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[Warning]

Dear QM Forum,

Warning

In certain circumstances it can be dangerous to repeat the information I share with you all. I'm a privileged person, who can write about these topics without immediate consequences. Please be mindful of this.

Making peace with People of the Book

Due to various feelings and ideas, I'd like to share some scripture and ideas, which could influence how we perceive people from different religious groups and interact with them.

Surah al-Ma'idah 5:51

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَتَّخِذُوا۟ ٱلْيَهُودَ وَٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰٓ أَوْلِيَآءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُم مِّنكُمْ فَإِنَّهُۥ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

Sahih Intl.

O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.

Useful list of translations into English: https://academyofislam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/English-Quran-Translations_Mar2024.pdf

My faith

Since I began to study Islam, I have felt Christian and at some point after reading K Ahren's Christliches im Quran I felt as if I could be Christian and Muslim. After chatting with people, other muslims insisted that I was not muslim, because my beliefs differed from the main narrative (ex: critical of Hajj to Mecca, and critical of holy texts). Still, I feel as if I am Muslim and Christian, that is how I would categorize myself if I had to describe my faith.

Even so, after reading Gospels and other books (New Testament), some of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and some of the Qur'an, I find wisdom in these texts, however I cannot agree with them entirely. I view them as books from cultures in certain part of the world, which contain truths about our world and its source, and how to live a good life in harmony with others, healthy lifestyles, and awareness of God. Yet they also contain seeds of destruction, which have caused humans to kill each other and to destroy this unique planet, the greatest contradiction.

My faith is not defined by its total adherence and obedience, it is defined by my desire to find the positive attributes (wisdom, truth, heritage, commonalities) of troublesome books and ideas, in order to seek God, make peace, and to make sense of life.

Surah al-Ma'idah 5:51

When I read this verse, I remind myself that Prophet Muhammed began to recite the Qur'an ~600 years after Jesus. At this time, Judaism, the religion of Judah, the surviving tribal power in charge of the central temple in Jerusalem (together with Tribe of Benjamin), was the organized religion. The Christians, on the other hand, were a sect, which formed out of a conflict between a prophet with differing thoughts/words and actions (ex: recurring use of word "Father", not following Sabbath rules, etc...). However, even so, Jesus is Jewish, from Judah (Gospel of John 4:9). Jesus is quoted preaching the idea of the Kingdom of God, and I believe it was a metaphor used to describe peace between people, when the Kingdom of Judah was being destroyed by the Romans and by their violent conflict with revolutionaries, patriots, zealots, etc...

Gospel of Matthew 12:24-28 (BSB, BibleHub)

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons."

25 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

What is going on in the story? The religious authorities are unfairly condemning Jesus, and he's giving a rebuttal, which explains their sin against him. That's is explained here later on:

Gospel of Matthew 12:

36 But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

And so, with many new words, metaphors, and ideas, the strict religious people could not accept Jesus even though he healed sick people and did good things. Even so, today there are strict Christian religious people, who hurt people in pursuit of their interpretations of the Kingdom of God, as a political physical entity (1,000 Year Kingdom), as suggested in the Book of Revelation.

Gospel of Luke 17:20-21

20 When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21 Nor will people say, 'Look, here it is,' or 'There it is.' For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.

The article below gives many examples of Christian doctrine, which has its roots in metaphors used in Jewish scripture and Hebrew language.

Goraya, Azhar. "Jesus, the 'Son of God' – The Historical Context". The Review of Religions. https://www.reviewofreligions.org/27744/jesus-son-of-god-historical-context-long-read/

The article below gives many examples of Jewish religious authorities who defended and supported Jesus.

Turnage, Marc. "The Pharisees in the Book of Acts". Enrichment Journal. Assemblies of God. https://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/Issues/2015/Spring-2015/The-Pharisees-in-the-Book-of-Acts

These ideas are doctrine in the Christian religion and few people know their origin.

In conclusion, from my perspective, the Ayah in the Qur'an warns people that becoming allies with people from these religions could compromise their understanding of their faith, because these religions were the established and organized religions at the time, which organized around doctrine and dogma, like organized religions today.

Antagonism

Today, on YouTube, people fight and condemn each other's religions. They point out flaws and condemn the entire religion, instead of finding the connections and similarities. For example, they'll criticize Suhoor and Iftar meals, and make Islam appear glutinous, when not all people are wealthy, nor can afford such meals, or may benefit necessarily from such a special event in the year. Others example could be how people criticize the concept of the Trinity, even when not all Christians believe in the trinity, yet in doing so, it creates an opposition, and makes more Christians feel obligated to believe in the trinity.

