"O ye who believe" is repeated often in the
Qur'an. As I am reading I am noticing that the
Qu'ran is not referring to only
muslims. It refers to those that believe in God as "people of the book" which is intended to include Jews and Christians. The
Qur'an is speaking to all three religions, not just the
muslims. It is referring to ye who believe in one God. In fact, it seems to be written with the assumption that you have read the Torah and the Bible. It makes multiple references to passages of both books.
I am enjoying this focus on God and not "son of God". And the Qur'an seems to be well aware that humans are not perfect. It also touches on the idea that their may be more than one way to paradise.
There will be random posts such as this as I make my way through the Qur'an. Think of them as notes.
Posts
Good point you made..
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely on your way to get closer to God and InshaAllah one day you'll convert to Islam and become a Muslimah. I'll keep you in my prayers.
I'm sure you already know this, but Judaism, Christianity and Islam are basically the same religion, all believe in One God only.
Before the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and before God sent the holy Quran to the mankind, the message of God had gotten corrupted by people. Holy scriptures were being changed and new texts were being added to these books and let's not even get started about Prophet Jesus being God's son or God Himself...
So God sent the final Prophet, Prophet Muhammad and the final revelation, the holy Quran and religion of Islam.
Yes sister I know that story well :) It is what first drew me to Islam. The bible has been so corrupted by man, changed so many times. Every Christian denomination has a DIFFERENT BIBLE! Its crazy! And yes they really are different. Some even have completely different books. It made things very confusing when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteBut the Qur'an has so far managed to stay majority intact which is wonderful. Some translations can be problematic but the arabic remains the same.
I also think the translations are problematic, but it's reassuring that the original is always there to "check" on things... I remember reading a discussion on the verse that says it's OK to beat your wife... Lots of Muslims defend that by saying it's only "lightly" and only in certain conditions. That first you should bla bla bla and the last option is the light beating. But this discussion went back to the original Arabic word being used for "beat"... Here is the link: http://www.free-minds.org/beating
ReplyDeleteThis is from a group of people who focus on the Qur'an... There are some of all kinds on there, and I don't agree with them all... It would be impossible afterall, because they have different views. But what they have in common is to use the Qur'an to guide their lives, and follow the best understanding. I think they pretty much agree on this article.
It's somehow comforting to know that the original is right there to check on, even if I'm not able to fully do it myself, I can at least find people who can. There are lots of different views, but at least they all come from the same Qur'an, so I can find what I believe is truth. In Christianity, I am too confused to know where to go.
Agreed Candice. There really isn't anywhere to check on Christianity.
ReplyDeleteYeah the "beat your wife" ayah got to me too. But I'm pretty sure it does not mean you are allowed to beat your wife. That would be against what the Qur'an teaches about women.