a Muslim in Canada today is much easier than it was 25 years ago. Of course, there are differences between urban and rural areas. And there are regional differences, too. But, overall, it's getting better.


Still, it's a reality that Muslim women are discriminated against. I've lived both with and without a headscarf, and (because I am white), the difference between the two is astonishing.


*People tend to assume that you can't talk properly, or that you are uneducated.
*It is harder to find employment.
*You get sucked into discussions about conflicts in the Middle East.
*Find yourself somehow responsible for any bad act perpetrated by any Muslim anywhere in the world.
*You maybe pitied for being a silent victim of domestic abuse, even if such is not the case.
*Men driving by in cars may feel it's ok to hurl abuse at you.
*Your skin colour changes. It mysteriously darkens.
*Your accent changes. People think you're a foreigner.
*People are more likely to think it's ok if you are discriminated against. It's “understandable”.
*Some women get very angry with you, and want to forcibly remove your scarf/want you to quit your job/feel insulted by your presence.
*Some people will feel it is your fault if you are a victim of domestic abuse. They feel you deserve it, because you chose to be Muslim (what else did you expect?!).
*You have less autonomy and power vis-à-vis institutions. You must be more polite, acquiescent and patient than a non-Muslim.
*You tend to be “randomly” checked at airports.
*You are more likely to be considered guilty of something. Scurrilous gossip is more likely to be believed.


But I think you were also interested in knowing how women are treated by Muslim men. Mmm, I'd say, probably somewhat like men tend to treat women in general. Some men are very good to their wives. Some men are very bad to their wives, and many fall between these two extremes. What makes it harder for a Muslim woman who is from a different ethnicity from her husband, is that she is more likely to be taken advantage of, I'd say. Human beings have their weaknesses, and men are human. If they can convince their wife that something is “Islamic” or culturally "necessary", even if it isn't, he may use this for some benefit of his own. There is also the question of racism. Not only white people are racist. Everyone has these tendencies, that are more or less restrained. There is also ethnocentrism (actually, I believe that racism is just one aspect of ethnocentrism, which is really just an extension of our own egocentrism; we all like to secretly believe that we are somehow special and better than others. Some people work more at restraining this selfish self than others). A my-culture-is-better-than-yours aspect may appear in a mixed marriage. This is not the least within God's teachings. This is human weakness.


You touched on views in the “West” about Islam. Yes, they are distorted. I grew up with the distorted views, so I have a very good idea of what they are. However, the misuse of religion and the mistreatment of the weaker members of society (such as women, children and minorities) is a sad reality in the Muslim world. Believe it or not Melinda, after the massive destruction of educational and social structures in the Muslim world during the European colonial period (which, frankly, has not really ended; “Western” powers still pretty much control many regimes,you know) and the imposition of educational (often missionary) institutions and social structures (many Muslim countries have laws based on colonial law, you know. Not Islamic), many Muslims in the world today are massively ignorant of Islam.


When you see the abuse of these weaker members (and it surely exists; I've witnessed it), you have to realize that these are very weak and ignorant men who are trying to give themselves the illusion of strength and knowledge. It has absolutely nothing to do with what God, or His Prophet (PBUH) teach us to do.


But now for the inner Reality.


What is a Muslim? In the time the Qur'an was revealed, this was a new term. It literally meant: a person who has a certain kind of relationship with God. A relationship characterized by that person's desire to connect withGod , and subsequent acceptance of God's infinitude and the person's limitations. The surrender of what the person wanted or desired, to what God offers as He Knows what is best for us. The acceptance of this life as a test and struggle to do what is pleasing to God,knowing that God is infinitely Good and Beautiful and Bountiful. A Muslim is one who struggles with his selfish and limited Self to surrender to the Loving and Embracing Will of God.


What is it like to live like this? Mmm.(smile) It changes as your faith deepens, I find. At first, it is really hard (though it comes quite naturally to little children, you know. But, like two year-olds and teenagers, we need to have our independent phases, it seems to me). Then it gets easier. So then the tests get harder, and it gets harder again...and over and over,deeper and deeper into a greater alignment with God's Will. And as you get into deeper alignment, you feel a growing sense of harmony and peace within yourself (and this is also expressed in the root s-l-m, which yields the word Muslim, incidentally). If you've heard an orchestra tuning up, all is discordant at first, but then it gradually comes into harmony. And then you can start to play something beautiful...


