effzee said:for everyone?
my family follows ISNA and they are going based on calculations. i know ICNA says to follow your local mosque.
I don't know. But here in NC we are starting tomorrow. In my opinion, everybody should follow Saudi Arabia.
effzee said:for everyone?
my family follows ISNA and they are going based on calculations. i know ICNA says to follow your local mosque.
braimuge said:well apparently its not ramadan here in canada until monday nite (fast tuesday), though half the ppl are following saudi arabia...
its so stupid, you pray according to canada, but u start fasting according to saudi arabia -_- i dont get
If you were paying attention to my debates you would know that I acknowledged that Surah 9 is the exception to the rule.Azih said:Honestly SoulPlaya I stopped reponding to you when you claimed that a verse right next to another verse has no relation to it. That's just wrong.
Edit: www.quranbrowser.com is pretty much the most useful method of looking up translations. Use the old interface and choose all ten for easy comparisions. 9:5 is in no way divorced from 9:1-9:4. 9:1 to 9:4 lays out the pre conditions for the harsh reprisals of 9:5 (which includes mind you an announched four month notice to everybody concerned). Neither is it divorced from 9:6 in which anybody who surrenders is supposed to be escorted to safety whether they convert or not.
castle007 said:I don't know. But here in NC we are starting tomorrow. In my opinion, everybody should follow Saudi Arabia.
Himuro said:I am of the opinion that at the end of the day, when everyone's judged, sex won't really matter. So why do this? In the days of Muhammad they didn't do this. Apparently it's because the men lack the self restraint to pray in the sight of a woman? "Oh dear, that chick has nice tits! Oh crap, I'm supposed to be praying." Something like that?
.Himuro said:I want to talk about skepticisms and things I dislike in Islam in this post since they are pretty much the only things that are keeping me from converting aside from my inaccess to a mosque for the time being. I have been reading multiple books, and in the end, I end up at the Qur'an as the ultimate word.
Currently I've been reading:
Why I am Muslim by Asma Gull Hasan - Good book that not only shares a lot of informative facts you probably don't know about Islam,but also stands out as a pretty good memoir in general.
Islam by Karen Armstrong - This woman is a beast. Her book is so descriptive, informative, and full of history tidbits a history fetish like me drools at.
Living Islam Outloud by Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur - Good book that gives a dude a woman's POV on the religion.
Lemme get this started:
1. The bullshit that is separating men and women at mosque's, gatherings;etc. This seems like something that has gained a following due to culture, and less about the religion, but nevertheless it has become a part of the religion's identity worldwide. For instance, at mosques, men and women pray in different sections. I highly disagree with this mentality. Being from America, I am used to mingling with women on daily basis, and I keep reading all of these stories, even from people who were born in America, that they have to keep their distance from the opposite sex, period, unless you are married. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what observation is after reading a lot of material.
First off, I want to disclose my feelings regarding separating men and women at mosques. From the mosque I've been to, I haven't been given a good first impression in this regard. I saw no woman there. The men's section took up 85% of the entire mosque's land area. The women's section is nowhere to be found. Maybe it's some shack in the back.
I thought it was just coincidence, but the more I read about separating men and women at Mosque, and placing the women in, for instance, the attic, the more I dislike this way of thinking.
I am of the opinion that at the end of the day, when everyone's judged, sex won't really matter. So why do this? In the days of Muhammad they didn't do this. Apparently it's because the men lack the self restraint to pray in the sight of a woman? "Oh dear, that chick has nice tits! Oh crap, I'm supposed to be praying." Something like that?
2. The forcing of hijab on women? What's with that? No where in the Qur'an does it say it's required, and unless my translation is wrong, it doesn't say cover head either. The contradiction is quite hilarious. I've seen so many women back home in Houston wearing Hijab, but wear the tighest shirts so they're tic tacs hang out. Oh, but it's okay! She's wearing Hijab!
3. The whole no dating thing. I don't get it at all. Fady described on msn, though, that the way Muslims do it is by getting engaged - which is basically an official statement that they're dating - which involves consulting the family of the man/woman and going from there. Still, some Muslims make it seem like the only way to date is to have sex. I also disagree with the no sex until marriage tenant since, I really don't think that having a scrap of paper and a ceremony changes how you feel about someone and that shouldn't really stop you from being able to express your feelings for them. Plus, I can't imagine having sex with someone when we get married for the first time and we aren't compatible.
Most of my issues with Islam, really has little to do with Islam and the people that practice it for the most part. So I guess that's some consolation, if any.
I truly just don't understand some of the way the people in the religion treat women. I think it is quite unfair. But the Qur'an itself is quite pro-woman. Odd.
Anyways, this interview is pretty interesting regarding this subject in general:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/146/story_14617_1.html
1. The bullshit that is separating men and women at mosque's, gatherings;etc. This seems like something that has gained a following due to culture, and less about the religion, but nevertheless it has become a part of the religion's identity worldwide. For instance, at mosques, men and women pray in different sections. I highly disagree with this mentality. Being from America, I am used to mingling with women on daily basis, and I keep reading all of these stories, even from people who were born in America, that they have to keep their distance from the opposite sex, period, unless you are married. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what observation is after reading a lot of material.
