baqar

Dear friend
 
I have very little knowledge of either Biblical history or of Paul's part in it. I can understand some of the objections that non-Christians might have. But I have a feeling that our Christian  friends do find your style somewhat hurtful.
 
All I can say is that if we have concerns about the beliefs of others, ideally we should avoid unnecessary discussion. However, if we must discuss, we should be neither hurtful nor offensive. But as I can see, several people have found your approach a little offensive.
 
I will quote to you two verses of the Quran specifically on the subject of debates and discussions.
 
The following verse is about discussions with people in general
 
[16:125] Summon to the way of your Lord with wisdom and with kindly warning. Dispute with them in the kindest manner:. Your Lord best knows those who stray from His way, and He best knows those who have yielded to his guidance.
 
The next verse is about discussions with People of the Book in particular 
 
[29:46] Do not dispute with the people of the Book except in a kindly manner. Except with those of them as have dealt wrongfully with you: And say "We believe in what hath been sent down to us and has been sent down to you. Our God and your God is one, and to Him do we submit.
 
I hope you will kindly be a little careful in the future

He is an atheist.
 
Therefore, before finding fault with Islam or another religion,  he needs to prove that God does not exist.
 
The question of Islam being a right religion or a wrong religion comes later.
 
Let him proceed step by step.

He is an atheist.
 
Therefore, before finding fault with Islam or another religion,  he needs to prove that God does not exist.
 
The question of Islam being a right religion or a wrong religion comes later.
 
Let him proceed step by step.

He is an atheist.
 
Therefore, before finding fault with Islam or another religion,  he needs to prove that God does not exist.
 
The question of Islam being a right religion or a wrong religion comes later.
 
Let him proceed step by step.

He is an atheist.
 
Therefore, before finding fault with Islam or another religion,  he needs to prove that God does not exist.
 
The question of Islam being a right religion or a wrong religion comes later.
 
Let him proceed step by step.

If it weren't for a few good men I've known including my dad, my brothers, my one sister's husband, and a few guy friends, I'd assume males all are about like this. Why does society accept it? Why aren't the adult men stepping in and setting these man-boys straight before they ruin the lives of their wives and children? Girls are growing up thinking men are superfluous, and boys are growing up thinking this is the normal way for men to be!

^^^ poverty-poverty-poverty, apathy of those who see poverty, apathy of those who create poverty.
 
I was watching on TV this basket maker half drowned in flood water in Pakistan. Had 7 kids with him. He was asking government to take care of him. Really!
Same for the guy in Multan who married two of his cousins the same day and was on the news. Was asking government help to sustain his newly started life/wives. Really!
 
Pakistan's problem (world's problem) = Poor are poor and wretched. Rich are rich and wretched.
 
I know hundreds of families in pakistan whose men are drug addicts and women work home to home, earning money only to be snatched up by their husbands. These are shia and sunni both. 

I give up. Good luck to the others who wish to embark on this unassailable ascent.
 
One last try: 
 
Qa'im said: 

In general, it is possible, if there is reason to believe that there was a flaw in the earlier interpretation.
 
As far as evolution is concerned, my understanding is that it has been accepted by most of Islamic scholarship, even without the need  for re-interpretation.
 
The only problem for Islam is the exception to the general principle of evolution i-Adam &  Eve, that cannot be reconciled.
 
And as far as Adam & Eve concerned, there will never be a re-interpretation.
 
We are all descended from them  -  it is final.
 
However, my personal view is that there is a small possibility that some of us may have evolved like other creatures while others are from Adam and Eve.
 
In other words, mankind could be a mix of two separate flows.
 
That is just a hunch - a remote possibility that cannot just be ruled out.
 
Please don't ask me for evidence. It is just a hunch.
 
Be that as it may, Adam and Eve just cannot be set aside. 
 
Another point, as I said earlier, is that evolution is not easily lab-testable.
 
Also, it is not easy for science to prove that exceptions to the general principle of evolution must be totally ruled out.
 
Thankfully, theories come and go.
 
Who knows what fate awaits the theory of evolution in time to come ?  
 
 
Indeed, Islam - or rather our understanding of Islam - could also be wrong, because everyone knows that some hadeethes are controversial.
 
The Quran is also susceptible to varying interpretations. 
 
However, as far as Adam & Eve are concerned, it is much too well established - Islam will never compromise on the subject of Adam & Eve.
 