Even these antagonistic people can have some truth in their criticism, yet without mercy and compassion, it is misleading and destructive.  Instead of giving truth to show the true meaning of ideas or their original context, we are prone to criticize and detract from what other people say, leaving them feeling angry, hurt, powerless, and unnecessarily ashamed.

Against Muslims

When I read the Qur'an, I find many things which trouble me and cause me to lose faith. This also happens when I read the Bible. Sometimes, I feel this way when I watch people on YouTube, or see how dogmatic and indoctrinated people are, choosing to value obedience over wisdom and its benefits. However, I remind myself of the original inspirations, which caused me to believe: the words (salam, 'alim), the origins (travel between Syria/Judea/Arabia/Sheba), the stories (Moses, Jesus, Hud), the ideas (Oneness, mercy). I remind myself of the idea that Prophet Muhammed miraculously recited ancient stories, which give important context to what had developed out of the Christian and the Jewish people. Many people talk about Islam as if its a new religion, yet it is rooted in concepts, which appear older in form than the concepts written in the Kingdom of Judah (ilah, Allah).

The article below talks about the Arabic origins of the holy name of God YHWH, which is traditionally referred to as Adonai by Jewish people.

Knohl, Israel. "YHWH: The Original Arabic Meaning of the Name". The Torah.com. https://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwh-the-original-arabic-meaning-of-the-name

Hebrew, Greek, Arabic

If you search "Dukhrana analysis" on DuckDuckGo together with a Gospel verse (ex: Dukhrana analysis Matthew 5:9) you can study the translation of the Greek Bible into Aramaic, which contains words similar to Arabic. The Greek Bible was translated into Greek inside the minds of people, who spoke Aramaic. So we must have faith about what they meant:

https://www.dukhrana.com/peshitta/analyze_verse.php?lang=en&verse=Matthew+5:9&source=ubs

For comparison:

Surah al-'Ankabut 29:69

وَٱلَّذِينَ جَـٰهَدُوا۟ فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَمَعَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ

Sahih Intl, Islamicity

And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good.

Acts 11:25-30

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. So for a full year they met together with the church and taught large numbers of people. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

27 In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.) 29 So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.

The verse above is very important for me, because it reminds me that long ago, there was no such thing as "Christian". It is a label, a category, created to classify and distinguish people. It also reminds me that there were prophets, like Prophet Agabus among them, who prophesied. For me, this is a reason why every Christian scholar should try to find truths in the Qur'an and to study it, and have compassion towards Muslims, and to consider Muslim beliefs and traditions, as a Christian would want a Jewish person to do it to their religion, or any other group.

Groups and religions
Are all groups the same? No. If you go into one group, they'll tell you to think ABC and do XYZ, and if you don't they might at best treat you differently. That's why I like to worship alone and have relationships based on things outside of religious affiliation and ideas.

When meeting strangers in an informal setting, there is a chance to show sympathy, empathy, and compassion, instead of creating an impromptu philosophical debate or judging them because of how they're dressed. This is difficult for me, because I love to talk about philosophical ideas to people, and am not always the most sympathetic, empathetic, or compassionate person.

I believe the simple truth that unites the Abrahamic religions is in the books. Please help me and others, and continue to search for better examples:

Judaism: The name YHWH explains an attribute of God, which is the upmost important when approaching the religion: true love/passion behind all existence.

Christianity: The two laws ascribed to Jesus explain the foundation of religious discipline. It allows people to become part of the religion and it sets the standard for the implementation of all other laws.

This is important. Consider what has been occurring in USA, since many presidents ago (Bush, Obama, Biden with Title 42, Trump with ICE round-ups). Illegal immigrants are being deported, put into facilities, and managed by government. Many are mistreated Native Americans of Latino origin, which struggle in USA, Mexico and other countries. The law says they are illegal, and so the supporters of deportation will say, "They committed a crime coming here illegally." This is technically true. However, to deport a small number of people is one thing, yet to deport millions involves a logistical risk to health, human rights, and families, that make the application of this law unjust. In Germany, the Jewish people were also deported (Auswanderung, die Deportationen) , and know one knew exactly where they went afterwards, even though they heard rumors.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Islam: Islam is more than just a religious category, it is an idea, a concept, which is not translated into English. Islam is a transliteration of an Arabic word. It is now treated like a religion, like its own category, and we should respect that the same way we respect other categories. It is necessary and unavoidable outcome of how we think and work with the world, yet we can also remind ourselves of why that is so.

Surah al-Bayyinah 98:5

And they were not commanded except to worship Allah , [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakah. And that is the correct religion.

