Hi,
Sunni’s Shia’s They are all muslims and recognize each other as muslims.They follow the same prophet and same religion though this rift took place for political reasons only.It was actually a big mistake since the Quran has promised a very grave punishment to those who cause the rift and division in religion.My perception after reading this was that God knew that we were gonna do this so he forewarned us but we still didn’t learn.
It is to be stated that wether you think Ali(God bless his soul) should have been caliph instead of Hazrat Abu Bakr(God bless his soul)is your view and doesn’t matter since they are all muslims.The reason hazrat abu bakr was chosen by the majority was because when the question of succession came,it was remembered that the prophet apponted Abu Bakrt to lead prayer when he was unwell so this was considered a sign.A minority of the population excluding Hazrat Ali were against this.This is totally political e.g Shia’s pray slightly differently than sunni’s.However the prophet has used both ways in prayer.I regard this as nothing but a conspiracy to corrupt our religion,since they have chosen to pray differently and made it their prayer just for the sake of segregation.It is really silly since the prophet did pray both ways during his lifetime.So no prob.Just a clash of perceptions.You can accept any sect and you will be considered a pure muslim.
As for me.I am neither sect.Just pure Muslim who regards this sect stuff as nonsense created after Muhammad.I basically regard things revealed at the prophets time as part of my beliefs since he was the last and final prophet and after him anything religious is just human perception.
Bye
Zeeshan
Raven255: *Complex things require intelligent design folks! *
Oh boy, here comes that tsunami again!
::running back to the Islam and Science thread:: 
Raven: I assure you we are all aware of our science. And I assure you that nothing you are saying has not been shot down by mainstream scientists, and people on this board.
I will leave this issue - as I grow weary of it from people who were here before you - by saying this:
You are wrong with your scientific assumptions, and I am sure (as our friend Zeeshan seems to do) that Muslims can reconcile their faith with science without perverting science just as Christians can as well.
Now, instead of talking about science, how about telling what the creation myth in the Koran is - or is it the same story presented as Genesis in the Christian & Jewish Bible?
Yer pal,
Satan
*I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Three months, three weeks, two days, 17 hours, 32 minutes and 40 seconds.
4589 cigarettes not smoked, saving $573.65.
Life saved: 2 weeks, 1 day, 22 hours, 25 minutes.
“Satan is not an unattractive person.”*-Drain Bead (Thanks for the ringing endoresement, honey!)
Perhaps my questions got lost in the shuffle. I restate them here for your convenience:
Please state your source of reality, your source of knowledge, and your source of morality. Thank you.
Hmmm – looks lik eKimtsu is beating me to the punch again.
I simply haven’t the energy today to teach remedial cosmology, physics, biology and anthopology.
I would never presume to lecture a Muslim on the meaning of the Qur’an. Why do you feel the need to express so many opinions about fields which you have obviously never studied in depth?
Do you, in fact, even understand the words you are typing? They look suspiciously like a regurgitation from another source.
it was just something i found, so i thought i might post it…anyway, any other questions. i pull some stuff from books written by a scholar i know (its Islam intro n stuff like that)
Islam is the only religion in the world that says that its precepts are natural. The Holy Quran says:
“…It is Allah’s Nature on which Allah has created humans. There is no change in Allah’s creation. This is the established religion (deen al-qayyim) but many of the humans know not.” (al-Room, 30).
In Islam, the beliefs have primary position; they are the roots, and the practices are branches that are dependent for their existence on the roots. The primary belief is that of the Unity and Supreme Sovereignty of Allah, the Almighty, the Everpresent, the Everlasting, the All-knowing. Allah is Just. He sent prophets to convey His message. He ordained a Day of Judgement when the deeds of His creatures will be measured and rewarded or punished accordingly. Belief in Allah, therefore, entails belief in all of the above.
Islam is the last divine religion and Prophet Muhammad is the last Messenger of Allah. In Islam, Allah has encompassed all His commandments and decrees - decrees that will suffice for humankind til the end of the world. The commandments are there not only to guide His creatures to proper belief, but also to show them the proper way to live their lives. Islam says that its practices are for benefit of the followers, benefit in this world and in the hereafter.
The ethical and moral degeneration of the western society and the predominance of suicide, drug abuse, and crime, seem to clearly indicate that spiritual health of an individual and a community is as important as physical health. The factors of physical and spiritual well-being form the basis of Islamic practices. All that is necessary for a person’s spiritual and physical well-being is obligatory, and all that is harmful is haram (prohibited). Islam shows ways of dealing with the world around us; the responsibilities of a person to oneself, to parents, to siblings, to offspring, to spouses, to neighbors, to society, to nation; what habits to cultivate and what to avoid; what things to possess and what to give away; what time to sleep and what time to wake up; when and how to make love and when and how to refrain from it; when to speak up and when to remain silent; what to eat; how to eat; how to seek knowledge, etc. In short, Islam teaches values and priorities concerned with every walk of life.
