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Hello! I am new and here to learn

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roux View Drop Down
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Joined: 11 May 2005
Location: United States
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    Posted: 11 May 2005 at 3:07pm

Hello!
I am an American and raised Christian.  I am not extremely religious, but I am more spiritual than anything.
I have recently known of a man who is Muslim from Libya and this has piqued my curiosity into Islam.

With my generation (I am 27) I am learning there will be many changes to come with the meeting of new cultures and beliefs.  I live and work in a place where there are many cultures and very diverse.

I have tried reading some excerpts out of the Quran online but dont quite understand the english translations.
I do not understand the prayers in posts or what they mean.

Even though some people I know (including my family) are not open to learning about Arab culture and/or Islam, I am here to learn about Islam and what other Muslims think and have to share about their religion.
I think knowing and understanding people is what creates unity.
I do not know the culture very well and will try not to offend anyone, afterall that is why I am here!

I hope to have some positive exchanges in the forum and learn and share.

thank you
~roux

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Tasneem View Drop Down
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Joined: 28 April 2005
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tasneem Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 May 2005 at 6:33pm

Welcome Roux. I am glad you have come here with an open mind.

Islam is a universal religion not specific to any country or culture. While Islam originated in Saudi Arabia where the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was born, it has spread throughout the world. Consequently, people's practice of Islam has been influenced by varying degrees, to the country/cultural backgrounds that they come from. However, there are some basic tenets of Islam which every Muslim follows and the first and most important one is the belief in one God also called "Tauhid". God is the only one, is unique, incomparable, the creator and sustainer of the Universe. He neither begets nor is begotten and there is none like Him. Muslims believe that this message of the oneness of God was brought to mankind by all the messengers from Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus but along the line somewhere it got distorted ie man changed that message and started associating others with God. The final messenger was the Prophet Mohammed who for the final time set right the message and the truth of the oneness of God. 

As all of creation is from God who sustains His creation it is imperative that we obey His commands. These commands are set out in the Holy Quran and in the teachings of Prophet Mohammed which Muslims everywhere irrespecive of their cultural backgrounds follow. The Holy Quran is the speech of God revealed to the prophet Mohammed through the angel Gabriel. Muslims believe in the life of the hereafter and that we will all be held accountable for our deeds in this temporary life of ours. The concept of original sin is not there in Islam and every individual will only be held accountable for only his/her deeds.

There are a number of translations of the Holy Quran in English and some very good translators. But as they are all translations from Arabic of the highest form it has not been possible for the translators to give an accurate translation of every word, so it is possible that the right word in the English language either does not exist or not found so the translators have done their best to give as close a meaning as possible. I have found this website very useful which gives the translation of every verse of the Quran by three different translators. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/

I hope you will find the reading useful on the above site and to improve your understanding you could get hold of a copy of the English translation with commentary. (one good translation I would recommend is by Yusuf Ali, though many would not agree with me). There are also some very good books such as Towards Understanding Islam by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi and A Brief Illustrated Guide to understanding Islam by I.A Ibrahim. The latter is generally available free of cost. If you can't find them I would be happy to mail it out to you free of cost of course.

I am sure members on this forum including myself will be able to help you in understanding Islam and to answer any specific questions you may have.



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bigmohammad View Drop Down
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Joined: 13 May 2005
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bigmohammad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2005 at 1:58pm

 Salam alaikum,

                          I will like to help you with any question you ask me,you can write me here or to my yahoo adress ( [email protected] ) for more information about me.

   Thank you.

    Wassalamu Alaikum.
====
Admin:
4. Use of upper case and bold (font) is not permissible for the whole of the message body, however it may be used to add emphasis to words or phrases contained within your message.



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icforumadmin View Drop Down
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Joined: 15 February 2005
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote icforumadmin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 May 2005 at 10:25pm

Dear Roux,

Well come to islamicity forum. Hope you enjoy your stay. You can also get quran in audio or text in many different languages from the following link. In english there is yusuf alai translation and pictal taranlation.

http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch/

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/quran/

If you want to get free hard copy of the quran and other islamic literatures you can go to:

http://www.islamicity.com/freeliterature/

Islam 101:

http://www.islamicity.com/education/understandingislamandmus lims/



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Best Regards & Peace,

Admin
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