2. The forcing of hijab on women? What's with that? No where in the Qur'an does it say it's required, and unless my translation is wrong, it doesn't say cover head either. The contradiction is quite hilarious. I've seen so many women back home in Houston wearing Hijab, but wear the tighest shirts so they're tic tacs hang out. Oh, but it's okay! She's wearing Hijab!
3. The whole no dating thing. I don't get it at all. Fady described on msn, though, that the way Muslims do it is by getting engaged - which is basically an official statement that they're dating - which involves consulting the family of the man/woman and going from there. Still, some Muslims make it seem like the only way to date is to have sex. I also disagree with the no sex until marriage tenant since, I really don't think that having a scrap of paper and a ceremony changes how you feel about someone and that shouldn't really stop you from being able to express your feelings for them. Plus, I can't imagine having sex with someone when we get married for the first time and we aren't compatible.
Vito said:The last few lines in the post above... it's not even funny anymore.. just scary.
Himuro said:Really now. So it's less about getting that piece of paper which shows validation that you're married (Christianity) and more about loving the person? Where can I read more on this?
Heh. Wow. Thanks.
Reading up on Islam has been a pleasure. Honestly, not just Islam, but religion in general. The Mahabharata, the Ramayana in Hinduism...Buddhist history and philosophy, friggin' Taoism philosophy, Christianity, Islam, Judaism. It's all been fun researching the stuff.
I've been reading up on various world religions for about 3 years now.
No matter what I do, I have a tendency to research it. Now, coupled with an important life decision like committing apostasy, and possibly the most misunderstood mass of people in the world, I had to learn as much as possible.
I think I'm growing closer to my decision but I'd like to study and learn more before doing so.
Another misused verse is ayah 53 of Surah 33: "O you who believe, enter not the dwellings of the Prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time...and when you ask of them (his wives) anything, ask of them from behind a curtain. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts...it is not for you to cause annoyance to the messenger of Allah, nor may you ever marry his wives after him. That in Allah's sight would be an enormity."
The verse is obviously directed at Muslim men describing their property conduct only with the wives of the Prophet. It continues, however, to the main reason that some Muslims believe that men and women must be separate in all spaces, and an excuse for some men to claim that all public space belongs to men alone. This is erroneous. The instruction relates only to the wives of the Prophet, and to proper behavior in the Prophet's house. Those who want to apply this verse to all Muslim women never assert that all Muslim women may not marry after the deaths of their husbands (although in practice, that is exactly what is expected of women in some Muslim societies according to their un-Islamic customs). Confining women to the kitchens of their houses during dinner parties, relegating women to back rooms with inadequate or worse, banning women from mosques, and bans by political authorities in some countries against women going to school, all come from warped interpretations of the previously mentioned verses.
A hadith often used in the control of women reads: "Women, when they travel a far distance, should have a muhrim with them." At the time of the Prophet, traveling even 40 miles could be very dangerous since roads were full of bandits and law consisted of each tribe's different rules and regulations. Rule of law that crossed tribal boundaries, and was consistent with a new concept in 7th century Arabia introduced by Islam. Today a women can travel halfway across the world by airplane in 19 hours, and remain safely among large groups of people at all times. Yet this hadith continues to be sued, even by a few Muslim leaders in large US cities, to prevent Muslim women from going from one city to another, from one part of the city to another, or from leaving the doorways of their apartments, alone.
The real question is, did the Prophet practice, encourage, or even condone surveillance and control behaviors towards women? He never did. Knowing this, it is up to each individual Muslim, as husband and wife, as extended family member, or as community member, to shape morally, ethically, psychologically, and physically sale and healthy society where families can raise happy and contributing members of society.
Himuro said:I just find a lot of the sex related things to be silly.
castle007 said:it means that everyone is born pure and muslim and depending on your environment and how you are raised, you will either drift from it or stick with it.
The concept of original sin doesn't exist in islam.
TheHeretic said:Islam, like Christianity, is a patriarchal religion. Whether or not you think individual verses can be rationalized, it is quite clear the Koran was written in a different time with a different set of standards, and unfortunately that means male dominance.
So for 40,000 years of modern man, people were all muslims, but mysteriously the religion didn't appear for 39,000 of those years?
AmMortal said:No it is not.
We believe that God has sent 124,000 prophets throughout the history of mankind. To every tribe and nation.
TheHeretic said:What does that have to do with my original question?
AmMortal said:The religion didn't "mysteriously appear" it was there from the beginning.
TheHeretic said:So how do you explain the prevalence of polytheism? If these prophets were explaining things clearly why did it take tens of thousands of years for Islam to finally appear?
AmMortal said:Okay.
This is how it goes basically.