Conclusion

Traditions, organized religion, they all can have wisdom and benefit. Yet there are reasons why people oppose them, especially when they are enforced in a way that hurts a person irreparably. We can study religions and find connections to inspire people to treat each other better when they encounter each other, NOT so they all join one global religion that's a mix of everything.

Even though many emotional and empathetic people invent new religions and ideas, the issues described in the Bible of traditional people vs. good non-traditional people is a constant struggle, no matter what religion. I believe we should promote people to focus on themselves as the books say we should, and like Ghandi said, "Be the change we want to see in the world."

Surah Maryam 19:36-37, (Sahih Intl, Islamicity)

36[Jesus said], "And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path." 37  Then the factions differed [concerning Jesus] from among them, so woe to those who disbelieved - from the scene of a tremendous Day.

Sincerely,
Fireheart47

P.S. The name Fireheart47 is made up name. Fireheart (Fyreheart) was a nickname I used when I used to play MoH:SH as a kid. I don't remember why I chose that name then. I don't play FPS games anymore, did a couple months ago, instead I like to play THPS2. This nickname stuck with me, because of a drawing of a heart with wings in a book I thought was sort of scary called Conquering the Beast Within: How I Fought Depression and Won... and How You Can Too . The number 47 was one of my favorite numbers, because it was a channel on TV I used to watch as a kid. I needed to invent a new nickname, so this was easy to remember.

[Disclaimer]

Dear Quran's Message forum,

Disclaimer

I am a privileged person, who can talk about these topics and explore them without immediate consequences. I am in a warm house, sitting on a computer, writing about controversial topics. Other people can get hurt or killed for saying things like I do. Please be mindful of this.

El Apocalipsis de Juan

The Book of Revelation is a confusing book, and has inspired many people in awful ways, because of fears and feelings of shame. For example, I've worried about being False Prophet or being the Anti-Christ, because I have an imaginative mind and feel fear or shame.

Fears and ideas

One of the important steps in my journey was when I felt I had sold my soul to devil, and met a person, whose father was a pastor. The person I spoke to wore shirts with pentagrams and worshiped the devil at some point in his youth. He later found God again as an adult. He didn't judge me when I cried to him and told him my fears, instead he told me, "You can't sell what's not yours to sell." This inspired me to read the Bible and later Qur'an, and try to understand where these ideas come from.

Here are some observations I've had and things I've learned:

Apocalypse

The word "apocalypse" is often understood as the end of the world. However, in the Bible and in Biblical Greek or Jewish Koine Greek, the word apocalypse (ᾰ̓ποκᾰ́λῠψῐς) means revelation. There is something being revealed in this book. What is being revealed? Above all, the scribes want to reveal the message of Jesus from the Christian perspective. Despite the doomsday prophecies and end of the world ideas, the Book of Revelation ends with hope of an optimistic future.

I believe the Book of Revelation is an allegory meant to reveal the dangers of organized religion in a secret way.

Patterns in scripture

I believe there are patterns in the scriptures placed by scribes to indicate to the readers that the scriptures have been altered. This is not to cause people to lose faith, rather to maintain faith in spite of the reality of human activities and human nature.

For example, in verse Revelation 3:14 in Greek there are three words and between these three words are the Greek letter Omicron. In the Book of Revelation this is common, and it seems like they are chanting or emphasizing these ideas, yet in English they get translated away. In Rev 3:14, the three words are the names of God.

Book of Revelation 3:14, * Originally from BibleHub

Καὶ τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς ἐκκλησίας Λαοδικέων γράψον· Τάδε λέγει ὁ Ἀμήν ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς καὶ ἀληθινός ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ·

Rev 3:14 (The New World Translation) * JW bible, had to remove annotations from copy and pasted text.

To the angel of the congregation in La·o·di·ceʹa write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God:

However, in another verse with the names of evil, there are 7 Omicron. This indicates to me the scribes cared more about the fear of the Devil and might've secretly worshiped it, because they were being mistreated by organized religion or because they wanted to rebel.

καὶ ἐβλήθη ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος ὁ καλούμενος Διάβολος καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς ὁ πλανῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐβλήθησαν

So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.

Words, concepts, and religious systems

One of the things, which has helped me feel less fear is acknowledging the Oneness of Allah. Nothing is outside of the control of Allah. I believe we will never be completely abandoned by Allah. I believe that when the Hebrews (the people crossed over from Euphrates to Mediterranean Sea and Nile River) went to Ancient Egypt (Kemet) they learned concepts from the religious systems of that society. In that society, there were different levels of understanding. The priests knew the deities were archetypes of concepts, allegories and stories to teach ideas, yet the average people or the organized religion taught that they were gods and worshiped them. I believe cult of Set influenced the Hebrews to use this word to describe the evil forces that destroy. It is important then to understand where this comes from.

