A chance to better understand Muslims?

Question

Okay, I’m tired oh the stereotypes on Islam. I am hoping that a good member of the Muslim community might explain what there religion is really about, rather then what extremists shout on T.V.

P.S. No one say anything rude, every religion has its nut jobs who make us all look like fools.

Thank you all so much. Although I still do not know everything (which I expected), the responses have been great. I am still a faithful Christian, I do not believe I can change that, but I now think that perhaps we should also take in the lessons of the Qur’an with our own lessons. Maybe I will ask my neighbor if I can he has an English version that I may read (my neighbor is fallows Islam, and he is an amazingly good person).

Now I saw some things that implied (at least I think they did) some things about Christian beliefs, that I would like to clear up.

I would like to clarify that I am not Catholic, so I do not believe I need a priest to communicate with God(easier for some to understand if I just use the word “God” to refer to the one and only Lord).That is only done in the Catholic church (to m knowledge)

We also believe that a personal relationship with God is very important. That we should ask God to guide us and give us the strength to do His will (Fallow the laws laid

Thank you all so much. Although I still do not know everything (which I expected), the responses have been great. I am still a faithful Christian, I do not believe I can change that, but I now think that perhaps we should also take in the lessons of the Qur’an with our own lessons. Maybe I will ask my neighbor if I can he has an English version that I may read (my neighbor is fallows Islam, and he is an amazingly good person).

Now I saw some things that implied (at least I think they did) some things about Christian beliefs, that I would like to clear up.

I would like to clarify that I am not Catholic, so I do not believe I need a priest to communicate with God(easier for some to understand if I just use the word “God” to refer to the one and only Lord).That is only done in the Catholic church (to m knowledge)

We also believe that a personal relationship with God is very important. That we should ask God to guide us and give us the strength to do His will (Fallow the laws laid

Answer 1

www.islamtomorrow.com, islamalways.com If yyou want to learn about my religion any questions any time are welcomed :)

Peace be upon you :)

Answer 2

First of all we believe that there is only one God. We call him Allah. We believe that Muhammed (pbuh) was the messenger of God, the final messenger. He was a Prophet, one of a line of Prophets that include Abraham(pbuh), Moses(pbuh), Noah(pbuh) and Jesus (pbuh). (The pbuh means Peace Be Upon Him and it put there as a sign of respect. ). Our religion teaches us to respect Christians and Jews as the "People of the book" We believe in the Koran which confirms what was revealed to earlier messengers of Allah. (Like the Bible and the Torah). The difference is that the Koran still exists today in its origional form, it has been translated but the origional form still exists. It was written in Arabic and a scholar can go back and compare any translation to the origional and make sure that this is a correct intrepretation. The Bible had mankind deciding what part to be included and excluded, the dead sea scrolls were possibly part at some time, the Agnostic Bible also. It has been revised and there have been several versions. The Koran is an amazing book, it is not a book of history or of revelations like the Bible, it is more a guide book for us on how to live our daily lives. It tells us of things that were not known at that time like how a baby is formed in the womb, or how the mountains act as a stabilizing force on the surface of the earth. Things that we not accept as fact but that were not known at the time of the Prophet. It is a book that we can use in our everyday lives. I cannot explain it all in this space but there are several good websites that I have listed, please go to them and you can see what I mean. Dont let a bunch of extremists decide for you about Islam, read the Koran, read the site and make up your own mind.

Answer 3

That's very nice of you. Most of us are not nut jobs ;-)

The very word "Islam" means peace and submission - to God. The same God that Jews and Christians worship, NO MATTER WHAT YOU READ ELSEWHERE. There is nothing paganistic about it. Quite a simple concept - there is NO god but THE God (Allah = the Arabic word for God). He has no compeers, no family, no equals, no sons or daughters. To suggest such is to blaspheme Him.

There have been many great prophets over time, trying to teach God's words. Including Abraham, Moses, Jesus (yes, him too!), and Muhammad. Each time people began to follow the words but then strayed again. Muhammad was the world's last chance, God said after this no more prophets. If we haven't gotten a clue by now, then too bad.

