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has added a new journalDear Vikram,
How are you and your mother? I hope, God Willing, all is well.
I want to thank you, Vikram, for what you have done. You befriended my father in Delhi, & shopped for him. You even had him to your home; he told me.
Vikram, you even gave my father a gift- you didn?t have to do that. It was a gift strange to the American eye; a gift of wood: two small statues.
One was of a human with an elephant?s head. The other was of a woman.
You know Vikram, my Dad?s from D.C., straight from the Old School. They called us Negroes back then. A guy like that wouldn?t know what to make of such a gift. But I recognized them, Vikram, & I knew what to do.
I knew that the elephantesque was called Ganesh. The feminine was not so easily recognizable. Kali perhaps? Sati? Parvati?
I took the the two in one hand, Vikram, my left. I did not feel them move. I laid them on the sidewalk. No power stood them up. Then I shattered them, Vikram, I shattered them to pieces with an old sledgehammer. This I held with my right.
Why did they not stop me, Vikram? Your gods should have paralyzed me. Has Shiva not the victory over such activity? Did Rama not destroy all evil? Perhaps they know it is Allah Who Brings forth the vegetation, including the tree from which their images were carved. Vikram did you see the seed split, & then the ground?
Perhaps they knew that it is Allah Who Send down the Iron, of which my hammer was but a shard. Vikram, did they hear it whistling down to crush their effigies?
Perhaps they knew that it is Allah Who taught mankind speech and all the names. Vikram, do you prefer names which you have named, you & your forefathers, over that for which there is proof?
Or perhaps they know nothing, and you should know better. There?s an argument for every god, Vikram, but from Allah there is an answer: the Qur?an. And wAllahi I would teach you.
Because I like you, Vikram. If friends, why not brothers?
Namaste Bhai Sahb,
may Peace come permeate you,
Ameen.
Sincerely,
Daniel ibn Gerald
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has added a new journalIn the Name of GOD, The GRACIOUS, The MERCIFUL
when i was born my Eyes were closed
& i was told what i would see.
when i got older my Eyes opened;
i didn?t look i just believed.
then i started to See & Look,
Think, Read & Remember-
Words made things complicated;
the Truth i saw was more Simple.
so i went to the teachers who taught
& said ?i don?t See what you Teach.?
they said ?that?s OK, son: neither do we.
Forget what you See & Believe.?
i said ?if i close my Eyes again
& Ignore the Truth for your sayings,
then i would surely be lost.
i?m going to find the Right Way.?
i kept my Ears tuned
to the beat of my Heart
& my Eyes on a Light
far & dim
?til i heard of a Teacher
Whom everyone said
Was also my Brother
& Friend.
He taught of a Love based on Unity:
1 Message 1 People 1 Way
He taught us about Eternity
& making the Most of each Day
He taught us we?d have to always Strive
to stay on the Path of Peace
& not only Strive but Conquer-
& whom i must Conquer is Me
He said that his Words were not his own-
now that i had to explore-
He said that his Words were sent by 1
who sent True Words to True Men before
He talked about Land that is split by Seeds
& the Seas that scare men to their Souls
He spoke of Dead winters & summer?s Fruits
& said Death is a Stage, not a Goal
He taught Love isn?t what you say or do
It?s wanting the Best for an Other
once you put someone Else before your Self:
That?s Love, That makes Sisters & Brothers
He said the World won?t change ?til we make our Selves Pure
& He showed us the Ways & Means
He told us of Nations that came before
He taught nearly Every thing
He uttered a Book to Read & Remember
& Think & See & Listen
He taught of the Sun and the Moon
and the Day & the Night & He said
?Just as Day comes from Night,
so can Life come from Death?
