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Messages - HOPE

#181
Salaam all,

Wanted to share with you a very interesting view.

Peace

"Most suicide bombers are Muslim - According to the Oxford University sociologist Diego Gambetta, editor of Making Sense of Suicide Missions, a comprehensive history of this troubling yet topical phenomenon, while suicide missions are not always religiously motivated, when religion is involved, it is always Muslim. Why is this? Why is Islam the only religion that motivates its followers to commit suicide missions?The surprising answer from the evolutionary psychological perspective is that Muslim suicide bombing may have nothing to do with Islam or the Koran (except for two lines in it). It may have nothing to do with the religion, politics, the culture, the race, the ethnicity, the language, or the region. As with everything else from this perspective, it may have a lot to do with sex, or, in this case, the absence of sex.What distinguishes Islam from other major religions is that it tolerates polygyny. By allowing some men to monopolize all women and altogether excluding many men from reproductive opportunities, polygyny creates shortages of available women. If 50 percent of men have two wives each, then the other 50 percent don't get any wives at all.So polygyny increases competitive pressure on men, especially young men of low status. It therefore increases the likelihood that young men resort to violent means to gain access to mates. By doing so, they have little to lose and much to gain compared with men who already have wives. Across all societies, polygyny makes men violent, increasing crimes such as murder and rape, even after controlling for such obvious factors as economic development, economic inequality, population density, the level of democracy, and political factors in the region.
However, polygyny itself is not a sufficient cause of suicide bombing. Societies in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean are much more polygynous than the Muslim nations in the Middle East and North Africa. And they do have very high levels of violence. Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from a long history of continuous civil wars—but not suicide bombings.

The other key ingredient is the promise of 72 virgins waiting in heaven for any martyr in Islam. The prospect of exclusive access to virgins may not be so appealing to anyone who has even one mate on earth, which strict monogamy virtually guarantees. However, the prospect is quite appealing to anyone who faces the bleak reality on earth of being a complete reproductive loser.

It is the combination of polygyny and the promise of a large harem of virgins in heaven that motivates many young Muslim men to commit suicide bombings. Consistent with this explanation, all studies of suicide bombers indicate that they are significantly younger than not only the Muslim population in general but other (nonsuicidal) members of their own extreme political organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. And nearly all suicide bombers are single."

by Alan S. Miller, Ph.D., Satoshi Kanazawa, Ph.D.
#182
General Discussions / Re: Cause thee to forget??
March 16, 2013, 12:56:36 AM
Peace Mubashir and Joseph,

As 26:193 shows, the Ruh al-Amin imprinted the Quran in the Prophet's heart thus causing him not  forget it.  As a human being his mind is apt to forget things, which is a blessing in my opinion.  The human brain stores everything we have ever experienced.  If we remembered everything, there would be an overload on the system leading to malfunction.  Actually there is no need for angels to record since our brains do the recording for God.  We can have access to the minute details of the stored memory through hypnosis in this lifetime.

God would help the prophet to forget the worldly things or unrelevant information keeping it in the background and bring the Quranic material to the forefront as needed. This is my understanding.

#183
General Discussions / Re: Injustice & Suffering
March 12, 2013, 04:28:49 AM
Salaam Wakas,


Considering the verses 48:17 and 6:165, brings to mind then, why does God want to test us?

Whatever the Divine wisdom is behind the tests, we are told to live the life we were given which will be full of ups and downs, highs and lows, and with pain and joy.  Man was created weak 4-28, 30-54; greedy 70-19-21; impatient 21-37.  Loss, pain, betrayal,suffering  at times can be eye openers to serve as healing agents, attitude or behavior modifiers.  Sometimes we have to hit the bottom before realizing the  pit we dug ourselves in. It is hoped that we become strong, kind, compassionate and faithful.  A process of spiritual, mental and moral evolution.  No pain no gain!

Peace,
#184
Prophets and Messengers / Re: Was Muhammed perfect?
March 08, 2013, 04:39:08 AM
Salaam Wakas,

The quote you presented under the "From Tradition" heading, does not support the traditional view in my opinion.  Traditional view holds that Muhammad was infallible and by extension all God's prophets were infallible.  It is very very difficult for us mortals to judge.  When does a mistake become a sin? I believe God considers  the purity of the heart and the intentions in all kinds of extenuating circumstances rather than just considering only the outcome.

To answer Kristina's question, " was Muhammed perfect?".  Perfection is not an attribute of mankind.  At best, it can be said that man has been, is and will always be  in the process of attaining higher and higher levels of existence.

Peace,
#185
General Discussions / 42:13
March 07, 2013, 12:18:55 AM
Peace to you all,

Today, I read about the Dutch politician Van Doorn who has recently converted to Islam.  He says:

"I have heard so many negative stories about Islam, but I am not a person who follows opinions of others without doing my own research," he said.

"Therefore, I have actually started to deepen my knowledge of the Islam out of curiosity."

