Questions for hardcore Muslims/Christians/Jews etc etc

**Zionazi_Dissent** · 07-15-2006

Hello,

I consider myself as a non-practicing Muslim trying to become in good relations with Allah (God). But I have several questions which, though may sound simple, are quite though provoking. You input is highly appreciated.

1.) Why are you Muslim, Christian, or Jew etc? In majority of the cases, an honest person would say "because I grew up Muslim, Christian etc etc" or in the lines of "my parents are Muslim, Hindu and so on." I hope you get the point. Hence, people are following their faiths blindly to begin with. Intellect is something valued in all faiths, so why dont we use it? I am sure most people follow their respective faiths blindly, and indeed God will not be please. So my question is --- if most people follow their religion blindly, wouldnt that defeat the entire idea of understanding God and his laws?

2.) Most faiths show the impression that God gives preference to a certain group (ex. Jews are "the chosen one," Christian belive people can go to heaven through believing in Christ's divinity etc etc.). This leads to a superiority complex, ie. my religion is right and your's is wrong, hence I am ahead of you. You can deny it, but deep inside thats reality. Are we becoming hostile because we dont understand God? I understand its human nature, but again this is attributed to blind faith. Religion can be extremely dangerous. For instance, lets assume that everyone finds out in the afterlife that Allah exists and Muslims were right. How do you think that will affect the mindset of Hindus, Buddhists etc etc who spent generations worshipping idols and their own God only to find that they were misguided and become devastated?

3.) I have come to realize that God's words cannot be followed in its entirety. For instance, the Ten Commandments is literally impossible to follow during our age. I find life to be nothing but a test imposed by Allah to test the strength of our will and God. I am sure that 99% will end up failing God's test, regardless of the faith. So my question is, have humans molded society in such a way to breed greed, hate and sins? In other words, have we abandoned God (becuse we do not see His presence) to such an extent that we take sins for granted?

4.) We live in an age where Islam and other faiths is being attacked frequently. Idk about you, but Islam has become synonymous with evil by other faiths. My question is --- who gives them the right to judge? Who are we to judge? Fighting over blind faith deteriorates the intellect.

I will post more questions soon. Thanks.

**Asyur an-Nagi** · 07-15-2006

1.i was a catholic. and islam is the result of my 10 years searching.
2.we become hostile because we are partially or maybe not into our religion at all. of course i think islam is the best (i wouldn't choose it as a last stop if i didn't think so), but i also believe every religion taught us noble deeds that we have no reason to hate.
3.even unbeliver's life is a test. greed, hates and sins are realities that turn the world, and drag our life into a daydream utopia.
4.sometimes the intellect being so selfish and waged the agression.

**Ansar Al-'Adl** · 07-15-2006

Originally Posted by Zionazi_Dissent

1.) Why are you Muslim, Christian, or Jew etc? In majority of the cases, an honest person would say "because I grew up Muslim, Christian etc etc" or in the lines of "my parents are Muslim, Hindu and so on." I hope you get the point.

This is the exact mentality that the Qur'an criticises:

Qur'an 31:21 And when it is said to them, "Follow what Allah has revealed," they say, "Rather, we will follow that upon which we found our ancestors." Even if Satan was inviting them to the punishment of the Blaze?

We are not Muslims simply because our forefathers were Muslim. On the contrary, the Qur'an commands us to think, ponder, reflect, explore and analyze and to establish our faith upon reasoned and researched conclusions. I am a Muslim because I sincerely believe in the Islamic message of Tawhîd, Risâlah, and Ma'âd. I believe that there is only one God and that He is the only one worthy of our worship and servitude. I believe that after examining the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the only logical conclusion is to say he must have been what he claimed to be - a messenger of God. I believe that only Islam can provide a complete and coherent (yet amazingly concise) understanding of our position in the universe.

2.) Most faiths show the impression that God gives preference to a certain group (ex. Jews are "the chosen one," Christian belive people can go to heaven through believing in Christ's divinity etc etc.). This leads to a superiority complex, ie. my religion is right and your's is wrong, hence I am ahead of you. You can deny it, but deep inside thats reality. Are we becoming hostile because we dont understand God? I understand its human nature, but again this is attributed to blind faith. Religion can be extremely dangerous. For instance, lets assume that everyone finds out in the afterlife that Allah exists and Muslims were right. How do you think that will affect the mindset of Hindus, Buddhists etc etc who spent generations worshipping idols and their own God only to find that they were misguided and become devastated?

God is not the author of confusion, to use a biblical maxim. He has not ordained multiple mutually contradictory paths and creeds to be followed on earth. He has created one human race to follow one path, the path of submission to Him. The path of accepting His messengers and striving in righteous deeds to come closer to God, and as a result, attain inner peace. God is not unjust to His creation, but people are unjust to themselves. Everyone has free choice. Everyone has the ability to search for the truth rather than cling blindly to the path of their forefathers - a position you criticised yourself above. So everyone is responsible for themselves and what they did to find the truth. Each individual will be answerable before God.

3.) I have come to realize that God's words cannot be followed in its entirety.

If by this, you mean that humanity will never be perfect, then you are absolutely correct. But God does not expect us not to fall into sin or error. Human beings will inevitably err and sin but then it is up to us to repent for our sins and strive harder to correct our faults. You're right that there will always be apparent evil in this life. But that is part of the test you mentioned, and it is up to us to strive hard against that evil.

4.) We live in an age where Islam and other faiths is being attacked frequently. Idk about you, but Islam has become synonymous with evil by other faiths. My question is --- who gives them the right to judge? Who are we to judge? Fighting over blind faith deteriorates the intellect.

I would assume this one is an argument or rhetorical question. You're right that human beings tend to stereotype eachother and construct their criticism of one another upon their self-imposed ignorance, to use a term I'm fond of. To combat this, we need to reach out to eachother and promote dialogue, foster tolerance and mutual understanding.