But  let us remember to talk about it again when that day actually comes, that is, when we find yourselves in a quandary.

Quite true, and I never said it did.
 
 
I know, I was just responding to a point made in another post.

We all - all of us - have great respect for Placid as well as his son.
 
Personality-wise, they are chalk and cheese, but both very nice people.
 
Just because we cannot convince Placid does not mean that we wish to break off with him, as it were, or to lose his wonderful friendship.
 
He is without doubt one of the finest gentlemen most of us may have met here.
 
But we don't have to get our friends to agree with everything we believe.
 And there is no need to convince everyone anyway - the effort must be abandoned at some point.,  
Some disagreement is in fact perhaps healthy.
 
I'd rather hang on to a good friend than try to keep on arguing with him until the cows come home. 
 
That is why some of us wise guys have cut down on our discussion agenda.

To God do all matters of dispute ultimately return. 

We all - all of us - have great respect for Placid as well as his son.
 
Personality-wise, they are chalk and cheese, but both very nice people.
 
Just because we cannot convince Placid does not mean that we wish to break off with him, as it were, or to lose his wonderful friendship.
 
He is without doubt one of the finest gentlemen most of us may have met here.
 
But we don't have to get our friends to agree with everything we believe.
 And there is no need to convince everyone anyway - the effort must be abandoned at some point.,  
Some disagreement is in fact perhaps healthy.
 
I'd rather hang on to a good friend than try to keep on arguing with him until the cows come home. 
 
That is why some of us wise guys have cut down on our discussion agenda.

Worth a read I suppose
 
http://www.maaref-foundation.com/english/library/pro_ahl/imam03_husain/husain_the_saviour_of_islam/index.htm

Bismillah.
 
Salaamun Alaykum dear friend,
 
Allah is beyond time and place; I mean He is the Creator of time and place and therefore He is Greater than being situated in time or place. As you know, anything which is in the framework of a specific time or a specific place (no matter how great is that place), it is limited (to that specific time or place) and Allah is absolutely infinite; thus it is irrational and impossible for an infinite Being to be situated in a finite and limited framework. Based on what I’ve said, we reach to the conclusion that Allah is in everywhere but not limited even to the “everywhere”.
 
Best Duas.
 
Narsis.

India and Pakistan (and perhaps some other countries with similar cultures) have an infinite stock of stories like this one. 

Absolutely
 
[3:134] Those who give alms, alike in prosperity and in success, and who master their anger, and forgive others! God loves the doers of good.
 
[3:200] Believers, be patient, and vie (with one another) in your patience; be steadfast; fear God; haply so you will prosper.
 
[42:37]  And those who avoid the heinous sins and indecencies and when they are angry, they forgive.

Alarming
 
 
I do.
 
If I was a Christian, I would be mortified.
 
Even as a Muslim, I am very concerned.
 
To not care is tantamount to not caring about the Word of God being manipulated and distorted to personal ends - in this case, homosexuality.
 
It also means being unconcerned about innocent people  being misled, as is bound to happen afterwards.

log rah jaenge angusht-e badanda  (n)  jis dum
samne nazron ke paani  pe  musalla hoga
 
 
log pahchane ge us waqt imamat kya hai
ek nabi jab tere muqtadiyon mein baitha hoga
 
Sharib

the situation is very bad in Sydney especially for Shia/Alawites.
shops have been targeted, either attacked or blacklisted and forcing people not to shop there.
(I purposely shop at a Shia bakery for lebanese pizza and bread because of this).
 
these salafi/wahhabi in their robes, sandals and moustache-less beards are the scum of the Earth.
 
Sorry to say that, I really have no hate in me personally, but truly I believe they are the Devil Incarnate.

Assalamu aleykum, brother Musa, and welcome to Islam and the followers of Rasool (s.a.a.s.) and Ahlulbayt (a.s.)!
 