And things seem to bother you less and less. Life can throw punches at you, but it's as if you are enveloped in honey. The honey absorbs and distributes the force of the punch,and when the deliverer of the punch retracts his/her/it's punch, there is a residual sweetness given to to the puncher, as well as extra honey for the one enveloped in the honey. (smile) This may sound a little odd. But it's hard to express. It's a wonderful feeling, though. You feel as light as the bubbles in fizzy water, rushing up towards...the ineffable.


(smile) I'm preparing for my Hajj, you know. (twinkle) Actually, I think God has been Preparing me for this.I'm feeling...cleansed. Whole. Healed. Balanced. Peaceful. Happy.Warm. Comforted.


(smile) I don't know if I'll always feel so aligned towards God as I'm feeling now (probably not, if I am to remain on this earth. There are always new heights/depths to discover, and struggles to overcome). But this is what being a Muslim is to me right now, in this precious moment. This Gift He has Given to me.


All thanks and praise to the One who is my Compassionate Creator!

[cocomir75]

I simply want to hear about what you like about Islam.

[InToTheRain]

I simply want to hear about what you like about Islam.

It has to be the broadness of Islam. There is so much details in it regarding this life and the next.

For example I know what will happen when we die, the questions we will be asked, what will happen whilst I am in the grave and waiting for the day of Judgement.

[.muslim girl.]

Everything !
I love everything in my religion

[melindadenae]

MuslimInshallah:
I'm sorry it took me so long to write back- its been a very busy week here. You said your preparing for your Hajj? That's wonderful! When do you plan to go?
You also said you feel as if God has been preparing you for this. How exactly do you mean? Would you mind elaborating a bit?
Thank you so much. Peace to you.

[amrabdulrahman]

Hello all, greetings from Atlantic Canada!

Just a simple question for you: what is your favorite part of your faith?

Faith in one ALLAH
Faith in all messengers
Faith in all books
Faith in angels
Faith in resurrection
Faith in good and bad from ALLAH

If we have no faith in one of those then there will be no faith

[MuslimInshallah]

Peace to you also, Melinda,


Welcome back!


(smile) Yes, I was planning to go on Hajj... but in the end, God had other plans. My Hajj group didn't get the visas. It seems the Saudis turned down quite a lot of people around the world this year, apparently because there are renovations going on in Mecca and they want to limit the number of people there.


Nevertheless (smile), God Knows that I tried. And intentions count. So I am happy with that.


How was God Preparing me? (smile) To be honest, I believe that God offers us opportunities to get closer to Him during our whole lives. But whether we take them or not is up to us. But yes, since the spring, many things have been happening. And I feel as if I am being Guided. And that I have (mostly) surrendered to His Will. This doesn't mean that everything was easy and nice. Actually, some things were really hard. But I came out of the summer feeling whole and aligned.


(smile) And then I kept catching every virus that passed, which had the effect of forcing me to stop doing a lot of activities I would have otherwise done, and stay home.


(smile) And this is good. It means I have had a lot of time to contemplate. This board has been helping me, by putting questions to me, and by teaching me other people's thoughts. (joy!) Do you know the joy of finding treasure? This is what I have been doing this past month, both on this board and off. Finding treasure. Because I feel everything is leading me towards my Gentle Lord, and is there no Hidden Treasure greater than this.


(smile) And even though I did not go on Hajj after all, I continue to be in a state of learning and change. It's hard to describe. It is a very creative state. When I writ poetry, I am in such a state. Sort of intense and dreamy. This world feels a little unreal. But in the past, I have only felt this state in passing, usually just a few hours at a time. But in the spring, I was in this state for some days. And now it has been more than a month.


I feel both relaxed and driven. Relaxed in that few things seem to bother me much anymore. But driven, in that my mind is full of thoughts that are coalescing. And I am contemplating my life, and pondering the direction that I should take, that would be most pleasing to my Creator. (smile) I feel as if I am at a nexus. Of course, we are given many choices every day, but sometimes in life, I have found, we are presented with a more important choice, that can have a profound impact on our lives. And I feel that I am at such a point right now.


(smile) So I thought that God was preparing me for Hajj this year. But it seems I am being prepared for something else. (twinkle) Or maybe He Knows I need more time to prepare myself properly for Hajj!


He Knows, and I don't. And realizing that, I can relax into His Loving Care. I feel drawn by lines unseen towards something... healthy. And the voices in my life are blending into complex melodies that sound simple and pure.


(smile) It's not perfect. But it feels ever-better.


May God Bless you, Melinda. May you find Him wherever you look.

[melindadenae]

MusliminShallah: this is good news to hear.
May I ask you, what are your thoughts on the Christian God? What do you know of him?
Peace always!

