Things in Islam I am curious about...

[Kashnowe]

All the Prophets said that you're God is only One God, the One who created you, the One who sustains you, the One who causes you to die and the One who you will be ressurected by on the Day of Judgement.


They all called their people to worship God Alone and not to have any 'intercessors' with God, since God is the All-Hearing, All Seeing so He can respond to their prayers directly. It was the way of the misguided people before to say that God has children, and that God has associates etc. When all that is false and complete lies against the Most Compassionate.


All the Prophets said to their people "shun all false deities, worship the One who Sustains you Alone and obey me" - they wouldn't ask for reward off their people since their reward is with Allaah, and none would ever say evil about God and say that you should worship me along with God, rather they would say worship the One who created you and all you have.


This is the exact same message revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him.) Why wouldn't it be? When all the previous messages were distorted and they can't agree on a common scripture together; where people claimed that a certain race is superior to the rest of humanity? Or that God is in 3 parts? This is pure fabrication and a lie against God when He Himself said that 'I am your Lord, so worship Me Alone.' So don't pray to others, don't bow to others, don't ask anyone to intercede on your behalf to God, rather pray to Him directly, the One who created you, and sustains you, the One who will cause you to die, and the One who will ressurect you once again.

and another thing......if all the prophets have the same message why then is mohammed any more special than the others?

 

[- Qatada -]

confused again

this says Abraham was a muslim. i read numerous places on this board that to be a muslim one must believe in one God *and* that Mohammed was the last prophet.
How then can Abraham be a muslim if he came before Mohammed?

by the definition above i am a muslim. i submit myself to God.

For one to be muslim, they have to believe in the Messenger sent to them and submit to God. The final Messenger of God sent to humanity is Muhammad (peace be upon him) and therefore anyone who lives after he recieved the message has to listen and obey. If they accept some messengers while rejecting others - they are disbelieving since they are taking God's message in jest.

Abraham was a Prophet of God, and those who believed that he was a prophet of God, and submitted with the laws revealed to him - then they were also muslims. Muslim comes from the root word Islaam, and Islaam means submission to God. Therefore Islaam has always been the religion of all the Prophets, including the religion of Prophet Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and all 124,000 prophets who came to mankind.

Those who prefer the life of this world instead of the Hereafter, and hinder (men) from the Path of Allâh (i.e.Islâm) and seek crookedness therein - They are far astray.

And We sent not a Messenger except with the language of his people, in order that he might make (the Message) clear for them. Then Allâh misleads whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

[Qur'an Surah Ibrahim [Abraham] 14: 3-4]


​

Those who are sincere and turn to God for guidance, He bestows upon them guidance and gives them a good life in this world and a great reward of Paradise in the one to come. Whereas those who disbelieve will face hardship in this life, and the punishment of the hereafter is much greater. No soul bears the burden of another, and man will only get what he strived for. This was the religion of all the prophets, yet most of mankind still turns away when the clear signs come to them.

​

 

[- Qatada -]

and another thing......if all the prophets have the same message why then is mohammed any more special than the others?

All the Prophets are great in the sight of the believers, we don't say evil about any of them. They are all great and honorable in the sight of God also, and He will reward them with a great reward, and He will also give a great reward to those who submit to God in this life and accept the Messenger sent to them.

Muhammad (peace be upon him) came to all of humanity, whereas all the previous came to their own nations. This means we obey him and the law revealed to him, and this law will remain intact until the Day of Judgement. This is why we follow him. Whereas the message revealed to the Messiah son of Mary has been altered, since christians can't agree on a common copy together, whereas we as muslims have the revelation revealed to God's final Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) without alteration still today. So we submit and obey.


This does not mean that we say that any prophets are lower than others, rather they are all honorable and great in the sight of God, and also in our sight. Yet we obey the final Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him) since this message is preserved for us by God, whereas the rest have either been lost, or aren't preserved anyway.



Regards.

 

[Kashnowe]

according to Islam are all babies born muslims?

 

[- Qatada -]

Fitrah - Natural Disposition.


