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Ask a Muslim anything

Jinn,

Is your imaginary friend:

Omnipotent?

Omniscient?

Omnibenevolent?

Perfect?

Does he/she/it imbue humans with free will?

Is heaven perfect?

Does free will continue when/if people go into heaven?

Does cognitive dissonance give you a headache?


Thanks.


.
 
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Jinn said:
Peace PixyMisa

As I have said before, the Qur'an is not a science book, it is a religious reminder.

I'm really at a loss as to what to tell you other than you're asking me to show you that the Qur'an details the method of discovery of the above, which it does not. It states that the heaven and the earth were one, then split, that the heaven is expanding, and that the universe will collapse back in upon itself and be as it was in the beginning. The only connections being that what was written 1400 years ago correlate rather nicely with recent discoveries about the universe's origins, it's current state of expansion and one of the two main theories about how it will end. If I want to know about the methodology used to confirm what we know, I'll go ask a professional.

Hope that helps.
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I think what pixymesa is trying to say is that you claim that what convinced you (at least in part) to convert to islam is its scientific accuracy, but when we ask to show that, you come up with verses that are not that accurate or even clear, and then say that the quran is not a book of science.

To me at least, this seems very contradictionary.
If the quran is a book of signs, as you claim, than the fact that you can interpret some verses to corroberate with current scientific knowledge is pure coincindence.
 
Jinn said:
Peace PixyMisa

As I have said before, the Qur'an is not a science book, it is a religious reminder.
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Jinn,

I don't understand. You keep saying that but then you say that its 'prediction' of quasars helped you come to Islam.

If there was something scientifically inaccurate in the Qur'an, would this touch on your faith?
 
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Lukraak_Sisser said:
That again to me seems like a human excuse to avoid explaining why an all powerful god does not clearly and irrevocably makes his will clear. There is no indication whatsoever that the americas ever had even an attempt at monotheism, let alone something approaching the abrahamic religions prior to exposure to europeans (who then brought christianity, not islam). Nor any indication in the quran that the americas exist and need exposure to the faith.
The same with australia.
China was only reached by conventional means and Japan again has no records of any attempt at monotheism until they came into contact with europeans.
'Yeah, god TOTALLY did give them the message, but they killed them and never listened' is the excuse of a five year old in a makebelief game. There is no proof whatsoever except in the very book(s) that claim it.
The same with the quran being the final revelation of god, the mormons would disagree with you there.



So were the books of mormon. In fact there are testified witnessess to those and they are newer. Why are you not a mormon?



I'm not saying that Islam forces people to act violently or anything, but the followers of islam quite quickly occupied North africa, most of the middle east, the Persian empire, parts of the Byzantine empire and most of spain. Claiming that this was done non-violently is absurd.
Sure they didnt convert people at swordpoint, which is a step up from christianity, but they DID put a massive social incentive on being muslim.



Dietary laws, mandatory prayer and ramadan spring to mind.
There is no biological reason to avoid any of the proscribed foods and no specific gain by slaughter in the specific way. It's pure human prejudice.

If god considers how you lived, why bother with the prayer 5 times a day, that time could be used productively aiding others.

Ramadan is cleary designed by someone that has NO clue that different parts of earth have differnt lengths of day. Its tied to the moon, so skips trough the year. Unimportant in the middle east, where seasonal lenght of day is not an issue, but muslims living at/near the (ant)arctic circle have a major problem during the summer when the sun doesn't set. An all powerful god would have known this and added provisions BEFORE the problem is encountered.




Again, that seems like a human covering his bases. A true god would be able to convince the whole world without immediately violating free will. And at the same time would have prevented a massive amount of secular bloodshed.
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Peace Lukraak,

As I said before, I'm not here to convert, so we'll just have to agree to differ on the subject. History can only tell us so much.

As far as dietary laws, we have very few: pork, running blood, carrion and that which does not have God's Name invoked upon it. While I agree that pork does not have any major problems as a food, it's not a hard decree to follow. Blood, apart from diseases, also isn't too terrible, nor is carrion if you know what you're doing. However, in cases of life and death, the Qur'an annuls the dietary prohibitions, as well in cases of forced ingestion.

