The Ask Rashad About Islam Thread.

[alphamale]

And what do you think of Atheists? My questions didn't get answered.

being agnostic myself i think the atheists are a bit extreme

[D-Lish]

being agnostic myself i think the atheists are a bit extreme

 

Please clarify. How are we extreme?

[alphamale]

Please clarify. How are we extreme?

well, god may or may not exist, we don't know

[Rashad]

Okay. So what do you make of Stephen Hawkings and his life work?

What do you think of Atheists in general?

 

I am a science nerd, and an Atheist.

I only know general stuff about Stephen so I really can't attempt to make it flow with what the Quran says but I believe it has a lot to do with string theory, parallel universes and all that. Also the creation from nothingness that Stephen talks about is mentioned

Quran 02:117

117- Creator of the heavens and the earth from nothingness, He has only to say when He wills a thing, “Be,” and it is.

One of the postulates of string theory is the possible existence of "worm holes" the key to traveling "faster" than light, or more like taking a shortcut.

There is actually one mention of faster than light transportation in the Quran, that I found interesting.

Basically Solomon PBUH asked his entourage to transport a castle, from Yemen to Jerusalem, one Jinn said he could do that so fast that the castle would be there before Solomon got up off his seat then.

Quran 27:40

40. Said one who had knowledge from the Book, "I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you." And when [solomon] saw it placed before him, he said, "This is from the favor of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful. And whoever is grateful – his gratitude is only for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever is ungrateful – then indeed, my Lord is Free of need and Generous."

This may sound ludicrous to regular people but if there was an explanation, then it had to be "worm holes"

Also I think that parallel universes explain a lot of the so called beings mentioned in The Holy Books, for example it says in the Quran that in the day of judgment people will be able to see angels...

Quran 50:22

22. [it will be said], "You were certainly in unmindfulness of this, and We have removed from you your veils, so your sight, this Day is sharp."

What do I think of Atheists?

Honestly, I feel like they are taking the easy way out. I have Atheist friends and when they are drunk all they ever talk about is God, when I was 16 I was more or less and Atheist, I mean sure I was born a Muslim but at that point I was too into science but then the more I learned the more I found out that Science and Islam converge a lot.

Wasn't Einstein the one who said that Science is only rebelling against religion because science is too young?.. I'm actually very excited about the String Theory I think it will explain a lot. Also I'm a big fan of math and there are many mathematical codes in The Quran and that more than anything made me revert to Islam because to say words that make sense is one thing, but to hide a numerical code within words that make sense is another story . Here is a site of Scientific miracles in The Quran, http://quranmiracles.com/

spend some time on it

[freestyle]

Rashad,

 

Actually, I don't have any questions for you, but I wanted to thank you for starting a thread like this, it's really cool that you're taking the time to do this.

 

It can help to defuse some of the tension I've observed here (I got really angry when I saw the Muslim -bashing threads here), and maybe it can help to debunk some of the thoughtless stereotyping and presumptions that uninformed people make.

 

I don't follow any organized religion myself, but I am a card-carrying peace-monger---so, it's good to see respectful discussion/debate instead of inflammatory stone throwing. One more step towards peace..............

[D-Lish]

well, god may or may not exist, we don't know

 

Which is my viewpoint in a nutshell. We don't know. That doesn't make me extreme in any way shape or form, it makes me prudent.

[alphamale]

Which is my viewpoint in a nutshell. We don't know. That doesn't make me extreme in any way shape or form, it makes me prudent.

atheists believe that god does not exist, period.

[Rashad]

why don't moslems eat pigs or drink booze?

Quran 35:03

3. Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten, except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave disobedience. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion; so fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. But whoever is forced by severe hunger with no inclination to sin –then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

All of that is not healthy in Islam.

Quran 05:90-91

90. O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.

91. Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?

There you go.

[D-Lish]

I only know general stuff about Stephen so I really can't attempt to make it flow with what the Quran says but I believe it has a lot to do with string theory, parallel universes and all that. Also the creation from nothingness that Stephen talks about is mentioned

 

One of the postulates of string theory is the possible existence of "worm holes" the key to traveling "faster" than light, or more like taking a shortcut.

There is actually one mention of faster than light transportation in the Quran, that I found interesting.

Basically Solomon PBUH asked his entourage to transport a castle, from Yemen to Jerusalem, one Jinn said he could do that so fast that the castle would be there before Solomon got up off his seat then.

This may sound ludicrous to regular people but if there was an explanation, then it had to be "worm holes"

Also I think that parallel universes explain a lot of the so called beings mentioned in The Holy Books, for example it says in the Quran that in the day of judgment people will be able to see angels...

