Questions for Islam

Hey everybody I’m new to these forums. To introduce myself, I’m an American and I am christian. From what I precieve, I assume most of you are muslim. Well anyway I have some questions about Islam, so it would be great if some of you could answer these for me.

1. Jihad
From what I understand, the jihad is a holy war. It can be spiritual, yet can also be physical (if I am wrong, please tell me).
How is the physical jihad justified? Aren’t we all created by God (or Allah)? Are we not all brothers and sisters? Why would you kill one another? Would you kill your sibling?
In christianity, we love one another. If someone wrongs me, I would pray for him, pray that he is revealed the truth that I know, and that he will enter heaven.
Sin (not sure if they have this term in Islam, but you get the idea) is horrible, how are sinners horrible? Why should we kill sinners? Shouldn’t we kill only the sin, instead of the sinners?

2. The Christian Bible?
How do muslims see the Bible? In the bible, there are teachings such as love one another, aid your enemy, forgiveness, and utimately, it says to accept Christ as Lord. Do muslims agree with the basic ideals? Do they agree with the history? Do you simply believe that it’s incomplete?

3. Spirituality
Do muslims ever feel a sudden sense of the Holy Spirit?
When I worship the Lord in my youth group, I sometimes am flooded and saturated with the Holy Spirit (it’s VERY awesome), or what I truly believe to be the Holy Spirit. When muslims pray, do they feel the Holy Spirit? Is there ever a surge of the power of Love that runs through them? Perhaps when muslims pray, do they sometimes feel something special?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Questions for Islam

Hi LD, good to have you here. You’ll probably find that your questions have been discussed here a number of times previously. The search function should help you locate the appropriate threads. See below as well.

Take a look at the following threads:

http://www.gupistan.com/forums/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=31444&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

Of course, Christianity doesn’t have a world wide monopoly on love.

See this thread:

http://www.gupistan.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=87509

Spirituality plays an important part in Islam, although regrettably it is sometimes sidelined in favour of a more academic approach to religion. Feelings of reverence, awe, love, humbleness and God’s presence, mercy and support are typical elements of a sincere Muslim’s prayer. It’s something we all aim for and hope to achieve in our daily devotions.

Iqbal

Re: Questions for Islam

Welcome to Gupshup, Lord Drizzt. :)

i am so glad we have a mature, knowledgeable Guppy like Iqbal1089 in the Religion Forum. Can't really add much that is useful to his answers, but i wanted to mention just a few things regarding "jihad" if i may.

From what I understand, the jihad is a holy war.
No, not accurate.

If you go through the English approximate translations of the Quran (not an exclusive list, but two examples might be Marmaduke Pickthall's or Yusuf Ali's), you will not find the words "holy war" anywhere in the Quran. "Jihad" means struggle or the act of striving. In the Qur'an, 'jihad' is utilized in different forms 33 times, often intermingling with concepts such as faith, repentance, righteous deeds and migration. The word itself does not mean a war by necessity, although it can take the form of war. It can be a spiritual struggle within one's self to stop something that is bad; jihad is any internal/external struggle to improve one's self: if someone is trying to stop smoking, preparing for exams, trying to quit drinking, become more knowledgeable, give more in charity with understanding, and yes resist oppression - these can all be forms of jihad.

How is the physical jihad justified? Aren't we all created by God (or Allah)? Are we not all brothers and sisters? Why would you kill one another? Would you kill your sibling?
There are approximately one billion Muslims in the world today; the overwhelming majority of us do not go around killing each other. Physical jihad is justified in circumstances of repression and self-defence. Infact, if you study the Quran closely, it lays down strict rules and regulations for a code of behaviour in times of conflict. 1400 years prior to the United Nations Charter, 1400 years prior to the Geneva Conventions and their numerous Protocols regarding the rights of civilians in times of war, the Quran had already laid this all down in an unequivocal manner. Prisoners of war, non-combatants (i.e., civilians), animals and even trees are not considered "collateral damage" in times of war.

i hope that clears it somewhat, just wanted to offer my two cents.

Lord if thats what u believe christianity to be then thats exactly what islam is, and jihad means to wage war against ones self in order to have self control over commiting sin and hurting others. In terms of war jihad has been abused by scholars to create trouble, as is done by religious scholars of all faith throughout history and time.