I am not a mormon for several reasons. Mormons believe the highest level of heaven turns you into a god and grants you the ability to rule over your own planet/universe. While an interesting doctrine, it turns the entire faith into a polytheistic religion. Also, the carry-over from Christianity that Christ is God really doesn't sit well with me. And magic underwear.

Again, if one is unable to perform the fast, they feed a less fortunate person every day for the duration of the fast. I've also heard of people in such locations going by an actual clock instead of the day/night shift. It's not a hard workaround, and the point is to remember those less fortunate than you.

I don't deny the conquering of land, but as I've said, they are responsible with their own salvation. Would I disagree with them? Sure, but ultimately, they answer to God.
 
You totally ignored this bit:-

Can you also explain the purpose of putting vaguely phrased references into a supposed book of revelation? Surly Revelation should result in knowledge. Can you cite one scientific discovery made BECAUSE of Quoranic interpretation, rather then ascribed to a verse in the Quoran AFTER it was discovered independently?
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Lamuella said:
Hello, Jinn,

First of all, thank you for being as open in this thread as you have been, even when faced with hostility.

Second, I have a question about heaven. The question is in two parts, with the first being dependent on the second.

1) From what the koran has taught you, would a non-believer who had lived a good life go to heaven after they died?
2) if the answer to this question is no, is it in the power of Allah to admit a nonbeliever to heaven?
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Peace Lamuella,

The hostility has been expected, I'm totally OK with it :)

The Qur'an states that not every believer will be admitted to heaven, and not every non-beliver goes to hell. On Judgement day, everyone will be brought before God and have their deeds laid out before them, and will have a final chance to repent. It is not for any of us to tell others their fate, because ultimately it rests with God. Even Muhammad worried about his own fate, because not even he knew it.

Ultimately, what I take from the Qur'an is it is a reminder to be a good person and to be thankful for what you have and can give to those that are less fortunate.

Hope that helps.
 
Lamuella said:
Hello, Jinn,

Another quick question, stemming out of this comment: many muslims do not consume alcohol. Does this prohibition on alcohol come from the Koran or from the hadiths?
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Peace Lamuella,

In my community, alcohol is debated. Some explicitly forbid it's consumption while others see wiggle room. In the Qur'an, alcohol is described as a foul tool of the devil that is used to drive you away from God, and we are strongly advised to avoid the devil. However, in the numerous verses that give dietary prohibitions, alcohol is not on the list. The only other mention of alcohol is that we are not allowed to pray while drunk, and that we sober up before approaching prayer again. The hadiths, however, forbid alcohol, although there are many hadiths in Imam Muslim's collection that depict Muhammad making a form of date wine on many occasions and drinking it while it fermented. After the wine actually turned into wine, he gave it to others as a gift. I am highly skeptical as to the validity of the hadiths and do not consider them to be valid, as there are many ludicrous narrations.

Hope that helps.
 
Dear Jinn,

Thanks for answering my questions. Like you I have no intent to convert you, but I am curious how you manage to keep to one faith, while being able to point out a large number of flaws that in other religions. To me, as atheist, Islam has similar flaws, part of which we've covered already making it as unlikely to be true as any other religion out there.

If it's not too offensive to ask, once you decided upon islam (as opposed to say, buddism or scientology), do you feel that you are now more likely to ignore/reconcile strange things in your own religion? (People made from mud, the sky being held up by god and being a parchment) as opposed to similar strangeness in other religions?

I find this interesting to hear from someone who actively chose a religion. I was brought up semi-catholic (Catholic school, but not very religious parents) and I can honestly not recall ever having believed in it beyond the fairytale part of childhood. And the older I got, the less convining any religion sounded.
 
H3LL said:
Jinn,

Is your imaginary friend:

Omnipotent?

Omniscient?

Omnibenevolent?

Perfect?

Does he/she/it imbue humans with free will?

Is heaven perfect?

Does free will continue when/if people go into heaven?

Does cognitive dissonance give you a headache?


Thanks.


.
Click to expand...

well according to what i have read of the koran, it's pretty close, lots of woman, but not for us Atheists :(
 
Jinn, thank you for answering me as well.

