Who is this Allah? (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Chxta
- Start date
Gray,
I will not get into the "outside Islam" issue right now, as I am at work right now and this could take some time to discuss...
However, regarding the "Love" issue", I would like to assure you that you cannot be more mistaken. How could Muslims feel that god is "distant" from them when they pray five times a day? and thats only the basic and minimum expected. In Islam one could turn any deed into a prayer, its all dependant on the concept of "neeya" or "intent". For example if I sleep with the intent of getting up tomorrow to go to work to feed my family, the whole cycle sleep-->work-->feed is considered a good deed and a "prayer", but the keyword here is "neeya" or "intent". Same goes for actual prayers (verbal), there are saying that one could say (not required) in basically everything one does. Before eating, after eating, going to the bathroom, before sex, when looking into a mirror, wearing your cloth...etc all have specific prayers. This might seem overwhelming but I would like to emphasize that aside from the "Five Pillars of Islam" (google it
) everything else is not mandatory. So to sum up 5 prayers A day, and lots of extra stuff that you could do, says otherwise Gray.
Now you could say that Muslims feel close to God, but do "their" God "feel" close to them? I would answer yes...some passages from the Quran:
"And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way." 2-186
"Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men;- for Allah loves those who do good" 3-134 (spend as in spend in charity)
There are also lots of Hadeeth clearly stating God's love to us, for example I remember one stating that "God is more compassionate to His slaves than a mother to her baby."
There are lots of other passages in both Quran and Hadeeth, however I don't want to bore you, nor do I have the time...
I will not get into the "outside Islam" issue right now, as I am at work right now and this could take some time to discuss...
However, regarding the "Love" issue", I would like to assure you that you cannot be more mistaken. How could Muslims feel that god is "distant" from them when they pray five times a day? and thats only the basic and minimum expected. In Islam one could turn any deed into a prayer, its all dependant on the concept of "neeya" or "intent". For example if I sleep with the intent of getting up tomorrow to go to work to feed my family, the whole cycle sleep-->work-->feed is considered a good deed and a "prayer", but the keyword here is "neeya" or "intent". Same goes for actual prayers (verbal), there are saying that one could say (not required) in basically everything one does. Before eating, after eating, going to the bathroom, before sex, when looking into a mirror, wearing your cloth...etc all have specific prayers. This might seem overwhelming but I would like to emphasize that aside from the "Five Pillars of Islam" (google it
) everything else is not mandatory. So to sum up 5 prayers A day, and lots of extra stuff that you could do, says otherwise Gray.Now you could say that Muslims feel close to God, but do "their" God "feel" close to them? I would answer yes...some passages from the Quran:
"And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way." 2-186
"Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men;- for Allah loves those who do good" 3-134 (spend as in spend in charity)
There are also lots of Hadeeth clearly stating God's love to us, for example I remember one stating that "God is more compassionate to His slaves than a mother to her baby."
There are lots of other passages in both Quran and Hadeeth, however I don't want to bore you, nor do I have the time...
Platypii haha sorry, I'm a bit anal about these things sometimes
Interesting, I didn't know that. Would you please expand on that?
Thanks for posting those passages ReBeL, they served to build on my understanding of Islam.
If I may ask, what are the kinds of prayers that Muslims pray at these five times during the day? You mentioned that there are different prayers for different things you do, but I don't know anything about the actual prayers that are prayed.
The God of Christians says that he wants to be our "friend", and calls us his "children". You said that Islam's Allah is close to his people and hears them, but is that said in the same context in which the Bible describes God's 'closeness' with his creations?
(by the way, I'm not disregarding the rest of your post by only quoting a small amount; it's all been well noted)
Does Allah love those who don't do good? I'm asking because my main point in this thread is not to attack Islam in any way, or to dispute one's own beliefs with them, but to distinguish between the different characteristics that are seen in the God of each religion (though I must note that each such discussion as this goes a certain way towards rectifying my embarassing lack of knowledge concerning Islam).
The reason being, if Allah of Islam does not also love those who don't do good, then I don't really think it can be said that the God of Christianity and the God of Islam are one and the same. This may seem a small distinction to some people, but the same God cannot love and not love the same person.
That's also the reason I posted about Jesus, the Son of God, being part of a triune Godhead (something that the Quran explicitly states can not be the case with Islam's Allah): not to try and determine the differences between the respective religions, but to explain why I'm convinced that the two 'Gods' are different in character and being.
haha sorry, I'm a bit anal about these things sometimes Interesting, I didn't know that. Would you please expand on that?
Thanks for posting those passages ReBeL, they served to build on my understanding of Islam.
If I may ask, what are the kinds of prayers that Muslims pray at these five times during the day? You mentioned that there are different prayers for different things you do, but I don't know anything about the actual prayers that are prayed.
The God of Christians says that he wants to be our "friend", and calls us his "children". You said that Islam's Allah is close to his people and hears them, but is that said in the same context in which the Bible describes God's 'closeness' with his creations?
(by the way, I'm not disregarding the rest of your post by only quoting a small amount; it's all been well noted
)Does Allah love those who don't do good? I'm asking because my main point in this thread is not to attack Islam in any way, or to dispute one's own beliefs with them, but to distinguish between the different characteristics that are seen in the God of each religion (though I must note that each such discussion as this goes a certain way towards rectifying my embarassing lack of knowledge concerning Islam).
The reason being, if Allah of Islam does not also love those who don't do good, then I don't really think it can be said that the God of Christianity and the God of Islam are one and the same. This may seem a small distinction to some people, but the same God cannot love and not love the same person.
That's also the reason I posted about Jesus, the Son of God, being part of a triune Godhead (something that the Quran explicitly states can not be the case with Islam's Allah): not to try and determine the differences between the respective religions, but to explain why I'm convinced that the two 'Gods' are different in character and being.