Ask a Muslim anything

[DC]

The only way for this problem to be worked out is for people to slowly let go of their religion, or to reinterpret it so much as to make it become unrecognizable.

not sure if true, might be true most for Islam because they do not really want changes to their religion.
But many if not most Christians have done it, they respect gay mostly. there are many gay Christians. there are even Churches that does marry homosexuals (not in my country though i think), i think there is some hope.

but on topic of Homosexuality we still have a very long way to go, like real marriage, abolish homophobe laws like preventing gay couples from getting own kids.

 

[catsmate]

As I already suggested, read any thread in this forum and take off your goggles when you do it.

I've read many threads and participated in some.
I've seen believers come, claiming to be able to support their beliefs with reason; I've seen them run, or become defensively hostile, when it becomes clear to them that they cannot do so.

Perhaps the problem you claim to see here isn't with the questioners but with the believers? Have you considered this?

 

[Pardalis]

I bet the average Muslim wants nothing to do with religion, as it interferes with their lives in sometimes really nasty ways.

I challenge you to ask any Muslim on the street how they feel about homosexuality, and see how fast their religion comes into the discussion.

 

[ehcks]

Yeah fasting is used pre surgery in some cases, 12 hours doesnt seem excessive, uncomfortable perhaps, hardly life threatening.

But 12 hours isn't even uncomfortable. It's normal.

Don't eat for 4 hours before sleeping, sleep for 8 hours. Bam, 12 hour fast. :-\

 

[Pardalis]

Biker druid, do you have any questions for Jinn?

 

[Pardalis]

no.
i welcomed him and wished him a pleasant time.
so much for that.
questions like this winner from billthompson, "how does it feel to believe a lie?"....
.....sort of set the tone....

And Jinn was perfectly free and able to ignore that one.

He said so himself:

All questions fielded will be answered; hateful commentary will be disregarded

He even used a smilie, so you know he meant it.

 

[Brian-M]

for the last many pages, no on has 'asked a muslim' anything.
this is just another muslim-bashing thread, fueled by hate and ignorance.
how many of you muslim haters have actually read the koran, other than just the juicy bits that fit your arguments?

No-one has "asked a Muslim" anything for several pages because the Muslim is no longer answering questions, which makes asking them on this thread somewhat pointless. I may as well ask my cat what she thinks on the subject for all the good it'll do.

And as far as I can see, we're mostly arguing amongst ourselves about various esoteric matters only peripherally connected to Islam. How is this "Muslim-bashing", and why would this make us "Muslim haters"?

What do you think of Memritv.org?

I do not think if you spend some time there you will come to think that Islam is good, harmless, and just like any other religion.

Regardless of whether it's "good" or "harmless", it's still just like any other religion.

Maybe you folks can't own up to driving away someone who wanted discussion and encountered bigotry

Not bigotry, merely a overwhelming barrage of people questioning his religion. Questions that he deliberately invited.

If I went to major forum predominately used by Christians and started a thread titled "Ask an Atheist anything", I'd expect a similar barrage of questions directed my way.

I don't regard asking serious questions in response to an invitation to ask questions to be bigotry.

You might say that this is hard to believe because Islam is so big. Well, 3 thousand years ago all the world's religions then do not exist now.

Many of the Vedic texts (samhitas) of the Hindu faith are over three thousand years old. The oldest being the Rigveda, which is was written somewhere between 3100 and 3700 years ago.

Hinduism is currently the third largest religion in the world.

But how long various extant religions have existed is hardly relevant in any way.

 

[FireGarden]

Jinn, thanks for an interesting thread.
I haven't read it all yet, but I got to this bit:

God has promised to preserve the Qur'an in it's original state and since it's inception there hasn't been a single change, something that even it's harshest critics will admit.