Muslims greatly revere Jesus and his virgin mother Mary. Abraham and Moses are also very important. All of these people are in the Quran.

True Islam condemns all acts of violence, killing, and suicide. Those who are doing such, especially in the name of Islam, are uneducated nut jobs. The rest of us Muslims are SOOO embarrassed that this is happening.

I hope this information has helped you a bit. Check this site too:
soundvision.com

Salams (peace) to you.

Answer 4

Islam is about love and peace, and learning to live with others...
Islam mainly is based on five pillars:

1) Testifying that there is no God but Allah (there's only one God to worship) and that Mohamme (PBUH) is the Prophet of Allah (but not the only one)

2) Praying (five times a day in set times and set number of prayers)

3) Fasting in the Holy Month of Ramadan

4) Giving Money to the poor (2.5 of what you own once a year)

5) Going to Makkah for Hajj (pilgrimage; but only those who can afford it MUST go)

This was just a quick glance on the 5 Pillars of Islam. I advice you to check out the websites in the other posts...Thnk u

Answer 5

There are plenty of websites that can give you a broad understanding of what Islam and being a Muslim is all about. There are also English translations of the Quaran out there.

I too am sick of the nut jobs. They seem to get the most press time.

Answer 6

5 pillars of faith
1) testimony that there is no God but God (ALLAH) and that Muhammad(pbuh*) is the messenger of God
2) Prayer 5 times daily
3) Chartiy by feeding the poor and providing upkeep for places of prayer (ZAKAH)=money
4) Fasting during daylight hours for one month by not eating pork, drinking acohol and other types of foods, and by not eating, drinking, or smoking during daylight hours for one month(the muslim month of Ramadan)
5) Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in each muslim's life
Islam promotes peace. Murder in any form is prohibited in Islam. Terrorists are going against Islam and ALLAH. Abortion is of course murder. War is not permitted at all unless the threat of the Islamic state or the people are at risk of being hurt. Women, elderly, and children are not to be killed in war. Men can have 4 wives as long as they can treat them justly and fairly. If not then they should just take one wife. The reason for this is to provide the women with a sense of security and protection as well as some cases women outnumber men. Honor killings and other horrific acts are forbidden in Islam. When praying a Muslim prayers in the direction of the Qiblah in Mecca. When prayer is performed all work stops so that every muslim who is able can get to a mosque. Women are required to wear a veil in public. They may not recieve or entertain men in their home without the husband or father's knowledge. Every muslim is required and strongly encouraged to get an education. Women can ask a man for protection on the streets from a man if they choose to do so to protect themselves from being harmed. Both men and women can own property and women can work if they want too. However they do not have to take part in any finanacial obligations at all. A woman keeps all her property when she marries and if she works she has the right to keep and spend her money how she likes. A woman can not leave the house without the permission of her husband or father and if she does she needs to be in the company of a male realitive. Parents are taken care of by their children when they reach old age. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

In theory Islam is a religion espousing Peace. However, the recent conduct of some of its followers undermines this theory. Unfortunately, the sane voice of the maturer elements is eclipsed by these Jehadi Extremists, who R fast emerging as the official image of Islam.What a pity !

