Question: i am a stranger on this earth and have sensed it for decades.............but, i have no comfort when it comes to an understanding of why i am here and where, if anywhere, i will go at physical death............
Answer: We are all strangers, sent to planet Earth for a temporary abode, for a trial, an open-book examination. Our grades will depend on our deeds, not our achievements. Most scriptures of most religions speak of after-life, though the description and accountability vary greatly. I, being a muslim, believe in the description presented in the Quran, which is Heaven and Hell, and eternal life in either one based on our beliefs and deeds, based on all the evidences within and without us, and our ability to perceive, ponder and understand, in this trial period……. a brief century or less, which is absolutely nothing compared to eternity. I like to compare this life to exams taken by students at the end of their school term. Each gets a paper based on his/her capability level, and is marked based on the ability to respond to the specific situation.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
God: All-Powerful?
Q: I may not have mentioned that I'm probably a much more liberal Christian than most --- I'm strictly New Testament, except for a few of the psalms and such. I 'm so liberal that while I believe God is all loving and all knowing, he is not all powerful (at least not in this world). If he could end the suffering, why wouldn't he? Even I have that much compassion, and I'm not God.
A: Earth is a place of trial…………. Health, wealth and material comforts are as much a trial as disease, poverty, hunger and pain……….. all get their own exam paper to solve….. for some the trial is more difficult than others…… they will be marked accordingly. Then again, those with an easy: healthy, wealthy and comfortable life will be judged more severely as they were made custodians of resources and how much of it did they use of it to ease the pain and suffering of fellow human beings. God is Most Compassionate, He gives life and provides sustenance to all those living… he does not discriminate between muslims, jews, christians, hindus, pagans, atheists, and so on. Our compassion is based on our ‘perceived narrow world view’ whereas God’s compassion is based on a cosmic view of everything………. We do not know so much, and we are so insignificant, we cannot even begin to comprehend Him, let alone judge Him. He is, indeed, All-Powerful! Saying that if He could, He would have solved all problems, is like saying if the Examiner knew all the answers, He wouldn’t make the students take the exam.
A: Earth is a place of trial…………. Health, wealth and material comforts are as much a trial as disease, poverty, hunger and pain……….. all get their own exam paper to solve….. for some the trial is more difficult than others…… they will be marked accordingly. Then again, those with an easy: healthy, wealthy and comfortable life will be judged more severely as they were made custodians of resources and how much of it did they use of it to ease the pain and suffering of fellow human beings. God is Most Compassionate, He gives life and provides sustenance to all those living… he does not discriminate between muslims, jews, christians, hindus, pagans, atheists, and so on. Our compassion is based on our ‘perceived narrow world view’ whereas God’s compassion is based on a cosmic view of everything………. We do not know so much, and we are so insignificant, we cannot even begin to comprehend Him, let alone judge Him. He is, indeed, All-Powerful! Saying that if He could, He would have solved all problems, is like saying if the Examiner knew all the answers, He wouldn’t make the students take the exam.
Thou shalt do no murder
Question: .....but, i am not sure what "god" i am longing for............is it the "god" who told Samuel to tell King Saul to go and slaughter Amalek, including the women and children, because "he" was angry at Amalek for something they had done? in other words, the hebrew soldiers were supposed to stab to death a 6 month old child being held by its Amalek mother............
.....the 10 commands say thou shalt do no murder.................yet, the above is surely murder, conceived in the "mind" of an angry and wrathful "god"................. so, this "god" says "do what i say" and not what i do...............in other words, "god" can do as he pleases, including anger, wrath, violence and murder and genocide and vengeance, but I cannot............yet, i was "created in his image"?????perhaps my problem is that i do not know which "god" i want intimacy and harmony with............i certainly do not long for the god mentioned above............
Answer: Firstly, except for the arabic text of the Quran, all holy scriptures have been corrupted with human writings purported to being from God, referred out of context, and misinterpreted. The commandment that thou shalt not murder is for all times…….. life is sacred, a gift of God, and no human may take the life of another human being. In fact, even when killing animals for food, we are ordered to pronounce the name of God over it, reminding ourselves of the sacredness of life, and that this action of slaughtering, of being blessed with sustenance, is also a gift of God, and part of the great Circle of Life.Yet, we humans are indeed divided and hostile, and when one group gets bent upon defaming, conspiring against, attacking and destroying another, it is the right of every group to defend themselves. The God I know only prescribes killing in self-defence…….. He does not prescribe attacking peace-loving humans, no matter which religion they ascribe to or which deity they worship.
