question about islam....what is it?
i answered a question a day or so ago about islam. it was a long question about oppression and women. i thought i made a decent answer, but the asker said most had missed the point. i re-read what she wrote and i see one or two points i missed. but it got me thinking.....what is islam anyway? the original asker was (again, i think she was saying) that the type of islam practiced immediately after gods message was different to shortly after.... quote from question ; "If the essential sources of religion and the exemplary lives of the first two generations of Muslims who lived after God’s Messenger are carefully studied, it will be seen that Muslim women were absolutely not confined to their home and they were never oppressed." there are muslims in indonesia, malaysia, uk and pakistan, afganistan and nigeria etc etc etc.....they are all different, and yet they are all the same. united under the prophet and part of the islamic brotherhood. they pray to the same god, but in varying ways. just like the very first muslims were different muslims from the ones that followed only a generation or two later. another example, malaysia is a muslim country...they brew and drink beer, they gamble and they also pray to allah.... morrocan men, who smoke hash, some drink too. neither country would say, on a whole, that they are bad muslims. but i bet many would disagree (many non-muslims too!). there seems to be suggestion in the above quote is that the message from god has somewhat changed over time. i watched a bbc doc about something similar to this. from what i learned this idea is taboo. the quran is believed to be the direct word from god, not written and adapted by men. infact, any research looking to discover otherwise, has had serious consequences for the investigator. there was one german man who had published a book, anonomously, about the possibility that the quran has been altered over time, by men. (to keep my question short ill not go into detail)the german was/is an expert in ancient languages. he found some very very old scrolls, that someone else discovered, and found a very old written language. he studied what remained of the scrolls and found it was the quran. however, the language it was written in was, at the time it was written, changing too. but when analysed with other very old, but previously known, copie of the quran, they made sense. he then compared the obscure passsages of the quran in both of the texts he had. (i cant remember the name, but the squiggle that goes above arabic writing...ill call it the 'thing') this 'thing' was not present in the very old scroll, or form of the language written, which made it more open to interpretation depending on different dialects and scrollers....like shorthand writing. it was a written language in development along side the different dialects of the spoken word. when the german analysed the obscure texts with other academic 'tools' he had in his ancient language tool box, he found the passages become clear. they sometimes make clearer a message that was 80% there, they sometimes change a mesage all together. but each time the german assesed the obscure passages, the message was clearer and, well to a non-believer, god like. another thing the doc covered was the amount of money the saudis are spending promoting islam. they have a type of islam called wahhabism. now i only really know what the doc told me about this one, but.... the copies of the quran they print are not so 'nice'. they even have examples of when a passage is written in the old style...something like 'ye shall follow thy brightest star that giveth thy protection' (i made that up obvisously) or something like that, then often an example would be given saying something like (again, made up, and not in relation to my previous fabrication!!) 'such as american and british war ships' or something like that. so, is islam whatever is in your heart? what is islam? thank you for reading. thanks even more for answers! (link to original question by mgullu1985) http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsLfWam07ubu17l0EKJLQIrty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081207095618AA7Lufb&show=7#profile-info-JC1Imw5Kaa so what is it that the original question i was refering to saying, in summary? sorry, i re-read that last sentence and its not clear. i was refering to what the original question (the one which has a link provided) and the answer given in relation to the notion (my understanding) that islam was 'altered' almost immediately after gods message? ie. so many muslims doing so many things. how can everybody be right? (same in any religion if anyone wants to answer for their own) would it not be true that in any religion, i would be considered 'outside the faith' if i willingly continued to live against it teachings aswell as commit serious offences against the faith? how far would i have to deviate? or would i just know in my heart? whatswith... thanks for answer. its not supposed to be a loaded question. suggesting so is somewhat aggrovating, but i assume that that too was not ment so;) i suppose i am asking what is ANY faith, if a faith is not its followers and believers? and where else can faith be held if not in their heart...where they know the most basics of right and wrong...the pillars of every religion.
Religion & Spirituality - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Just another Counterfeit Religion.
2 :
Islam is the only religion that has the truth. And Islam is God's religion to the people.
3 :
Salaam. No. Islam is not whatever is in your heart. Islam is the submission to one God (Allah)
4 :
that is a loaded question. let me say that you are asking Wat is Islam by looking at the followers. Humans are imperfect, and no one can be a PERFECT Muslim(Believer). Don't look at the people, look at the religion. first, Quran couldn't have been altered, as it was memorized at the time it was revealed and it has been passed on in that exact form!!! there are exact links back to the Prophet Muhammad. Islam is what it says it is in the Quran. People you mention fall prey to worldly lusts and desires. you need to realize that you will not learn anything about Islam by just observing its followers. You must read the Quran(if ur serious about finding an answer to this question) and you must look at the way the Prophet Muhammad lived his life. we Muslims try to follow HIS example because he was the embodiment of Islam.