All babies are born upon the state of Fitrah, which means that they believe that there is only One God - and that none is worthy of worship except Him. I.e. if someone said to a young child if God is One - they would agree, if the person said that God is more than One - the child would ask something like - if they fight, who will win? If One god lost, then the other would be weak and therefore that couldn't be a God.

If the child was asked - can god be in the creation, then the child would say 'what about the bathroom?' Similarly if someone was to say that God is in three parts, it simply doesn't make sense. God is One and none is worthy of worship except Him Alone [i.e. prayers, having divine love/hope/fear etc. for Him alone etc.]


All this is common sense since the child has logic also, and this is part of the Fitrah. If someone asks a child where is God? The child would probably point towards the sky, saying He is above us. That is also true since we know that God is not within His creation, rather He is above us and aware of what the Creation is doing and mankind will without a doubt return to Him to be judged on all that they did in this short life.

Also - if the child was to be forced to do an evil act - the child wouldn't want to do it since they would feel guilty. Why? Because the way God 'programmed' us is in a way that we know that a certain thing is good, and a certain thing is evil.


However the fitrah can be altered by society, thats why a child may agree that something is good while they are a child, however - once they become older they may start doing alot of evil and therefore their fitrah may get altered so they enjoy doing that evil.



Due to the different societies - some societies may allow prostitution for example whereas another may abhor it. This is due to the disbelief and misguidance of people, so due to this - God sends mankind Messengers on where mankind differed. The Prophets come with clear signs, they call to the worship and obedience of God Alone.

They tell their people what truelly is good or bad in the sight of God, and they don't ask their people for reward, rather they are the best among their people. They are honest, trustworthy, and they call people to do good i.e. Enjoining the good/forbidding the evil, calling the people worship God Alone, to establish prayer, to help the needy, to enjoin the ties of kinship, to help mankind. This is the basic message of all the prophets. The Messiah son of Mary called to this, so did Moses, so did Abraham, so did Muhammad, and all the prophets did. There may only be minor social law differences, and this depends upon the people and the time/cultural norms etc.



Sorry for dragging it on lol, but i hope i answered your question.



Regards.

 

[Kashnowe]

oh yes that answered my question quite well and clearly. i appreciate it.


soooooooo..........if a man claims to be muslim bcause he believes in one God and Mohammed as the last prophet and lives a life of sin and debauchery, eats pork, commits zina every day........doesn't read the quran, doesn't pray. is he still a muslim? (i know someone like this and its confusing to me)

in that sense are the suicide bombers still muslims when they die?
will they go to heaven?

 

[Kashnowe]

what keeps a muslim out of heaven?

 

[- Qatada -]

oh yes that answered my question quite well and clearly. i appreciate it.

Kool.

soooooooo..........if a man claims to be muslim bcause he believes in one God and Mohammed as the last prophet and lives a life of sin and debauchery, eats pork, commits zina every day........doesn't read the quran, doesn't pray. is he still a muslim? (i know someone like this and its confusing to me)

That person - if they truelly believe in God and His Messenger, are classed as a 'sinner' or 'faasiq.' The scholars have a difference of opinion in regard to the one who doesn't pray at all, some say that the one who gives up on his prayer and stops performing it may be termed as a disbeliever. Since there is a narration linked back to God's Messenger who said that the difference between us and them is the prayer, the 'them' in that hadith is referring to the disbelievers. And Allaah knows best. However, even if a believer sins and does all the major sins - they may be punished in the hellfire for a temporary amount of time (God knows how long) and purified there. But even if they have an atom of faith, Allaah is not unjust to His servants, so in the end - that servant will end up in Paradise. And Allaah knows best.

The reason why the ones who associate partners with God won't be rewarded in the hereafter is because the person either never believed in the meeting with their Lord, and they made others as equals with Him in worship, and they felt too arrogant to worship Him and accept His Messengers' even when the clear signs came to them.

