Things in Islam I am curious about...

[Grace Seeker]

Asalamu Alekum

Yes sure, it is written in the Quran.
The Quran says:
And when Isa son of Marium said: O children of Israel! surely I am the messenger of Allah to you, verifying that which is before me of the Taurat and giving the good news of a Messenger who will come after me, his name being Ahmad, but when he came to them with clear arguments they said: This is clear magic.
(Quran 61:6)

This event, which the Qur'an describes, is not found in the Bible nor in any of the recorded history of the Christian church, not even in non-canonical writings by gnostic Christians. Is this event something that Muslims believe was recorded in the no longer existing Injil?

 

[Hugo]

I don't know much about the topic of hadith, all I know is that they are rigorously checked for reliablility, the character of narrators would be thoroughly analysed before trusting any narrations from them, you might want to look into it.

I think you will find that they are checked for reliable transmission not for what they say

 

[aadil77]

I think you will find that they are checked for reliable transmission not for what they say

as far as I know, yep

 

[Hiroshi]

i'm beginning to enjoy your posts Hiroshi. we may have some common ground on what happened to Christianity. after Ramadhan, In Sha'a Allah, i will discuss this with you.

Thank you. Btw, those details can be found in a footnote to Surah 61:6 in Yusuf Ali's translation.

 

[Hiroshi]

I see but Jesus said he would send a comforter who would be with them (the disciples) forever so it seem to be pressing it a bit that it was 600 years later before Mohammed arrived and of course in Acts 2 we have the fulfilment of Jesus' promise. Ahmad in Arabic means "highly praised or praised one" but parakletos according to Vine (dictionary of New Testament Words) comes from an essentially legal term denoting a council for the defence an advocate but in its widest sense means to succour and comfort and that corresponds to menahem given by the Hebrews to the Messiah.

I know transliterations are difficult but Muslims in general claim the word used is or was "periklutos" but although we have thousands of NT manuscripts pre-dating Islam not one of these contains the word "periklutos" and Vine in his dictionary does not even mention it.

I side with you on this one, of course.

 

[Woodrow]

OK. I really need some help with this. Someone explain to me (yes, again!, sorry) what is the Sunnah? I thought it was the overall teaching of the Prophet (pbuh) -- Quran, Hadith, and his life's actions -- but it seems like that is not right after reading several posts in this thread.

Peace Gene,

You have the essential idea correct. To get into why it seems somewhat deeper you need to know a touch more about Halal/Haraam Something being Halal or haraam is sort of like a spectrum. While to do anything that is halal is always permitted, halal can also be broken into the areas of being fiqh-Which are things that we are obligated to do. We have to do them a sin if we don't. sunnah: can be thought of as being that which it is desirable to do, carries rewards for doing it but it is not a sin if it is not done, secondarily to this are the fiqh-ul- Sunnah which gives the guidelines for the exact prescribed method something done has to be done to be sunnah, makroof are things it is probably best we avoid doing, but there is no harm or sin if we do them to some eating shellfish is seen as being makroof. while there is no harm in doing so, it seems there may be a possible benefit in not eating it, but it certainly is no sin if one eats it. In the view of the scholars I have asked about it.

Now in the fiqh-ul-sunnah it takes a deeper study to determine exactly what in the sunnah is fiqh, what has a fiqh method of doing it and exactly what can we verify was done. Many of us feel it is an obligation (fiqh) to try to do that which is sunnah.

Just my attempt at explaining in general layman's terms and should not be considered a quickcourse in sunnah as I still have a lot of learning to do myself.

Just my opinion and how I understand what I have read astagfirullah

 

[Hiroshi]

I see but Jesus said he would send a comforter who would be with them (the disciples) forever so it seem to be pressing it a bit that it was 600 years later before Mohammed arrived and of course in Acts 2 we have the fulfilment of Jesus' promise. Ahmad in Arabic means "highly praised or praised one" but parakletos according to Vine (dictionary of New Testament Words) comes from an essentially legal term denoting a council for the defence an advocate but in its widest sense means to succour and comfort and that corresponds to menahem given by the Hebrews to the Messiah.

