Why should one be muslim ?

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   Salam to everyone.

I'll be straight forward. I was born muslim and I've been struggling with my faith for many years. Downs and highs like many muslims experience I think. Last summer I decided to stop that yoyo faith, and ask myself why my faith isn't steady. The answer is because I'm not fully convinced. Why am I not fully convinced? I don't really know... I could list a few things that I don't understand or even disagree with Islam, but I think my real question, the one that would give me real strong faith if it was answer is:

WHY should one be Muslim ?

To me, there are only a few types of reasons why people are/become Muslims:

You "feel" it: Somewhere inside you, you know that it's the right path. But then, one must keep in mind that in other religions too you can find people who feel something strong for their religion. Who's right, who's wrong? 

Or maybe you had that special experience (a dream, a sign, etc...). That happens in other religions too!! And allow me to say that I refuse to believe other people's experiences. You never really know what happened in their head. You can only trust YOUR own experiences, and even so, you have to be very careful. Our "unconscious" can be surprisingly misleading.

The Scientific data in the Quran: You probably heard/read thousands of times these verses that are supposed to prove something. And of course, there is a japanese/american/british scientist who's there to say how incredible that is, and that it's a miracle. When you look for that scientist on the internet... he doesnt exist or there is no reference to his opinion on Islam. And when you read the verses, they're either nothing special OR so confusing that they could mean anything.

The Miracles:

I really hate those. Miracles like "ALLAH" written on a fish....seriously??? Or trees/plants growing and forming some kind of "La Ilaha Illa Lah". Those are just fake. The last miracle I saw was that of a Jinn photographed in a cave in Yemen. Many arab newspapers were showing it frontpage, and I had many people around me who believed it. From all ages, sexes, and levels of education. But then, I found the same picture on internet, only in a different set. The "Jinn" was in fact a giant puppet in an amusement park in england.

The why:

Why would a man go through all that pain and risk his life just to deliver us a message. A book only filled with good advice for life. Don't steal, don't kill, do good, help your neighbour, give money to the poor, dont fool around, here is how you should share inheritance, etc...

So, what's in it for him? Well, I do not know. Maybe it was just a clever way to rule the country? Offer justice to people in need and they'll follow you. Maybe he was very clever, some kind of genius of politics.

I have a few other general remarks and questions:

The fact that it's important to read the Quran in arabic also bothers me. You have to master arabic if you hope to understand a smal portion of the Quran! That's what I heard. Even the best scholars don't master the Quran fully. Far from that.

So, What is God expecting from us exactly? Imagine I was born a chinaman, and one day I decided to look for the truth, search God. To be completely honest in my search, I should learn hebrew, the latin, arabic, maybe hindi ????

That's another problem. To be completely honest about your faith quest, you should read about allll the religions that exist. Or at least the main religions. Imagine you have to learn the original language of each religion to fully understand it.

Today, the only thing I'm certain of is that God exists. I'm just not sure about Islam anymore.

How can you answer me? And please, don't shoot. I'm a honest person, asking honest questions, honestly looking for answers.

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abdelhamidem Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Starter Joined: 06 June 2006 Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote abdelhamidem Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 April 2010 at 9:02am
	Salam to everyone. I'll be straight forward. I was born muslim and I've been struggling with my faith for many years. Downs and highs like many muslims experience I think. Last summer I decided to stop that yoyo faith, and ask myself why my faith isn't steady. The answer is because I'm not fully convinced. Why am I not fully convinced? I don't really know... I could list a few things that I don't understand or even disagree with Islam, but I think my real question, the one that would give me real strong faith if it was answer is: WHY should one be Muslim ? To me, there are only a few types of reasons why people are/become Muslims: You "feel" it: Somewhere inside you, you know that it's the right path. But then, one must keep in mind that in other religions too you can find people who feel something strong for their religion. Who's right, who's wrong? Or maybe you had that special experience (a dream, a sign, etc...). That happens in other religions too!! And allow me to say that I refuse to believe other people's experiences. You never really know what happened in their head. You can only trust YOUR own experiences, and even so, you have to be very careful. Our "unconscious" can be surprisingly misleading. The Scientific data in the Quran: You probably heard/read thousands of times these verses that are supposed to prove something. And of course, there is a japanese/american/british scientist who's there to say how incredible that is, and that it's a miracle. When you look for that scientist on the internet... he doesnt exist or there is no reference to his opinion on Islam. And when you read the verses, they're either nothing special OR so confusing that they could mean anything. The Miracles: I really hate those. Miracles like "ALLAH" written on a fish....seriously??? Or trees/plants growing and forming some kind of "La Ilaha Illa Lah". Those are just fake. The last miracle I saw was that of a Jinn photographed in a cave in Yemen. Many arab newspapers were showing it frontpage, and I had many people around me who believed it. From all ages, sexes, and levels of education. But then, I found the same picture on internet, only in a different set. The "Jinn" was in fact a giant puppet in an amusement park in england. The why: Why would a man go through all that pain and risk his life just to deliver us a message. A book only filled with good advice for life. Don't steal, don't kill, do good, help your neighbour, give money to the poor, dont fool around, here is how you should share inheritance, etc... So, what's in it for him? Well, I do not know. Maybe it was just a clever way to rule the country? Offer justice to people in need and they'll follow you. Maybe he was very clever, some kind of genius of politics. I have a few other general remarks and questions: The fact that it's important to read the Quran in arabic also bothers me. You have to master arabic if you hope to understand a smal portion of the Quran! That's what I heard. Even the best scholars don't master the Quran fully. Far from that. So, What is God expecting from us exactly? Imagine I was born a chinaman, and one day I decided to look for the truth, search God. To be completely honest in my search, I should learn hebrew, the latin, arabic, maybe hindi ???? That's another problem. To be completely honest about your faith quest, you should read about allll the religions that exist. Or at least the main religions. Imagine you have to learn the original language of each religion to fully understand it. Today, the only thing I'm certain of is that God exists. I'm just not sure about Islam anymore. How can you answer me? And please, don't shoot. I'm a honest person, asking honest questions, honestly looking for answers.