In this allegory, the most important person is Horus, which represents consciousness and the observer. The Kings would be initiated into a ceremony that would teach them this and give them awareness of the natural order. Osiris represented plants and nature, and Set represented death and conflict. They also represented star systems. Osiris represented Orion and Set represented Alderbaran. In the story, Osiris is dismembered by his evil brother into 14 pieces. Orion constellation is 10 stars. Perhaps, the ancient Egyptians included 14 stars in this constellation and therefore it made the story more powerful and taught the idea of death. A cult formed around Set, despite it being a less important figure in the story. I believe it promoted fighting, power, war, and military. The Ancient Egyptians traded metal for their weapons with the Hittites in Anatolia. The Israelites would've been in the middle of it, part of the trade.

In Hebrew, the word Satan means "to oppose" as it used in the Story of Balak in Book of Numbers (Book of Numbers 22:22).

Think of what Jesus is quoted saying about the nature of God.

Matthew 5:45 (NIV, BibleHub)

that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Forgiveness and transformation

I used to fear that I was these evil prophecies in the Bible, even though truly I am not the most evil person I can imagine. I believe all people can be forgiven if they repent. For this reason, I think there is a hidden meaning behind the two witnesses in the story of the Book of Revelation, because they cause all these problems, like the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet. Could they be the same people? Are we waiting for people to realize that forgiveness is free and that people can change?

Inspiration

I believe we should be aware that people can be inspired by the ideas in the Bible, regardless of their true meaning.

The idea of the Mark of the Beast can inspire people to put implants in people and do dangerous evil things, even though the authors of the Book of Revelation weren't necessarily talking about that.

Mark of the Beast

Someone on the internet told me about a verse from the TaNaKh that helped describe the meaning of 666.

1 Kings 10:14 (Tanach.us)

ויהי משקל הזהב אשר בא לשלמה בשנה אחת שש מאות ששים ושש ככר זהב

1 Kings 10:14 (NIV, BibleGateway)

The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents

Rev 13:16-18 (BSB, BibleHub)

16 And the second beast required all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name.

18 Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is 666

I believe that this passage is warning us that organized religions exclude people from charity, based on religious membership. The name "Solomon" is based from roots SLM or ש-ל-מ or س-ل-م. This represents the organized religion, then in Jerusalem. Its members were m-slm. People who weren't m-slm, did not get to participate and did not get help they needed, the help that our scriptures say they should receive from believers.

I believe the mark on the forehead and the hand represent our beliefs and our actions. Those without the mark are those who do not believe the same things or do the same things as the members of the organized religion.

Book of Exodus 13:9 (Tanach.us)

והיה לך לאות על ידך ולזכרון בין עיניך למען תהיה תורת יהוה בפיך כי ביד חזקה הוצאך יהוה ממצרים

Exodus 13:9 (NIV, BibleHub)

This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.

Back in the day of Jesus, the central temple and the organized religion was in Jerusalem. However, today, the non-organized religions of the Nazarenes has organized in Vatican, and the non-organized religion of the Arabs (nomads descended from Israelites and economic partners of Israelites) is centralized in Mecca.

Organized religion is not entirely bad. Without organized religion, we wouldn't have the organization that we do today and there would be too much disorder for us to find meaning and have faith in the wisdom of religious books and traditions. Traditions have wisdom and that is what makes them good. However, they can become the reason why people get hurt.

The Qur'an says again and again that the simple true religion is to pray to God and to give zakat. The Bible also agrees when it says something similar, worship God and love thy neighbor as thyself. This is the worship of the Hidden One, called by many names like God or Allah, and to follow the Golden Rule, known to many religious worldwide.

Sheikh Hamza Yusuf talks about in this video how hidden within the books of the Hindu religion, they believe that God is pure and imageless, like Abrahamic religions. Many educated Hindus believe some of the same ideas as Muslims, Christians and Jews.

Video of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf on alternative YouTube platform called Invidious, hosted on website called Nadeko, which supposedly protects people from being monitored or stops it from affecting YouTube data collection.

https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=gYfuRgSQF2w

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYfuRgSQF2w

Thank you for reading what I've shared. This is only my perspective. Please consider it, doubt it, test it and figure out for yourselves. May Allah guide us to the truth. Subhanallah.

Sincerely,
Fireheart47

Dear Joseph Islam,

If the Qur'an was once only recited, and thus the other believers were called People of the Book (Ahl Al-Kitab), does that mean after the Qur'an was compiled and made into a book that the believers of it are now also People of the Book?

