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[1) Subhana Kal-lah hum-ma wabi hamdika wata-bara kasmuka wata'ala jad-duka wala ilaha ghyruka."Glory be to you, O Allah, and all praises are due unto you, and blessed is your name and high is your majesty and none is worthy of worship but you."2) Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah?Allah listens to him who praises Him"3) Rabbana lakal Hamd"Oh our Lord, all praise is to you".]

Peace everyone,

Does anybody know the source for these commonly used salat prayers, or at the least, if they are in the Quran or not?

1) Subhana Kal-lah hum-ma wabi hamdika wata-bara kasmuka wata'ala jad-duka wala ilaha ghyruka.

"Glory be to you, O Allah, and all praises are due unto you, and blessed is your name and high is your majesty and none is worthy of worship but you."

2) Sami Allahu Liman Hamidah

?Allah listens to him who praises Him"

3) Rabbana lakal Hamd

"Oh our Lord, all praise is to you".

Thank you in advance.

May peace be with you all.

[O you who acknowledge, do not come near the contact prayer while you are drunk, until you know what you are saying. Nor if you have had intercourse, unless traveling, until you bathe. If you are ill, or traveling, or one of you come from the bathroom, or you had sexual contact with the women, and could not find water: then you shall seek clean soil and wipe your faces and hands. God is Pardoning, Forgiving.]

Peace everyone,

As far as I know, there are 2 verses from The Quran that outline the process of ablution - 4:43 & 5:6

4:43 O you who acknowledge, do not come near the contact prayer while you are drunk, until you know what you are saying. Nor if you have had intercourse, unless traveling, until you bathe. If you are ill, or traveling, or one of you come from the bathroom, or you had sexual contact with the women, and could not find water: then you shall seek clean soil and wipe your faces and hands. God is Pardoning, Forgiving.

5:6 O you who acknowledge, when you rise to attend the contact prayer, then wash your faces and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you have had intercourse, then you shall bathe. If you are ill, or traveling, or you have excreted feces, or you have had sexual contact with the women, and you could not find water, then you shall do ablution from clean soil; you shall wipe your faces and your hands. God does not want to make any hardship over you, but He wants to cleanse you and to complete His blessings upon you that you may be appreciative.

My question is, due to the underlined portions, are these verses only for men, or only for men when it comes to ablution without water, or what?

I recall reading once that the Arabic was unique that it used a word that included both genders or something, but I'm not sure as I am not educated in the language. I know the word used there is "l-nisāa", which I only know to be "the women" unless there's some grammatical situation I am not aware of.

Any help is appreciated.

May Allah guide us all.

Peace everyone,

I just thought that along with your personal journeys to the belief in God alone, how has your family situation been? What is their faith and their view of yours? Were they Quran-alone Muslims before you, or did you convince them of it, or do you peacefully coexist with differing beliefs, or hide it from them, etc.?

Please share your stories if you feel comfortable doing so. I'm very interested in these type of social dynamics.

May peace be with you all.

May peace be with you all.

Praise be to Allah most of us are united with our beliefs on monotheism and in believing in the Quran alone. Though we will continue to have differing opinions on certain things, I do feel that for some issues it is critical we have unity.

Of course your opposing argument are always welcome, however my opinion is that there is absolutely no evidence in the Quran that Prophet Isa (Jesus) was born of a virgin mother. I understand that there are people on this board that still uphold this belief, and I humbly ask that you read this article and re-examine your ideas on the subject.

http://www.freewebs.com/nadqur/birth.htm

There are also a few other links at the very top of the page that may interest you, mostly surrounding the common discrepancies about Jesus. They are very thorough.

This author was unknowingly very vital in my becoming of a Quran-alone Muslim. I tried to contact him once to thank him and to also find out if he was a Quranist, however the e-mail never went through. I continue to spread his explanations and I hope he as well as those reading it continue to benefit.

PEACE !

May peace be with you all!

Recently I have been trying to study the outline of Ramadan, The Night of Decree, including it's specific timing, etc. I find it quite difficult to believe that these important times of the year rely upon arbitrary, man-made calendars. Allah has a system, and I do believe there is some sort of cosmic calendar in order.

Indeed we find the Quran has many clues regarding the sun and it's positions, as well as the moon and it's phases, etc. and their purposes. Recently I've been reading The Natural Republic by The Monotheist Group (http://www.free-minds.org/sites/default/files/TNR.pdf) that seeks to explain the Islamic calendar (chapter 13). I believe the views are that of brother Layth's as it matches his two articles on this site (http://free-minds.org/calendars & http://free-minds.org/qadr).

There are a few issues that I have with it however, and I'm hoping that anyone who follows this system can please help clarify them for me. 

1) When does the year begin?