This is why on the Day of Judgement - Allaah will tell the people to get the reward off the one they worshipped, i.e. if someone worshipped a stone idol - they will be expected to get their reward off that stone idol, if someone worshipped a human [i.e. a human/pious human/prophet Jesus etc.] then they will be asked to get their reward off them - however these people won't be able to reward anyone either since God is the Only One who will have authority on that day. And they will be thrown into the fire along with the deity they associated as a partner with Allaah [so in regard to christians - it would be the cross, not the Messiah son of Mary.] Whereas those who worshipped God Alone and accepted the Messenger sent to them - they will have their reward off God/Allaah since they only worshipped Him Alone. We pray that Allaah makes us of them, ameen.

in that sense are the suicide bombers still muslims when they die?
will they go to heaven?

I'm not sure, the scholars have a difference of opinion on that. We leave that up to Allaah Almighty to decide.

 

[- Qatada -]

what keeps a muslim out of heaven?

It may be the persons sins, however they may have had loads of sins and repented to God sincerely with the intention of not doing that sin again, and fixing up the error they had with another person. So Allaah may forgive them on that day.

Allaah is the Most Compassionate and sooo kind to His servants, He has bestowed upon us so much in this life without us even striving for it [i.e. our sight, hearing, food, and every ability/blessing we have.] We also know that the original home for Adam and his wife was Paradise, and after they commited their sin - they repented to God so Allaah forgave them, and they prayed that they could return back to it. Allaah said that He would send upon them and their family revelation over time, and after they would die - they would be raised back up and be judged on the Day of Ressurection. Then those who worshipped Allaah alone and obeyed the Messenger would be rewarded, this is why we know that our father Adam and his wife will return to paradise, and we hope to be with them also.


So the original home for the children of Adam IS paradise, however - most of mankind is lead astray by the lures & deceptions of this life, to the extent where they turn away from the Messenger, when all he does is call them to do good and to shun evil. But alot of mankind is rebellious. Think about it - if God gave us all this good (of this world) without us striving for it, imagine the good He has in store for us if we did strive for His reward of Paradise!

 

[Woodrow]

according to Islam are all babies born muslims?

Brother Fi answered that quite well. I would just like to add the emotional touch and personal experience.

I think that question can be answered best from the hearts of reverts. Every revert I know, including myself, has made the statement that reverting was like returning home to where you know you originally where. It is difficult to explain that, but it is such a strong feeling of KNOWING you were always a Muslim and had returned upon saying the Shahadah.

That was the first thing I felt when I reverted. At that time, I had never heard a revert ever say that and I thought I was the first person to feel that, until I met other reverts and they all said the same thing.

 

[Kashnowe]

Brother Fi answered that quite well. I would just like to add the emotional touch and personal experience.

I think that question can be answered best from the hearts of reverts. Every revert I know, including myself, has made the statement that reverting was like returning home to where you know you originally where. It is difficult to explain that, but it is such a strong feeling of KNOWING you were always a Muslim and had returned upon saying the Shahadah.

That was the first thing I felt when I reverted. At that time, I had never heard a revert ever say that and I thought I was the first person to feel that, until I met other reverts and they all said the same thing.

i have heard several born again christians say the same thing.


so i've been reading about the mahdi or mehdi and i have come accross conflicting info.

some sites say muslims do no believe in the mahdi. some say they do. some sites say jesus will appear with the mahdi and they will work as sidekicks i na way to restore peace. some say when the mahdi coems it will be judgement day others say it will be just to restore peace on earth and establish the true religion to all the 'disbelievers'. i also see that mahdi is not in the quran anywhere.

so whats the deal with mahdi?

 

[- Qatada -]

The Mahdi is someone who will help the muslims, there is a narration recorded in Abi Dawud which mentions that every century there will be someone who will revive Islaam for the muslims [known as a Mujaddid.] These people don't bring anything new into the religion, they just call back to it [the teachings of Qur'an and Authentic Sunnah.] The scholars agree that Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (who ruled with total justice etc.) and he was the first reviver on the first century of Hijrah. And there were others as time has progressed.


The Mahdi will also be a Mujaddid and he won't bring any new message, nor will he be a prophet of Allaah. But he has been prophecised by the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) also - & he will also revive Islaam and remove injustice on the earth the same way it was spread with injustice before. He will come at a time when the final hour will be drawing near, we know that this is the case because the final hour is closely approaching - because many other prophecies related to the closeness of the final hour are already taking place today.