.....the 10 commands say thou shalt do no murder.................yet, the above is surely murder, conceived in the "mind" of an angry and wrathful "god"................. so, this "god" says "do what i say" and not what i do...............in other words, "god" can do as he pleases, including anger, wrath, violence and murder and genocide and vengeance, but I cannot............yet, i was "created in his image"?????perhaps my problem is that i do not know which "god" i want intimacy and harmony with............i certainly do not long for the god mentioned above............
Answer: Firstly, except for the arabic text of the Quran, all holy scriptures have been corrupted with human writings purported to being from God, referred out of context, and misinterpreted. The commandment that thou shalt not murder is for all times…….. life is sacred, a gift of God, and no human may take the life of another human being. In fact, even when killing animals for food, we are ordered to pronounce the name of God over it, reminding ourselves of the sacredness of life, and that this action of slaughtering, of being blessed with sustenance, is also a gift of God, and part of the great Circle of Life.Yet, we humans are indeed divided and hostile, and when one group gets bent upon defaming, conspiring against, attacking and destroying another, it is the right of every group to defend themselves. The God I know only prescribes killing in self-defence…….. He does not prescribe attacking peace-loving humans, no matter which religion they ascribe to or which deity they worship.
Are God of the Old Testament and New Testament same?
Question: If the god of the old and new testament are one god, he has changed drastically. Perhaps he learned from the trials of Job or from the near sacrifice of Isaac, perhaps he awakened to a new truth. I don't know. I only know that the new God knows Love. The new God IS Love.
Answer: To Moses was revealed the Torah, which contained the Laws. With the passage of time, though prophets kept coming from time to time, yet the followers of Torah forgot the wisdom behind the Laws, and the Law became blind…… the compassion, the love, the mercy, and the wisdom was lost on most….. people who followed became rigid and closed their minds, their religion was difficult and harsh, and it seemed okay to them. Then God sent Jesus to re-teach the Torah, to let the people know the immense love and compassion that God has for His creatures. But the followers of Jesus concentrated so much on the love and compassion part, that they forgot that he had come to confirm the Law, not to do away with it…….. that he had come to explain why it was important and beneficial for humans, but, unfortunately, we have two religions while both study the Old Testament.
Answer: To Moses was revealed the Torah, which contained the Laws. With the passage of time, though prophets kept coming from time to time, yet the followers of Torah forgot the wisdom behind the Laws, and the Law became blind…… the compassion, the love, the mercy, and the wisdom was lost on most….. people who followed became rigid and closed their minds, their religion was difficult and harsh, and it seemed okay to them. Then God sent Jesus to re-teach the Torah, to let the people know the immense love and compassion that God has for His creatures. But the followers of Jesus concentrated so much on the love and compassion part, that they forgot that he had come to confirm the Law, not to do away with it…….. that he had come to explain why it was important and beneficial for humans, but, unfortunately, we have two religions while both study the Old Testament.
Conditional Love
Question: ...thus, god IS love, but you get utter destruction if you somehow cannot believe in jesus ............so, it is a love that is very conditional.............
Answer: God loves us all, and that is why He has put us in this world to give us a chance to prove ourselves……….. He could have just put us in Heaven or Hell for eternity, but yet, He chose to give us a chance………. What we are required to do is to use our senses, our intellect, our conscience, and all at our disposal to discover the true deity and what He expects from us, and then to do so. Do all evidences point towards intelligent-design, if yes, who designed it, did He choose to communicate with us, if yes, how, through whom, and with what, are His words recorded for our benefit, is this an open-book exam??????????? I have been able to find the answer to all these questions in the Holy Quran.