Islam fulfills all the needs of the human nature in such a way that by following the path of Islam, a person can attain a state of perfection that is close to divinity. Here is a very brief look at some of the general guidelines that Islam provides for living an ideal life.
In conclusion, a point to remember is that according to Islamic spirit, the first and foremost aim of a believer in following the practices laid down by Islam is to seek Allah’s pleasure.
Thanks for the welcome 2sense! Right now i am biwildered by the Islam and Science topic so i’m just browsing through Straight Dope. My name means Lion, or Angry Lion.
Anyway, i am Shi’a but i have no problems with my brothers and sisters from the Sunni sect. Infact i have more Sunni friends than i do Shi’ite! Someone commented about the way in which the media presents the Islamic faith an i think it was Satan who asked about peace between the Muslims and Jews.
To a certain extent i view both of these questions to be releated. Firstly because of something that is known as Zionism. Yes i have very strong opinions about the Zionist movement and consider it to be enforcing one of the worlds most secret holocaust. That does not mean that i or any other Muslims for that matter hate Jews. Jews are quite different. I don’t really want to get into the difference between Jews and Zionists but i will say this no doubt ambigiously, Jews are Jews and Zionists are Zionists.
One of the main reasons why Islam is shown in sucha bad light in the media is because of the Zionist controlled and Zionist influences and yes, i resent that alot!
I have many Jewish friends not Zionist friends. There are many Jews who hate Zionism and for what it stands for and i’m sure those who do view Israel as a Zionist state not a Jewish state.
Jews in the Holy Qur’an are considered as people of the book. Because they believe in the Torah which was revealled to Prophet Moses. Because of this there is no reason why Jews and Muslims should not get on well with each other. A Muslim Male is even permitted to marry a Jew or a Christian.
BTW, we are not all bearded bomb concealing terrorists you know ! 
Again another stereotype from the media.
Just a question: Do Muslims believe that Jews and Christians can go to Heaven without converting to Islam?
Another question: You always hear about fundamentalist Christians being up in arms about things like Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons, Pokémon, etc., as being evil and promoting the occult. Do any Islamic authorities concern themselves with such things?
One last question: What’s the deal with Quran 5:51?
I shall now employ my Zionist powers to control the media:
ka-PLAM!
Expect your cable service to be disconnected within 24 hours.
Shalom/Salaam
Alessan
Heh! I’d rather you disconnect my cable service for a whole lifetime Alessan, than you mis-guide and fill a people with false images and prejudice towards the oppressed and those persuing liberation
Whoah what happened to my cable???
about arab/muslim cultural/religious confusion?
Please state your source of reality, your source of knowledge, and your source of morality. Thank you.
First, on Abbas’s comments about the difference between Zionists and Jews, let me say that this is hairspliting, commonly used by anti-Jewish racists (I am not categorizing Abbas as such, I am merely saying that he is borrowing their arguments.) Yes, there may be a few non-Jewish Zionists, and yes, there may be a few anti-Zionist Jews, but basically there is no difference today (nor was there ever) between Jews and Zionists.
Nobody has the guts to say: “I’m not prejudiced against blacks, only against African-Americans.” But they do say, “I’m not prejudiced against Jews, only against Zionists.” BS.
Abbas then says: << One of the main reasons why Islam is shown in sucha bad light in the media is because of the Zionist controlled and Zionist influences and yes, i resent that alot! >>
Man, I really wish that Jews controlled the media and the banks and all, so that I would get my share of power and loot. But this comment from Abbas is also borrowed, from the paranoid and lunatic anti-semitism of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (see MAILBAG).
IMHO, the main reasons why Islam is shown in such a bad light is the refusal of the leaders to accept the rights of Jews to live… and the harsh rules of many Islamic states towards non-believers and women… and the absence of a free press in many Islamic states.
I get tired of the whining excuse that the “Jewish controlled media” is against [name-your-hate-mongering group]. Find someone else to blame, because otherwise you’ll have to recognize that you (or your leaders or your community) are to blame. Bah. Blame the whites, blame the blacks, blame the Jews, blame the Catholics, blame the Protestants… all ways of refusing to face reality and to make change.
