The guidance of God (continued)

Bismillahirohmanirohim (In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate)

 
Surah al Yunus verse 94: "If you are in DOUBT concerning what We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Book before you. It is the TRUTH that has come to you from your Lord, so never become one of those who DOUBT.
The "TRUTH/haq" refers to the current book/Qur'an. Hence, the focus of the verse, do not be in DOUBT in the Qur'an.
We are told to ask "those who have been reading the Book before you" and not specifically refer to the scriptures/book ourselves. Why? Because i) Arabs were commonly illeterate and ii) not conversant with scriptures.

The pamphlet goes on quoting Genesis 22:18 about "The seed" which according to them is Prophet Jesus(Isa). To our understanding Prophet Muhammad is also "the seed" of Prophet Abraham(Ibrahim) under his son Prophet Ishmael(Ismail). Prophet Jesus did prophecies the coming of a Messenger/prophet in John 16:12-13. Refer to Ahmad Deddat clip (Muhammad in the Bible).

It quotes about "original sin" from Romans 5:12 which contradicts with Ezekiel 18:4 and 18:20. Reference can be made to Ahmad Deedat clip at the side.  It goes on saying Prophet Noah was a righteous man (Genesis 6:9). But they did not reveal that the Bible mentioned that he was an alcoholic. Refer Yushua Evans clip. The Qur'an have responded surah al furqan verse 36 "... People who have given the lie to our sign" (37) "They gave the lie to the Messengers." One of the lie might be about Noah being an alcoholic. Allah knows best!





Muslim takes the Prophets as a role models hence Allah will choose the best of people and not someone who is an alcoholic or commits adultery/incest.

It then says Abraham was a righteous servant of god (Isaiah 41:8). Prophet Abraham created the Ka'abah to remind us that God has no image by human intellectual and only serve One God the Almighty.

In the pamphlet "As for prayer, Christ taught :"When you pray, go into your private room and, after shutting your door, pray to your Father who is secret; then your Father who looks on in secret will repay you. But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do... God your Father knows what things you are needing before ever you ask him." (Matthew 6:5-8) But they forgot to mention about this verse in the bible : "And he (Jesus) went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." - New Testament (Matthew 26:39) (Refer Yusha Evans min 1:30)

"And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped." - Old Testament (Exodus 34:8)

And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground. - Old Testament (Nehemiah 8:6)

Muslims are taught by Prophet Muhammad salallahualaihiwasalam on how to pray. Prostrating to the ground is one of the actions of our prayer. I'm not an expert in the bible but according to this pamphlet, this sect of Christianity are quite selective in choosing the verses to follow.

Surah al kahf verse 57 : "Who is more wicked than the man who, when he is reminded by the revelations of his Lord, turns away from them and forgets (the consequence of) the deeds wrought by his own hands? We have laid veils over their hearts lest they understand the message of the Qur'an and We have caused heaviness in their ears. Call them as you may to the Right Path, they will not be ever right guided aright."

"(1)"Say : "O unbelievers!" (2) I do not worship those that you worship (3) neither do you worship Him Whom I worship; (4) nor will I worship those whom you have worshipped; (5) not are  you going to worship Him who I worship. (6) To you is your religion, and to me, my religion." (Surah al kafirun verse 1-6)

The main conclusion of this entry is that  "O you who believe! Believe WHOLLY IN ALL THAT HAS REVEALED TO YOU, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan, surely he is to you an avowed enemy" (surah al baqarah verse 208) Therefore we should not be selective in following the teachings of the Qur'an.

Reforming Islam

Bismillahirahmaniraheem

There are a lot of opinions about Islam from the orientalists, non-muslims and even amongst muslims themselves. Especially after 'terrorist attacks', September 11th and so on, a lot of muslims and non-muslims are conscious about Islam. Some non-muslims were really curious towards Islam and therefore did a lot of questioning, embracing Islam as their religion. Where else some non-muslims grew their hatred towards Islam and spreading their hatred to the people. These hatred have caused a lot of speculation about what is true and what is not in Islam. The clip below clarifies about the word Allah(god) and what some non-muslims has to say about HIS name.


