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From www.fatwaonline.com
I have a shelf on Islam in my Religion bookcase, and have read the Koran (insert spelling of your choice here) all the way through three times – more often than I’ve read the Bible all the way through. But I haven’t read the hadiths or other Muslim literature.
What struck me about the stories in the Koran is that, although many are the same stories as in the Bible – Cain and Able, Elijah, Noah and the Flood, Adam and Eve, etc. – the Koran does not so much tell these stories as allude to them, making references to the events of the stories in a way that assumes the reader or listener will already know what the story is.
If my impression is correct, then where do people first learn these stories? Is there a collection of them elsewhere in Muslim literature that tells them in a straighforward manner? Do Muslims, as a general thing, read the Old Testament? Or is this passed on as an oral tradition?
Welcome to the SDMB, and thanks for your willingness to do this thread.
What do you do at a worship service?
Do you have committees that do the work of your mosque, as Christian churches do?
How strong is the fundamentalist movement within Islam in your area?
How strongly do they emphasize the prohibitions on homosexuality?
Lots more questions where that came from, if you are willing. Feel free to disregard any that are intrusive or inappropriate.
Regards,
Shodan
PS - Late, but Eid Mubarak!
From www.fatwaonline.com
quote:
The issue of a Muslim woman staying with a disbeliever is a matter in which there is no room for independent reasoning because Allaah, the Exalted says: {O you who believe! When believing women come to you as emigrants, examine them. Allaah knows best as to their faith. If you are sure that they are true believers do not send them back to the disbelievers. They are not lawful (wives) for the disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them.}, [Soorah al-Mumtahinah, Aayah 10].
Therefore, if a woman embraces Islaam and her husband remains a disbeliever, they must separate.
I need to look that one up and learn as to it’s context. I suspect that it refers once again to the specific group of unbelievers, the Meccan Pagans.
A note on fatwas…
F**k the fatwas!
A fatwa is an OPINION by a scholar. A fatwa is not binding, neither does it carry more authority than is given it by someone with temporal power. I am free to disagree with a scholar and ignore his OPINION. With the exception of the Shi’i, we don’t have any real central legal authority. We are not Catholics with a concept of Infallible Authority
Islam is between an individual and Allah, based upon the individual’s understanding of Scripture and Tradition, If you want to follow a scholar, you are free to do so.
Martin
I posted that last one as my wife, forgetting that she was still logged in.
Still figuring out this new-fangled contraption.
An interesting Question. Many of those stories are elaborated upon in in the Hadiths. Also, the early caliphs had advisors , converts from Judaism and former rabbis such as Kaab abu Ishaaq, whose job was to elaborate on the Old Tesament stories.
Many muslims don’t feel the need for more details on the stories, seeing them not as historical facts, but parables pointing to a basic Truth. The moral of these tales, as in the OT versions is usually how much Allah favors mankind with Messengers and Warners, and how much man tends to ignore the Signs out of arrogance.
Martin
Hi,
worship service is called “Juumua” which means gathering. We meet at a masjid around lunchtime, listen to the Khutba, a sermon lasting about 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes, and all perform the Dhuhr, midday prayers as a group, lead by one other man.
Different masjids have different customs regarding women. The one I usually attend has a seperate room upstairs for the Sisters, as the main hall downstairs is usually crowded. This was suggested by the women when the congragation began outgrowing the lower hall
A note…Juumua is regarded as incumbant upon men to attend, but optional for women.
Most masjids have a board of directors that see to the day-to-day operations, with varying degrees of input from the Imam. If something needs to be done, a commitee of volunteers is formed to make it happen.
I have not encountered any fundamentalism, though I am not sure of what you may mean by that. If you mean the sort of person who would advocate suicide bombings or the killing of Christian missionaries, I’m gonna have to dissapoint you there. I do know many who are dedicated to a strict personal application of Islamic Law, without inflicting it upon an unwilling world.
The issue of homosexuality is one that I am not totally connected to. There is a pretty clear condemnation of it in both the Qur’an and Hadiths, even reccomending capitol punishment. I don’t completely buy into that aspect of things, feeling that anything inconsistant with Compassion and Mercy as questionable.
As for most muslims, it is a non-issue. We tend to view such things as in the same category with anything else an unbeliever may choose to do. I don’t get on anyone’s case for eating pork, drinking, or playing the lottery. I am basically liberal in outlook, as far as infringing upon anyone’s personal life is concerned.
Belief is much more important.
Keep em comin’. I’ll do my best
martin
I believe, after a short perusal, that fatwaonline is a mouthpeice for the Salafis, a particularly strict sect that claims that nearly all others are unbelievers. Feel free to disregard anything that comes from there as I disregard the writings of the Calvinists as not normative of mainstream christianity.
martin
I tend to recoil whenever any religious authority claims that one cannot apply independant reasoning over their opinion. Islam is submission to the Will of Allah, not some extremist jackoff.
How would the world be if every Christian took the babbles of Falwell, Hinn (The Head-slappin’ Fool), Jan and Paul Crouch, or a host of other “Authorities” as holy writ.
Not good at all.
Be aware that Ossama Bin Ladin does what he does based upon his own fatwas, directly in contradiction to Islamic Law concerning warfare.
Fatwas are only worth what value individuals ascribe to them.
Martin
I want to say that this thread is one of those things that makes the SDMB great. Thanks for all your great answers, Martin I love this sort of thread- while you can learn many invaluable things from reading and research, I find that actually talking to someone who knows is one of the best ways to learn. 