I know transliterations are difficult but Muslims in general claim the word used is or was "periklutos" but although we have thousands of NT manuscripts pre-dating Islam not one of these contains the word "periklutos" and Vine in his dictionary does not even mention it.

It might be of interest to note here also that Muslims believe that Mohammed's name appears in Song of Solomon 5:16. This is because a Hebrew word appears there that is pronounced: "Mahamaddim" which the King James translates as "altogether lovely".

 

[Grace Seeker]

You have the essential idea correct. To get into why it seems somewhat deeper you need to know a touch more about Halal/Haraam Something being Halal or haraam is sort of like a spectrum. While to do anything that is halal is always permitted, halal can also be broken into the areas of being fiqh-Which are things that we are obligated to do. We have to do them a sin if we don't. sunnah: can be thought of as being that which it is desirable to do, carries rewards for doing it but it is not a sin if it is not done, secondarily to this are the fiqh-ul- Sunnah which gives the guidelines for the exact prescribed method something done has to be done to be sunnah, makroof are things it is probably best we avoid doing, but there is no harm or sin if we do them to some eating shellfish is seen as being makroof. while there is no harm in doing so, it seems there may be a possible benefit in not eating it, but it certainly is no sin if one eats it. In the view of the scholars I have asked about it.

Now in the fiqh-ul-sunnah it takes a deeper study to determine exactly what in the sunnah is fiqh, what has a fiqh method of doing it and exactly what can we verify was done. Many of us feel it is an obligation (fiqh) to try to do that which is sunnah.

Just my attempt at explaining in general layman's terms and should not be considered a quickcourse in sunnah as I still have a lot of learning to do myself.

Just my opinion and how I understand what I have read astagfirullah

So, how is something "thought of as being that which it is desirable to do, carries rewards for doing it but it is not a sin if it is not done" (or sunnah as you described it above) and also fiqh (i.e. "things that we are obligated to do. We have to do them a sin if we don't") at the same time?

 

[Woodrow]

So, how is something "thought of as being that which it is desirable to do, carries rewards for doing it but it is not a sin if it is not done" (or sunnah as you described it above) and also fiqh (i.e. "things that we are obligated to do. We have to do them a sin if we don't") at the same time?

Perhaps I can somehow manage to answer this with a very short answer:

A example of something that would be fasting during Ramadan. No choices if we ahve reached the age of reason and it does not endanger our health, no choice. It is a sin if we don't fast.

Now to do something that would not be a sin if we did not do it, but would give us a reward if we do so would be something like giving charity beyond what we are obligated to do. It would not be a sin if we did not do so, but there are many rewards to be gained if we do so. Of course if we are doing it just in anticipation of getting a reward and that is our reason for doing it Our intent for doing it is probably wrong and in that case it would be as if we did not done it. I may have explained that wrong or not clearly (Astagfirullah), but I think you may grasp what I am trying to say.

 

[Hugo]

Perhaps I can somehow manage to answer this with a very short answer:A example of something that would be fasting during Ramadan. No choices if we ahve reached the age of reason and it does not endanger our health, no choice. It is a sin if we don't fast. Now to do something that would not be a sin if we did not do it, but would give us a reward if we do so would be something like giving charity beyond what we are obligated to do. It would not be a sin if we did not do so, but there are many rewards to be gained if we do so. Of course if we are doing it just in anticipation of getting a reward and that is our reason for doing it Our intent for doing it is probably wrong and in that case it would be as if we did not done it. I may have explained that wrong or not clearly (Astagfirullah), but I think you may grasp what I am trying to say.