Hope that helped, and let me know when u convert to islam ;-)

PM

may be koran means local idolators in saudi arabia at that time.
even meaning of idolator is questionalble. may it has more meaning than
just praying to idols.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by rvikz: *
may be koran means local idolators in saudi arabia at that time.
[/QUOTE]

Well rvikz that is your interpertation welcome join the club. :)

There is no confusion Islam is not a religion for a particular section of humanity but for all.. therefore its message spread all around the world.. it says kind to all.. and it says kill when need arises.. if someone attack u then u can kill .. and if there is a war then u can kill..ur taking tit bits and out of context verses of Quran and try to misrepresent as many are doing these days at US TV shows! if u read the whole verses u would understand but u wont I know.. Islam was the first religion in the history of world to define limits and treatment of prisoners..

-no killing of old, women and children..
-no damage to crops or animals
-kindness to war prisoners

and many others long before any UN came into existance.. Islam is totally against terrorism may that be Israeli soldier killing 9 month old ppalestinian woman, palestinain gun man killing Israeli school kid, gujrati hindu burning innocent muslim, Tamil Tiger killing innocent sinhali civilian, any fanatic muslim killing hindu praying in temple.. they are all murderes! but I know u would selectively pick up few of them..

Plus leave muslims to answer honest question someone is asking about Islam and for once in ur lifetime dont bring ur bias in others faith..

This thread has been returned after a clean up. I hope it will stay that way.

17 people misinterprated quran/ islam in Sept 2000 (re WTC) and the result we know.
Quran, they say is complete in totality, is there no law or action for people misinterprating it.?

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by anand: *

in Sept 2000 (re WTC)
[/QUOTE]

September 2001 in fact. A date no one should forget.

Iqbal

In christianity, we love one another. If someone wrongs me, I would pray for him, pray that he is revealed the truth that I know, and that he will enter heaven.

we have similar concepts, forgiveness is considered a very liked and recommended thing to do, even if you were wronged.

*Sin (not sure if they have this term in Islam, but you get the idea) is horrible, how are sinners horrible? Why should we kill sinners? Shouldn't we kill only the sin, instead of the sinners? *

Not all "sins" have capital punishment ascribed as a punishment. murder is one that does, and even then the victim's family can spare the life of the murderer.

although i understand where you are coming from with punish the sin not the sinner. how would you feel with a r apist or a murderer, living next to you, should he not pay his debt to society?

*How do muslims see the Bible? In the bible, there are teachings such as love one another, aid your enemy, forgiveness, and utimately, it says to accept Christ as Lord. Do muslims agree with the basic ideals? Do they agree with the history? Do you simply believe that it's incomplete? *

I think majority of the teachings of christianity are mirrored in islam, forgiveness being one, love thy neighbour being an important one..

there is a concpet of haqooq al ibaad ( rights of the people) and haqqoq allah (rights of god) which are duties on every muslim. Allah himself said he will forgive us for not fulfilling out duty to him, but not if we dont fulfill our duties to the people.. this extends to families, freinds, neighbours, servents, children, elders etc etc. It is said that a muslim should not go to bed with a fulls tomach if his neighbour has nothing to eat..i.e. we must make sure our beighbours are well, also that we are not being a nuisance in anyway..even regarding visitation etc.

for servents we are told to treat them with dignity and respect, choose teh same food for them and same clothes for them as we will choose for ourselves.

There are aspects of religion that can always be used to paint it in a bad light, for any religion but then we dont look at all the wisdom and beauty of how to live your life in a proper way there.

muslims dont accept jesus peace be upon him as god but as a prophet, and no one can just become a prophet, they are chosen by god..we believe in the immaculate conception and hold mary in high regard as well. Muhammad peace be upon him, was also a prophet as well as many others mewntioned in bible and quran both. Only Jesus pbuh was created by immaculate conception. we do not disrespect any of the prophets.. thats why to this day I have not seen anything from any muslim which ridicules jesus or moses or abraham or david or jacob joseph john noah adam lott or any of the other prophets peace be upon them.

it is also believed that due to translations and additions mnodifications there are ommissions, errors in the bible and it is not in its original form.

*Do muslims ever feel a sudden sense of the Holy Spirit?
When I worship the Lord in my youth group, I sometimes am flooded and saturated with the Holy Spirit (it's VERY awesome), or what I truly believe to be the Holy Spirit. When muslims pray, do they feel the Holy Spirit? Is there ever a surge of the power of Love that runs through them? Perhaps when muslims pray, do they sometimes feel something special? *

yes, many times...we dont call it holy spirit but more of a sense of peace and blessing from god.

There is deep rooted spirituality in Islam, prayers are a form of practicing that as well.

Personally, i would say that when i pray the last prayer of the day before going to bed i feel this sense of calmness and satisfaction that can not really be described. I wish i was disciplined enough to be more regular in my paryers to have that feeling all day.

Woo hoo it's back! Sorry but I'm only going to reply to the last post for now..

