Greetings Qatada
format_quote Originally Posted by
- Qatada -
I mentioned some there because i have heard some Christians claiming that Jesus son of Mary has died for their sins, yet others saying that deeds are also important. Yet I've never really received a clear answer with proof from the Bible.
If you read up on Christian doctrine you will find that Christians believe both: that you gain salvation through believing in Jesus' sacrifice for us
and that this belief and a true following of Christ should lead to and be reflected in good deeds.
But I don't want to go further into this here, as I understand that the Comparative Religions section is the better place for such discussions.
I am sure you can find the topic being discussed there is several places. :)
The believer has love for Allaah for all the good which He has bestowed upon us, the example of a believer is given beautifully by Ibn Al-Qayim who said that the believer is like a bird;
The heart is the love for Allaah which keeps the bird alive and going, one wing is hope, and the other is fear. If one wing outweighs the other - the bird will fall. The fear is for Allaah's displeasure if one was to do evil, yet the hope is for His Mercy and reward. If one was to go to extremes in any of these two wings, they would fall out of balance, i.e. too much fear will make one despair of Allaah's Mercy, yet excessive hope will open the door for the person to commit sins. So these feelings should be justly balanced in order to be a good Muslim and believer.
I like that comparison. Thanks for sharing. :)
Virtually all I know about Islam I have learned here at LI.
Hence I judge Islam to a great extend by what I read and learn here.
Certainly many of the threads I have read here at LI over the last 15 months have given me the
impression that for many Muslims the fear of Allah seems to outweigh their joy and love for him.
Of course, this is only my perception ... and I would not assume to know, let alone to judge what is in people's hearts. Such things are only for God to know.
Peace, brother.