Dear brother, Who put that curiosity in your heart?  "God chooses to Himself whomsoever He wills, and He guides to Himself whomsoever turns to Him"

#186
Salaam Mubashir,

I read your post with great sadness.  I am speechless; it is best if I let God speak instead:

Woe to these who deal in fraud- 83:1
Their hearts were hardened and the devil made that which they were doing alluring to them. 6:43
And when Satan made their deeds seem alluring to them  8:48
Satan has made their deeds fair-seeming and thus has he turned them away from the right path, so they are not rightly guided  27:24
Satan rendered their deeds fair-seeming to them  29:38

Peace,


#187
General Discussions / Re: Islamic eschatology
February 23, 2013, 11:07:25 AM
Peace Haji,


Chronological order does not matter.  These Quranic descriptions portray the dismantling of current cosmos; earth and heavens will be dislocated, "We shall roll up the heavens like the rolling up of the scroll of writings" 21:104, "and the whole earth will be in His grip on the day of Resurrection/Awakening, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand" 39:67.

You want to understand scientifically?  I used to think that I had understood it scientifically.  The genesis of the cosmos fits the Big Bang Theory and there is also a corresponding Big Crunch Theory which seems to explain the ever expanding universe will at some point shrink and roll back like a scroll of writings.  But that means the end of the physical cosmos, total destruction. Back to the Singularity.

Then the heaven and Hell become spiritual states/places/grades.

Recently,  I paid attention to 39:73-74: when the gates of the Garden are opened for the muttaqeen, they say, "All praise belongs to God Who has made His promise good to us, and He has permitted us to inherit the earth and dwell in the gardens wherever we please..."

Is the Garden of Hereafter in the same universe but on some other planet?  That I do not know or this earth will be transformed into a Garden and only the inheriters will comprise the population.  Side note- hope birds of Paradise will be there, too!

#188
General Discussions / Re: some Questions about alRahman
February 23, 2013, 07:29:32 AM
Salaam Joseph,

Thanks.  I agree with you that there maybe other beings above, below, in, or out there.  Yet the joys of the Garden or the punishments of the Fire were designed for beings that can discern with free will.  Neither the angels nor the animate or inanimate creations of God that we know of in the universe fits the definition other than the jinn and insan.  I must be missing something. 

I did not restrict it to 4 anyway though it may sound like it. I wanted to stress the fact that jinn are in the same boat with us.











UPDATE BY QM FORUM MODERATOR

13th March 2013

This thread is now closed and a direct link to this post is now available at the dedicated Q&A page.

http://quransmessage.com/articles/q&as%20FM3.htm

Thanks.

#189
General Discussions / Re: 80.11
February 23, 2013, 05:29:45 AM
Thank you sir.
#190
General Discussions / Re: 80.11
February 23, 2013, 04:23:02 AM
Peace brother Joseph,

baar بَارَ [with alif in the middle] – someone who is good, but not as good as barr بَرَرَ.
The plural of baar بَارَ = abraar ابَرَارَ
More poweful plural of baar = bararahبَرَرَةٍ.
bararah بَرَرَةٍ – jam'u kathrah. (alot)
Abraar ابَرَارَ – jam'u qilah. (a few).

Is this a misleading information?

#191
Discussions / Why the Bible is not God's Words
February 23, 2013, 03:25:03 AM
#192
General Discussions / Re: 80.11
February 23, 2013, 01:16:01 AM
Salaam sister Chadiga,

This reminder is in a scripture well preserved lawh al mahfoodh

Scribers can either be the prophet's transcribers or the angels who take the message from the lawh al mahfoodh and unveil it to the prophet or both.

Verse 16 gives more support to the angels- noble and dutiful, kiraamin bararah.  My notes say the angels are referred as bararah and humans as abraar because there are a lot more good angels than good people.  The most noble and righteous angels are the Quran scribes.


#193
General Discussions / Re: some Questions about alRahman
February 23, 2013, 12:12:18 AM
Peace to you all,

QuoteParadise including the many different gardens

Isn't this surah also addressing the jinn? Thus there are two separate gardens.  Then one for the right hand and another for the sabiqun?

#194
General Discussions / Re: Some Questions
February 22, 2013, 07:14:17 AM
Peace Haji,

18:22 is not talking about future events.  It is about not to speculate on things which we have no knowledge of.  In this instance we do not know the exact number of the cave dwellers.

18:23-24 is talking about future events that we have no control of.  No body knows what a new day will bring.  Again the advice is to remember God whenever we forget to do things on time and ask for His help and guidance to do better next time.

Saying "if God wills" strange to you, then say "inshallah" as long as you know what it means

#195
General Discussions / Re: Some Questions
February 22, 2013, 01:29:15 AM
Peace Haji,

QuoteI thought it to be unnecessary to pronounce "if God wills" when I talk about future, because all knowledge is with God.

Well, Quran says we are forgetful, what an excellent drill to remind the 'abd' Who the 'Master" is.  Same goes with 'Bismillah'.

QuoteSo it is new creation, glory and honour which is only eternal rewards - right? And we will receive finite rewards for our good deeds

Al Baaqi is only the Creator and His capacity for new creation is never exhausted.  Eternal/ infinite are not characteristics of created entities.  They exist in one form or another as long as He wills; creatures cannot exist separate from God.