He left us a Book with Plain, Clear Words
anyone could Understand
It taught that Each man?s Fate
is up to Each Man or Woman
or Boy or Girl
It says Rights are Given, not Taken
to all People and all on this World
He taught there was ONE
to WHOM none can compare
and WHO, though Unseen,
Has Put Signs everywhere
Noone knows the extent
of all HIS Affairs
HE Gives to each Soul
no more than It can bear
That makes sense-
if anyone, GOD should be Fair
My Teacher is Someone i never met
named Ahmed, that?s short for Muhammad
i add ?Peace? to His Name everytime i say it
Peace & may GOD Bless GOD?s Best
had i ignored the Light
& re-Closed my Eyes
i?d be cursed
& not Blessed by the Signs
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has added a new journalIn the Name of ALLAH, The GRACIOUS, The MERCIFUL
ALLAH (GOD) Accepts the repentace of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them Will ALLAH Turn in Mercy: for ALLAH is Full of Knowledge & Wisdom.
---The Quran, Chapter 4 "The Women": 17
Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. In a year, light travels. Imagine then, the distance it could travel in a year. 5,865,696,000,000. That's 5.9 QUADRILLION miles. Quadrillion. In one year. This, of course, a number even the brightest human intelligence can only name, but not fathom. Science & Scientists, with the latest of technology, are observing that the Universe extends for hundreds of thousands, even millions & billions of Light-Years. That's putting it in the Septillions & Octillions. And this is only as far as they can observe.
No one has any idea of even the slightest fraction of the activity and nuances of this universe. We haven't even explored more than 1% of our own oceans. It's clear though, that if even the slightest disruption were to occur- a planet or star leaving it's orbit for example, or an untimely explosion, the supreme balance that we call reality would eventually be destroyed in a sort of cosmic chain reaction. And ALLAH Is the LORD, the Creator, Cherisher, Protector, Provider, & Sustainer, of this Realm.
And of course, to an infinitely minute scale, there are innumerable universes all around. The relationship of a room to the nucleus of an atom is allegorical of our intergalactic universe. Every individual human, animal or THING, living or non-living, is intricately complex. Every single animal or plant cell has more comings & goings than the busiest major city, and more working parts. And ALLAH Is the LORD of all of these Realms.
ALLAH Is, in fact, the RABB (LORD) of AL-ALAMEEN. HE is the LORD of ALL Realms, ALL Reality, ALL that exists. HE Is the RABB of the Unseen. And what is the unseen? Angels, Demons, Microscopic organisms, Wind, and the like.
The point is that humanity is not, even to the slightest imaginable degree, the extent of Our LORD's Affairs.
And while everyone knows this, or at least can know this, there persists a popular and historic claim, across times, regions, and religions, that GOD, to suit mankind's needs, is broken into fractions & incarnations, or has had to morph and evolve. HE, WHO's Will and Word alone, were sufficient to create EVERYthing. HE, WHO is Present in every affair through his Knowledge, WHO is Manifest everywhere through His Signs, WHO has power over all things.
So many have mistakenly claimed that every act of ALLAH requires a separate and unique aspect of ALLAH. To provide needs one manifestation. To give life needs another manifestation and so on. Some even claim that His Forgiveness requires a metamorphosis, a synthesis, a division.
ALLAH in His Magnificence, is Free of all Deficiency. He is the Eternal, the Sole Self-Sufficient WHOM need does not touch. Therefore, Glorified be HE above all that they associate with HIM. He Forgives whom HE Wills, and HE Punishes as HE Wills. HE, Al-Kareem, Blesses whom HE Wills, without merit; and he curses whom HE Wills, after they have rejected His Signs & Mercy. Through HIS Kindness and Generosity, HE Guides whom HE Wills, as does HE lets whom HE Wills to stray.
There is a Universal measure of Mercy (Rahma) bestowed upon all beings such as life, provision, and the like, which is given without merit. This is the meaning of AR-RAHMAN, The Gracious, and AL-KAREEM, the Generous or Kind, 2 of ALLAH's 99 Names. ALLAH is Gracious to all creation without discrimination. There is immeasurable Mercy, Forgiveness, Guidance, Heaven, for those who will recieve and strive for it. This is the Meaning of AR-RAHEEM, for GOD Is HE WHO Bestows His Mercy upon His Servants.