Answer: God loves us all, and that is why He has put us in this world to give us a chance to prove ourselves……….. He could have just put us in Heaven or Hell for eternity, but yet, He chose to give us a chance………. What we are required to do is to use our senses, our intellect, our conscience, and all at our disposal to discover the true deity and what He expects from us, and then to do so. Do all evidences point towards intelligent-design, if yes, who designed it, did He choose to communicate with us, if yes, how, through whom, and with what, are His words recorded for our benefit, is this an open-book exam??????????? I have been able to find the answer to all these questions in the Holy Quran.
New Testament deity is very different
Question: I think the new testament deity is very different, the new testament covenant between god and man is very different, and we have clearly been informed of this, through the life of Christ. Our new covenant is based on Love not Law. The Ten Commandments telling us what not to do are replaced by the golden rule telling us what to do. The new testament god does not tell us to kill; he tells us to die and know that we shall never die.
Answer: God is one and has sent essentially the same message to all humans throughout time. The true religion is a beautiful combination of the Law and the Love…. The religion preached by the prophets throughout time……………… we humans tend to learn a part and ignore the rest, the fault lies with us, for being content with whatever little knowledge of religion we have and ignoring the vast body of wisdom around us.
Answer: God is one and has sent essentially the same message to all humans throughout time. The true religion is a beautiful combination of the Law and the Love…. The religion preached by the prophets throughout time……………… we humans tend to learn a part and ignore the rest, the fault lies with us, for being content with whatever little knowledge of religion we have and ignoring the vast body of wisdom around us.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Study of Islam
Question: It is hard to believe that this is the work of a Supreme Being. One has to be unbelievably brainwashed to think this is sublime. In Pakistan however, you will be beheaded if you throw the Quran in a waste-bin.Many a Muslim will claim that what I have written has nothing to do with Islam and that all of it are culture-related issues. This is completely false. The situation of the Muslim has nothing to do with a so called backward culture in Islamic countries but has everything to do with true Islam itself. In my opinion Islam is in violation with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on many issues and poses a danger to society. Reformation of Islam is impossible since everything is described in detail in the Quran and the Hadith/traditions of Muhammad. The Quran and the Hadith are complementary and provide explanations for one another. The so-called reformers or moderate Muslims pretend that a large part of the Quran does not exist. Or they try to distort the truth because it so ugly.The extremists (Wahabi, Salafists, ... ) or so-called “radicalized youth” just go for the whole story. If in the West Islam is considered as an “approved” religion, one cannot blame these people that they use their right to effectively follow the Quran and the Hadith.One forgets that Islam is not only a religion but also a culture, a social system, a legislation, a political system, a military system, ....and that these cannot easily be separated. An example: one would expect that prayer belongs to the religious domain. During prayer muslims read a chapter of the Quran. When they choose chapter 9 and recite that polytheists should be killed (9:5) and that Christians and Jews have to be fought until they submit (9:29) and that you may not spend time with your ‘unbelieving’ family members (9:23), one enters in the military, social and political domain. And then muslims are surprised that they have to explain to those Polytheists, Jews, Christians or atheist relatives that these verses are no longer valid and were meant only for specific circumstances, wherease Islamic scholars claim the exact opposite. When I put everything in perspective I cannot understand how anyone who has studied Islam thoroughly on the basis of the Islamic sources, still can remain a Muslim. I am no longer a Muslim. i hope every Muslim will study Islam thoroughly and follow suit.
Answer: If any were to study Talmud and other writings along with the Torah, if one were to study all the literature ascribed to all the world religions, one would most definitely become an ‘non-believer’ in any or all of those religions simply because most of the religious literature is human work……….. full of errors, mistakes, omissions, aspirations, motives, slander, lies and the list can go on. The primary works: the books which were revealed to humans, example the Torah, the Bible, the Vedas, the Quran, etc, can only be considered as sources; the rest, if one is not careful, is all misleading!
Answer: If any were to study Talmud and other writings along with the Torah, if one were to study all the literature ascribed to all the world religions, one would most definitely become an ‘non-believer’ in any or all of those religions simply because most of the religious literature is human work……….. full of errors, mistakes, omissions, aspirations, motives, slander, lies and the list can go on. The primary works: the books which were revealed to humans, example the Torah, the Bible, the Vedas, the Quran, etc, can only be considered as sources; the rest, if one is not careful, is all misleading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)