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I am a vegan, although at times I do take honey (I hope to give it up next year though) because Abdu'l-Baha has given honey as a healing food.

I became a vegetarian in 2005, around June or July, but I became a vegan in September 2006. Although in my childhood past, I have attempted to become a vegetarian and did fail, as well as be a vegan (under a vegetarian diet) and failed, now I have the developed the capacities to maintain such a diet and to reduce the amount of suffering animals go through in Western society today.

I probably was inclined subconsciously to adopt such a diet from a distant childhood memory. My mother and father brought me to a farm where I witnessed a mother pregnant pig, hung upon ropes and slaughtered, whilst the farmer removed the intestines and the dead, developing piglets inside in front of my eyes. Since then, I would assume that my vegetarian and vegan inclinations were there, though primarily infantile. (My parents are nominal Christians; I am at present a Baha'i.)

It is a firm Baha'i belief that in the far future, a diet based on the produce of the ground will be established, for to show kindness upon animals and yet eat their flesh seems contrary to the essence of compassion. Meat is certainly not haram, and God has given us meat for consumption. However, just as the Torah has testified, the consumption of meat is not a pure and natural thing humans are truly capacitated for. We are unique in having sharper teeth for nuts and puts us better than herbivores, yet unlike carnivores, we digest our foods slowly, masticate more, and can grind our foods with our teeth.

Now everything I eat is halal! ^___^ I know the meat prescribed in the Qur'an is halal, but I simply choose not to eat it.

Are there any vegans or vegetarians here on this forum? Any wonderful verses to share of kindness to animals from the Qur'an? Stories on why one would become a vegetarian or vegan? ^___^

~ Kevyn.

Just type in "Qur'an Alone" and there is a group on Facebook on the Qur'an Alone movement! 

Of course, I am the only member of that group there... but if you have Facebook, it would be nice if you joined the group to give us more of an internet presence of that horrible cult named Facebook, lol.

http://kwantlen.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2414527362

["God is Most Great"]

Upon a friend's request in wanting to try to perform Salat in English, with me never having performed Salat in my entire lifetime, had put upon myself today the task of putting together, with the help of translations from the internet, an English form of the Contact Prayer. Please correct anything that seems off, but the structure of the way of following I have borrowed from www.submission.org.

Yes, it has some Muhammadan intercession, but then again, my friend is Sunni, lol.


1. Face the Qiblih, or the East.


2. State your intention, the time of prayer and the number of rak'ats.


3. Raise your hands to the sides of your face, with thumbs touching the ears and palms faced forward and say:

"God is Most Great"

whilst moving them from the face towards the sides or letting them rest on your heart, left hand over the right one.


4. For the first unit, you may choose to recite either these two short prayers:

"Glorified and praised art Thou, O God! Blessed be Thy name, exalted be Thy majesty, and none is worthy of worship save Thee."

or

"O God! Separate me from my sins as Thou dost separate the East and the West.
O God! Cleanse me of my sins, even as a white garment is cleansed from dust!
O God! Wash me of my sins with water, snow and hail!"

And then (for the first unit only), say:

"I seek refuge in God from Satan, the Rejected"


5. Recite "The Key"

"In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy.

Praise belongeth unto God, Lord of the Worlds,
The Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy,

Master of the Day of Judgment.

It is Thee we worship; it is Thee we ask for help.

Guide us unto the straight path:
the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, those who incur no anger and who have not gone astray.

Amin."

6. You may choose to chant or recite a chapter from the Qur'an.


7. Again, bring the hands parallel to the face, thumbs touching the earlobes and palms faced forward. Through the motion downwards for the hands to come to the sides of the hips, say "God is Most Great".


8. Bow with hands on the knees, saying "God is Most Great" through the movement.

Whilst in bowing position, say "Glorified be my Lord, the Supreme"


9. Stand up from the bowing position and say:

"God listeneth unto the one who praiseth Him"

and:

"Our Lord! All praise be to Thee!"

Make a prostration, saying "God is Most Great" through the motion.


10. Whilst the head is bowed, say thrice:

"Glorified be my Lord, the Most Exalted"


11. Then raise your head into sitting position, whilst saying "God is Most Great" through the motion.

Say while sitting, "O Lord! Forgive me, and have mercy on me!"

Again, make another prostration, saying "God is Most Great".

Whilst bowed, say:

"Glorified be my Lord, the Most Exalted"

Thus ends one full unit. Stand up for the second unit.


12. After finishing the second unit, be in sitting position and recite:

"In the name of God! Greetings belong unto God, prayers belong unto God, pure actions belong unto God. Peace be upon thee, O Prophet, and God's mercy and blessings. Peace be upon us and all the righteous servants of God..."

Place right hand on the right thigh, tapping index finger calmly, and continue to recite.

"...I bear witness that there is none other god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Servant and Messenger of God."