Maybe you'd like to check this thread out for more info related to that:
http://www.islamicboard.com/akhira-hereafter/3428-signs-before-day-judgement.html


If you're confused about the Messiah - Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon them) returning to the earth, he will also come as a follower and apply the law which was revealed to Allaah's final Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him.) Since we know that he wasn't killed, rather he was raised to the heavens by Allaah for a temporary amount of time, until Allaah wills for him to return. He will be the leader of the muslims while the Mahdi is still alive.


Since the Mahdi won't be able to kill the anti-christ, it will be Jesus son of Mary himself who will kill the christ.

"Ibn Mas'ood reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "On the night of the Israa' (night journey), I met my father Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and they discussed the Hour. The matter was referred first to Abraham, then to Moses, and both said, 'I have no knowledge of it'. Then it was referred to Jesus, who said, 'No one knows about its timing except Allah; what my Lord told me was that the Dajjaal [the anti-christ] will appear, and when he sees me he will begin to melt like lead. Allah will destroy him when he sees me. The Muslims will fight against the disbelievers, and even the trees and rocks will say, "O Muslim, there is a disbeliever hiding beneath me - come and kill him!" Allah will destroy the disbelievers, and the people will return to their lands. Then Gog and Magog will appear from all directions, eating and drinking everything they found. The people will complain to me, so I will pray to Allah and He will destroy them, so that the earth will be filled with their stench. Allah will send rain which will wash their bodies into the sea. My Lord has told me that when that happens, the HOUR WILL BE VERY CLOSE, LIKE A PREGNANT WOMAN WHOSE TIME IS DUE, BUT HER FAMILY DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHEN SHE WILL DELIVER."

[Recorded in Ahmad, Musnad, 1/375. Similar Hadith in Ibn Maajah, Kitaab al-Fitan (hadith 4081), 2/1365, 1366]



The fighting is between the believers and the followers of the anti-christ, and Allaah knows best.



​

So the Messiah son of Mary will come back and fight the anti-christ while the Mahdi is among the believers, and Jesus son of Mary will be the leader of the believers. He will clarify to the people that there is none worthy of worship except God Alone, and that he is the servant and Messiah of God. He will break the cross. The world will be filled with believers, and he will be a just ruler.



And Allaah Almighty knows best.


Regards.

 

[Grace Seeker]

I think it's quite obvious that Muhammad is God's final Messenger since he came with the same message as all the previous prophets.

Can you proive that all the others prophets had this same message WITHOUT appealing to something written after the 6th century?

Yes, I agree that all of the prophets said that we are to worship only one God. But can you prove that they said it? For me the proof would be in the Bible, but you don't accept it. So, what proof do you have? And if you accept the Bible for this proof, will you then also accpet the other things that they Bible teaches that the prophets said. If so, then we can begin the process of comparing the messages. If you will not, and you will only accept those verses that you find in agreement with your views, then we still have no basis to discuss for I submit that this would be the equivelance of setting yourself up as the arbitrator of all truth and I will only accept God in that role.

 

[- Qatada -]

Can you proive that all the others prophets had this same message WITHOUT appealing to something written after the 6th century?

Nowhere did Jesus son of Mary call/tell people to worship him - it's not even mentioned in the bible either, nor did any other Prophet - ask the Jews and they will tell you that also. So yeah, all that is a proof that the Prophets called to the worship of God Alone. Especially in regard to the Old Testament where its stated that your God is One God and that none is worthy of worship except Him. And this is the exact same message revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) since he is the final Messenger.


I agree by the way, that i won't accept all the aspects of the Bible since i can't agree on a copy with you, nor can the protestants or the catholics. So how can i as an outsider actually know which one is true? Is there actually any solid, authentic evidence to prove to me that what is mentioned in a certain version is the true revelation revealed to Jesus son of Mary? I can't, nor can the christians.

This is why the Qur'an is the Criterion, since the christians are in a state of confusion; some saying that Jesus was actually god and died? While others saying that he is one of three parts which equals one? Or others saying that he is just a man. So its quite hard to come upon a common agreement when the christians themselves are in a state of confusion. What's better? - One Book directly from God which is preserved? Or many different books which people are unsure of?