Sincerely,
Fireheart47

Dear QM Forum,

I'd like to share some perspective on a chapter of the Qur'an, which I find important. Do you all have any thoughts on this subject or these verses?

Surah al-Baqarah 2:2

ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

Dhālika Al-Kitābu Lā Rayba Fīhi, Hudáan Lilmuttaqīna

Sahih International

This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah

Surah al-Baqarah 2:3

ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ

Al-Ladhīna Yu'uminūna Bil-Ghaybi Wa Yuqīmūna Aş-Şalāata Wa Mimmā Razaqnāhum Yunfiqūna 

Sahih Intl.

Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them

Surah Maryam 19:30

قَالَ إِنِّى عَبْدُ ٱللَّهِ ءَاتَىٰنِىَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَجَعَلَنِى نَبِيًّا

Sahih Intl.

[Jesus] said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah . He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet.

Surah Maryam 19:31

وَجَعَلَنِى مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَـٰنِى بِٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَٱلزَّكَوٰةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا

And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive

Surah al-Bayyinah 98:5

وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓا۟ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَ حُنَفَآءَ وَيُقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَذَٰلِكَ دِينُ ٱلْقَيِّمَةِ

And they were not commanded except to worship Allah , [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakah. And that is the correct religion.

An excerpt of Surah al-Bayyinah 98:6

شَرُّ ٱلْبَرِيَّةِ

worst of creatures

Another excerpt from Surah al-Bayyinah 98:7

خَيْرُ ٱلْبَرِيَّةِ

best of creatures

(Source: http://islamicity.org and http://allahsquran.com )

Torah Chumash (The Instruction, The Five [Books]), Bereshit (Book of Genesis)

בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ

The Contemporary Torah, JPS, 2006

When God began to create heaven and earth—

Excerpt from Genesis 1:1

ברא

to create

(Source: http://sefaria.org and http://tanach.us )

Matthew 22:37-39

BibliaTodo Interlinear original Greek: https://www.bibliatodo.com/en/interlinear/matthew-22-37

Dukhrana Peshitta Analysis (I search "Dukhrana Peshitta Analysis Matthew 22:37" on DuckDuckGO search engine): https://www.dukhrana.com/peshitta/analyze_verse.php?lang=en&verse=Matthew+22:37&source=ubs

The word

دِينُ

from end of Surah al-Bayyinah 98:5 has multiple meanings, it can mean religion, but also judgement. Rabbi Friedman gave a lecture on YouTube about Yom HaDin, where he clarifies judgement. He said it is not only punishment, it is also reward, it is not being found guilty, but also being found innocent. He said it is justice, and it is a fair trial. He said the Jewish people should have faith that all their suffering will be taken into account. I think this applies also to every soul on Earth. I believe an all-knowing God will be merciful and will take into account all the complexities of our life.

The concept of "Deen" bares a lot of similarity to the concept of Ma'at in Ancient Egypt, which is said by some to be depicted by the scales of justice and a personification, which is said to be the archetype from where angels depicted in human-form popular in Christianity originated. That would be very interesting from a historical perspective if true!

The word

ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ

also has interesting connotations. It is a concept, which I believe we can personally live out, yet it also has more legalistic definitions for how organized religion deals with the real complications of managing money and other goods to give to the needy.

Fireheart47

Dear Quran's Message forum,

I'd like to share some perspective about the 2nd verse of the Surah al-Fatihah and get feedback, and additional wisdom from the community.

Surah al-Fatihah 1:2

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

Sahih International

[All] praise is [due] to Allah , Lord of the worlds

AJ Arberry's The Koran Interpreted

Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being,

Studying this verse was one of my first interests in the Qur'an and Islam. What stood out to me was the word al-'alameen or العلمين. I know now some people say it was originally العالمين، to whom I've said that it reminds me of the Geneva Bible.

When I was a kid, I used to play Call of Duty 2 on PC, and played a level in El Alamein, Egypt. I noticed the similarity in this word, and found it curious. Others have suggested it is not the same word, and even Wiktionary.org asserts it comes from a different root, meaning flags? However, I recently learned about the ancient Egyptian site of Zawyet El-Aryan, which transliterates the «-ال» as «El-», which furthers my belief that the city in Egypt was named after the verse in the Qur'an.

When I began to study this word, I was struck by the similarity between it and علم ('alam, English: knowledge, [many other words ...], Latin: scientia), as well as معلم (mu'alam, English: teacher). It is also similar to the Hebrew word עולם (olam, English: universe, [...]), which I had heard of before. When I read the verse, it made me think of God as the Lord of all-knowledge, where all that exists is God's awareness. It reminds me of how in English people can say about another person, "They are a worldly person", meaning they know the world and are knowledgeable. I believe the Arab, Jewish, historic Israelites, and all other linguistically connected people, had this similar way of perceiving knowledge.

