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General Issues / Questions / Re: The same path of the Bible and the hadeths
« on: May 17, 2013, 01:07:17 PM »
I really like Bart D. Ehrman, I have many of his books! Thanks for the link 
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Introduce Yourself / Re: Wandering revert comes to Free Minds
« on: May 15, 2013, 12:32:07 PM »
WELCOME
dsaly1969, I agree with you, hope you enjoy your time here. I will see you on facebook too, Inshallah.
dsaly1969, I agree with you, hope you enjoy your time here. I will see you on facebook too, Inshallah.
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Quranic Divinity / Re: Mathematical structure of the Quran - Visual presentation
« on: May 10, 2013, 12:10:08 PM »
I have only watched half so far. I dislike math, so I found myself getting drowsy, but I will finish it. It is very informative. Thanks for the link. In school math was my hardest subject. If God talks to mankind in mathematics, I am screwed...lol I have enough trouble with Arabic.
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Sunni/Shia Religion / Re: 73 sects?
« on: May 10, 2013, 08:25:39 AM »
If you can, can I ask you to provide the link of his blog.
Sure thing
http://www.atefmahgoub.com/index.html
It is under construction but should be up soon
You can google his name and get more info.
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Hadith Discussions / Re: My salam tale [warning: very boring, don't click here!]
« on: May 09, 2013, 10:58:51 AM »
Guys,
There is an easy solution (if this claim was true). Learn Arabic from Hadith, then once you know the language, discard the hadith. Now you can read at lease one letter of Quran, without the baggage. The claim is you need it to learn the Arabic, so once learned, who needs it.
They are stories and I treat them as such stories. I am not wasting time finding out which one is strong and which ones are weak, not when God says HIS BOOK aka Quran is complete. If you wanna question the credibility or truthfulness of the author of Qur'an you can go right ahead.. I am good. I have always put the words of man between myself and God, I will never do that again.
There is an easy solution (if this claim was true). Learn Arabic from Hadith, then once you know the language, discard the hadith. Now you can read at lease one letter of Quran, without the baggage. The claim is you need it to learn the Arabic, so once learned, who needs it.
They are stories and I treat them as such stories. I am not wasting time finding out which one is strong and which ones are weak, not when God says HIS BOOK aka Quran is complete. If you wanna question the credibility or truthfulness of the author of Qur'an you can go right ahead.. I am good. I have always put the words of man between myself and God, I will never do that again.
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Sunni/Shia Religion / Re: 73 sects?
« on: May 09, 2013, 10:27:36 AM »
I just feel if I sit back and do nothing, then I can't complain that nothing has changed. I don't sit in my speeches and bash hadith, I just don't use them to get my point across. Now being the Chaplin overtime might raise some difficulties. I just finished the clearances with the jail, so still early on. I know the sunni traditions, when I speak to someone or advise a new convert I teach them the traditional way and I say I personally don't follow that (if it is something I disagree with), however you need to ask the Imam and make your own decision. Perhaps because I don't bash or push my own agenda, it is not a problem. I always quote Quran when I do talk. I figure if God is opening doors, why not walk through them. Nothing is impossible, people can change and not everyone is blind. Actually, you would be amazed how many sisters question hadith or just don't pay mind to them. Most of those women are some of the leaders in my community! The sisters have more control of the masjid than the brothers....lol We have 5 women and 4 men on the board. Maybe my community is different, but I still see heavy sunni traditions. I have gotten an ear full when I wear nail polish or pet the neighbor's dog out side the masjid.
Earthdom, I actually really like my imam. Yes, he uses hadith but he is different. He wrote this whole khutbah on his blog and it was "how stoning is NOT islam". I have had many discussions with him about hadith and issues such as stoning, cutting off a thief's hand and beating of a wife, he said none of these are Islam but ill interpretations. He will actually be on PCNC Night Talk to night in the PGH area, can't wait to watch him. There are times we butt heads. I have told him I disagree or will shake my head at a hadith. Usually if I have proof when I question, he is nothing but kind and respects my opinion. Now the other Imam we had, said I was not a true Muslim and lectured me on numerous accounts and wanted to have intervention meetings with me, I declined of course. Just because I respect my current Imam, does not mean I am loyal to all this interpretations and teachings. Hope that makes sense
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Questions/Comments on the Quran / Re: Good article that destoys the "19" myth
« on: May 09, 2013, 07:33:36 AM »Peace Indelwyn,
Well, I am not a fanatic believer in the mathematical number patterns, but I do believe in it though. It is mysterious to me and strange. I have checked sura 1 of Quran and the number of letters in it per verse is as follows:
1. 19
2. 17
3. 12
4. 12
5. 19
6. 19
7. 44 (note - until the verse speaks about those who are astray or provoked God's anger it is 19 letters)
I am sure there is some kind of complex mathematical system in Quran, but it is not only limited to 19, it is more vast than that.
