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Ask a Muslim anything

H3LL said:
Maybe posting it a little too often:



;)



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I hope this isn't the guy I suggested try JREF because we're more polite here than they are at Atheistforums.com. I should have just said we avoid obscenities more.
 
Akhenaten said:
I certainly have some history of doing my best to demolish your vapid arguments. What's that got to do with Christianity?
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If it weren't so patently trivial, I would so nominate this in The Language Award (TLA) thread.

As long as I am drifting from the OP, along with others in this thread, might I remind us all that this thread was ostensibly initiated in order to facilitate discussion of the POV evidentially held by a self-identified Muslim. If we are looking for evidence, we could find no finer than a frankly identified and biased source. ;)
 
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Jinn said:
Peace all,

My name is Ryan and I am a Muslim. I have been a fan of James Randi and his philosophy on many aspects for many years, and in the spirit of learning, I'd like to invite any and all questions you may have about me and my beliefs.

I'll get a few things out of the way:

I'm 25, was born into a Christian family, became Atheist and accepted Islam over 5 years ago. I am not here in an attempt to convert - only educate and answer questions to the curious.

All questions fielded will be answered; hateful commentary will be disregarded
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greetings; Why must you have to choose any religion? when religion is another word for tribalism which separates people into 'in groups' and 'out groups' -All religions do this.

Nature, like science, does not do this. The same vaccines work on all people. And like science, the human experience is universal. We can still have spirituality, mysticism, and contemplation engaging the mystery that we embody.

Surely to be alive and not even know what life is, is the great thing that all religions sought to understand and explain. We do not need to look for meaning of it in books but in the inner spaces of our own hearts and minds. All religions have a tiny minority of truly spiritual practitioners. In Islam its the Sufis. Even though mystics practice within the framework of their given traditions, they are not usually bound by them to the degree of the average adherent. Because they come to understand that thought itself (mental imaging) is the limitation that conflicts with the mystical experience ('gnosis,' 'the experience of no-self,' 'chockmah consciousness,' etc..-are different names for the same thing from different traditions ) is something which transcends thought and as such, tradition. (aka religion). Perhaps it is better to start with and engage as mystery that which is Mystery instead of believing (imagining) that any man or religious tradition can speak for or know the will of 'God.'
That any of them is 'the one true religion' when such a thing is so highly unlikely. Like Richard Dawkins said, 'if you were born in Denmark in the time of the Vikings you would be believing in Wotan and Thor.'
peace.

"What if we choose the wrong god? Every time we go to church we just make him angrier."-Homer Simpson
 
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atavisms said:
greetings; Why must you have to choose any religion? when religion is another word for tribalism which separates people into 'in groups' and 'out groups' -All religions do this.

Nature, like science, does not do this. The same vaccines work on all people. And like science, the human experience is universal. We can still have spirituality, mysticism, and contemplation engaging the mystery that we embody.

Surely to be alive and not even know what life is, is the great thing that all religions sought to understand and explain. We do not need to look for meaning of it in books but in the inner spaces of our own hearts and minds. All religions have a tiny minority of truly spiritual practitioners. In Islam its the Sufis. Even though mystics practice within the framework of their given traditions, they are not usually bound by them to the degree of the average adherent. Because they come to understand that thought itself (mental imaging) is the limitation that conflicts with the mystical experience ('gnosis,' 'the experience of no-self,' 'chockmah consciousness,' etc..-are different names for the same thing from different traditions ) is something which transcends thought and as such, tradition. (aka religion). Perhaps it is better to start with and engage as mystery that which is Mystery instead of believing (imagining) that any man or religious tradition can speak for or know the will of 'God.'
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You mean that they all buy in to the same fantasy,these 'mystics;?
 
I'm a Hindu because I read in some book called "Mysteries of the Unexplained" by Reader's Digest that the atomic bomb was described in some Hindu book. I think this is reason enough to accept that the Hindu religion is the True One.

However, I still studying Hinduism and will be sure to chuck out anything I don't agree with because the Hindu God that I believe in obviously gave me a mind to think with and the choice of what I want to believe. I think this shows the extraordinary breadth of Hindu beliefs.

Please ask me anything...

[I'm being facetious naturally, but unfortunately Ryan's Muslim beliefs are little different from my "Hindu beliefs" I've just sketched out there.]
 
Jinn:

According to Surah 18 Duhl Qarnayn ("two horns"), generally seen as Alexander the Great, erected a metal barrier between two mountains to keep out Gog and Magog, and to prevent them from raiding the civilized lands. This seems to be a reference to Alexander's Gate, a legendary structure he supposedly built in the Caucasus mountains. Josephus refers to it in his Wars of the Jews. According to Surah 18 it will stand until the Last Day.

Since there obviously is no such structure in the Caucasus, Muslim apologists have said, among other things, that "Two Horns" was not really Alexander the Great, but Cyrus the Great, and that the structure referred to in the surah was the Great Wall of China. The problem with the latter assertion is that Surah 18 specifically describes the structure as built of iron and is between two mountains, while the Great Wall is built of stone and stretches for thousands of miles. The problem of asserting that "Two Horns" is Cyrus the Great is that we are still left with a barrier somewhere in the middle east, most likely in the Caucasus.

So, please answer the following questions:

1) Do you see the story in Surah 18 as historically true?

2) If you do, where is this metal barrier, which should still be standing?

3) If you do not believe it is true, what is the point of putting it in the Qur'an?
 
Hmm . . . Two days and no response from Jinn concerning Surah 18. I hope he's only away on business. Otherwise the thread title, "Ask a Muslim anything," is becoming inappropriate.
 
Sideroxylon said:
Tim, he ditched this thread and the forums a while back.
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Wow, you're right! Here's his last post, from page 4 of this thread:

Jinn said:
Peace Leumas,

It is not my intention to delve into apologetics, although I fear I have humored people into that mindset.

It doesn't take much to become an atheist, the rejection of any notion of a deity or deities is sufficient. However if you'd like to believe I was never an atheist, then I cannot stop you and have no will or reason to try. If you're not satisfied with my answers, that is totally OK. If you'd like to discuss the Qur'an at length, you are free to go to your local mosque and argue over it with an Imam of your choosing.

I'm really going to have to stop there; as I said in my first post, my intent is to answer questions, not convert, and that includes defending Islam. I unfortunately will not reply to hostilities, nor do I have any obligation to acknowledge them. Furthermore, if you attempt to have an aggressive discussion over the above topics, I would like you to bring forth relevant passages, otherwise you're just flinging crap at a screen door to see which pieces hit me in the face. :)

Hope that helps.
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The hilited rea seems to be his farewell. This is a pity, since answering my question regarding Duhl Qarnayn (sp. ?) would seem to fit asking questions.

I wonder if our responses to his assertion that the "Night comer" was a pulsar shook his faith.
 
Jinn is it easier for Muslim men to have sex with women who aren't muslim, but harder for women who are muslim to sleep with men who aren't muslim? Jw
 
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