The Criterion for Mercy has been set forth time & time again, and finally, for the last time. For just as GOD is Forbearing, so Is HE Just. Therefore, HE not only Blesses by His Signs, but HE Tries by by Them. He Guides all to the Straight Path, but forces none to follow. This Straight Path, is the path so salvation. There is no medium between the Creation and GOD, only a Means. And the Wise are they who accept these means, and find peace by them. This is Islam.
As for Jesus in particular, peace be upon him, he was given the revelation. This Revelation, like all authentic revelations, included signs for all to see, performed by GOD's Leave. His Message was- "O Children of Israel! worship My LORD & Your LORD." (4:72) For they, by allowing them to make what GOD Made lawful unlawful, and what HE Made unlawful lawful, had blasphemously taken their priests, scribes & scholars for their lords. Therefore, he was sent alongside Yahya (John) to remind & warn the Children of Israel of their duties to their LORD, Who had favored them.
His status with GOD is clear:
Christ does not disdain to serve and worship ALLAH; nor do the Angels, those nearest: those who disdain His Worship are arrogant, - HE Will Gather them all together unto Himself to (answer) (4:172)
Jesus' birth was a miraculous Sign to indicate his truthfulness. Every sign of GOD, from sending rain to the revival of spring, is a miracle, but this was a sign of revelation, no more miraculous, of course, than the creation of Adam, peace be upon him, or, from a certain logic, even less so. ALLAH Himself decrees:
the similitude of Jesus before ALLAH is as that of Adam; HE Created him from dust, then said to him: "Be": and he was (3:59)
GOD's Supremacy over his Servant is as His Supremacy over all his Servants:
Say (O Muhammad, May ALLAH's Blessings & Peace be upon Him): Who then has the least power against ALLAH, is His Will were to destroy Christ the Son of Mary (peace be upon them), his Mother, and all- everyone that is on the earth? for to ALLAH belongs the Dominion of all that is in the Heavens and the Earth, and all that is between. HE Creates what HE Pleases. For ALLAH Has Power over all things. (5:17)
The fact, i.e. historical fact, is that Jesus' message was changed after his departure. His true companions never worshipped him, nor were they commanded. They escaped the persecution of those who would to North Africa & Syria, spreading a pure gospel whose followers readily accepted the Message of Prophet Muhammad, whose message, being from GOD, confirmed that which was already with them.
The Son of GOD/Trinity doctrine was a politicization and universalization of his message which was not solidified until long after his death. Some dreams & visions are God-sent, some are not. And it is the oldest trick of Satan to invite to sin under the pretense of serving GOD. Religions world-wide, from tribal & local to some as large as Hinduism, espouse the doctrine of trinity. furthermore, nearly all including famously the ancient Greeks (Zeus-Hercules) mythically prophesy GOD sending a son to save mankind. Thus, as Jesus was known to be born from a virgin, his birth presented Rome with an unprecedented opportunity to unify its expansive provinces which were divided by their stubborn adherence to ancestral religions. It was perfect; the Roman state religion was incorporated into what is now know as Christianity. Sunday, for example, "Sun"-day, was the holy day of the contemporary sun cult. It was thus agreed upon between church leaders and the emperor, that this would remain the holy day in the new state religion. Christmas day, now fixed at Dec. 25, historically marked an astronomical event regarded as holy on many pagan calendars. I remember perhaps inaccurately that it was when the day becomes longer than the night again, signifying the triumph of the sun god over his enemies. Easter is the same, a blend of astronomical and meteorological superstition, the festival of the goddess of fertility. Even the name didn't change. If you read the Bible closely, the distance between Good Friday & Easter doesn't even correspond to scripture. Pagan festivals were converted into Christian holy days & renamed after saints. Much of this began to change through the reformation and Protestantism, but these are merely branches of the same deviant tree.
