Hello world

Salam John,

Welcome to IC forum.  I, too, live in what is not as the Midwest.  I am a rather recent revert to Islam having did my Shahadah (vow of faith) the first of May this year.  If you have come here to learn about Islam with a good heart and an open mind, may Allah (God) bless you and guide you to what is right.  As you will soon learn, if you are looking for controversy, IC gets its share.  Because of the situation in the Middle East, emotions get involved and well, you know how that story goes.  There are several non-Muslim Americans whose soul purpose for coming here is to spout their pro-Bush anti-Muslim sentiments and one can readily find threads slathered with political controversy.  There are also those who come here to preach Christianity to the Muslim brothers and sisters who come here; however, I am proud to say, to no avail.  I think what the non-Muslim world doesn�t understand is that Islam is more than just a religion, it is a beautiful way of life so it is truly impossible for anyone to convenience a �true� Muslims to go the way Allah has told them to stay away from.  However, Muslims do believe in all of the prophets* that Allah has guided and given as blessed messengers to humankind and we pay great respect to them all. 

Although we don�t believe that the Prophet Jesus* was the son of Allah in the way that Christians do, we do believe in his miraculous birth.  That is, we believe that Allah created him in the womb of his mother in the same manner that he created Adam.  So, the Prophet Jesus*, is not the �living god�, but rather a very special prophet whom Allah sent and whom Allah took to heaven while he was still alive (we don�t believe it was the Prophet Jesus* who was crucified).  We also believe that the Prophet Jesus will return in the End Days as was promised by Allah; however, he will not return to prophesize because Allah has told us that the Prophet Muhammad* was the seal of the prophets.  That is, he was the final prophet sent to earth.  You may wonder why that is. 

Allah has sent three Holy Books down:  The Torah through the Prophet Moses*, the Gospel through Prophet Jesus* and the Qur�an through the Prophet Muhammad*.  Although the Torah and the Gospel were revealed to the Prophet Moses* and the Prophet Jesus* without corruption, both were later corrupted by men because of their greed and lusts for this world.  When Allah revealed the Qur�an to the Prophet Moses* through the Spirit (not to be confused with the Holy Ghost which Christians believe to be a separate entity from Allah) He gave to the Angel Gabriel, He promised that it never be corrupted.  The Qur�an was meant not for the Arab world, but for all of humankind.  The Holy Qur�an that Muslim possess today is indeed the same Holy Qur�an that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad*, La- Hawla Wala Quwata Illa Bellah (nothing is impossible for Allah for He can do all things).  Since Allah sent the Qur�an, which is incorruptible for all of humankind, and a most excellent example of how to live according to it via the Prophet Muhammad (we know his life through the Sunnah, i.e., an account of his life given by his companions) there is no more need of another Holy Book or another prophet.

Yes, all Muslims are expected to learn to read and to understand the Arabic which is the language; however, I would like to say something about that.  The Arabic through which the Qur�an was revealed is not the common Arabic we find in the world today nor was it the common Arabic in the day of the Prophet Muhammad*.  It is a unique form of Arabic which cannot be imitated or used as an everyday language.  So, although there is some truth to the fact that all reverts must learn Arabic, it is not as many people believe.  There are many who learn to read and understand the Arabic of the Qur�an who never learn the Arabic languages which are spoken by Arabic in the world today.  Also, although Arab speaking Muslims are raised to speak Arabic (at least in the majority of cases), they too must learn the unique Arabic of the Qur�an.

So, hopefully you can see by what I have said that Muslims acknowledge the validity of the Holy Books that came before the time of the Prophet Muhammad* and they are taught to respect all of the prophets*; however, they also are away that human greed and the lusts for this world have created corruptions in the first two Holy Books.  This means that although they acknowledge Jews and Christians as �people of the book�, they will disagree with them regarding some fundamental issues.  The Holy Qur�an shows Muslims what Allah sent before, hence, revealing to us what corruptions were made to the Torah and Gospels.  Although we can agree with Jews and Christians on some issues of faith, we are not allowed to agree with the things where have clearly been revealed to us as corruptions.  With that being said, I would like to point out that Jews and Christians do not give Islam or those who practice it the same consideration.  Many of them simply regard Islam as a false religion, and therefore, they never bother to study the Qur�an to see for themselves what is to be found within its page.  But Allah is All-Wise, All-Knowing and as Muslims, we hold fast to Him.

I hope I have not said more than you would like to know at this time.  I simply let the Spirit guide me in this matter and Inshallah (if God is willing) I have done the bidding of Allah as His humble servant.  And I humbly pray to Allah that if you are here to honestly seek knowledge of His Way, that you will be blessed with His Divine Wisdom Inshallah.  Ameen.

Take care John.

PAZ

Khadija

*=Praise be upon him/them.

FYI, I'm an artist too...oils.

Welcome John.

I joined this forum in July and since then I have come to understand and truly respect the Muslim faith.  I hope you find this place as enlightening as I have....I'm a practicing Mormon. 

John

My name is Saif and I recently joined this forum. Good to hear that you want to learn about Islam. Just a humble advice. Whenever you gather any information about Islam please try to seperate the political & cultural Islam from the 'ideological Islam in Quran.'

I know sometimes it is not easy to seperate them but there are many cultural practices and political trends which are done in the name of Islam and there is no mention of them in Quran. A case in point is the harsh treatment of women in some parts of the world in the name of Islam but you will not find no mention of them in Quran.

Please allow me to refer a link where you may find some interesting essays on the ideology of Islam.

http://www.clearvision.com.pk/perspectives.php?func=showcat& amp;id=5

Regards

Saif

Sister herjihad

Thanks for visiting the website. Yes it is started in Pakistan. It is run by a community who want to explore Islam beyond sectarian boundries.

Let me share a thought with you. You have used a very interesting alias. The other day I was reading an article about Jihad on the net and came up with a interesting discussion where the writer was trying to say the JIHAD means struggle against evil and not 'holy war'.

I find this translation very appropriate because it gives due regard to all the efforts we do, individually or collectively, through our intellects, self, energy and money to do something good in this world. It is much better than the myopic translation 'holy war' from the days of crusades

Regards

Saif