Two questions: it sounds as if there is kind of list of sins but that would seem impossible, I accept of course we have the 10 commandments but 128 words would not seem to define everything. Christians would argue that we have things like the 10 commandments but also we have the Holy Spirit and his promptings within our conciousness. Secondly, what do you mean by reward, what do you actually get? Biblically, we know there will be rewards but no details are given

 

[Woodrow]

Two questions: it sounds as if there is kind of list of sins but that would seem impossible, I accept of course we have the 10 commandments but 128 words would not seem to define everything. Christians would argue that we have things like the 10 commandments but also we have the Holy Spirit and his promptings within our conciousness. Secondly, what do you mean by reward, what do you actually get? Biblically, we know there will be rewards but no details are given

A list of sins would be impossible to compile. For this reason we really only know that man is capable of sin and that nearly all of us are prone to sin. The reason I say nearly all is because it is possible there have been people who have lived a life free from sin, such as the Prophets(PBUT). Now with the exception of the named and highly visible sin which are also addressed in Islamic Jurisprudence, we really do not know all of the sins each of us is capable of. We do know that it will depend upon our intent and even what most would see as benign or harmless could be a sin if the person doing so was doing it for sinful reasons. So for the most part an individual's sins are an individual issue between the person and Allaa(swt)

Rewards can be strictly an earthly reward, A reward in Heaven or both. We know that many good deeds will bring rewards here on earth, for example truly repenting will often if not always reward the person with Peace of Mind. Giving charity can and sometimes is rewarded on earth with reurn to the giver of more than what was given.

As for heavenly rewards we have some concept as to what the rewards in heaven will be, but our concept only touches upon a very small amount of what will be given as rewards. We only know for certain is our rewards will be in excess of what we deserve. None of us is worthy of even a view of Jannah, if we got what we deserve, we all would be only certain of reaching hellfire. But, we do know that Allaah(swt) is the most merciful and is forgiving to those who sincerly repent and try to the best of their ability to serve Allaah(swt) As far as specific rewards for specific acts, I never saw anything written saying anything about that,

 

[Hugo]

A list of sins would be impossible to compile. For this reason we really only know that man is capable of sin and that nearly all of us are prone to sin. The reason I say nearly all is because it is possible there have been people who have lived a life free from sin, such as the Prophets(PBUT). Now with the exception of the named and highly visible sin which are also addressed in Islamic Jurisprudence, we really do not know all of the sins each of us is capable of. We do know that it will depend upon our intent and even what most would see as benign or harmless could be a sin if the person doing so was doing it for sinful reasons. So for the most part an individual's sins are an individual issue between the person and Allaa(swt). Rewards can be strictly an earthly reward, A reward in Heaven or both. We know that many good deeds will bring rewards here on earth, for example truly repenting will often if not always reward the person with Peace of Mind. Giving charity can and sometimes is rewarded on earth with reurn to the giver of more than what was given. As for heavenly rewards we have some concept as to what the rewards in heaven will be, but our concept only touches upon a very small amount of what will be given as rewards. We only know for certain is our rewards will be in excess of what we deserve. None of us is worthy of even a view of Jannah, if we got what we deserve, we all would be only certain of reaching hellfire. But, we do know that Allaah(swt) is the most merciful and is forgiving to those who sincerly repent and try to the best of their ability to serve Allaah(swt) As far as specific rewards for specific acts, I never saw anything written saying anything about that,

Interesting but I note you say prophets are free from sin but where in the Qu'ran or anywhere is this dogma stated? What troubles me here is that you say none of us deserves heaven (with which I would agree) but if a prophet is free from sin it must mean he has met all the just demands of the law so must be worthy of heaven since there is nothing for God to forgive?

 

[aadil77]

Interesting but I note you say prophets are free from sin but where in the Qu'ran or anywhere is this dogma stated? What troubles me here is that you say none of us deserves heaven (with which I would agree) but if a prophet is free from sin it must mean he has met all the just demands of the law so must be worthy of heaven since there is nothing for God to forgive?

I think what the brother means is we that we could never earn enough ourselves in this life to deserve to go to heaven, its by Allahs mercy that we will/ may

 

[Woodrow]

Interesting but I note you say prophets are free from sin but where in the Qu'ran or anywhere is this dogma stated? What troubles me here is that you say none of us deserves heaven (with which I would agree) but if a prophet is free from sin it must mean he has met all the just demands of the law so must be worthy of heaven since there is nothing for God to forgive?

