Hello everyone, I'll try to keep this short and to the point. I was raised in a mostly Protestant family with a weak religious upbringing. I've studied a variety of religions such as Hinduism and most recently Judaism. I rejected Christianity at an early age due to it being what I consider pagan and idolotrous due to the worship of God in physical form with a body. I reject Hinduism's use of physical forms of God as well. With Judaism I thought I finally had arrived at home but recently skepticism has begun. I really hate to be doing so much "religion shopping" because it certainly is not a game to me. Basically I consider myself a monotheist who believes in taking God very seriously as much as I can try to attain. Interestingly, the deeper I have gotten into Judaism, the more it seems to compare to Islam. Yet I feel that there is too much of a Christianization and Westernization of Judaism that I feel really detracts from its true purpose. I strongly believe in submission to God and I'm finding this to be lacking in liberal Judaism. Traditional Judaism is more in tune with my values and beliefs yet conversion is made extremely difficult. My goal here on these boards is to learn about and appreciate Islam whether or not I ultimately revert. Thanks!
Peace be with you FaithandPeace. Welcome to the Forum. What a beautiful choice for a username.
Islam is uniquely simple, and the Message that God sent with his final Messenger Muhammd can be summed up in this short verse.
Say[O Muhammad], "I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone."
[Quran Surat 18 verse 110]
I pray that you benefit from your stay here, and that Allah, The One and Only, Lord of Adam, Noah, Ibrahim, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them all, guide you to the Truth. Ameen
You've actually motivated me to more speedily finish up an article I've been writing, although I don’t know if it can help much with this.
What exactly do you want to know?
Peace be to any prophets I may have mentioned above. Praised and exalted be my Maker, if I have mentioned Him. (Come to think of it praise Him anyway.)
Welcome to Islamic board my sister in humanity! It makes me really happy to hear that you want to learn about Islam. It is a beautiful religion and a way of life, indeed. We have so knowledgable and intelligent brothers and sisters here, so you are free to ask anything you want.
Salaam and thank you! I guess I could start by browsing the forum. I am interested in hearing revert stories including what people found missing from their former traditions that ultimately led them to Islam.
I remember religion browsing. It was extremely tiring. Regardless of what you ultimately decide, I hope you find you time here useful.
Thank you! Yes it does get tiring. I've really gotten to the point where spiritual matters are made unnecessarily complicated when they don't need to be. Either one believes in one God and only one God or the don't. And if they do then it would make sense to follow some kind of a logical path in worship and living a righteous life. I feel a very strong relationship with God in my heart but I feel like I should be backing that up with actions. I've admired Islam for a long time because it does seem to provide a sensible spiritual and righteous path without over complicating things. So I'll try to stick around here and see what I can learn.
I am interested in hearing revert stories including what people found missing from their former traditions that ultimately led them to Islam.
Welcome to the forum. I hope that you find your stay here beneficial. Here is my story of conversion from Protestant Christianity to Islam. http://www.islamicboard.com/new-musl...tml#post694454 It was not so much what I found lacking in Christianity, but rather that I was and yet remain a seeker who was guided to a different path. Previously, I had been seeking within the Christian paradigm centered around Jesus, but during college I had a paradigm shift after reading the Qur'an whereby I no longer perceived God and Jesus as being one and the same, but rather as distinct entities. My new paradigm centers around the Oneness and Unity of God within the framwork of what was revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
From my perspective, relatively little changed in my belief system from Christianity to Islam although those changes are fundamental in essence. The transition to becoming a Muslim has been gradual and marked by repeated starts and stops until nearly 12 years ago. I am thankful that God has willed that I have remained so far on the path I feel chosen to travel.
I've admired Islam for a long time because it does seem to provide a sensible spiritual and righteous path without over complicating things.
One thing about the differences between Islam, Judaism and Christianity is the spiritual vs. the legalistic aspects of religion. I see Christianity as heavy on the spiritual and serving others, but light on the rituals and rules to the point where even eating pork is allowed. I see Judaism as heavy on the ritual and light on the spiritual to the point where one does not even have to believe in God to be considered a Jew. I see Islam as a balance between Christianity and Judaism; however, there yet exists diversity in the application of Islam with one extreme focusing more on the spiritual and the other more on the legal. Finding the golden middle ground can be difficult at times.
Peace be to any prophets I may have mentioned above. Praised and exalted be my Maker, if I have mentioned Him. (Come to think of it praise Him anyway.)
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can be summed up in this short verse.
Re: Want to learn about Islam
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