GOD himself bears witness to the misbelief of Christianity:
From those, too, who call themselves Christians, WE did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the Message that was sent them: so WE Estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the Day of Judgement. And soon will ALLAH Show them what they have done. (5.14)
The point isn't that Christ's message was false. It was true to a word, but it was taken from, added do, and changed. Christian and non-Christian scholars all agree to this. The amalgamation of the Bible is a study in scholastic irresponsibility, and it, as a text, does not fit any imaginable standard of authenticity. Again, Christian and non-Christian scholars agree. It's own inconstencies and contradictions attest to that.
Nor is this the first time GOD's word has been altered by men. Jesus' message was specifically about that, for the Jews were ever-changing the Law sent to Moses and subsequent Prophets. For example, Jesus will return to the Earth, by ALLAH's Command:
And (Jesus) shall be a sign (of the coming of) the Hour (of Judgement): therefore have no doubt about the (Hour) but you follow Me, this is a Straight Way. Let not the Evil One hinder you; for he is to you an avowed enemy (43.61-2)
But GOD Is Fair, Equitable & Just. He would not punish without allowing Mercy. Nor would he leave to stray without facilitating Guidance. He Sent a final Messenger- a Messenger (Rasul) is both a Nabi(warner & deliverer of glad tidings, i.e. Prophet) and one who establishes a Law. Rasuls and Nabis were sent to every nation, but Muhammad was the last, & his message was for all mankind. Therefore, to ensure that all would have access to His Guidance and His Way in their authenticity, he promised to protect it:
We Have, without doubt, Sent down the Message; and WE Will assuredly Guard it (from corruption) (15.9) ("WE" here is the self-referent 'we' of respect, not plurality).
Those who had clung to the purity of the earlier messages readily accepted Islam, Jews, Christians & others alike, when it reached them. Those whose intentions were corrupt belied it, and those with no knowledge, the 'lay' people if you will, had to, and still have to, search their hearts: Shall I follow GOD or tradition? GOD Has Shown how much HE Loves me... but how much do I love GOD?
As for me, I accepted Islam because it is the truth, and I encountered it at a time when I was looking for the truth. GOD's Word is simple and His Signs are Clear. The people who speak & write in the Bible, which I previously found my self following, convoluted & still convolute GOD's Word with outside philosophies (most conspicuously Greek), pagan & popular folklore, and racial, political and social doctrines. These are the words of GOD, and just as man can not compare to GOD, nor can Man's words compare to GOD's. Thus no book, in any way that a book can be appreciated- poetic beauty, simplistic mastery of the grandiose, anticipation & response to criticism, explanatory value, validity over time, academic wisdom, offered wisdom, etc.- the Quran is matchless, itself a miraculous Sign, revealed by GOD to Muhammad, his last Rasul. The message of Muhammad is the only message that remains, by all acounts, complete. Thus, I have not converted to another religion, but returned to the one religion, to the true, not sinful, nature, GOD Ordained. I am not a convert, but a revert.
Islam, therefore, is the only way to accept Jesus' message or any real Prophet's message, because it confirms them, and clears the misconceptions introduced to them. The true followers of Christ are Muslims & have always been Muslims, in the sense that Muslim means one who has submitted to GOD totally, not as they or any man sees fit, but as HE Sees fit.
Perhaps you have doubts, and all have a right to. Perhaps you have questions, and surely anything True can stand the test of sincere doubt. Perhaps you disagree. There, after all is the doctrine of Original Sin, for example, which I did not cover here. But before you bring the Bible or any other text into the discussion, consider 2 things:
1. I am just a man, therefore the error of what I say & do is from me, & whatever I do right is from GOD.
2. The Quran is faultless. All Historians, Muslim & non-Muslim, agree that it has never been corrupted since it was first transcribed by authentic followers of Muhammad. The prophet who revealed it, as well as his companions, who related his life & story, are undisputed authentic figures of History, not myth or legend, distinguishing Islam from every other doctrine. It's prophesies and revelations are confirmed by concrete evidences, some of which science has only recently had the capability of observing, rather than coincidences vaguely relevant to adapted translations. Thus it, though revealed through a man to people, is most certainly not man-made, and GOD Himself bears witness to this, in words that amazed me from the first time I read them to this day:
If you are in doubt as to what WE Have Revealed to Our Servant (Muhammad), then produce (even) one chapter of it's likeness, and call your witnesses besides ALLAH, if you are truthful.