Answer 8

U asked a very broad question here...! it's good that you are asking though and not taking only all the biased tv stuff that are supposed to "teach" you anything about religions..
Islam first of all is about believing in ONE GOD, not two or three or anything else. He only has the right to be worshipped and has no equal. He is not human, he was not born nor does he have human qualities. He has knowledge over all things and power of all that he has created and he created everything in this world.
The most important thing in islam is that YOU and GOD have a very special relationship, not through somebody else like a priest or things like that. When muslims pray, 5 times a day, they are "live" with God, and ask for forgiveness and guidance in their lives.
All the prophets, from Abraham to Mohammed (peace be upon them)including Jesus, Moses and more, are all true prophets of islam and were sent with a message from God. The last message and "closure" was revealed to Mohammed (peace be upon him), what we know now as the Qur'an. This Qur'an has NOT changed from the time of its revealing.
With the Qur'an it is important to have great knowledge of the Sunnah, which is the sayings, and habits of the last Prophet (pbuh) what muslims have to follow, both of them not only one..! Now there are extremists that tend to follow one but not the other and taking verses out of context, without following special guidelines specifically set of humans like us, and so do things in the name of God and of course it all looks like Islam is only about killing others.
The Qur'an is like a encyclopedia in a way. It has guidelines for everything in your life, from marriage, to economics, childrearing, astronomy, psychology and great scientifical facts that have only been discovered in the last century.
There are so many things to say about the muslim religion, I mean it s not like its principles are different from others, like being a good person and doing good deeds and such, the basic things u know..!
The most important thing is that there are 5 pillars:
1. Believing in ONE God and that his last prophet is Mohammed (pbuh).
2. Praying 5 times a day.
3. Giving a portion of your earning to the needy and poor.
4. Fasting during the month of Ramdan.
5. Going to Pilgrimage.

All those things muslims do is to remind themselves that they are only here for worshipping Him and live this life with love and fear for Him because he has promised to the good-doers a reward so great it's inimaginable in the hereafter. In this life we are only on a journey to paradise.

Answer 9

I agree with what you're saying, I'm Catholic but wasn't proud of this when the IRA were bombing hell out of the UK.
I know many many Muslims living in the UK, I'm yet to meet one who agrees with what's gone on, it's a minority, a very small one at that.

Judith r, you obviously don't know what you're talking about, in Afghanistan it's The Taliban who are causing the trouble and have been killing the Hazara 'Muslims' of Afghanistan for over 100 years, The Taliban are a bunch of extremists who DON'T follow the Qu'ran.

Answer 10

There are no real "stereotypes" about islam. Muslims are behaving badly all over the world and people are noticing that the root of this behavior is their religion. Put another way, nobody really cares about islam one way or the other, outside of that bad (actually, evil is more to the point) behavior. They are hardly a minority nor do they have a history, past or present, of being stigmitized.

If you really want to understand muslims, study islam and study the life of muhammad. Islam is very clear about what it demands from its subjects. I say subjects because islam is much more focussed on being a fascist political idealogy that siezes power than it is on being a religion. Also, it is not optional. People who disagree are executed. Lots and lots and lots of people I might add. One does not choose to worship islam. One submits to islam...or else. That is the way it has been from the very beginning and that is the way it is now.

If you want the skinny on islam, read this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Truth-About-Muhammad-Intolerant-Religion/dp/1596980281/sr=1-1/qid=1161353544/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-0949813-0120929?ie=UTF8&s=books

Note that this book relies ONLY on primary sources that are indisputable from within islam. In other words, this is not Spencer's opinion. These things are considered fact in Islam. Further, people are not allowed to dispute this under penalty of death. In other words, no muslim dares disagree with Spencer's sources unless he is engaging in deception as part of jihad. This is what is going on, btw, when you hear muslims talking about islam as a religion of peace (what they mean is the peace that will come when war is used to kill or enslave everyone who is not muslim). They are engaging in intentional deception as part of jihad. Note that jihad is not optional for muslims. There may be some muslims that claim jihad is an internal struggle. But almost all of them are engaging in deception as part of jihad. At most, a handful of them actually believe it. Note the FBI investigation of moques in the US. They found that 80% of them were "radicalized". How naive. Thise mosques are not radicalized. They represent the standard in islam. It's the 20% that don't wish to engage in violent overthrow of our government and the killing or forcible conversion of all non-muslims, who are "radical".

Answer 11

I'm not Muslim.
I know almost nothing about it.

However, I have VERY strong feelings that if a few members of ANY community or religeon do something evil, it is really wrong to blame everyone who shates that religeon. Like blaming all Catholics for the pedophile preists or something like that. Or like blaming all Germans for the Nazis.