You had many replies about Iraq, Finnland etc, but only one or two about your question concerning parents who are non-believers.
I thought I should say a couple of things, as I had the same problem for many, many years. Brought up in islam-hating east european country (and I mean REALLY hating, due to some historic issues), I met my husband-to-be and converted as a 16-year-old. My mother discovered it about 6 months later, and as my dad had already died some time ago, she took it very badly and thought that it was some temporary madness, nothing that a good beating up couldn't solve. So I was beaten up regularly, locked up in my room for days, given only pork to eat, followed as I went to school and so on... My family rejected me, I was called an "Arab [Edited Out]", they spat me in the face and did everything they could to get my husband to be expelled from the country. I struggled and prayed, and was helped secretly by my husbands friends, who formed a real "secret society" and were taking turns to slip me short messages from him. After two years of torture, we eloped to the Middle East and stayed there for 5 years. Due to extreme poverty and a death of our first baby, we then went to live in western Europe. I reestablished contact with my mother and have seen her a couple of times since when she came to visit us. She even learned to love and appreciate my husband in the end, but never accepted my conversion to Islam.
The rest of the family did the same - some of them consider me a Christian even now, although I never deceived anyone about my faith. As it is a hotly debated topic in this family for decades, here is what I can say I learned from all this:
 
I think you should show respect to your parents, always and at any time - not only because they are who they are, but also because you represent your new faith in their eyes, and should never forget that. They see Islam through you, and you are the ambassador that represents Allah te'ala and his religion, so they should see it in the best possible manner.
 
Don't let them make you lose your temper and your patience; if necessary, leave the room if you feel that you are about to lose control, perform the ablution (it cools your temper, as the famous hadeeth says), pray a short dua, breathe deep and remember how long it took the prophets of the past to convince their peoples...
 
Another thing - don't let them ridicule your faith; show them without doubt that you want the conversation to stay respectful, and show them you mean it. After you've left the conversation three or four times, they'll see that you are serious about that and that'll teach them to respect the boundaries.
 
And the last thing, do what your faith tells you to, and be firm about it. Our priority is Allah te'ala, and only then our parents. But keep the door always open, at least a tiny bit, so they know you still love them. And, of course, pray for them! Prayers open the gates that we humans sometimes don't even know exist. 
 
I wish you all the happiness and tawfiq, and that you may in sha Allah te'ala find the right place to live and be happy.
 
Kindest regards, Amina 

Absolutely
 
[3:134] Those who give alms, alike in prosperity and in success, and who master their anger, and forgive others! God loves the doers of good.
 
[3:200] Believers, be patient, and vie (with one another) in your patience; be steadfast; fear God; haply so you will prosper.
 
[42:37]  And those who avoid the heinous sins and indecencies and when they are angry, they forgive.

Hi Placid  
The answer to your question is - 'neither'. 
 
The religion of Muhammad  is an 'undying' and 'continuous' entity. 
 
It never came into existence at any point in time. 
 
It was always there even before Adam.
 
Even before time began.
 
Known today as Islam, this religion means nothing but 'submission' to God. 
 
And  submission means 'FULL OBEDIENCE'.
 
God has always been deserving of our obedience.
 
This is what we should all be talking about - how we can best obey God.
This is what Islam is all about.
 
 
Abraham was not the only one who had the true religion. 
 
Every prophet had the true religion.
 
They were all sent by God to preach nothing but the true religion.
 
Abraham, in fact, belonged to Noah's religion  [37:83].
 
Which means Abraham followed Noah's religion.
 
[37:79] Peace be upon Noah among all beings.
 
[37:80] Thus do we reward the doers of good.
 
[37:81] Indeed, he (Noah) was among our believing servants.
 
[37:82] And We drowned the rest.
 
[37:83] And to his (Noah's) group belonged Abraham. 

Asalamo Alaikum,
 
 
 
 
I agree with this. Also, In the bible it says that God says we are not to seek revenge, but revenge will be the His (the Lords'). We aren't to pray for harm to come unto another person, but to pray that our persecutors are blessed. We are to forgive them for what had happened. In the long run, by forgiving, blessing, and praying for your "enemies", you have shown a great love and the Lord will reward you for it.
 
A non-biblical way of putting this is "What goes around, comes around"... meaning that whatever your accuser or "enemy" is doing, that will come unto him/her as well. The wickedness they commit will fall upon themselves worse than they have done.
 
I hope this has helped a little bit,
May Allah (God) bless you,

I could not post in the forum in which this subject came up but I just need to say...
 
I could never fathom praying for revenge.  It is not a thing I have ever desired for another.  If I know what it is to suffer, why would I wish that for another?  I just can't.  I am more likely to pray for God to help me to find the way to recover from my hurt... to turn my thoughts to positive and productive things.  Turning my thoughts to negatives doesn't help myself or the other person.  The other person... if they are to learn at all...  is more likely to learn from my love than from my revenge anyway.  If I show hate, then they just hate all the more themselves, and nothing changes.
 
Salaam.