is it good to learn about all religions ( divine and non-divine)?

**ivanna25** · 04-30-2006

assalam alaykom wa rahmatou Allah,

dear my brothers and sisters, thank God i am a Muslim and I love my religion. I try to talk about Islam with non-muslims and non-believers using the modest knowledge i have and logical arguments I have learnt for quran, Sunnah, and Muslim scholars.

I was adviced to learn about other religions: hinduism, budhism, sikhism, judaism, christianity etc. in order to have more knowledge and be able to discuss with others the logic of each religion. When I talk about Islam, i always say that Islam is the only religion which believes in the oneness of god and which gives value to human beings. after readin about sikhism ( aodou billah from that name), I ve relaized that the teaching of Sikhism is 90 percent like Islam. Sikhism is religion which came 8 centuries after Islam and its founder is Guru. I am really confused what I can i do to make a sikhi person embrace Islam and they are almsot alike, the only thing that they dont have quran and they dont mention Prophet Mohammed ( peace be upon you). some people claim that this religion is from God because Guru got nrevelation from God. We know that this is not true but what we can say, if someone tell us that the teachings of islma are like sikhism teachings?
thanks

*noor · 04-30-2006

Originally Posted by ivanna25

assalam alaykom wa rahmatou Allah,

dear my brothers and sisters, thank God i am a Muslim and I love my religion. I try to talk about Islam with non-muslims and non-believers using the modest knowledge i have and logical arguments I have learnt for quran, Sunnah, and Muslim scholars.

I was adviced to learn about other religions: hinduism, budhism, sikhism, judaism, christianity etc. in order to have more knowledge and be able to discuss with others the logic of each religion. When I talk about Islam, i always say that Islam is the only religion which believes in the oneness of god and which gives value to human beings. after readin about sikhism ( aodou billah from that name), I ve relaized that the teaching of Sikhism is 90 percent like Islam. Sikhism is religion which came 8 centuries after Islam and its founder is Guru. I am really confused what I can i do to make a sikhi person embrace Islam and they are almsot alike, the only thing that they dont have quran and they dont mention Prophet Mohammed ( peace be upon you). some people claim that this religion is from God because Guru got nrevelation from God. We know that this is not true but what we can say, if someone tell us that the teachings of islma are like sikhism teachings?
thanks

i think its good to know about other relgions even though you dont believe in them so that you can answer questions when people ask you and so you just know more things.

**ivanna25** · 04-30-2006

But why Sikhism is like Islam? why they have a holy book like us and they claim it is from God? here is a link talking about the teachings of sikhism:
The Sikhism Home Page: Sikh Religious Philosophy. sikhi poeple believe that their religion is the true one. Why all these non-Divine religions, are they from Satan? And what makes me crazy that Sikhism is the fifth world religion and Hinduism is the third, why people follow this rubbish and forsake Islam?

*noor · 04-30-2006

Originally Posted by ivanna25

But why Sikhism is like Islam? why they have a holy book like us and they claim it is from God? here is a link talking about the teachings of sikhism:
The Sikhism Home Page: Sikh Religious Philosophy. sikhi poeple believe that their religion is the true one. Why all these non-Divine religions, are they from Satan? And what makes me crazy that Sikhism is the fifth world religion and Hinduism is the third, why people follow this rubbish and forsake Islam?

Allahu A'lam ya ukhti, but what I am sure of is that Islam is the only religion that is from Allah. Why would God also give us Sikhism and Hinduism as true religions?

**ivanna25** · 04-30-2006

Of course Islma is religion from God, no doubt about that. Islam is the best. It is better than Chrisianity and Judaism. I dont know why sikhism took its principles from Islam and has another Holy Book? To me it seems
there is nothing special in Sikhism to forskae Islam and embrace Sikhism. please see the link: The Sikhism Home Page: Sikh Religious Philosophy

Edited: By Silver Pearl for violating rule

*noor · 04-30-2006

well i looked at the link. it does seem to have adopted some of the ideas of Islam, but its also very different. dont know why someone came up with it.

**ivanna25** · 04-30-2006

Originally Posted by nurofislam

well i looked at the link. it does seem to have adopted some of the ideas of Islam, but its also very different. dont know why someone came up with it.

In which way its very diffrent from islam? it s like Islam with little diffrence i notice.

*noor · 04-30-2006

"Rejection of all forms of blind rituals such as fasting, religious vegetarianism, pilgrimages, superstions, yoga, as well as any form of idol worship. " - from the site that you posted.

fasting and pilgrimages are part of Islam, not rejected by Islam.

**ivanna25** · 04-30-2006

yes, that s true, but i said at the begining its 90% like islam not 100%. What made me crazy that Sikhsim claimed that the founder of sikhism called Guru had revelation from God. Look at this: The Sikhism Home Page: Guru Nanak Dev.