When I learned about AJ Arberry translation, I was glad to see someone thought similarly. I was surprised it is considered less reliable. Why is that?

Then I began to ponder about El-Alamein and its significance in WW2. The German military was stopped there by the British, a moment where this terrible war changed tides, and the Nazi government's militaries which had been murdering innocent people, sterilizing innocent people, and doing other horrific things,  began to lose in a region where ancient world powers have fought and gained power (Rome, Greece, Persia, etc...).

El-Alamein is also a curious place, because if one looks at photos and watches videos about the WW2 memorial sites and battlegrounds shortly after WW2, it is surprising how it is in the middle-of-nowhere. It is desert. It makes one think how pointless war is, how all those soldiers fought and died for this barren land.

Perhaps one day with our changing climate, it won't be as barren. Yet even then, farmers and gardeners, like shepherds and civilians today, will have to be aware of the thousands of land-mines left by the foreign militaries. Not only those, but the other more modern land-mines left by Egyptian military near the Sinai Peninsula.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Location-map-for-landmines-distributions-in-Egypt_fig1_237580585

Some scholars suggest it was the first verse in the Qur'an, yet now is the second verse. That seems interesting, yet I believe the name of Allah and his attributes are so important, I think it makes sense for it to start how it does.

In a previous religious debate, when I considered myself only a Christian, the Muslim person said to me something wise, which I think is important. He said, paraphrased, "If a religion is the religion of God, only God can add or remove from the scriptures, it is not up to an authority to choose." Even though there are things in all the scriptures, which I don't feel comfortable about, I believe they should be preserved, because they are knowledge about the past.

Fireheart47


 

Dear Quran's Message forum,

My journey to Islam is a recent personal choice. For me it is a private personal thing, rather than belonging to a community and interacting with other people who identify as Muslim. I believe the essence of our beliefs can be found in many who don't identify as such, and that my obligation is simply to worship God and treat others with sympathy, empathy, compassion, respect and give to them when I can.

The ultimate reason why I believe Islam is attractive, is because the concept of س-ل-مً and ש-ל-ם as a sense of completeness is important in resolving identity issues. As a Latino in largely Germanic society, I've felt half much of my life. I look darker and different than my mom and her side, and the majority of people around me. Yet, I was raised here and culturally I feel more comfortable. I don't like either the conflict and dislike from the Latino community against people who are white and English speaking. It is difficult to find peace with these parameters.

I've longed to be part of this society, yet my struggles have prevented such from happening. When I was a kid I was popular and didn't feel different, yet that quickly changed. I started to suffer from sadness due to school misbehavior, shameful sexual experiences, and unable to get the emotional support I wanted. Doctors prescribed me psychiatric medication, and then my condition worsened. I would cry and yell, and from my family's perspective it was part of my disease, yet later as an adult I realized it was part of the side-effects of the medication. I was prescribed around 7 different psychiatric medications before I became 16. I believe this affected my brain development and is one reason for my current suffering.

At 16 I was sent away to a wilderness program and boarding school by force for selling and smoking weed, skipping school, failing freshman year and kicked out of summer school because I missed 3 days of summer school, because I stayed home sick, not because I purposely didn't go. At the wilderness program I spent 2 months hiking outside in Utah with the expectation I'd be back in 30 days, and was transferred to a boarding school, despite my that wilderness colleagues got to go home. There I had been told I was going to go home after 6 months and stayed for 2 years.

The authorities in charge didn't care about my excuses, they simply wanted me to accept my situation and to work the program. In order to do that I began to gravitate towards Taoism and Buddhist thought to cope with the trauma. Eventually I would realize the skills I learned during this time would help me immensely.

With the guidance of a staff member I began to read the Bible, and began to think more about it. I grew up catholic, yet I would often sleep in church and doubted the idea of God early on in my youth. I felt agnostic or atheist.

I began to smoke weed and drink again two years after program, which was 1 year after highschool. I didn't go to college, and quit making music (my intended profession). I think my lungs reacted poorly, because in highschool we used to smoke out of soda cans and I would ignorantly make pipes out of axe spray cans. Reflecting on this causes me to think about the lack of guidance we had because smoking weed was illegal, taboo in certain families, and we had to hide it, and also the difficult chemical environment we have to navigate in the modern world.

During this time I learned about Arabic, Islam. I would go in chat rooms. The shame of smoking and leaving music, influenced me to talk about controversial topics and bully people. Then I think someone attempted to hurt me by putting dangerous substances in my underwear, and also began to receive phone calls and other strange activity.