 

[Grace Seeker]

Nowhere did Jesus son of Mary call/tell people to worship him - it's not even mentioned in the bible either, nor did any other Prophet - ask the Jews and they will tell you that also. So yeah, all that is a proof that the Prophets called to the worship of God Alone. Especially in regard to the Old Testament where its stated that your God is One God. And this is the exact same message revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him.)

Does your answer mean that you do accept the message(s) of the prophets as it was recorded and has been handed down to us in the Bible in use today?

 

[- Qatada -]

Nope, since the groups themselves can't come upon a common agreement. Sorry.


No matter how many sects there are in Islaam [which has been prophecised already] - we all stick to One Divine Book atleast [The Qur'an.] Yet having differences in ones divine book means that there must be a real state of confusion and falsehood since no-one knows which is the truth from the falsehood. And why would God leave the people astray like this? So to confirm what came before, and to abrogate other areas - He revealed His final revelation to His final Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him.)

This book will be preserved until the final hour, and there have never been any changes since it's been revealed. That is the Mercy of God upon mankind, and the praise is for Him who has Power over all things, and He is the Most Wise, All Knowing.

 

[Grace Seeker]

Nope, since the groups themselves can't come upon a common agreement. Sorry.

Then your statement about the prophets believing and teaching what is in the Quran is based on the Quran and the Hadith. (Sort of like when Nixon announced he was not a crook, and we were to believe him because he himself told us that he was not a crook.) That may be good enough for someone who is already a Muslim. But why should someone who isn't a Muslim accept it?

 

[- Qatada -]

Yeah, i agree - the Qur'an and the Sunnah is sufficient for mankind.



Regards.

 

[MustafaMc]

Does your answer mean that you do accept the message(s) of the prophets as it was recorded and has been handed down to us in the Bible in use today?

I agree with Br. Fi_Sabilillah that the Bible does not contain the messages revealed through the prophets. For example, even the NT gospels contain relatively few words attributed to have been said by Jesus (pbuh). We reject so-called "Divine inspiration" of the actual authors of the books of the Bible. It has been said several times before that the NT is more similar to the hadith than it is to the Quran. There is no question that every word of the Quran was spoken by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Correct me if I am wrong, but there are not even 2 verses in 2 of the 4 gospels referencing the same situation where Jesus (pbuh) is quoted as having said exactly the same thing ver batim.

Sorry to say, but it seems that we have an impasse as we clearly have 2 different sets of assumptions/criteria that can't be compromised by either.

 

[Kashnowe]

lets see.....so from what i've read here then muslims believe that Jesus is the savior....maybe not a few thousand years ago but sometime in the future.



ok so the quran is written in arabic. and non muslims are not permitted to even touch it. how does this promote the spread of islam?

lets say t here is a poor american man married with 4 children who works 2 jobs. he can not take time to learn arabic because his whole day is spent in some way caring for his family. to learn arabic to read the quran would take him years. and he is not permitted to the mosque because he is not muslim. is he just then doomed?

that same man could be in any country in the world. and he could find a bible written in his language and he could read it. one of the great things about the bible is that it is translated into hundreds of languages.......and available to all people .

so in a way i find islam to be very distant and unpersonal. you might feel closeness to the quran because you understand it. but according to what i read here....even if i read an english translation it is basically irrelevant b/c the messages are somehow lost in translation. so is the same for billions of people on this earth right now. and then i read that muslims don't try to teach others and spread islam throughout the world. people are supposed to seek it. that doesn't seem very loving to me.




so mohammed himself wrote the quran right?

well to me much of islam relies on the hadith(s?) i think they insult the quran. i thought the quran was all a muslim should rely on. theres much about islam that is in these hadiths that mohammed never wrote down. don't you think if God felt all these rules and traditions in the hadith to be important then he would have just instructed mohammed to put it all in the quran? seems to me all this arguments about the bible being translated are silly when much of what determines how you live as a muslim is based on a hadith which is not even the word of God. its the word of man.




sorry if my thoguhts here seem scattered. i'm very tired today.