God seems to have number combinations for all sorts of things.
Anyway, I do spend some hour from time to time thinking about this system, but it is not what I base my Faith on. I see it merely as a Faith-booster, ie another sign that God is really real.
And I do not believe that Dr. Khalifa was a Messenger of God. And I do not follow his teachings nor his counts of 19 in Quran. I reproduce all testing on my own here at home if I do something.
In the end, I spend only a tiny per cent of my time on the mathematical pattern. Reading Quran and the Bible is what I do most of the time.
God bless you
I could not agree more!
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Questions/Comments on the Quran / Re: Good article that destoys the "19" myth
« on: May 08, 2013, 11:23:01 AM »
Interesting article.
Man of Faith, I know what you mean with the number 7. When I was in Catholic school they would say that is God's lucky number
God needs luck?? Anyway, I don't put weight into it but it is interesting. I find the Golden Ratio aka Divine Proportion very interesting as well. I see it as signs in God's creation, something to just chew on. I had to do a report on the Golden Ratio and fascinated it me for weeks! At the end of it, it made me reflect on how this world could not be without a creator. Now Muslim when I read in Qur'an to take note of the signs within nature, it makes me smile.
Man of Faith, I know what you mean with the number 7. When I was in Catholic school they would say that is God's lucky number
God needs luck?? Anyway, I don't put weight into it but it is interesting. I find the Golden Ratio aka Divine Proportion very interesting as well. I see it as signs in God's creation, something to just chew on. I had to do a report on the Golden Ratio and fascinated it me for weeks! At the end of it, it made me reflect on how this world could not be without a creator. Now Muslim when I read in Qur'an to take note of the signs within nature, it makes me smile.
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Questions/Comments on the Quran / Re: Annoyances in the contents of a book.
« on: May 08, 2013, 11:09:46 AM »
Hi Mazhar, I hope all is well with you. I have a book I am currently struggling through, "imagine today is your last day". The most annoying part in this book is the stories that the author uses to connect a point. They are third person and corny. I sometime skim over pages because of the boring dialog between characters. It does not allow the reader to think or draw conclusions, at any point, and leaves you without any interest towards the upcoming chapters. I don't mind scenario stories in most books, but this was something different. I can't "imagine" anything from this book, the title gets you excited for something else, very misleading.
I also hate books that make a reference to something without explanation or fact. It is merely an opinion but without support. I may disagree with a subject matter but if it gaves me some sort of spring board to see that certain point of view, I might continue out of curiosity; otherwise it lacks credibility and I move on. (I find this in some theology books)
I also hate books that make a reference to something without explanation or fact. It is merely an opinion but without support. I may disagree with a subject matter but if it gaves me some sort of spring board to see that certain point of view, I might continue out of curiosity; otherwise it lacks credibility and I move on. (I find this in some theology books)
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Introduce Yourself / Re: True Blue Aussie Sunni
« on: May 08, 2013, 09:22:46 AM »
Take your time Shadowscholar
Man of Faith, I agree 100%
1. a belief that disagrees with the official principles of a particular religion.
With so many schools of thought and disagreements in sects is there an "official principle"? Sometimes it makes me wonder. When I first converted it was insane how many ways I was told to do this and to do that. To me the official principle would be the commands of Allah as to what makes on a believer, found in Quran.
Man of Faith, I agree 100%
Quote
I wonder how you can be a heretic if you believe in God, eternal life and try to be a righteous person to the best of your ability.
1. a belief that disagrees with the official principles of a particular religion.
With so many schools of thought and disagreements in sects is there an "official principle"? Sometimes it makes me wonder. When I first converted it was insane how many ways I was told to do this and to do that. To me the official principle would be the commands of Allah as to what makes on a believer, found in Quran.