 

What do I think of Atheists?

Honestly, I feel like they are taking the easy way out. I have Atheist friends and when they are drunk all they ever talk about is God, when I was 16 I was more or less and Atheist, I mean sure I was born a Muslim but at that point I was too into science but then the more I learned the more I found out that Science and Islam converge a lot.

Wasn't Einstein the one who said that Science is only rebelling against religion because science is too young?.. I'm actually very excited about the String Theory I think it will explain a lot. Also I'm a big fan of math and there are many mathematical codes in The Quran and that more than anything made me revert to Islam because to say words that make sense is one thing, but to hide a numerical code within words that make sense is another story . Here is a site of Scientific miracles in The Quran, http://quranmiracles.com/

spend some time on it

 

Oh, I have- I am a religious studies major with a minor in History.

I have spent YEARS and a Thesis "spending time on it". I don't believe in miracles in any godly sense- but that doesn't mean that I don't think the universe is awesome.

 

The universe is totally awesome. All the awesome stuff going on out there in the stars with the universe expanding, black holes, quantam physics... Wow- it's all so profound isn't it??? Yet somehow, there are still "religions" on earth that tell women they are second class citizens that need to wear a veil to cover their face so men don't fall prey to their evil sexual magnetism that apparantly throws the men of society into a tail spin.

[Ariadne]

Allah is Arabic for Jehovah.

 

OMG!!!

 

This is amazing.

 

I just got a magazine left at home from the Jehovah witnesses saying that God wants to be called by his name.

 

They were making a point of it, and I thought that Allah sounded just as good and Arab people know these things..

 

Problem solved.

 

You HAVE to memorize only ONE, which is Alfatiha, I posted it as a reply to Eve, you can basically perform all your prayers with that.

 

Thank you! Very encouraging. I'll look into that.

[Ariadne]

Like I said Islamic prayers are both physical movements and vocal utterances, so Alfatiha is enough for the vocal part.

 

Btw,

 

Here is a beautiful

about Islamic prayers and beliefs.

 

I hope you don't mind Rashad.

[Ariadne]

if you have any questions ANY at all, I'll be glad to answer you, and if you reconsider converting to Islam, do me the honors or answering your questions and how-tos and all that

 

Cool then.

 

How long is the process for conversion and what does it involve more or less?

 

Thanks a lot.

[Disillusioned]

1. Why does Islam still prohibit eating pork if the danger of getting trichinosis or pork tapeworm is so slight here in the US, or if we know pigs won't eat us out of house and home? (that was the original reason the peoples in the Mideast deserts didn't raise pigs, they would have had to compete with them for grain to eat)

 

2. What's the big deal about the right hand being good and the left hand being evil? If a left handed doctor saves someone's life, is he still bad?

[taiko]

 

Infidel literally means "one who lacks faith" as far as I know Obama is a catholic, in Islam Christians are Jews are what we call People of the Scriptures, i.e we believe in their scriptures but we also believe that they were edited.

The Quran says this concerning The People of the Scriptures.

 

 

For the record, as far as we know:o President Obama attended Catholic and Islamic schools in Indonesia as a child. his father being agnostic or atheist while his step father was a believing Muslim. After his mother's second divorce being raised in Hawaii he was taken to festivals of various faith. Hawaii being a melting pot of Eastern faiths.

 

Around 1986 he became a Christian and joined Trinity united Church of Christ. Unlike many Catholic politicians his church's stand on issues like abortion and same sex marriage did not clash with his politically liberal views. During the Presidential campaign when his pastor's Afro-centric teachings became known President Obama first claimed he had not heard anything like the big three clips in his 20 years at the church. Then he resigned from the church and still his then ex pastor reverend Wright kept talking and he was forced into retirement.

 

On topic, where does the Nation of Islam and the nation of gods and Earths with there racial theories fall according to Islam. Are they the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses of the larger faith or just the Methodist of Islam, if you understand the general acceptance reference I am trying to make?

[Eye of Hourus]

How do you feel about the proposed burning on 9/11?

[Simon Attwood]

157. And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him,for certain

 

Furthermore Muslims do NOT believe that Jesus PBUH was crucified as the latter verse clearly states that Allah saved and raised him, we do not believe that he died for our sins.

 

This is very interesting.

 

There is a Church in London, just off Leicester Square, that was mentioned in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, called; Notre Dame de France. It's supposedly Catholic. On one wall is a mural, alledgedly painted by Jean Cocteau, depicting the crucifiction. Only the feet of the crucified person are shown in the mural. On the right is a man, crying, who has eyes shaped like fish. Many scholars believe that this crying man depicts Jesus watching the crucifiction of another man, crucified in his place.