Prophet comes, gives people guidance. Prophet is a human being, dies, people make images or statues of him, to remember him, and then they themselves die. A couple of generations later, the new generations, look at these statues, but don't remember why they're here. But they do remember the slightest thing, it had to do with how to get close to God. So they start asking this statue to plead to go God to forgive their sins. Sins they deem themselves unworthy of asking God. A few generations later, it evolves, not only are they asking it for forgiveness, but they are worshipping it, bowing to it, calling it the holiest of holy. Not only this, but they make more graven images, because the population is too big to ask one statue, so they make an image of an animal that symbolizes the nurture of god , a cow, they also make a statue that symbolizes strength, the strenght of god, a lion. Then they start to worship these statues. That's how it went on and on.
TheHeretic said:"This is how it goes"? The indigenous religions we have documented didn't have a concept of "God" or "Gods". They essentially revere the earth, and have a strong sense of spirituality.
You've still done nothing to justify the Gods of the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. What a funny coincidence that Islam was invented on the curb of the rising popularity of monotheism, and funnier still is how so many characters from the old testament worked their way into the Koran.
Ydahs said:By being born Muslim means that one is born believing in the One and only God, Allah. It doesn't necessarily mean being born as a follower of Muhammad's religion.
Ydahs said:By being born Muslim means that one is born believing in the One and only God, Allah. It doesn't necessarily mean being born as a follower of Muhammad's religion.
AmMortal said:Ah, man.
Seriously?
ice cream said:Yo, Himuro i think women are also separated from the mosque because it would be harder to concentrate on the prayer...
If that's what you believe... though in Islam, we believe that Adam also worshiped in God, so everyone from Adam to the newborns today are born Muslim under Islam. You obviously aren't going to accept this becuase you don't believe in Allah.TheHeretic said:The one and only God Allah didn't exist for the vast majority of humanity. The closest comparison I can make is with the Sun Gods.
Ydahs said:If that's what you believe... though in Islam, we believe that Adam also worshiped in God, so everyone from Adam to the newborns today are born Muslim under Islam. You obviously aren't going to accept this becuase you don't believe in Allah.
Again, I'm not talking about "Muslim" in the sense we know it today. It's not being born into Islam, it's being born following the concept of monotheism and the message that all Prophets, from Adam to Jesus to Muhammad, sent to mankind.TheHeretic said:Its incredibly arrogant to name newborns a specific religion, no different than affiliating a child with a political party. Religion is something you choose, it isn't something you are.
Adam is a part of the creationist myth, and you'd have a hard time reconciling modern science with an actual "first" human: thats not how evolution works.
Ydahs said:Again, I'm not talking about "Muslim" in the sense we know it today. It's not being born into Islam, it's being born following the concept of monotheism and the message that all Prophets, from Adam to Jesus to Muhammad, sent to mankind.
A child's family chooses what religion their child follows, but when they are born, we consider them in Islam a child who believes in the one God.
Didn't I already mention this in my last post... Anyway, I don't know how else I can put it.
It's my fault for making myself so unclear. I'm not good at explaining things. I can't explain it any better than I have so I suggest you ask AmMortal or another for an answer, as I'm not as knowledgeable as him. SorryTheHeretic said:I still don't understand how you explain the years of no God concept, to the years of polytheism. You mentioned it, but I don't understand it. How can a child believe in one God? A child doesn't believe in anything.
TheHeretic said:Its incredibly arrogant to name newborns a specific religion, no different than affiliating a child with a political party. Religion is something you choose, it isn't something you are.
Adam is a part of the creationist myth, and you'd have a hard time reconciling modern science with an actual "first" human: thats not how evolution works.
F-Pina said:Hi.
A thread of this type in Gaf is really something. I read up to the 5th page all of the answers and it is truly cool that people are taking the time and patience to answer politely and not trolling too much. I will read more later.
Now here goes my part.
I do not believe in an all powerfull, all seeing being that created everything in the universe etc. I do believe that the persons who are responsible for the starting of the current main religions on earth existed and they were extremely inteligent, kind and way ahead of everyone else. They seemed to understand more than the common man and tried to help everyone around them. They started something and left a heavy legacy to us all.
I do think everyone is entitled to believe in what they want, i also think there is a lot to learn with religion and the teachings cointained in them. I can not, however, take word for word something that was written by the hand of man. We all know what man is capable of, don't we?
Anyway.
Its always all up in the air for interpretation.
Kudos to AmMortal for trying and achieving something here, an understanding and meeting of different persons with different beliefs.
Live and let live people... oh, and play games![]()
F-Pina said:Yeap, i read that part earlier that he didn't read or write. When i wrote "man" i meant "men", like the human being, not the person itself. That applies to all the books.
My native tongue is not english so sometimes something slips, sorry![]()
AmMortal said:The answer is in your question.
You have to understand that, in Islam Children are symbols of innocence. And also, that in Islam the ultimate sin, is a distorted faith ( or none at all) in God.
As children, do not have the comprehension, to distinguish good from bad as much as an adult is capable of doing. They are innocent of this sin, as well as any other sin. Thus,children are considered Muslim, even if they are in a chruch, or in a temple praying.
Children are sinless, in every single thing they do.
AmMortal said:Simply said yes.
TheHeretic said:I still don't understand how you explain the years of no God concept, to the years of polytheism. You mentioned it, but I don't understand it. How can a child believe in one God? A child doesn't believe in anything.