TNR says based on 97:1-5 mentioning the importance of the Night of Decree, it makes it most worthy to use as a marker for the beginning of the year. Is this just a matter of opinion? Where objectively confirms this?

2) The Spirits and the Angels Come Down

From what I understand, the author is linking the Night of Decree to the conception of Jesus due to the fact that both of these times have the coming down of both Spirit and Angels. Thus, we can use the clues we have to find out when Jesus was conceived to also find the Night of Decree. My only question is, are these the only 2 times this phenomena has happened? Is there anywhere that proves this hasn't happened at other holy events, that may not be during the Winter Solstice? Perhaps this is merely Allah's "arm"?

3) Night of Decree = Winter Solstice

Isn't this quite the assumption? The only basis here is that Night of Decree is a blessed night, and the Winter Solstice is the longest night, therefore it should be the Night of Decree. I understand it's peculiar that it also lands around the assumed conception of Jesus/Night of Decree, but wouldn't the Quran be a bit more certain about this? Is there anywhere that proves the Night of Decree is the longest or at least very long?

4) The Months Begin with the Full Moon

I understand that 2:189 mentions the crescent moon and doesn't mention anything about the start of a month, thus the Dark Moon and Full Moon are the only ones to be considered. But does that mean it's ONLY for the Pilgrimage and can't be for the beginning of months? Even if you say so, how does the Full Moon relate in any way to 36:39 that references the "old palm sheath"? To me, the sheath is undeniably referring to a crescent shape, unless there is a translation error. How does the Full Moon ever look like an old palm sheath?

Another point is, majority of translations including many progressive ones, translate the "crescent moon" in 2:189 as "new moon". Is there any clarification on the Arabic part of that verse? It seems only The Monotheist Group translates it as "crescent moon".

5) Night of Decree = Month of Ramadan = First of the Restricted Months

I do not see this link at all. The verse used is 9:2-5. Where indicates that the FIRST of the 4 Restricted Months is where the "special" Pilgrimage happens? Where makes certain this "special" Pilgrimage is even Ramadan besides the fact it's one of the most important months in Islam? And how does this make Ramadan the first month of the year/make it so the year begins with the 4 Restricted Months?

I just feel it's too many leaps for something that should be so clear to us. Perhaps there are translation errors that are confusing me, I'm not sure.

But I hope that someone can be patient enough to help clarify these issues for me.

Thank you for your time.

May peace be with you all.

May peace be with you all!

Recently I have been trying to study the outline of Ramadan, The Night of Decree, including it's specific timing, etc. I find it quite difficult to believe that these important times of the year rely upon arbitrary, man-made calendars. Allah has a system, and I do believe there is some sort of cosmic calendar in order.

Indeed we find the Quran has many clues regarding the sun and it's positions, as well as the moon and it's phases, etc. and their purposes. Recently I've been reading The Natural Republic by The Monotheist Group (http://www.free-minds.org/sites/default/files/TNR.pdf) that seeks to explain the Islamic calendar (chapter 13). I believe the views are that of brother Layth's as it matches his two articles on this site (http://free-minds.org/calendars & http://free-minds.org/qadr).

There are a few issues that I have with it however, and I'm hoping that anyone who follows this system can please help clarify them for me. 

1) When does the year begin?

TNR says based on 97:1-5 mentioning the importance of the Night of Decree, it makes it most worthy to use as a marker for the beginning of the year. Is this just a matter of opinion? Where objectively confirms this?

2) The Spirits and the Angels Come Down

From what I understand, the author is linking the Night of Decree to the conception of Jesus due to the fact that both of these times have the coming down of both Spirit and Angels. Thus, we can use the clues we have to find out when Jesus was conceived to also find the Night of Decree. My only question is, are these the only 2 times this phenomena has happened? Is there anywhere that proves this hasn't happened at other holy events, that may not be during the Winter Solstice?

3) Night of Decree = Winter Solstice

Isn't this quite the assumption? The only basis here is that Night of Decree is a blessed night, and the Winter Solstice is the longest night, therefore it should be the Night of Decree. I understand it's peculiar that it also lands around the assumed conception of Jesus/Night of Decree, but wouldn't the Quran be a bit more certain about this? Is there anywhere that proves the Night of Decree is the longest or at least very long?

4) The Months Begin with the Full Moon

I understand that 2:189 mentions the crescent moon and doesn't mention anything about the start of a month, thus the Dark Moon and Full Moon are the only ones to be considered. But does that mean it's ONLY for the Pilgrimage and can't be for the beginning of months? Even if you say so, how does the Full Moon relate in any way to 36:39 that references the "old palm sheath"? To me, the sheath is undeniably referring to a crescent shape, unless there is a translation error. How does the Full Moon ever look like an old palm sheath?