Besides, I challenge the basic premise. The press CONSTANTLY shows poor starving Palestinian women and children, and Israeli soldiers with guns. That’s very pro-Palestinian. Rarely do we see the grieving Israeli widow and the Palestinian terrorist. The sympathy of the press is very heavily on the side of the Palestinians.
So, the whining is not only racist and anti-semitic, it’s also based on the false premise that the press is hostile towards Islam. Forget that crap, the press always favors the side that can generate the most emotional pull.
<<I’d rather you disconnect my cable service for a whole lifetime Alessan, than you mis-guide and fill a people with false images and prejudice towards the oppressed and those persuing liberation >>
Lessee, there are how many Jews in Israel? And there are how many Arabs in the surrounding states, who have tried to destroy Israel on numerous occasions? The Jews are outnumbered by about 100-to-1, IIRC. And who is the oppressor? [/rant]
I would be very interested in topics/questions about Islamic beliefs and practices, in an environment of sharing information. I confess to having very little education on that topic. There are lots of questions in GQ about Jewish practices, I don’t know why there couldn’t be ditto about Islamic practices. By asking individual questions, I could read the ones I am interested in and not have to read the drivel. So I’d like to suggest the questions be asked separately, rather than lumped together.
[Edited by CKDextHavn on 08-02-2000 at 01:26 PM]
what is Islams position on reincarnation?
the book: OLD SOULS by Tom Shroder (c)1999
claims on the cover “scientific evidence for past lives” it contains cases of children claiming to have memories of people who died so recently that individuals can be found who knew the deceased.
some of the cases involve the Druse who live near Beirut and are moslems.
another case in india involved a child born to a hindu couple and the child claimed to be muslim in his last life. he refused to eat the food or wear the “proper” clothing.
any opinions?
Dal Timgar
Libertarian:
Please state your source of reality, your source of knowledge, and your source of morality. Thank you.
Source of reality:Our own mind and thinking.
Source of knowledge:The Holy Quran and of course kindergarten,high school,college and TV
Source of Morality:Faith,but its more personal since the degree and level is determined by your own personality and perception of morality.
Well its nothing special but Islam is a very simple religion.We believe in one God and in all the religions that were sent down by the prophets.We are more christian and more jewish than any christian or jew.What i mean by this is that we follow the latest release of their religions.Its just that when it was our turn,we decided to believe in the latest version.No muslim can deny the validity of Christianity and Judaism,howver vice versa does not apply here.I hope what i said makes sense.We consider christians and Jews to be followers of Islam in a broad sense that Islam is the legacy that started with Adam.However the faults that were inserted in the religion make it stray from the path of Islam.e.g we do not believe and downright oppose the belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God,so that is a problem,however in Islam if you want to marry someone from another faith then they have to convert to islam before you can marry them.This is not applicable to christians and jews who are considered followers of the same basic religion.The religion sent down by God.
Here’s an interesting verse from the Quran about christians and Jews:
Quoted from The Holy Quran:
"The Jews say:“The Christians have naught(To stand)upon;
And the Christians say:“The Jews have naught (To stand) upon.” Yet they (Profess to) study the (same) Book.
Like unto their word Is what those say who know not;
But God will judge between them in their quarrel
On the day of Judgement.”
Here’s one more:
"They say:“Become Jews Or Christians if ye would be guided(To salvation).” Say thou:"Nay!(I would rather) the Religion Of Abraham the True,And he joined not gods with God.
Here is a very interesting and very relevant one to your queries about the Jesus in the light of the Quran:
"Say ye:“We believe In God,and the revelation
Given to us,and to Abraham,Ismail,Isaac,Jacob and the Tribes,and that given To Moses and Jesus,and that given To(all) Prophets from their Lord:We make no difference Between one and another of them:And we bow to God(in Islam).”
This one is about Jihad:
"Fight in the cause of God
Those who fight you,
But do not transgress limits;
For God loveth not transgressors.
TO IzzyR:
i am not an Arab,I am from Pakistan.I am not very fond of Arabs,however tell me the truth.When you think of a muslim what comes to your mind.Is it not a turban wearing,bearded Arab guy with a machine gun in his hand shouting out “Kill the disbelievers!!!”.Well thats the stereotyping.Islam is not meant for any particular race.About the Quran being in Arabic,well that is its original form and other languages are not supported for the reason that it might induce human inclusions in the Quran,so the arabic version is kept as the reference and the translations can be read by guys like me who don’t understand arabic.Its not about what language is superior or the language of islam.its just a precaution taken,for the preservation of the Quran till the end of time.
Bye
Zeeshan
do you mean the verse, or what that means:
Quran 5 51
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the quran surah number verse number