**ivanna25** · 04-30-2006

Oh, thank god, finally i find a link which states the diffrence between Islam and sikhism. I hope you read this link. They take the teachings of Islamand modify them to serve them. Please have a look at this: The Sikhism Home Page: Sikhism and Other Religions.

May Allah guide the followers of sikhism to the straight path.....May Allah guide all his slaves to the straight path.

Edited: By Silver Pearl for violating rules

**- Qatada -** · 04-30-2006

I really don't have any evidence for this sister, but i heard that guru nanak was from india and he wanted to bring some sort of friendship or at least end the fighting between the hindus and the muslims, so he may have got a pick and mix of teachings from both religions to make both parties get along with each other.

Some people even say that he may have become muslim, but we should leave that upto Allaah azawajal to decide.

Anyway, i think guru nanak wasn't really the founder of sikhism, but the 10 guru's that came after him may have followed his ways (i.e. not shaving the hair [even though he might not have shaved it due to environmental reasons i.e. he lived in the wild i think- so he never really shaved that much, Allaahu a'lam. (Allaah Almighty knows best.) ) and each of the 10 guru's made his own personal innovations to it.

Thats my opinion anyway, and this might be one of the reasons why sikhism is so similar. But Allaah Almighty knows best.

**NahidSarvy** · 04-30-2006

I think the best way for outsiders to understand this situation is to quote Sleeper Cell: "Sikhs and Muslims are like the Bloods and Crips. They've been killing each other for 400 years."

That is, there is a long history of bad blood in the Subcontinent, and I think that this might be bleeding into this conversation.

I don't think we should be asking God to curse anyone.

**afriend** · 04-30-2006

It's a good job because we can pick out their errors and then we can use them to argue with them.....

A great Da'wah technique...

**Eric H** · 05-01-2006

Greetings and peace be with you ivanna25;

All religions are morally neutral and the individual can use them in any way he might choose; he can use religion to do good, curse, or kill.

Religion is very much like a knife which is also a morally neutral tool, the surgeon can use the knife to heal, or the knife can be used to stab someone.

Religion like a knife helps us to reveal what is in our own hearts, when given the opportunity do we use these tools to benefit or to harm mankind in some way?

How can the religions of the world be used towards peace on Earth?

In the spirit of searching for greater interfaith friendships

Eric

**Alphaseed** · 05-01-2006

A man of God must be knowledable of His own belief system, that way no one can pull a fast one on you , such as kill yourself in the name of God and he will give you 13 virgins in Paradise.

r kill the unbelievers , why would you kill the unbeliever, when you kill them all who will you convince ?

**Eric H** · 05-01-2006

Greetings and peace snakelegs,

I often sense that all the conflict within religion and between religions turns many people away from a faith in God.

In the spirit of seeking a greater interfaith understanding

Eric

**ivanna25** · 05-01-2006

Islam gives the rules for jihad or physical strive. we should not kill people unless they present a threat in our life. we kill noly the people that fight us. this is our function, do u want God to come down to earth to fight? or send his angels? we are here to defend the word of God, and if some bad people do not understand Islam and kill innocent people, this does not mean that this is Islam, ok?

**IbnAbdulHakim** · 05-01-2006

students of comparative religion must hav excellent memory and understanding tho. Its a very hard feat! but mashAllah to those who attempt it, i think i'll prob luk into another religion afta i mastered islam.... lol ye so basically im jus stikin 2 islam

**x Maz x** · 05-01-2006

I think firstly you should perfect your deen and then look into other religions...as the current state of the Ummah shows the lack of knowledge the Muslims have about their own religion...InshAllah practice what you preach and perfect the deen...then look into other religions WalaykumAsalaam x

**Trumble** · 05-01-2006

Hehe... I wouldn't say so of Sikhism, but in the case of Buddhism and Hinduism she is of course quite right - from her own perspective of course.

A devout muslim can't help but consider Buddhism "rubbish", as the two religions are totally incompatible. I would disagree, of course, and my own opinion of Islam and theism in general can be guessed using the same logic - but nonetheless I could never condemn a muslim for holding that opinion; IMHO they simply have no choice.

I think the principle reason for studying other religions is not so much that it furthers your understanding of your own (although it certainly can do), as in that it helps you understand the people who believe in them. It engenders respect, if nothing else - or at least it should do, simply because all of the worlds great religions teach that adherents should follow a good and peaceful way of life. That doesn't mean that they all do, of course, but if they do they may (in the opinion of a muslim) be misguided, but why should they be "cursed" by anybody, let alone God? If you want to curse anybody, curse those doing the killing, muslim and non-muslim alike, not the Dalai Lama, Gandhi or Guru Nanak.

Edited: By Silver Pearl