bi_ithnillaah

Ok, so going along with your assumption that a member of a particular sect has to follow whatever big name old school scholar of their sect, do you do the same? If I quoted something from Bukhari's works (non-hadith), how important is it to you? Does his opinion supersede your own conclusions?

Oh, so that must mean you agree with Shaykh Kulayni too then? Since he's "thiqa al-Islam" and, ya know, he knows more about ahadith than pretty much anyone else. You must agree with pretty much whatever he wrote or believed, including what he collected of the ahadith and his comments on narrators. Right?

^ oh, haha. Well I can see one making a case for that

(wasalam) lol al-an Farsi ye kam baladam valee kam kam yad mee geeram. Right now I'm thinking I will probably only be here until late July but that could change. Do you ever come to Qom? I'm not really able to travel but I'd like to meet you if you come. Yep. America. lol did you deliberately butcher that or was that an accident? "land of the free, home of the brave"

omg O.O * marks nanny off job possibilities *

There are 3: Bint al-Huda (women's branch of Mustafa University) Jame'at al-Zahra (a private one, kind of a rival to BH lol) Some Arabic only speaking one that I heard about but don't know the name of and you already need to be fluent in Arabic to attend. Both BH and JZ have about a 6 month Farsi textbook class and then a like introductory semestery that is largely geared towards helping you improve your Farsi. Then you can start on the degree. In this they are sort of different. If you are single you can also live in the dorms for free. (JZ dorms are much nicer though mA, I can send pics upon request.)

Uh, it is NOT easy. You have to wait years if you're applying from the US. If you want to study from the US, get a ziyarat visa and then have the hawza apply for your student visa after you get here. Just don't leave Iran until you get it. It's much faster that way and not likely to be outright denied. (wasalam) I'm in Qom right now. Maybe we can meet up before shahr Ramadhan if you'll still be around =]

Hajj sorry to jack your thread but I have some questions too. Inshaa Allah I'm planning to do some traveling this next year. A large part of my goal is to study Arabic and live cheap. Is it easy to find Arabic tutors in Lebanon that teach Modern Standard Arabic well (not strongly influenced by the Lebanese dialect)? Do many people in Beirut hire live in nannies or informal English teachers? I'll be looking for a job too.

I'm really not buying this. But if I disappear in August and don't get online for another year, then you'll know why :lol:

Every religion does NOT ban alcohol. Especially not Catholicism. Catholics even drink actual wine every Sunday for communion. And mainstream Protestants also do not ban alcohol. A lot of Christianity comes through theology, not just the Bible. I'd also like you to show a verse in the New Testament that says alcohol is banned, not from the Old Testament. Most Christians believe those laws do not apply to Gentiles (non-Jews). (otherwise Chriatians would not eat pork either since it's forbidden in Leviticus.) As for alcohol - if you want the evidence and not just the reasoning there are ahadith on this. I'm using my phone to comment at the moment so don't feel like getting them. There are other threads on this topic and if you do a quick search you'll find them inshaa Allah.

(wasalam) Thank you for providing the grading. But if you're going to discredit the only shi'a source on the entire tread thus far, you could at least then provide us with an authentic narration that proves the same thing. Unless you disagree, that is. Otherwise this may only make the OP more confused about the correct understanding of this verse.

Aww, that's cute mA lol Well I'm not married but as long as the bed is big enough for two people I don't think I'll personally have a problem with it. And sharing a bathroom.. I take it you've always lived at home? Are you an only child? It's really not that bad as long as the other person is relatively clean in general. I've shared a bathroom all my life (family then room mates in university). You shouldn't worry about stuff like this. It's really not a big deal in comparison to what else you gotta do, if you catch my drift.

(bismillah) I really don't think the fear mongering and "you're going to hell" statements are getting anywhere. So we should probably stop doing that and address the real problems here. OP - have you reflected on why you stopped believing in Islam? I am also a convert and so I understand that you may have doubts sometimes. It's normal. But you must think through what these doubts actually are and why you are having them. Did something happen in you life to push you away from believing in a just and merciful God? Did you get wrapped up in the polemical issues of Islam and religion? Did you understand the rituals of Islam and why they are important to belief? Etc

Uh obviously you didn't do your research very well. You posted the translations of these verses that are originally written in Arabic. The word being translated here as "man" is naas äÇÓ which is a gender neutral term also commonly translated as "mankind." so don't try to make anything sound sexist here without knowing what is actually written down.

Please read more carefully. I stated hijab is not an unforgivable sin. How does this statement in any way come out as a justification for not wearing hijab? I also stated we are punished for sins that we are not forgiven for. Again, how is this a justification for not wearing hijab? I certainly am not tellin her to sin and then get punished for it because eventually she'll get to heaven.