Some muslims are proud of the 'claimed' muslim terrorist attacks, some are ashamed and some just do not care about it. Those muslims who are ashamed of these 'claimed' muslim terrorist attacks, they prefer not to be associated with these 'terrorist'. They would say that these 'terrorist' does not represent Islam and its teachings. They would go up to the extent where they want to abolish the shari'ah. Let us understand 'Shari'ah', see if it is important with Islam and should it be abolish to 'Reform Islam'.

Islamic Shari'ah outlines a way of life based on faith and good actions. Living according to the laws of Shari'ah means that one should do good and refrain from whatever is forbidden by Allah and His Prophet. Why would one want to abolish something that is good? "Shari'ah" implies a connection to the divine, a set of unchanging belief and principles that order in life accordance with God's will. Shari'ah is understood as a kind of higher law that includes some specific and wordly commands. It means that the law or rules are not created by the human intellectuals, but it comes from the One and Only God and the scholars interpretes the law from the divine revelation of the Holy Qur'an. No one is above the law, but everyone is subject to it. There are specific methodology used by the scholars to interpret the Qur'an and the hadiths. If the Shari'ah were to be eliminated, these specific methodology will be eliminated as well and it will expose to more untrue stories by the orientalist and others as I have mentioned in my previous entry.

In MY opinion, 'Muslims' who wants Shari'ah to be abolished are not any different than the 'Muslim' terrorist. They have not grasp the important teachings of Islam. Islam is not just in spiritual, but also in our daily actions. The 'Muslim' terrorist claims that they are doing the right thing by involving or killing innocent people and the 'reformed muslim' also claims that they are doing the right thing by disassociating themselves with Shari'ah and wanting to abolish them. We have seen in recent times for example in Malaysia in trying to create "Islam hadhari" or "reformed or modern muslims". There are some websites that are suppose to be a place for reformed muslims and to go against the Shari'ah. Are we actually doing any justice to the beloved religion of Islam? The word "Islam" is derived from the word "salam" in arabic which means peace and "Islam" more or less means achieving peace from submitting to the will of Allah.

I'm not a scholar, I am just like anyone else who is concerned about the religion of Islam. So if I have said something that is not right, do pardon me and do advise me.
Let this entry be a reminder to myself and to everyone.
Here's a few verses from the Qur'an and Hadith

"(51) Messengers! Partake of the things that are clean, and act righteously. I know well all that you do. (52)This community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord; so hold Me alone in fear. (53) But people later cut up the religion into bits, each group rejoicing in what they have. (54)So leave them immersed in their heedlessness till an appointed time. (55)Do they fancy that Our continuing to give them wealth and children (means) that (56)We are busy lavishing on them all kinds of good? Nay, they do not perceive the reality of the matter. (57) Surely those who stand in awe for fear of their Lord, (58) who have full faith in the Signs of their Lord; (59)who associate none with their Lord in His Divinity, (60)who give, whatever they give in charity, with their hearts trembling at the thought that they are destined to return to their Lord; (61) it is these who hasten to do good works and vie in so doing with one another. "
From surah Al-Mu'minun verse 51-61

"(3) ...... This day I have perfected for you your religion, and have bestowed upon you My Bounty in full measure, and have been pleased to assign for you Islam as your religion. ....."
Part of verse 3 of surah al-Maidah

Hadith: al-Nawawis forty traditions, Hadith 7
"From Abu Ruqayya Tamim bin Aus al-Dari said:" The Prophet salallahu Alaihi Wasallam said: "Religion is good advice". We said:"Whose (advice)? and he answered: "That of Allah and His Book, and His Messenger, and the leaders of the Muslims, and the generality of them."  "