[Iceee]

Salaam Sister / Peace Be Upon You.

what are your thoughts on the Christian God?

If I asked you, "what are your thoughts on the Islamic God?" how would you reply? You would most likely think of Allah, correct sister? Then give an appropriate response etc.

But as a Muslim, I'm not sure what you mean by "Christian God?" Do you mean Jesus? The father? The Holy Spirit? I don't know. Please be more concise in your question for the future Inshallah.

[MuslimInshallah]

Assalaamu alaikum Melinda,


(smile) I am glad to see you again.


Thank you for your question. (twinkle) It is one that many Muslims would like to clarify, I think. You see, there is a misconception among many non-Arabic speaking European-descent Christians that somehow Muslims believe in something vastly different from themselves. (smile) There are differences, to be sure, but fundamentally, God is God.


I have travelled quite widely, and met many people of many different linguistic backgrounds. And we don't all use the same word, but the concept of God is woven into the fabric of all cultures of which I am aware. (smile) The concept may be diluted to a greater or a lesser degree, but it is there.


Because God Loves all people, He has Sent messengers and prophets to all peoples. So it is understandable that the concept of Him is there. But we humans have our arrogance and weaknesses. We may completely reject God. We may use God to legitimize things we do, that we deep down know we should not. We diminish God to make ourselves feel greater than we are. We break God into pieces so that we can feel more comfortable with His Infinitude. We mix him into ourselves or our ancestors, so that we may feel more immortal and invulnerable. We confuse His Creation with Himself, because His Creation is perceptible to our mundane senses, but He is not. For these reasons, and many, many others, we humans dilute the concept of God.


If we have some of His Words through His prophets, we may twist them for our benefit. We may mis-spell or mis-copy or mis-translate them. We may lose them. Except if God Protects and Ensures their survival, we gradually lose His Words, in our imperfect world. (smile) And God Permits these processes to exist, for His Own Purposes.


The fragments of what we have left, either the writings or the oral traditions, can be found in every part of the world. In some places, some cultures, the concept is more intact than others. But the underlying unity of goodness in these belief systems, comes originally from God. And the idea of some underlying order and wholeness underpinning Creation is understood everywhere.


I know people who call God: Bog, Del, Khoda, Allah, Dieu, Dios... and they are all talking of the same thing: an infinite being: infinite in knowledge, power, love,goodness, creativity... vast beyond human imagining... and we are just the tiniest motes of dust before this infinite Ocean, Powerful and Wise, and oh so Kind to these foolish motes!


But we humans have problems with this. Our limited minds crumple when confronting the infinite. And just as we try to dissect complex creatures into their component parts in order to better understand and analyze them, so too do we do to God. It is arrogance, really, in my opinion. We really think we can encompass God... may He Forgive us!


All through human history, we have tried to divide and re-create and re-conceptualize the Divine, that we may better control it. But instead, our creations control us. Be it idols, or competing ideologies, or tools... all that we create comes to dominate us instead. We become enslaved to our creations. We created money,material goods, technologies, intellectual tools... and yes, statues and sacred grottoes, too. And because we feel we can grasp them with our minds and hands, we feel we are more free. Except we cannot let them go...


In all cultures, you will find the idea of surrender to God. It might not be hugely popular, but it is there. Falling into the mists of I-don't-know, -but-yet-I-trust... you will find it throughout history, everywhere. Letting go, knowing you don't know, harmony, peace, One-ness. If we can surrender utterly to God… then we are truly free.


God does not “belong” to any select group. We may worship and acknowledge Him. Or not. But to say that Christians have “their” God and Muslims “their” God and Hindus “their God” , etc... is incorrect, in my opinion. There is God. Our human tongues may label Him as we wish. We may try to divide His attributes among some or many sub-units. We may deny Him. But He Belongs to no one. He just Is.


(smile) But perhaps you are thinking: well, ok, God is God, but we do have different understandings of Him. Christianity and Islam and Hinduism are not the same (actually, Hinduism is a lot more diverse than you realize, maybe. It's not so... codifiable).


Yes, this is true. (smile) And you have probably seen hints of what I feel about this in my text so far. It is we humans that are the agents that muss and confuse some elegantly simple concepts.


(smile) Of course, simple things can generate complexity we find hard to grasp (like the iterations of a simple mathematical equation can generate intricate and beautiful patterns). God is Unique. Whole. Infinite. Good. Surrendering to God brings inner peace, harmony, alignment. Pretty simple ideas. But trying to understand God, trying to wrap our human minds around infinity... this is too complex for us. Trying to find peace and harmony without God...it is also too complex.Our minds become entangled in infinite spiralling iterations... and get lost.