13. Then say:

"O God! Bestow Thou grace and honour upon Muhammad, upon the family and true followers of Muhammad, even as Thou didst bestow grace and honour upon Abraham and upon the family and true followers of Abraham. Verily, Thou art Praiseworthy, Great.

O God! Bestow Thou blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family and true followers of Muhammad, even as Thou didst bestow blessings upon Abraham and upon the family and true followers of Abraham. Verily, Thou art Praiseworthy, Great."


14. Salute the right, saying:

"Peace and the Mercy of God be with you."

Salute the left, saying:

"Peace and the Mercy of God be with you."

YEY!!!

Don't mind my naivete, lol. But amongst the many threads that I have seen insofar in this 'area,' most of them seem to be quite negative, especially regarding the Christian peoples...

BUT this thread is to serve to be inspiring. You can share a story, anecdote, vignette, appreciation or whatnot on another person's religion or spiritual path who has influenced you in your life, or made you happy for a day, etc. After all, God created all of the major religions, and in my most humble opinion, they are all part of One Religion - the Religion of God. You can add in quotes from the Qur'an to continue to inspire, or share some of the others' Scriptures if you wish.

I want to keep this as open as possible! ^____^;

"There is no compulsion in the system; the proper way has been made clear from the wrong way. Whoever rejects evil, and believes in God, then he has grasped the most solid branch that will never break. God is Hearer, Knower."
Qur'an 2:256

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am starting to see now that Christians are getting the message the Islam is not about holy wars, terrorism or the subjugation of women as they see on television and in the media, but rather I believe that they are beginning to see the beauty of Islam. I see that although I believe in the Qur'an, they graciously appreciate the verses. I see Christians and Muslims talking to each other, as well as one strong and faithful Christian who loved a nasheed by Zain Bhikha that I shared with him (Allah Knows). When I was a strong Catholic Christian, my friend as a Muslim gave me so much respect - she learned much from me as a Christian, and I learned so much from her as a Muslim, and both of us grew in our respective Faiths because of it.

I think that this is a test of Faith for both sides. The Christian will obviously see the Muslim as blasphemous because they do not accept anyone after Jesus as the next Prophet of God, and the Muslim will see the Christian as a man-worshipper. Yet both, removing the nonsensical doctrines, rituals and merging together the Words of God (the Gospel and the Qur'an), I see naught but One People, united under the banner of One Religion, beneath the Loving-Kindness of One God, whether Ey is the Father, or Ey is Allah - Ey is One and the Same.

What makes my day is the amity that can come out of a Muslim-Christian dialogue. And I truly can't wait until the day that both Muslims and Christians can unite! ^____^ Mashallah!

What is the view with Sikhism? Some Muslims believe that Sikhism is a syncretic religion that originated from elements of Hinduism and Islam combined. Others believe that Sikhism is a spiritual movement of its own, and developed into its own independent religion.

But if Sikhism is influenced by Islam, where is that influence? The only 'Islamic' influence I see are the Muslim contributions in the Guru Granth Sahib.

So I've pretty much posed some random questions, but what are your views, perceptions, comments on Sikhi? ^___^

Allah-u-Abha!
Kevyn.

["Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship."]

My friends of One Eternal and Everlasting God,
Allah-u-Abha!

"Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship." - Baha'u'llah

I just wanted to open up a thread for any questions concerning the Baha'i Faith. But before we get into answering (remember, I am a new Baha'i, and am still getting used to such things... as baha'is, the hardest tests we'll ever receive are other Baha'is themselves!), I just wanted to note some things.

I'll try to answer your questions in a wonderfully coherent manner, as clear as possible without too much bias, as many people will always have a different understanding of a single passage.

Any criticisms are criticisms. It is okay to disagree, as long as you understand the perspective of another. I don't want this thread to degenerate into a debate, as wonderful as it is to foster learning and growth (or hardness of heart) ; I could not call myself Christian anymore in the past and wanted to avoid having to do debates (that is, until I am more learned of my own faith and understanding!).

Abdu'l Baha, the son of our Prophet Baha'u'llah, said this:

"God is one, the effulgence of God is one, and humanity constitutes the servants of that one God But we have acted contrary to the will and good pleasure of God. We have been the cause of enmity and disunion. We have separated from each other and risen against each other in opposition and strife.

Most regrettable of all is the state of difference and divergence we have created between each other in the name of religion, imagining that a paramount duty in our religious belief is that of alienation and estrangement, that we should shun each other and consider each other contaminated with error and infidelity. In reality, the foundations of the divine religions are one and the same. The differences which have arisen between us are due to blind imitations of dogmatic beliefs and adherence to ancestral forms of worship."

If you wish to debate or whatnot (for you debators who find excitement in such intellectual matters... almost as an 'intellectual' ultimate fighting, LOL), you can visit http://www.planetbahai.org/cgi-bin/main.pl?page=forum and sign up for an account there. There are definitely more knowledgeable people there than I am!

