Dave from California

[dsaly1969]

Assalamu alaykum! I came to a Qur'an Only position over time. When I first explored Islam I knew I had some reservations with the traditional "mainstream" interpretation of Sunnah, so I converted to Islam through the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement (this is the much smaller but more mainstream branch of Ahmadi Muslims). Both Ahmadi branches take the approach of not following any Hadiths or interpretations of Shariah which contradict the teachings of the Qur'an. So they allow music, owning dogs, the Qur'anic penalties for transgressions (and not the harsher edicts of the Hadiths). This worked for me for quite a while but I found that basically using this approach I was becoming "Qur'anist" by default. And as much as I respect some of the insights of Hazrat Ghulam Ahmad, it does seem that by elevating any type of Reformer, Prophet, or Messenger too much easily can become a form of shirk which contradicts the message of "God Alone".

I was basically a nonpracticing Muslim for 12 years before I came to a Qur'an Only understanding.

Right now I am comfortable with doing salat 3 times per day of 2 ra'kahs each as it helps me to keep continual mindfulness of God during my day. I am okay with others having different views and practices (and perhaps this is what some Qur'anists need to discover). I am even okay with others being a little more traditional or having sectarian views (I have no problem with either branch of Ahmadiyya or even the more moderate mainstream Muslims). I try to read a little of the Qur'an each day. I do find that when I willingly submit myself to God then I act less like a jerk (and yes I can be a jerk which is why I need Islam).

I'm out in the southern California area (Downey and Tehachapi) if anyone would like to meetup sometime.

Peace!

[FreedomStands]

Nice to meet you. Feel free to email me at foxyfoxgames@gmail.com if you ever want to ask anything. Feel free to read my views and let me know what you think.

I think maybe you should increase your prayers to a number which at least matches or exceeds that of the most self-righteous sectarians, then you can act like their big boss and also don't risk falling into hell according to them maybe.

[A.W]

Walaikum salaam wa rehmat Allah and welcome Dave!

This is a good approach, studying the Quran and pondering over the revelations is the first step, if you seek God's guidance!

[dsaly1969]

Nice to meet you. Feel free to email me at foxyfoxgames@gmail.com if you ever want to ask anything. Feel free to read my views and let me know what you think.

I think maybe you should increase your prayers to a number which at least matches or exceeds that of the most self-righteous sectarians, then you can act like their big boss and also don't risk falling into hell according to them maybe.

LOL! I'm not even a good "big boss" of me. I've tried, of course, but keep making bad decisions - usually the worst one is thinking that I actually have control over things!

Peace!

[FreedomStands]

LOL! I'm not even a good "big boss" of me. I've tried, of course, but keep making bad decisions - usually the worst one is thinking that I actually have control over things!

Peace!

Excellent! That is very good to hear that realization! Haha. Peace! Feel free to type as much as you like on this forum, so that you can get rid of that annoying bunch of questions that pop up every time a person posts early on.

[Mikebloke]

Salam mate, nice to see some stuff about the Ahmadiyyan position, they are an interesting lot though for obvious reasons that both you and I know they do conflict with some of the very basic tenants of Islam.

Its interesting that you've slid into a Quranist position from there, in talks I've had with other Ahmadiyyans they do acknowledge they are closer to those ideals than the mainstream, and south asian culture is hard to shake off.

Although I've never tried to be sectarian I probably labelled myself sunni when I first converted, it was easier, but since I realised that the term sunni is just another division and another useless object of classifying people different than everyone else.

[Man of Faith]

Hello,

Welcome to this forum.

Be safe
Emanuel

[dsaly1969]

I instantly saw the conflicts with the larger Ahmadiyya Community (the so-called "Qadiani") who viewed MGA as a prophet after Muhammad, so I had converted through the "Lahore" Ahmadi Movement (which is only about 1% of Ahmadis) which only saw MGA as a "Reformer" and not as a prophet - but I only converted to Islam through them but never officially joined their bai'at. I never lived close enough to an Ahmadi community really to participate. Later I also did shahadah at a "mainstream" masjid that I was attending on the occasions when I could. They seemed to like to display the "white" (I actually have European and Cherokee ancestry) Muslim convert which made me a little uncomfortable, and there was some Wahhabi thought floating around.

But, yes, when reading Ahmadi literature from either branch they do come out closer to Tolu-e-Islam or Qur'anist thought and practice. When I was first studying Islam on my own it was through reading a translation of the Qur'an (I think it was Pickthall's) which was so clear and attractive to me as opposed to what I later found that Hadiths and Shariah interpretations have done to the religion.

While my own "practice" is fairly "mainstream" in that while I do salat of 2 ra'kahs in a traditional style three time per day (although I do "Qur'anic" wudu of 4 steps) personally some of this is because of life circumstances. I work in a field where I am dealing with life threatening emergencies dealing with children on a daily basis so praying 5 times per day during work hours (or combining prayers) is simply not feasible. I find traditional style salat helpful for me both in divine remembrance as well as physically (I was hit by a bus years ago and have chronic back pain so I find the salat positions, minus the prostration on the floor which I cannot do so I do it from a chair, helpful with alleviating pain and tension in my back).

This is to say that I don't concern myself about other Muslims' daily salat practices whether they are doing traditional 5 times per day of 2-4-4-3-4 ra'kahs with traditional wudu (which even the majority of regular Muslims are not really doing), or doing something else, or nothing at all. I will never be financially or physically able to perform hajj so I don't worry about that. Saum is also a challenge due to health issues and kidney problems (I cannot fast from water or I damage my kidneys) so I try to maintain a juice and water fast during Ramadan and donate what I can to feed the poor.

[Scribbler]

Dear Dave,

Salam alaykum and welcome to the forum.

Although I think there are 5 daily salats per day, but apart from that I've liked everything that you have shared about yourself.

God bless you, brother.

[dsaly1969]

Waalaykum assalam! As you can tell I am not doctrinaire on the salat so you could well be right on 5 salat per day (I don't find the concept of ra'kahs in the Qur'an but am not super doctrinaire about that either). Since much of my "justification" is more due to life circumstances rather than any claim to Qur'anic exegesis, I am open to changing my practice once life circumstances allow.