5) Night of Decree = Month of Ramadan = First of the Restricted Months

I do not see this link at all. The verse used is 9:2-5. Where indicates that the FIRST of the 4 Restricted Months is where the "special" Pilgrimage happens? Where makes certain this "special" Pilgrimage is even Ramadan besides the fact it's one of the most important months in Islam? And how does this make Ramadan the first month of the year/make it so the year begins with the 4 Restricted Months?

I just feel it's too many leaps for something that should be so clear to us. Perhaps there are translation errors that are confusing me, I'm not sure.

But I hope that someone can be patient enough to help clarify these issues for me.

Thank you for your time.

May peace be with you all.

...or did I violate some rule? 

2 threads I made yesterday, including some replies I made to posts appear non-existent today.

The 2 topics I made took me a long time to gather the information in it, in order to ask. Since I rarely start topics and yesterday I made 2, I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong unintentionally.

Please let me know.

May peace be with you all.

Peace, everyone!

I have a feeling this topic was discussed prior, however it's quite difficult to decide what key words will bring it up in search.

I was wondering if all of the "He said" and "Abraham said" and so on was revealed as such by Allah, or did Prophet Muhammad dictate this to clarify who was talking, or did people later do this?

Just out of curiousity.

And if it's not part of revelation, shouldn't they commonly be placed in brackets or something?

May peace be with you all.

Peace be with you all!

Have any Quranist scholars published books outlining Quran-alone beliefs such as salat, zakat, etc. with verses from the Quran interpreted in detail?

I know ultimately all of the answers are in the Quran, but sometimes it's tough to gather all aspects of a topic in one, or to even have time to study it as much as one desires.

Another issue is, I have a few elderly people interested in Quran-alone Islam, but they're not acquainted with the Internet and such at all. I have been printing out as much as I can, but it's tough as I am still learning and sometimes change my own beliefs within moments.

I've come across a few Quranist publications, but either they were too general and mostly for convincing hadithists of Quran-alone beliefs, or I found errors in them that I was fairly convinced were wrong. Either way, feel free to share what you've found and I'll sift through them as well.

Thank you all, and may peace be with you.

[And whatever [wrong] any human being commits rests upon himself alone; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden.]

Peace to all !

I'm sure many of us at times have been asked to pray for someone else. It is also a common belief (at least in 'traditional Islam') that one's offspring can pray for them - even after their death - in order to help rid them of sins pinned against them.

Are there any verses in the Quran that indicate this is possible?

At the moment, the end of chapter 6 comes to mind.

6:164    - Say: "Am I, then, to seek a sustainer other than God, when He is the Sustainer of all things?" And whatever [wrong] any human being commits rests upon himself alone; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden. And, in time, unto your Sustainer you all must return: and then He will make you. [truly] understand all that on which you were wont to differ.

Any thoughts?

Peace.

May peace be upon you all.

I am a long-time lurker of this forum, and have learned a lot from the discussions on this site. Finally, today have decided to join as I would like to begin partaking in discussions, mostly as a student at this point, as I am just beginning my journey to understand the Quran as best as I can.

I'm not one for rehashing the past, especially as my religious past was a very dark period for me emotionally compared to now, but after reading a few other members' experiences, I realized how important some of these stories can be for comforting others as well as seeing possible ways for dawah.

My journey went something like this...

- My parents are followers of the Ahmadiyya Movement (believing Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian is the so-called 'Promised Messiah', ie. The spiritual return of Jesus).

- I was just a 'blind' child, following this faith, though not really knowing the details about this particular movement. Nor did I really care, to be honest. But I knew the few key answers to explain to my parents when they tested my 'faith' about it, and thus I suppose I somewhat believed it.

- An interesting note however, is that I recall as a very young child, for several years, I had a fear of death. I feared the unknown, and I feared dying and never meeting my loved ones again. I distinctly remember crying myself to sleep, begging any God to give me a sign that there was an afterlife (specifically a Heaven). I would try to make silly deals with God like, "Please, make something in my room fall, or make it rain now, just to let me know if you're real". In retrospect, it's quite disturbing that I had these thoughts as a child lol.

- In my young adolescence however, I think I just forced myself to believe in a God, in order to comfort that fear of death I once had, and I would repress any further thought so as to not live an uneasy, worrisome life. But I do remember a few times questioning some peculiarities, such as the virgin birth of Jesus, and how/why he would need to come back, and does this make him and/or Christianity more powerful than Islam, and many other things.

- Fast-forward to age 19, I saw the independent and viral film, 'Zeitgeist: The Movie', which seeks to explain how religion, particularly Christianity, is just one big corrupt fable borrowed from ancient, pagan beliefs. It also sought to expose 9/11 as a conspiracy in it's latter half, but that's another issue. Seeing all of this proof that Jesus was supposedly just a made-up, false person whose story was borrowed from baseless pagan beliefs (according to the film), I remember instantly losing all belief in every religion, especially the "Islam" I believed in, as I knew Jesus was fundamental in it as well. I also began reading more and more about the proof provided in the film, only to realize how most of it was true.