You indicated that the reason the Koran was not manipulated by human influence is because Allah acted to keep it unmodified. I must ask, if Allah is willing to intervene to ensure the correct word is passed along--if Allah is willing to interfere with the free will of scribes to do so... why would Allah not also prevent the writing of competing religious texts such as the Bible? If the goal of intervention was to preserve the exact words, it should be impossible to write the wrong ones down.
 
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 ;)
Click to expand...

Do you like rap music?
 
Jinn said:
Peace PixyMisa

As I have said before, the Qur'an is not a science book, it is a religious reminder.

I'm really at a loss as to what to tell you other than you're asking me to show you that the Qur'an details the method of discovery of the above, which it does not. It states that the heaven and the earth were one, then split, that the heaven is expanding, and that the universe will collapse back in upon itself and be as it was in the beginning. The only connections being that what was written 1400 years ago correlate rather nicely with recent discoveries about the universe's origins, it's current state of expansion and one of the two main theories about how it will end. If I want to know about the methodology used to confirm what we know, I'll go ask a professional.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Sorry, it doesn't help at all.

If there are all these signs of future scientific discoveries in the Koran, why is it you can only find them after the discoveries have been made?
 
Jinn- why are most of the Muslims I have met such wonderfully kind, caring & friendly people?

:)
 
Jinn, I would also like answered the question of homosexuality and you being a massive proponent of gay rights. I understand about free will and not forcing your beliefs onto others, but why do you actively support a practice that your God detests?
 
mutile said:
Jinn, I would also like answered the question of homosexuality and you being a massive proponent of gay rights. I understand about free will and not forcing your beliefs onto others, but why do you actively support a practice that your God detests?
Click to expand...

God expresses hatred towards homosexuals in the Koran? I was unaware of this.
 
Well... it's an interesting subject at the very least.

To begin with, I have read the Quran and I am familiar with Islam. I have a masters in history and my specialty is the 11th century crusades. Interestingly, most of the best sources of information about that event are Muslim, since they wrote considerably more and had quite an advanced culture, making Muslim sources invaluable to historians. Reading the Quran and understanding Arabic culture is central to any in depth understanding of the 1st Crusade and it's aftermath. It was also the hardest part of getting my BA and a very, very complex subject.

On the subject at hand... I have a very hard time with your claim of scientific accuracy in the Quran. My objection comes in two parts.

1. There is definitely going to be some good science in the Quran... but not from divine sources. Besides having an impressive culture and learning of their own, the Arabs of the time also had extensive contact with both Roman and Greek civilizations, both of which contributed many scientific achievements.

2. I tend to agree with a number of previous posters in that the interpretations of the prophecies and scientific statements in the Quran are very similar in nature to the interpretations of all religious or prophetic text. You look at a text and simply interpret the words according to your own inclinations.


Lastly is a question. Do you speak/read Arabic?

The reason I ask is that there are many scholars of Islam who claim that you cannot understand the Quran unless you speak the language fluently. In fact, language is part of the Quran's claim to perfection.
 
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Jinn, to rephrase my question.

Why do you actively support a practice you believe to be wrong?
 
Jinn said:
Peace Lowpro,

There is a man named Dr. Zakir Naik who I believe said it best: "The Qur'an is not a book of SCIENCE, the Qur'an is a book of SIGNS"
The Qur'an is a reminder for humans, not a science book. Every mention of earth and space related entities and happenings is described as a sign and a testament to God. So the simple answer is "no."

I would daresay that if the Qur'an WAS a source of scientific knowledge, it would take a library to house a single copy.
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Jinn said:
Peace Alan,

I came to Islam after 3 years of studying the Qur'an (which is still an ongoing process). I could write an essay on why, but I will save you the time and tell you that in summation of my studies, the Qur'an described things such as the pulsar that couldn't have been known to mankind 1400 years ago. The rest fell into place quite nicely after that.
Click to expand...


First you say the Quran isn't a book of science then you say that it mentioned scientific truths and that's what converted you. So which is it.
 
Cool.

How does if feel to believe a lie?

Do you believe your prophet drew his sword and cut the moon in half?
 
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