Here’s my question: About the Prophet Mohammed:
- What is the preferred spelling?
- What does the name itself mean?
- In the Muslim faith, is Mohammed worshipped, or is he only respected and emulated? I’m thinking sort of like Catholic saints here, insofar as they are not worshipped, since they are not divine, but they are respected and their actions and beliefs are emulated and seen as a sort of guideline for behavior and something to be inspired by. Is Mohammed in anyway an aspect of the divine, or is he simply held up as an example of how the faithful should conduct themselves? Can he be prayed to, or asked to intercede with Allah on behalf of people?
- Should I be capitalizing ‘he’ when referring to Mohammed, as many Christians do with the pronouns for God or Jesus?
Thank you so much.
An earthly analogy would be when someone knows the truth that what they do is causing them long term illness but continue doing it anyway because the see the short term benifits and chose them instead. Such things as amoking, drinking, drugs, fatty foods fit this, yet many people keep doing the unhealthy thing.
So at a more spiritually relivent level someone who regularly visits prostitutes may learn the truth that Og dissagrees with this actions and will punnish the person for them after they are dead. I don’t think this guarantees that the person will stop going to prostitutes.
Cheers, Keithy
This is more or less what I was going for.
I) Muhammad. There is no letter “o” in Arabic. Also, the “h” is a bit more emphatic but not to the point of being a spit noise. The doubled “m” is pronounced distinctly.
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The name comes from the ‘HMD" root for “praise” Muhammad means, “One who is praised”. Other varients are "Hamid’ As in the President of Afghanistan, Ahmed, and the Turkish varients of " Ahmet" and “Mehmet”
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You have rattled a bone of contention among Muslims. There are verses and Hadiths to support the intercession of Muhammad on The Day of Judgement. There are also verses that state, " No man shall carry another’s burden" (on that Day)
I’m sure I would be able to give a more satisfactory answer with a fuller understanding of the Arabic involved. Arabic is notoriusly difficult to translate into non-semetic languages. That’s why no translation of the Qur’an can be considered anything more than an interpretation.
- That sort of capitalization is a convention of English. There are no capital leters inArabic. I don’t capitalize “he” in referring to Muhammad, any more than I would in referring Moses or David.
The proper thing is to say “Peace be upon him”, “salallahu alayhi wa salaam” I’m not surehow to transliterate it properly.
Muhammad was a Prophet, a man, fallible, (another bone of contention) but infallible in the transmission of what he was Revealed. As he was constantly guided and corrected by Allah, The Prophet is considered the best example and is the model to which men should aspire. Application of this varies, as do most religious principles. I personally try to see the wisdom behind a given anecdote, and try to apply it to my life.
Martin
Thanks for your answers.
How many in your congregation are converts, would you guess?
Do you have to learn Arabic?
I assume the Imam is the leader of your mosque. Is there a Muslim equivalent of ordination, or seminary? In other words, how did he get to be leader of the congregation, and does he have another job outside this?
Is it hard to keep the fast during Ramadan?
Same disclaimer - please forgive and ignore any questions that are too personal. And what ratty said.
Regards,
Shodan
Darn - that should read " And I second what ratty said."
Sorry.
Regards,
Shodan
The Qu’ran may tell you to greet your fellow Muslims by wishing them peace, but I seriously doubt there’s anything in there about the wording used. Why would you say stuff in a language you don’t understand? It should be equally correct to go up to someone and say “Yo, Peace, Brotha!” and high-five them. Or whatever.
Respone to first part: You can easily identify an Evil, False Muslim because he will be the one blowing innocents up. It’s pretty clear in the Qu’ran that even if you are at war, you DO NOT kill civilians. No women or kids. Period.
Response to the second part: Yes. What do you suggest? Islam as written is not a religion where some guy tells you what to believe, as in the Pope with Roman Catholics. It is a religion between the believer and God and you follow your own conscience. I’m sure the Pope would have some stern words for (darn, who was that recent American Catholic serial killer?) if he had the chance. I don’t hear much about him giving Catholics a bad name, though.
Response to the third part: Dunno. I wonder this myself. I mean, some of the stuff is dreadfully out of date in a changing world.
Got any cites to the Qu’ran for that?
Like what? I know what I think. I’m curious what you, a convert, thinks is out of date.
Hello Dear…
Actually, the “As-Salaam” bit is one of the formal Names of Allah. This sort of thing only loosely translates into English without paragraphs of explanation.
“May the Peace of Allah, The Peace, Essence, Example and Source of all Peace be upon you” Is just a bit ponderous for most.
“Ponderous, man, ******’ ponderous!”
Casey Kasem
Does this anticipate and put to rest any of the " do you oppress your wife?" kind of questions?
It should:D
Martin
To clarify…
My wife is not a convert, so her opinion is not necessarily what you might be looking for in this case.
As for out of date…I think the best approach is to learn the context and try to find the wisdom behind the various laws and try to apply them to today’s circumstances. Remember, any time you read a Scripture, you are by necessity interpreting it, whather you admit it or not.
Seen that way, much of what seems out of date can, I think be accepted.
Martin
As for your Quran cites regarding the limits of war, here ya go. Complete with Hadiths as well for y’all!
Oh, sorry. You posted using your wife’s screenname earlier. I assumed you were doing it again.
Thanks for the cite.