But if you do it not- and you never can- then fear the Fire whose fuel is Men & Stones- which is prepared for the disbelievers.
But give (O Muhammad) glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion is Gardens, beneath which rivers flow... (2:23-5)
So the real question is why do you reject Guidance & True Faith, when ALLAH Has Shown us which path leads to success (90: 8-12)? Why not purify yourself, when those who purifiy themselves prosper (87:14)? Why not, instead of bowing to one who himself bowed, bow to the ONE, the Only ONE, to whom all praise is due (1.2), asking everytime, as is your duty, privilege & right, for guidance to the Straight Path, the path of those on whom Grace is bestowed, not who recieve wrath and anger or go astray (1.6-7)? Why not at least look? If you are already on the right path, & God is guiding you, then the falsehood of Muhammad, the Quran, and Islam will be made clear to you, will it not?
Why have you not become one who Submits, saying I hear & I obey(2:286)? That, in all kindness, is the real question: why have you not accepted Jesus?
As-Salamu 'alaykum w& RahmatuLLAHi w& BarakatuHU,
Love,
Danyal AbduLLAH
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has added a new journalWhat do you think inter-religious dialog is and why should we do it? Aydin Mahmut writes in the Journal Of Eccumenical Studies:
"...entering into dialogue with people of other faiths is not simply
an exchange of views but a learning experience, since it is defined as
"a conversation ... between two or more persons with differing views,
the primary purpose of which is for each participant to learn from the
other so that he or she can change and grow."(n12) This definition of
dialogue clearly indicates that we should consider it to be an encounter
in which we are willing to rethink or reconsider our own position or
convictions in light of our exchange with people of other faiths.
Further, this means that, by agreeing to enter into dialogue with people
of other faiths, we are agreeing to the possibility that our views and
positions may be changed or modified. Hence, what is learned in the
dialogue from and about the other may change how we understand ourselves
and how we reconsider and reinterpret our own traditional beliefs.(n13)" Thoughts???
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has added a new journalHi!
I am just wondering what is the core concept of Jewish?
Anyone here can help me out?
Take Care,
Mudassir
Telluride
hey mudassir...I'm not jewish but I'm a student of the religions. Judaism's main focus is on the oneness of God and the teachings of Moses. It's a religion of action and behavior more than anything else. There are different movements in judaism too(ie, orthodox, conservative, reformist...) but the differences aren't that great.
Anyway, that's a loaded question and i encourage you to research it.
mysticlvr
I have not studied Jewish Theology very much at all, but I did study early history and their philosophy. I also work next door to the Institute for Jewish Studies here in Berkeley (mainly orthodox and hassidic). Later on today, insha'allah, if you'd like, I can recommend a few books. But your question was as to the core concept of being Jewish? If a person's mom is Jewish, then the child also is. Of course, one can always convert as well. "Being Jewish" is much more complex than believing in a creed or theology and there are many "types" of Jews or sects. To my surprise at the last Seder I attended, there were athiest Rabbi's!!!Just as many say about Islam, their law (called the "Talmud" - in addition to the Torah) is very important and the Law and Torah are memorized and are seen as the center of the Jewish life, psychology, etc. With the Kabbalah, they have a very rich and complex mysticism as well which includes the Divine Names as the Chiristian and Islamic theologies do as well. This, however, is a very hard theology to gasp and is ussually left to really good scholars and a lifetime of study (not this Hollywood light facination with it). I'm rambling on, but not sure if I am helping. ;-)