Topics

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General Discussions / 16:25

« on: March 23, 2016, 10:58:45 AM »

Salam all,

Verse 16:25 says those who disbelieve will carry the burdens of their sins as well as the sins of those they misled without knowledge. However, other verses say that no soul shall bear the burden of another.

Is this a contradiction? Thank you in advance

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General Discussions / The Cave Sleepers

« on: March 09, 2016, 01:03:07 PM »

Salam all,

I found the narrative of the Quranic cave sleepers in chapter 18. However, it was a bit confusing and I couldn't understand a few parts of it. Joseph's article on this issue deals more with the location and historicity of the incident than the actual story. Could someone please explain what the story of the people in the cave was?

Mia

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General Discussions / 47:4 Violence?

« on: March 08, 2016, 02:49:00 AM »

Salam all,

This is Quran 47:4:

Yusuf Ali: Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers, smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself); but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah,- He will never let their deeds be lost.

I hope this verse is referring only to those disbelievers who fight against Islam, right?

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General Discussions / Child Without A Consort

« on: March 04, 2016, 10:22:51 AM »

Salam, sorry about all these threads, but I came upon this verse:

And they make the jinn associates with Allah, while He created them, and they falsely attribute to Him sons and daughters without knowledge; glory be to Him, and highly exalted is He above what they ascribe (to Him). Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth! How could He have a son when He has no consort, and He (Himself) created everything, and He is the Knower of all things. S. 6:100-101 Shakir

God gave Mary a child while she had no consort. Why does His lack of a consort necessitate that He can't have a child?

It is understood that in the Quran, a "real" begotten child is a biological child. An adopted son does not get his father's name. A "real" son or daughter is biologically related to their parents. However, Jesus had no father. Why does God need a consort for a child?

Please answer this one, it's quite important

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General Discussions / Quran 4:1

« on: March 04, 2016, 09:57:09 AM »

Salam everyone,

I had a question about verse 4:1. Most of the translations for this verse have lots of brackets in which extra words are added. These words are not part of the original Quranic text. If I took all the brackets out of the translations and presented the un-edited Quranic text, it wouldn't seem to make much sense. I feel like parts of this verse are practically unintelligible without the brackets.

Par example:

O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever an All ­Watcher over you.

Versus:

O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person, and from him He created its mate, and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand of it, and  the wombs. Surely, Allah is Ever an All­ Watcher over you.

The second version of the verse is truer to the original Arabic, without any reference to gender in the first part of the verse, and it has no added words. However, the last part makes no sense--"Fear Allah through whom ye demand of it, and the wombs"? I can sort of figure out what this means, but it's not really clear.

Does anyone know why this sentence in particular is written so confusingly?

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General Discussions / "Violent" Verse?

« on: March 01, 2016, 08:33:36 AM »

Salam all,

This is verse 8:67...

Sahih International: It is not for a prophet to have captives [of war] until he inflicts a massacre in the land. Some Muslims desire the commodities of this world, but Allah desires [for you] the Hereafter. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.

What do you think the first sentence means? I'd assume the massacre is being inflicted upon those who attacked Muhammad (pbuh) and his troops. However, the context for this isn't given in the verse, and it sounds really harsh. Can anyone explain this?

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General Discussions / Gambling

« on: February 28, 2016, 12:00:35 PM »

Salam everyone

Apparently there was a type of lottery used to determine who got to see Pope Francis a while ago. It didn't cost anything and I wouldn't call it gambling, but do you think such a lottery is Quranically allowed?

Also, what about kids' arcade money and stuff like that? It's not really legitimate gambling, but it is related to games of chance. Do you thnk the Quran allows things like that? I don't think there's any harm in kids going to arcades, but I'm just wondering if there's anything against it in the Quran.

Thnx in advance

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General Discussions / Jinn

« on: February 10, 2016, 06:24:52 AM »

Salam all,

This website suggests that jinn are actually a type of humans! This idea was suggested by an ex-forum member who I am not going to mention *cough*, but it seems like this strange interpretation actually gets some support among Quran-centric groups. Please tell me what you think of the following article, and whether its views have any real Quranic support:

http://quranaissance.com/was-solomon-superman-there-is-no-basis-for-demonology-in-the-quran/

This article is actually very interesting, although strange and slightly confusing. I don't agree with it, but it does put forward some interesting points. What do you all think?

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Discussions / Torah Preservation

« on: February 08, 2016, 12:22:38 PM »

Salam

There was an incident in the Quran in which the Jews were told to judge by the Torah, because the Torah contained "the plain word of God." Does this mean that the Torah was intact and uncorrupted at the time of Prophet Muhammad? If so, why did the Bible and the Quran need to get revealed if the Torah was still intact, and when was the Torah actually changed?

Thanks in advance

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General Discussions / Do animals know right from wrong?

« on: January 31, 2016, 12:05:18 PM »

Salam everyone

I've noticed that animals do seem to have a sense of right and wrong. They sacrifice their own lives for their children and things like that.