- For the next 2 years, I would remain an atheist. Reading all types of atheist texts, watching all types of atheist films and Youtube videos. My life was very very dark, as I saw the world in a new way... a way with no ultimate meaning or purpose. But I was strong and said that if this is the truth, I will NOT return to religion just for the mere comfort of it, and will embrace atheism as I do not want to fool myself.

- One thing I noticed about pretty much all of the atheist medium I indulged in though, was that they had this giant pot of religious dogma, and just threw out whatever, randomly, as their proof for why religion is false. I was still on their side, but I thought this was really ignorant; to just say religion is bad because a few "Muslim" radicals kill, or that Jesus was bad because of some obscure scholar's interpretation. I felt that if I was going to be atheist, I want to be able to soundly denounce the specifics, and that's when I decided that I was going to study all of the major religions, and know quote-by-quote what to say in order to prove religious people wrong. (To this day, I find these type of atheists extremely rare.)

- This is when my enlightenment began.  To make things really short, it was ultimately the Bible that made me believe in religion again. Though it was severely corrupt, I found many surviving passages that when understood, perfectly linked the religions Moses, Jesus and Muhammad preached, into 1 consistent, sequential message from a God. The fact that the religions always stood alone in my mind, always made me feel that if there was a God, he messed up in revealing his word and therefore couldn't truly be a God. However, seeing that Jesus foretold the coming of Muhammad and the worldly message he would preach, and that it was merely corrupted by man, I began to believe again. A very interesting concept for me also, was that this was like a big key unlocking the hidden path of truth. I felt like the fact that the Bible was corrupt, but that with some thorough studying one will find that God left His truth in traces, it was the test I always felt a divine being would set up. For if the entire message was TOO perfect, everyone would believe it. It's kind of like when atheists ask, "If God wanted us to believe, why doesn't he just show himself?". Because that would be way too certain for the whole point of religion to exist. The truth only comes to those who SEEK it out. I'm not sure if any of that makes sense, but it is fundamental to my belief.

- A quick note to the above point, is that while I was in transition thinking I MAY believe in a God again, I recall praying to "any God that may be listening" that if they existed to help guide me to the truth as that is all I want. I would do this virtually every night as I was studying.

- Anyhow, I studied the Bible thoroughly, and then when I moved onto the Quran I realized how it sought to correct the message, and how it brought the traces of truth left in the corrupted Torah and Bible to a perfect story. It revealed that God was telling us the same thing since the beginning of His contact with humankind, only that the Torah and Bible were specifically to uplift one region and to prepare the world for the final and preserved worldly message.

- Since I pretty much emptied my basket by becoming an atheist, when I reverted back to Islam, I saw no reason at all to go back to the Ahmadiyya Movement (as there was no mention of a Mahdi or Promised Messiah in the Quran). As for the Hadith, to be honest, I never really understood why it was followed in the first place, and now that I realized the Quran was the only divinely-inspired book, saw no reason at all to incorporate it into my new found belief.

- In realizing that Quran-alone belief was quite different from the traditionally-practiced "Islam", I had stopped praying for a while, until thankfully some Google searches led me to this wonderful site. This is where I began reading constantly, for months and months, about Salat, and all the differences between Islam, and Sunni, etc. beliefs.

I am proud to say that today, I am a trying Muslim, following the Quran and the Quran only, as best as I possibly can. 

All praise due to Allah, my mother has subsequently embraced Quran-alone Islam as well, after over 50 years of following traditional "Islam". As an interested mother, she would sometimes inquire if I was praying 5 times a day. When I finally established my twice-a-day salat, my mother one day inquired if I was reading 5 times a day. I told her that I only read twice, as per instructed in the Quran. For a few days, she was a bit concerned if I was falling into some new cult or something (she was the only one in my family who knew when I was an atheist, and she supported my journey, may Allah bless her). But one day when she asked about the issue again, I brought her to the computer and showed her many ayah from the Quran that denounced following the hadith, and that only described 2 salat per day. Within days, she had told me that she was always uneasy about the hadith, and didn't like the fact that they were what was bringing the majority of negativity to Islam. She told me that she is now, a Quran-alone Muslim, and will begin re-reading the Quran with a new mindset. She says it will be hard for her to change her salat just yet, as it is stuck with her after many years of practicing, however, I believe she will soon change.  Now, just to convince my stubborn father and the rest of my family... 

Thank you to anybody who has read through my post, and I hope it brings comfort and/or inspiration to you.