 

http://www.gloriaamendola.com/uw3.jpg

[TaraMaiden]

OMG!!!

 

This is amazing.

 

I just got a magazine left at home from the Jehovah witnesses saying that God wants to be called by his name.

 

They were making a point of it, and I thought that Allah sounded just as good and Arab people know these things..

 

Problem solved.

 

Jeesh, you really think God is Arabic?? :laugh:

[TaraMaiden]

1. Why does Islam still prohibit eating pork if the danger of getting trichinosis or pork tapeworm is so slight here in the US, or if we know pigs won't eat us out of house and home? (that was the original reason the peoples in the Mideast deserts didn't raise pigs, they would have had to compete with them for grain to eat)

A Muslim is not forbidden to eat pork, if that's all he's got to eat to survive. But pigs - like dogs - are considered unclean. So very few devout Muslims will have contact with either.

 

 

2. What's the big deal about the right hand being good and the left hand being evil? If a left handed doctor saves someone's life, is he still bad?

 

I think, considering how few people actually wash their hands after going to the toilet, it's a good rule.

Wouldn't you rather have contact with a 'pure hand', rather than one that's been covered in 5h1t, and hasn't been washed?

This is why a dreadful punishment for a Muslim is to have his hand cut off.

invariably, it's the right hand.

[jamesum]

Why does the Quran say that Muslims should pray 3X a day but Muslims pray 5X?

[Simon Attwood]

Jeesh, you really think God is Arabic?? :laugh:

 

This is really one of the absurdities of a religion based upon a supreme interventionist god. If god created the world, then he created Judaism, Chistianity, Islam, Buddhism, Paganism, etc., etc.

 

God is not a football team.

[TaraMaiden]

The way some footballers cross themselves on the pitch, you'd think he was coach.... Like with everything else he has on his plate, he's going to prioritise a footballer earning £100,000 a week by granting him a goal..... :laugh:

 

Honestly, some people are so pathetic....

[Rashad]

Btw,

 

Here is a beautiful

about Islamic prayers and beliefs.

 

I hope you don't mind Rashad.

lol, yes prayer is the best really, in mosques, streets, airports wherever and even though we usually get looked at funny. We believe that prayer teaches humility. I believe the pictures show that.

[Rashad]

Cool then.

 

How long is the process for conversion and what does it involve more or less?

 

Thanks a lot.

To convert one simply has to declare the "shahada" which is. It can be said in any language, you can youtube it in Arabic though.

I declare that there is no god except Allah. And I declare that Mohammad is his worshiper and messenger.

Once a person says, and believes the shahada, they are considered Muslim.

You are not required to pray and do all the other rites from day one of course.

After that you gradually attempt to learn what is required of you as a Muslim. The 5 pillars of Islam are.

-Shahada (declaration of faith)

-Prayer

-Zakkah (Giving alms to the poor and needy)

-Fasting the month of Ramadan. (today is the 29th or Ramadan, I'm fasting now )

-Pilgrimage (only to those who are financially and physically able)http://www.spaceandculture.org/uploaded_images/hajj-735922.jpg

[Disillusioned]

I think, considering how few people actually wash their hands after going to the toilet, it's a good rule.

Wouldn't you rather have contact with a 'pure hand', rather than one that's been covered in 5h1t, and hasn't been washed?

 

But then what if I want to use my right hand instead when I do a number? Guess I won't get into Heaven if I do that. Anyways, that's what TP is for.

 

Dunno about you, but when I see what goes on in the world today, maybe that whole mystique about the right hand being "good" isn't true after all...

[Rashad]

1. Why does Islam still prohibit eating pork if the danger of getting trichinosis or pork tapeworm is so slight here in the US, or if we know pigs won't eat us out of house and home? (that was the original reason the peoples in the Mideast deserts didn't raise pigs, they would have had to compete with them for grain to eat)

Because the Quran says we should not eat it.

2. What's the big deal about the right hand being good and the left hand being evil? If a left handed doctor saves someone's life, is he still bad?

No, the doctor is not evil. The Quran does not say much about the right and left hand as far as I know. However prophet Mohammad PBUH ordered Muslims to do certain things with the right hand and others with the left.

With the right hand we...

-Eat

-Shake hands

 

With the left hand we...

-Cover our mouth when yawning (the backside of the left hand)

-Cover our mouth when sneezing or coughing

-Wash ourselves in the toilet.

 

You wouldn't want me to sneeze on a hand and then shake yours would you?