We humans take the concept of God, and try to understand what we cannot. So then, like Cinderella's sisters, we try to cut the concepts into ones we can grasp more easily. Ones that are more comfortable to the human mind that seeks to master everything. And so our understandings of God slide into the various belief-systems we see in the world. (smile) We still fail in our efforts to master everything. But we feel more in control, nonetheless.


For example, an atheist may insist that the origin of the Universe is known. But if you ask the hows and whys and what-befores, the atheist cannot answer. But having a set of ideas about the Big Bang, and black holes and gravitational forces (which actually do not exist, but are an effect of the “geometry”of Creation... according to relativistic physics, to the best of myunderstanding)... all these nice, slightly mysterious, but somehow familiar-sounding ideas are comforting.


(smile) So you see, I don't believe in the concept of a distinct Christian God. I just believe in God.


But I think perhaps what you wanted to know was whether I know about what Christians believe? (smile) Well, all Christians don't believe the same things. There's quite a range, you know. But I do have some knowledge of Christian beliefs.


My parents, I'm afraid, were rather hedonistic atheists with a penchant for trying out new cultish belief systems as their whims dictated. They were also rather neglectful parents. But my father's mother was a very kind woman. She'd grown up in a free-thinking, vaguely Jewish family, but had discovered God during her adult years. She converted to Catholicism. And she was a very passionate believer. She taught me about God, about being good to others regardless of external appearances, about living simply (you would never have known she was a wealthy woman; she preferred to give to others, rather than live luxuriously), about praying...


(smile) My parents thought her a very bad influence.


So she taught me about God. And when my parents limited her from talking with me, she slipped God in, in the form of gifts of books like the Narnia Chronicles. And when I was old enough to go to a boarding school, I suspect she hadsomething to do with the fact that I ended up at a Catholic boarding school, and later at a Catholic Day School.


My grandmother's Catholicism was very genuine and sincere. But her worship of God was a little unusual compared to the norm. For instance, she didn't just nod at the appropriate times during mass. She would bend at the waist indeep obeisance. She taught me about God. And Jesus. I can't tell you exactly what she said, because I was very little. But she loved me, and she instilled her love of God in me.


However, the nuns... were less genuine. And they also couldn't answer my questions. Because I was very curious about God. (smile. Actually I'm very curious about everything!)


How do you take something as infinitely vast as God and divide Him? (How can you divide something infinite ?) Why? How could you kill God? And what would happen to everything while He was dead? How could God be Jesus (how can something infinite be finite?) ? If Jesus had to be killed before we could go to heaven, how did Elijah get there? And why did God set it up so Jesus (who was actually God?!) had to be killed?


These were a child's questions. I really wanted to know and understand, but the answers were vague (it's a mystery...) or didn't make much sense to me (ok, Elijah did go to heaven...but only the lowest of 7 levels. Jesus still had to die for us to get to the highest levels). And because I didn't understand, I continued to seek answers. I even rebelled against God in my teen years. But I still longed to know.


So you see, Melinda, I had a thorough grounding in Western European Christian beliefs. I read the New and Old Testaments. I was given a lot of religious instruction. I went to mass frequently (not just on Sundays!). We prayed before and after everything (bed, meals, classes...). Even in our play, Christian beliefs were incorporated into what we did. I also mixed with Protestant girls, as they also were in our school. And I had a great interest and thirst to know about God. And later on in life, I have studied many different faiths and talked with people who adhere to these belief systems, including different kinds of Christians. (smile) I love to do this. People are so interesting! And there is always something to learn from others. Some of my most beautiful insights have been after being challenged to look at something in more depth by someone who disagrees with me, or who asks a fascinating question, or who claims Muslims believe “x”.


So yes, I have a pretty good idea about what Christians believe. And there is a lot that is good in those beliefs. (smile) God says (Qur'an 5:82):

and you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, "We are Christians."


God says... and I have found this to be true.


(smile) Thank you for your patience with this long, and perhaps rather difficult, reply.


(hugs) May God be with you, Melinda.

[naba]

Assalamalecum,bismillah Ar Rehman Ar Raheem, there is no such favourite in islam,the biggest blessing and gift from Allah is islam to us, Allah says in ch 49 v 17of Quran says that Allah had bestowed a favour on us by giving faith to us.

[umairlooms]

the satisfaction of knowing the truth

[Lisa921]

My favourite part about being Muslim is the comprehensiveness of it and knowing that I do not have to search anymore.