The harshest critics won't agree with that. And, for Islamic scholars, it would depend on whether by 'Quran' you mean the text or the reading of the text. There are variant readings. My favourite example is verse 3:7

http://www.quran.org.uk/articles/ieb_quran_tawil.htm

The Seventh Verse of Surah Al 'Imran: As pointed out earlier the main topic of this discussion is the seventh verse of Surah Al ' Imran, which has been the subject of controversy among the scholars of the Qur'an since the era of revelation. That verse is as follows:

He it is who has sent down upon thee the Book; in it are clear verses (muhkamat) , which are the mother of the Book, and others are ambiguous (mutashabihat). those in whose heart is sickness follow the ambiguous of them, seeking dissent and seeking their ta'wil, and none knows their ta'wil except Allah and those firmly grounded in knowledge. they say. 'We believe in it; all is from our Lord' ; yet none remembers but men possessed of minds. (according to the other reading, the translation of the relevant part of the verse will be as follows: and none knows their ta'wil except Allah, and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge sav, , 'We believe in it; all is from our Lord'.)

The difference between the readings consists of the presence or absence of a halt after the word Allah, in the verse. It is the most significant of cases related to variant readings throughout the Qur'an and in the history of Qur'anic hermeneutics. Both the readings are justifiable from the viewpoint of grammar and syntax.

To make my point in the form of a question:

Who understands the allegorical/ambiguous verses of the Quran? Is it God alone, or do those "firmly grounded in knowledge" also know?

The site I linked gives a good discussion.

And if you don't agree with him that there are variant readings, Abdullah Yusuf Ali also makes reference in his commentary: (pdf)
http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsiraya/003 Imran.pdf

Via:
http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsiraya/Index.htm



ETA: Seems I'm too late.

 

[Loss Leader]

Over 100 off-topic posts have been sent to AAH. Although some were civil enough, all derailed the thread from its original purpose. Many insulted other posters. Stay on track and away from personal attacks.

Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: Loss Leader

 

[Pardalis]

That's assuming Jinn will come back from his tractor accident to answer the questions.

 

[FireGarden]

That's assuming Jinn will come back from his tractor accident to answer the questions.

He had an accident?

 

[mike3]

So when we want to criticize Islam we should go by its SCRIPTURES not by what some uneducated retards believe.....

So are you saying the "liberal" Muslims are actually WORSE human beings than the non-liberal, fundamentalist/literalist types, at least insofar as neurology goes?

 

[armageddonman]

One of the reasons Islam spread like a brush fire throughout Eurasia and North Africa and the Middle East (all christian territory until then) is because of the people being UTTERLY fed up, weakened, pacified and accustomed to OBEYING and did not care who they obeyed.

Is this a joke or are you actually able to back this statement up with evidence?

 

[Pardalis]

He had an accident?

Either that or he's been dumped by his girlfriend and is now making a trip around the world.

 

[Bill Thompson]

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7483713&posted=1#post7483713

 

[DOC]

Do most Muslims believe Muhammad taught these things as the article says they do?

Edited by jhunter1163: 

Removed link.

 

[Akhenaten]

Do most Muslims believe Muhammad taught these things as the article says they do?

Edited by jhunter1163: 

Removed link.

This is the third thread you've posted that exact same link in within seven minutes. Are you aware that spamming is against the rules?

 

[DOC]

This is the third thread you've posted that exact same link in within seven minutes. Are you aware that spamming is against the rules?

If all those threads talk of Islam, so what. And are you saying I am not allowed to ask the Muslim in this thread a question? Interesting why this should bother you so much. You have no problem trashing Christianity in multiple threads?

 

[Akhenaten]

This is the third thread you've posted that exact same link in within seven minutes. Are you aware that spamming is against the rules?

If all those threads talk of Islam, so what.

So posting the same link without commentary in multiple threads is spamming. That you've pretended to be asking a question in this particular thread doesn't change that.

And are you saying I am not allowed to ask the Muslim in this thread a question?

Who is the Muslim of which you speak, DOC? When did he answer his last question?

Interesting why this should bother you so much.

It doesn't bother me at all and even if it did it wouldn't be interesting.

You have no problem trashing Christianity in multiple threads?

I certainly have some history of doing my best to demolish your vapid arguments. What's that got to do with Christianity?

 

[DC]

Do most Muslims believe Muhammad taught these things as the article says they do?

Edited by jhunter1163: 

Removed link.

so you don't know, but you spamm it all over the place? why?