Even one who is free from sin and has never sinned, could never live long enough to earn a place in Jannah. It is only through the mercy of Allaah(swt) that any human can enter Jannah. While good deeds and works are an essential part of our faith and we know that we will receive more rewards than what are deeds are worth. Our good deeds will never be enough to get us into Jannah. For that we have faith in the mercy of Allaah(swt).

 

[Hugo]

Even one who is free from sin and has never sinned, could never live long enough to earn a place in Jannah. It is only through the mercy of Allaah(swt) that any human can enter Jannah. While good deeds and works are an essential part of our faith and we know that we will receive more rewards than what are deeds are worth. Our good deeds will never be enough to get us into Jannah. For that we have faith in the mercy of Allaah(swt).

I shall stop posting now because Ramadan is only a few days away but would like to pursue some of this again after September 9th. I leave with you till then the problem (for me) is that if we can never be good enough, we cannot earn a place in paradise even though we might be sinless and it all depends on mercy then what is the point of Islam because it is obvious I can live a full and virtuous life without being a Muslim so Islam appears to bring no, lets call it, advantage?

 

[aadil77]

I shall stop posting now because Ramadan is only a few days away but would like to pursue some of this again after September 9th. I leave with you till then the problem (for me) is that if we can never be good enough, we cannot earn a place in paradise even though we might be sinless and it all depends on mercy then what is the point of Islam because it is obvious I can live a full and virtuous life without being a Muslim so Islam appears to bring no, lets call it, advantage?

You will earn a place in paradise if you are sinless, what you shouldn't think is that you've now done enough and you now automatically deserve to go to heaven - You have to remember its by Allah's mercy that you may enter and that you have to continue striving in His path.

Even if you ignore Allah's Mercy as a factor to enter paradise, what about your sins and good deeds? How will you know that your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds or that your bad deeds have been forgiven? The reason we will never know until the actual Day and the reason we can't be certain is so that we continue to strive as hard as we can in Allah's path. Otherwise assuming you're good enough to get into heaven would stop that and cause all kinds of problems as is the case with the majority of christians and some muslims with pride issues.

 

[Zafran]

salaam

this so called "problem" isnt actaully a problem - its quite simple that its the mercy of God thats lets people into heaven. Its also odd that he says Islam brings no "advantage" when Islam is the submission to the will of God and the way of all the prophets. We also have problem of what he means by "living a virtuous life" but here we have to see what is a good life and what isnt according to Islam and what he thinks it is. Its obvious that without Islam one cannot live a good life fully even if the non muslim is tuned with his or her fithrah partly.

peace

 

[Grace Seeker]

I hope that I get a chance to get an anwer to this question before this part of the board is shut down for Ramadan. (BTW, a very happy Ramadan to all!!)

Anyway, my question is about the practical aspects of practicing fasting. I myself have participated in fasting for Ramadan when Muslims have lived in my house. But that was in November. The days were short and the weather was cool. We are presently having one of the hotter summers that I can remember. The days are long and the weather is miserable. Talking with my daughter we were discussing how much more difficult Ramadan is (at least for her) during the summer. Do others feel the same? How do you deal with it and protect yourself from dehydration?

 

[Muslim Woman]

Salaam/Peace

a very happy Ramadan to all!!

Thank You

The days are long and the weather is miserable. Talking with my daughter we were discussing how much more difficult Ramadan is (at least for her) during the summer. Do others feel the same? How do you deal with it and protect yourself from dehydration?

at the late night / just before the last time of eating , I drink 2/3 glasses of water , at day time try not to go out .

I try to think how many rewards InshaAllah I am going to get for thirst & hard time . It makes my hard time much easier to face

 

[Grace Seeker]

When I was first learning about Islam I was told that a mosque was a Muslim church. But I now believe that must have been an over simplification. Generally I don't find mosques in the USA, but "Islamic Religious Centers", and I'm told that even though worship services are held there they are not mosques. I'm told that the proper term also is actually "mashjid".

So, can an American Muslim help clarify this for me. What is the difference between a mosque, a mashjid, and a religious center as one encounters them in the USA?