Welcome to the forum Daniel.
It's nice to see that you're thinking and pondering and asking questions.
Choosing a religion isn't like picking a club to belong to. It determines your outcome in the hereafter. Therefore you need to first look and see where the truth is, and once you've found it, you must firmly believe in it, and act on it.
The truth has to be clear, easy to understand, and should make sense, and resonate with the heart, mind and soul.
Does it resonate with the heart and brain as being truth that theres no God at all, and that a mouse running across the floor might be a relative?
Does it resonate with the heart and brain that god can be a human-animal hybrid?
Does it resonate with the heart and brain that worship should be directed to a piece of wood or stone, that can't even move itself one inch unless you physically move it?
Does it resonate with the heart and brain that God should beget a son (who is also god) then have him killed in a bloody and painful death in order to atone for mankind's sins?
OR, does it resonate with the heart and brain, that there is only One God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, who is the only One deserving of worship, and has no associates whatsoever in His Divinity, and isn't mixed up with His creation in any way, and has no sons, daughters, parents, cousins or any other relatives?
I know which one is as clear as day truth to me.
If you came across a table and chair in the middle of a forest, you would know that someone had come along, sawn the right sized pieces of wood off the trees, shaped them, joined them together etc to make what was in front of you. I'm sure you wouldn't conclude that the right sized pieces had sawn themselves off the trees and joined themselves together to make a table and chairs. Nor that the trees had got sucked up in a tornado and then fallen out of the sky as table and chairs.
So we believe, that this intricate universe, has an all-Powerful Creator, and we don't believe that the universe came about by coincidence or by chance or by some random happening.
That Creator, periodically sent human messengers to mankind, to guide mankind as to how they should live, to be role-models, give good news, to warn mankind against wrong doing, and to tell them that they'll be brought to account on judgement day, and to show people how they should worship God the Creator, who is the Only One deserving of all worship, and has no associates in His Exclusive Divinity. Some of those messengers were given scriptures for people to follow.
Islam is a culmination of that same ultimate universal truth which God revealed to all prophets and messengers, including Noah, Abraham, Jesus and Moses, peace be on them. Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be on him, is the last messenger of God, and a book called the Qur'an was revealed to him. That book is 100% God's word, so it supersedes, continues, confirms, and is a culimination of, the truth that was in the earlier scriptures. Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be on him, is the messenger who must now be followed, the Qur'an being the book that must be followed.
You'll notice that Islam is not named after a specific person (like Christianity, Buddhism), nor after a certain race or place (like Judaism, Hinduism), but is named by God Himself, the meaning loosely translating as 'submission to God', which is what every Prophet and their righteous followers did, from amongst all times, places and peoples. That in itself is one fraction of the evidence that it was the way of all the Prophets from the beginning.
We believe that mankind will be brought to account on Judgement day.
Islam is distinguishable from other religions, as:
1) It is a complete way of life, which is practical and balanced
2) It has a pure and clear concept of the Oneness of God
3) It has a close relationship with the Creator
4) It emphasizes both evidence and faith
5) There is accountability and total justice
6) It has a universal and timeless message
7) All the messengers of God are believed in, none are blasphemed or rejected, nor at the other end of the extreme are they made into gods
8) It's scripture is 100% the word of God
9) There is forgiveness as opposed to someone having to atone for your sins
10) Belief and good deeds go hand in hand
11) It is a complete code of conduct for every aspect of life, from the most intimate, to the most public. It not only exhorts one to be good, but provides complete guidance to practically live that, taking a preventative approach to problems in society from the outset. It guides us towards practical ways of achieving righteousness and eliminating evil from our individual and collective lives, taking into account human nature and the complexities of human society.
format_quote Originally Posted by
Daniel1998
2)If allah "god in islam" is the most merciful,then why don't the disbelievers go to heaven? like in Buddhism,the god doesn't need to be worshipped,you go to heaven,so isn't it that Buddha god is more merciful than Allah?
Would it be acceptable to you, that people who do certain wrong deeds in this world and deserve to be punished or go to jail, would you accept that instead they should be rewarded with mansions and cars etc? That would make a mockery of the whole concept of justice, no? When a child misbehaves, do the parents praise the child and say well done? No, they discipline the child. God is the Most Just, more just than any man made justice system.
I could go on, but will stop here for now.
As a brief foundation, we believe in, submit to, and worship, the One True God and Lord, the Creator, who has no sons, no associates in His Exclusive Divinity whatsoever, and obey the guidance of the prophets and messengers He sent, the last of whom is Muhammad (peace and blessings be on him). Since the scripture given to him is the only one preserved, and the Prophet's example is preserved, we follow him and the book given to him by God, which is the way to success in the hereafter.
Please do ask any further questions.
Peace.