 "And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] communities like you. We have not neglected in the Register a thing. Then unto their Lord they will be gathered" ~ 6.38

This verse seems to indicate that animals are also tested on this earth. Animals might understand love and sacrifice, but they can't actually do anything wrong, can they? Lions only kill deer for food. This is not wrong. How can animals be tested if they can't do anything wrong?

Also, many animals suffer for no fault of their own. Even in prehistoric times when humans weren't around, animals were hurt by other animals. Why would this happen when animals cannot be "tested with suffering", per se?

God's justice extends to all things, including animals. However, I don't see the justice in making animals suffer when they cannot be tested.

What do you think?

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General Discussions / Disturbing Questions

« on: January 25, 2016, 10:56:31 AM »

Salam all

While going through a philosophy discussion in a certain class, a few rather disconcerting points were brought up. I don't personally agree with any of these arguments and I consider a few of them to be utterly ridiculous, but I thought I should show these to you all, to see if there's any way to logically refute them. (All of the following points are paraphrased since I don't remember exactly what was said, but the gist of the argument is there.) The red is my thoughts.

1) The only reason something is considered good is because it is in accordance with God's will. Agreed. However, what if God's will is to do injustice and cruelty to His creation? Such a what-if contention is unsupported and wholly hypothetical, but I can't find a way to logically refute its possibility. If such behavior could potentially be God's will, then there is no reason to believe in a loving, kind God. OK. I am genuinely disturbed now.

2) Let's say that God's traits are kindness and mercy. If these traits are essentially deterministic, then why should we worship and admire God for having them? It's like admiring a Kardashian just because they're beautiful, isn't it? This comparison is unwarranted, but the question still stands.

3) If God is perfectly loving, then He should love evil people too, right? Apparently the Bible says God loves everyone unconditionally, but the Quran says He does not love evildoers. In my opinion, the Quranic representation of God's love just shows that He is fair, but others may disagree.

I would very much appreciate the opinions of other forum members on these arguments, especially #1, which seems to be the most difficult to logically refute. Note that quoting scripture doesn't work as a defense in this case, since the argument is not based on scripture.

Thanks!

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General Discussions / POV Question

« on: January 21, 2016, 09:10:29 AM »

Salam
This might seem like a strange question, but many verses, such as 27:91, switch to Muhammad's point of view abruptly with no apparent transition. This verse isn't directing Muhammad so say anything, it seems to be directly said by him. Some people use this to say he wrote the Quran himself, because parts of it are seemingly written from his point of view. What are the views of other members on this?

I'm certainly not saying that he wrote it. I'm just saying that some people think he did, because there are many verses that are apparently written from his point of view.

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General Discussions / Mary or Miriam? Contradiction?

« on: January 20, 2016, 06:26:43 AM »

Salam
The Quran says Mary was the daughter of Imran. However, isn't it generally accepted that Imran was the father of Moses? It also says Mary is Aaron's sister, but isn't Aaron the brother of Moses? Miriam was apparently a sister of Moses, and many people say the Quran confuses Mary and Miriam. Even Wikipedia, which is supposedly unbiased, says this. In the Bible, Joachim is Mary's father. Is Joachim the same as Imran, or did the Bible get it wrong? Also, why do Mary and Miriam appear to have been switched around in the Quran? They're different people, so this shouldn't have happened. Any ideas?

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General Discussions / Shirk Forgiveness

« on: January 17, 2016, 01:36:09 AM »

According to the Quran, shirk isn't forgiven if maintained until death. What if you don't realize you're doing it, like if you're raised in a Catholic household and you believe in the Trinity? Believing in the Trinity is shirk, but what if you don't know that? Would you get forgiven?

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Discussions / Evolution Adam and Eve

« on: January 12, 2016, 08:04:37 AM »

Salam

I was reading this Nat Geo article that caught my attention. Neanderthals lived for a long time before modern humans, and apparently they could speak, conducted funeral rituals, drew pictures, etc. They sound quite human to me, but they lived separately from "modern humans" for thousands of years.

Apparently today's humans have Neanderthal DNA, indicating a common ancestor between the 2 subspecies. However, Adam and Eve were the first humans, weren't they? And all other humans were descended from them? This is my understanding of the issue from monotheistic scripture. So is it possible that Adam and Eve were the common ancestors of modern humans and Neanderthals, and they sort of evolved into these 2 different races as time passed?

However, a common ancestor of both subspecies would have been distinctly simpler than even Neanderthals. It's unclear whether such an ancestor would have been able to speak, let alone be a vicegerent of God.

So what happened with this whole evolution thing, and where did Adam and Eve come in? Were they before both Neanderthals and modern humans, or what? Neanderthals and modern humans had to share ancestor(s), since they're related. However it's unclear whether these ancestors were Adam and Eve, or if they were even human.

Where do you draw the line between evolution and religion? Adam and Eve had to be fully human, but I'm not even sure what constitutes a "fully human" being at that time.