Hadith: al-Nawawi's forty traditions, Hadith 19
"From Abul Abbas Abd-Allah bin Abbas-may Allah be pleased with both of them- who said: I was behind the Prophet salallahu Alaihi Wasallam when he said: " O young man, I will teach you words(of wisdom): Keep fast hold on Allah, and you will find him in front of you. Introduce yourself with Allah in days of ease and He will recognise you in the days of distress. And know that what missed you could not have hit you, and what hit you could not have missed you. And know that victory comes with forbearance, and relief comes with anxiety and ease come with hardship."  "

Hadith: Bukhari 2
"Anas reported on the authority of the Prophet salallahu Alaihi wasallam. He said: "None of you has good faith unless he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."  "

The guidance of God

Bismillahirohmanirohim (In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate)

Firstly, I would like to be clear that I'm not a scholar. I might be wrong about certain things and if I am, please correct me.

The pamphlet to identify similarities between our religion

This time, my entry will be slightly different than usual. Recently, there were people who came to my house to preach their religion. They handed me a pamphlet and mentioned that they were followers of the bible but did not like to associate themselves with Christendom. Knowing that I am a muslim, they handed me a special pamphlet to identify the similarities between our religion. This pamphlet was however designed for a Muslim to read because there were a lot of quotes from the Qur'an to make Muslims understand.

In summary of the pamphlet there are some verses mentioned which was out of context with what the Qur'an says about the Holy scriptures. Examples:-

"(Like that book) this too is a Book which We have revealed before, one full of blessing, confirming what was revealed before it so that you might warn the people of the Mother of Cities (Makkah) and those around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and are ever-mindful of their Prayers." (surah al-an'am verse 92) 

This verse is "suppose" to make us think that the current torah & injil are the truth. It is taken out of context because verse 91 says "... Ask them: "The Book which Moses brought as light and guidance for people which you keep in bits and scraps - some of which you disclose while the rest you conceal, even though through it you were taught that which neither you nor your forefathers knew - who was it who revealed it?" Say: "Allah!" and then leave them to sport their argumentation."

It is somehow weird that some do not understand that, the book Prophet Musa (Moses) possess was confirmed (to be the truth) by Prophet Isa (Jesus), hence the book Jesus (Isa) possess should also definitely be confirmed by Prophet Muhammad salallahualaihiwasalam.

The pamphlet goes on to mention that no corruption could possibly have occured before the writing of the Qur'an because many Qur'anic verses call for faith in the Torah & the Injil. Examples of the verses:-

(surah al Baqarah verse 136) " We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the descendants and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and in what the other Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are those who submit to Allah".

Refer (surah al baqarah verse 120) "Never will the Jews be pleased with you nor the Christians until you follow their way. Say: " Surely Allah's guidance, is the true guidance." Should you follow their desires disregarding the knowledge which has come to you, you shall have no protector or helper against Allah."

   (Surah al baqarah verse 135) "They say : "Be Jews," or "Be Christians". "Then you will be rightly guarded." Say to them: "No, follow exclusively the way of Abraham who was not one of those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity."

This means that something is not right with the current Judaism and Christianity from the Qur'anic viewpoint. Even though the Torah & Injil used to be the Book of the Truth, Muslims are not supposed to trust the current Torah and Injil because Muslims shouldn't follow their way.

(Surah al Nahl verse 43) "(O Muhammad), whenever We raised any Messengers before you, they were no other human beings; (except that) to them We sent revelation. So ask those who possess knowledge if you do not know"

Refer  (surah al Nahl verse 44) "We raised the Messengers earlier with Clear Signs and Divine Books, and We have now sent down this Reminder upon you that you may elucidate(/explain) to people the teaching that has been sent down for them, and that the people may themselves reflect."

I do not wish to reveal which sect of Christianity they belong because my intention is not to criticise them. The purpose of this entry is for my Muslim brothers and sisters that we should read and understand the Qur'an wholly. If we were to read certain verses without understanding the story/teachings wholly, then it might be misinterpreted. This is when Satan may take his advantage on a person.

To Be Continued...