[QUOTE]
yes, many times...we dont call it holy spirit but more of a sense of peace and blessing from god.
[/QUOTE]

So you feel a sense of peace and blessing? Do you ever feel overwhelming love?

[QUOTE]
although i understand where you are coming from with punish the sin not the sinner. how would you feel with a r apist or a murderer, living next to you, should he not pay his debt to society?
[/QUOTE]

Why should I end his life if he still has a chance of redemption? No, I would not punish him, I would try to change him so that he may enter the paradise of heaven.

Another question..

Messiah
Why do muslims believe that Jesus and Mohammad were "Prophets from God"? What happened to the whole Messiah belief? In Judaism, the jews believe that a Messiah will come down to this Earth and "save". The christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and that's pretty much the difference between jews and christians. Why don't the muslims ever mention anything about the messiah? What's the deal?

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by anand: *
17 people misinterprated quran/ islam in Sept 2000 (re WTC) and the result we know.
Quran, they say is complete in totality, is there no law or action for people misinterprating it.?
[/QUOTE]

they were not excommunicated or declared non-muslims till
today by any islamic scholars.

well it happened dt 11/9, 2001.....a usual misinterpretation of quran was performed.

My question is......Cannot Quran defend itself from misinterpretation, since it is a complete knowledge, science etc.

Anand

You mean you want the Qur'aan to become a mind reader with telepathy powers determining the intention of ones heart and desire before they use the Qur'aan to legitimise their standing?

Why am I not in the least surprised with you comments.

Just for the record, the Qur'aan has already mentioned injunctions with people who try and misinterperate the scriptures.

However, this if it was as simple as you want to believe, then you of all the people on this Forum would of reverted to Islam.

Sometimes it pays to be realistic and not gullibly unrealistic.

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Lord Drizzt: *

Messiah
Why do muslims believe that Jesus and Mohammad were "Prophets from God"? What happened to the whole Messiah belief? In Judaism, the jews believe that a Messiah will come down to this Earth and "save". The christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and that's pretty much the difference between jews and christians. Why don't the muslims ever mention anything about the messiah? What's the deal?

[/QUOTE]

Jesus (as) is called the Messiah (al-Masih) in a number of places in the Qur'an. Here are two such verses:

{O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near.} (3:45)

{The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger} (5:75)

Iqbal

Re: Questions for Islam

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Lord Drizzt: *
Hey everybody I'm new to these forums. To introduce myself, I'm an American and I am christian.
[/QUOTE]

Welcome, Young Lord Drizzt.

Hope you learn something while posting on these boards.

Originally posted by Lord Drizzt: *
**So you feel a sense of peace and blessing? Do you ever feel overwhelming love? *

indeed, on numerous occassions.

*Why should I end his life if he still has a chance of redemption? No, I would not punish him, I would try to change him so that he may enter the paradise of heaven. *

doesn't teh old testament prescribe similar punishments?
anyways death penalty is an extreme example, but forgiving is easier said than done..would you not try to stop/limit/confine/contain a child molester or a serial rapist? how about someone who is a serail killer, or someone who has robbed many people.

sure, we have to try to change the person, but there is something to be said about protecting other innocent people from the action fo one person.

I noted that Islam places a very high value on forgiveness already.

However, my personal view is that theoretically forgiving or turning the other cheek is easier said than done, anarchists and rogue elements in any society should nto be given carte blanche because we are not going to try and protect other people from the type of actions the culrpits "chose" and thus hurt others around them.

Thing is...

God.

He made the decision to show himself to people in ways they could understand.

I am not smart enough to question Gods teachings, I know this.

I do know that he showed himself in many different ways. In many different Tongues.

Some understand. Some don't yet grasp.

But I'm dizzy knowing..saying. God knows.

I believe with my heart and soul God understands. God has a plan for all of us.

Does anyone notice here that when you're quiet and less violent your words have a much greater impact than when you're screaming? The peaceful way always seems much more effective than the violent way when you know you're right. Martin Luther King Jr. did much more with his marches than rioting blacks.
I find it that when someone is more soft, quiet, their words have a much greater impact to me than when theyre loud and screaming. Why do things the violent way? Why not humble yourselves, and show others how much you care? If someone has wronged, what would violence do to them? In most cases, vengeance is the only thing that would cross their mind.
So why would you kill people? You just get rid of the person, you don't change them. Doesn't God want them saved?
"easier said than done"
Everything is.

{The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger} (5:75)
In both Judaism and Christianity, the Messiah is the Savior. In Christianity, the Savior is God. In Islam, the Messiah is a messenger. What's up with that?