During this time, I decided to study German. When I was a kid I would play WW2 videogames and WW2 movies. I was fascinated by Nazis and went through a neo-Nazi phase, despite having Jewish friends and other types of friends. Learning German later in life helped me make sense of this, and provided me with information to learn what I believed in before was false. Although my family didn't like it and I felt alone because people didn't receive me, rather I continued to feel like a foreigner.

During and bit before college I began to seriously read the Bible again and tried to live the words by forgiving people and helping others. Early on I experienced strange things, which led me to believe I had sold my soul to the devil. I met a Uber driver who told me you can't sell what's not yours. This led me to learn about Satan and devil in Bible with help of people like Dan McClellan.

I finally went to college, transferred schools, took semesters off, and barely graduated. My health is declining, and I'm not very productive. It is difficult to study and to accomplish what I intended to, which was to garden and study plants.

Near the end of college I went to a wedding and drank heavily, I ended up alone and drove home, stopped at a Walgreens and hit my head against glass door. That's when I stopped drinking and stopped smoking around that time. Since then I haven't drank nor smoked weed, yet I smoked tobacco recently and felt terribly ill.

In college I met a Saudi from Najran who gave me calligraphy pens and books, and eventually my father bought me a Qur'an after always telling him my opinions about it. I knew about Hebrew because of Jewish childhood friend. I began to study it from a skeptical point of view, then began to believe more in it's authenticity and true value. I still believe that religious scriptures have some flaws and that the simple teachings (Surah Al—Bayyinah) are the most important.

Much of what I've learned about Qur'an I've learned in the past year and mostly in the last couple weeks.

Islam to me is about being 100% me, and not feeling half-Latino or half-less, and at peace with who I am. I believe science confirms this also because we are all unique organisms products of meiosis, and all DNA analysis requires the statistical grouping of other unique individuals, which excludes outliers, relies mostly on modern living samples (not distant ancestors), and prepares conclusions which are meaningful to the pre-conceived boundaries between people groups. When compared to plant genetics, plant morphology and evolution found in fossil record (300MY), we humans are all so very similar(>1MY).

Islam is also part of my Christian faith, which is simply my reverence of Jesus, who I always believed was a prophet. As a Christian I was non-denominational, and attended church dinners or prayed at home instead of going to church physically, yet sometimes made exceptions. I study the Bible and learn from what others say. I question doctrine, dogma, and tradition, in order to seek truth. I believe Jesus embodied the teachings found in the Qur'an.

For me, Islam is a concept, and there also exists a religion we call Islam, which is organized. I feel there has been a big miscommunication which causes divisions amongst good people. It causes people to fight, demean and kill each other in the name of the all-merciful all-encompassing and living hidden God, we call Allah.

In the Bible, Jesus preaches about Kingdom of God, and in many ways it is a rhetorical tool to unite people, while the Kingdom of Judah was being destroyed by Roman Empire. He is quoted saying that the Kingdom of God is among those who accept that his good works are not from Satan, which would mean a Kingdom divided. He is quoted saying the Kingdom of God is neither here nor there, but amongst the religious authorities who mocked him. And so I hope to further holistic thinking, which sees the whole and focuses on the relationships between things, rather than analyzing and breaking everything apart into groups and describing them in isolation.

Thank you for reading this and may Allah bless you and keep you on the path.

Fireheart47

Hello Quran's Message forum,

Please discern between my ideas and the truth, and may God guide you to an answer. I hope the scholarly among you may answer my questions and consider my conjecture.

One of my troubles with the Qur'an and mysteries of the Qur'an are the verses pertaining to Jesus' death and resurrection in Surah an-Nisa 4:157, it reads:

Surah an-Nisa 4:157

وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا ٱلْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ فِيهِ لَفِى شَكٍّۢ مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًۢا

Sahih International

And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah ." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.

Surah an-Nisa 4:158

بَل رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًۭا 

Sahih Intl.

Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise.

Arabic pasted from https://quran.com and English translation from https://www.islamicity.org/quransearch/

*Note: I usually study with https://www.islamicity.org/quran/ and prefer AJ Arberry English translation found on http://archive.org , because of the translation:

The Opening 1:2 Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being.

When I read the whole chapter and tried to find the context of the verses, I saw these verses as important:

Surah an-Nisa 4:46

مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ يُحَرِّفُونَ ٱلْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِۦ وَيَقُولُونَ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا وَٱسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍۢ وَرَٰعِنَا لَيًّۢا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًۭا فِى ٱلدِّينِ ۚ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَٱسْمَعْ وَٱنظُرْنَا لَكَانَ خَيْرًۭا لَّهُمْ وَأَقْوَمَ وَلَـٰكِن لَّعَنَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا

Sahih Intl.