I am a simple-minded soul, so don't complicate things too much for me, else my head will hurt! And if I do not know the answer, I will try my best to find the Writings appropriate for it, and if necessary, talk to other Baha'is. It would be a wonderful learning experience for me and for others as well!


God is the Most Glorious, the All-Knowing, the All-Bestowing,
Kevyn.

Allah-u-abha!

My name is Kevyn Bello, and I am a Filipino-Canadian who is 18 years old.

Although I am a recent convert to the Baha'i Faith (in October, actually), I have always been attracted to GOD alone and the Qur'an alone movement. It would be nice to meet up with someone who is Qur'an alone, especially in Surrey, for I have great interest, aside from Sufism as well.

Although I am a Baha'i and believe in Lord Baha'u'llah as a Manifestation (or Prophet) of God, I still find it increasingly hard to accept the hadiths used to prove His Station, when many of those hadiths seem almost contrary or silent in the Qur'an... that it is not a system of GOD, but a system of man.

I find that contemporary Islam is full of hadiths, of imaginary jinn and other supernatural beings aside from GOD alone. I believe that Satan is a metaphorical figure as Baha'is do, and being from a strong former Catholic Christian background, I believe that Heaven and Hell are states of the soul, strongly transcendent post-mortem as the afterlife. I do not believe in the necessary existence of Evil and see human beings as naturally good.

There are other issues, but I would feel more comfortable talking to someone in front of me rather than on this computer. If you would like to meet me, just send me an e-mail at kevynbello@gmail.com, stating your name, age and time of meeting (I'm a college student who is seeking a job, lol).

I live in Surrey, so Surrey would be preferable, but Vancouver is fine too, lol.


EY is the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Beneficient,
Kevyn.

[The only religion approved by GOD is 'Submission.' Ironically, those who have received the scripture are the ones who dispute this fact, despite the knowledge they have received, due to jealousy. For such rejecters of GOD'S revelations, GOD is most strict in reckoning.]

Allah-u-Abha! (God is Glorious!) and Assalaam alaikum!

Hello! My name is Kevyn Scott Calanza Bello. I am a Filipino-Canadian (with large traces of Chinese blood, and a minute bit from Spain). I am a second-generation Canadian, and a first-generation Baha'i.

I have been very spiritual and religious when I was young... I didn't like Catholicism because of all it's dogma, so I began searching for a religion for me at 11 years old. I still remember borrowing a book out on Chakra Meditation and practicing it at that age. >__<

I ended taking up Wicca for 2-3 years, mixing it with New Age beliefs. It was my first true religion, after a taste of basic Buddhism and Islam (Sunni). After being deeply entrenched in that religion, my friend took me to her church and I became a Christian again. I was at first Pentecostal, but because their denomination seemed little on the Bible, I went back to the Catholic Church and was there for a long while, from 2005 to 2006.

It wasn't until an atheist friend brought me to doubt my faith, and in that same week, I thought of two forms of spirituality that appealed to me: ISCKON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) or the Baha'i Faith.

I would like to believe that I made a better choice, lol.

Anyways, I encountered the Qur'an Alone movement when I was a Christian. Intrigued by the idea, I came upon this site and others, and it made me see the Qur'an in a new light!

Gone away were the implications of dogmatism, of extras and suppression of women. Gone were those strange hadiths which are hardly historically verifiable. Gone away were those unnecessary rituals and beliefs (which we call in the Baha'i Faith, 'superstitions'), and in was the system of God that I believe, Muhammad originally installed amongst the peoples.

"The only religion approved by GOD is 'Submission.' Ironically, those who have received the scripture are the ones who dispute this fact, despite the knowledge they have received, due to jealousy. For such rejecters of GOD'S revelations, GOD is most strict in reckoning." 3:19.

Although I am Baha'i, I ultimately believe in One God, and all His Holy Scriptures, including the Qur'an.

I want to learn Salat because it seems/looks so beautiful as a prayer, and pray like that everyday. I was always told that I could not do salat because that would mean I am a (Sunni/Shia/whatever division they have) Muslim. But I just want to learn the Way of Submission and be a Submitter to God. Most of all, I want to cherish the Qur'an without the eyes of Sunni and Shia doctrine, but God alone. Although I do not think I will become a technical Muslim, I would love to learn to do the ways of the Path of God in the age of Muhammad!

I believe in all the Messengers (we call Manifestations) of God: Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah. But they all preached one thing: the Oneness of GOD.

No doubt will there be discrepancies between my beliefs as a Baha'i and you who are Muslim (as I know from some of the threads, my faith is considered a horrible cult, lol). But that is natural, and to me, there is only one religion that all of these Manifestations preached, and that was the religion of GOD until people began adding superstition to it.


In the Name of GOD, the Most Pure, the Most Pure,
Kevyn.