Among the Jews are those who distort words from their [proper] usages and say, "We hear and disobey" and "Hear but be not heard" and "Ra'ina," twisting their tongues and defaming the religion. And if they had said [instead], "We hear and obey" and "Wait for us [to understand]," it would have been better for them and more suitable. But Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few.

with specific emphasis on this segment:

مَّوَاضِعِهِۦ وَيَقُولُونَ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا

[they*] say, "We hear and disobey"

*I added this to show it was talking about Jewish people, which is shown if you hover over the words in Islamicity.org

Surah an-Nisa 4:155

فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَـٰقَهُمْ وَكُفْرِهِم بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَقَتْلِهِمُ ٱلْأَنۢبِيَآءَ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّۢ وَقَوْلِهِمْ قُلُوبُنَا غُلْفٌۢ ۚ بَلْ طَبَعَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهَا بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا

Sahih Intl.

And [We cursed them] for their breaking of the covenant and their disbelief in the signs of Allah and their killing of the prophets without right and their saying, "Our hearts are wrapped". Rather, Allah has sealed them because of their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few.

It seems there is a constant theme of criticizing Judah, the place and people with power in the temples of Jerusalem. I believe the criticism here is not to deny the Jewish people right to their faith or exclude them from Islam. Instead it is to warn them against a tradition of viewing themselves negatively, as rejecters and stumblers, instead of believers and people with a right to salvation and a right to the straight path. This conflict and negative self-perception is something which the Bible talks often about: the Golden Calf, Moses and him never arriving to the promised land, and in light of Christianity, the conspirators against or killers of Jesus.

So, this could add context to why Jesus wasn't killed but instead lives, because God raised him. He is not another source of collective negative self-perception.

Additionally, I have pondered about the use of وما in 4:157, because the Hebrew cognate מה can also mean "how" (Book of Numbers 24:5). In some instances it can negate, yet it does not seem as strong of a negation as ولم (Surah al-Ikhlas 112:4). Could this change the meaning, so that the killing and crucifixion is not negated, rather stated as a condition before arriving to the final conclusion? What do scholars think?

When I reflect upon this verse in light of what the Gospels say, I find some conflict. Jesus' death, be it by crucifix or on a stake (Deuteronomy 22:22-23, Luke 23:31, Acts of Apostles 5:3, and JW sect belief), is an important part of the gospel narratives, which can't be easily negated, because of multiple allusions to it throughout the gospels.

In one lecture, Dr. Zakir Naik, makes a powerful argument against it, by pointing out the outcome of the Jonah story, where he survives. Or prophecies which speak of people being unharmed. Yet, I believe resurrection teaching, which Jesus and others in the Jewish faith believe in, is that resurrection is the survival of ourselves after death. So, I believe the Jonah story comparison can be refuted, since it alluded to a future resurrection.

What is the resurrection? This is something which troubles many, because it seems very difficult to believe someone can conquer death, and seems like a fanciful story. Yet, I believe idea of resurrection can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where the priests would observe nature's cycles, and determined our lives must conform to a cycle. Many Egyptologists talk about how these stories deal with the Pharaoh's journey into the afterlife, yet I believe they are universal stories, which were attributed to the kings in their tombs, because of the political structure of the religion and the funerary economy the priesthood could complete if they conformed their wisdom around the identity of the king. So for example, in one story, a person's soul transforms to light, and passes through a group of beings of light, then must struggle against a monster representing chaos and annihilation, before rising with the sun. This idea of rising up, the idea of our light rising again with the sunrise, reminds me of the word al-Qiyama, القيامة.

(Source: Egyptian Secrets of the Afterlife, National Geographic)

For this reason, I believe the idea of a metaphysical resurrection makes more sense than a physical resurrection. In a metaphysical resurrection, one's qualities and attributes survive, and are manifested in others. The essence of ourselves or mathematics of our being persists in the universe, God-willing. In a physical resurrection, one's body re-materializes and we come back to life fully ourselves and with a body to control our spirit. I hope the latter option is true, and God knows, I don't.

The former option is demonstrated in various parts of the gospels (Gospel of Matthew 18:20 [Jesus' presence amongst his followers], Gospel of Mark 16:12 [Jesus appears in different form], Gospel of Luke 24:16 [Disciples can't recognize him], Gospel of John 20:14-17 [Jesus resembles gardener]).

What do you all think about this topic?