Messages

Dear Wakas,

Thank you for composing this list. It is useful in many ways.

For example, item number 9 reminds me of a story from where we live in the USA. Native Americans said the Earth rests on a turtle's back. We were taught about this story as kids. Later as an adult, I wondered if Native Americans observed earthquakes and gradual changes in the landscape, which they described allegorically and symbolically as "a turtle's back", because it moves slowly. Perhaps there is another reason. Your #9 inspired me to search "geysers in Saudi Arabia" on DuckDuckGO, where I learned about "desert blowholes".

Of course, the core ideas of Islam are simple and true. Your list confirms what Joseph Islam and many others have observed.


Sincerely,
Fireheart47

[forgive]

Dear people,

One reason I still feel Christian is the story of Jesus in the Bible, which has been very influential in the formation of my character. Of all the aspects of Jesus in the Gospel stories, the most important seem to be John the Baptist's and later Jesus' emphasis on forgiveness.

As a child, I would do a lot of wrong things, things against the rules and especially the Golden Rule. My parents and extended family would forgive me and show me mercy when they would punish me to teach and guide me. This was especially important when I was sick with psychiatric medication and reacted viscerally to every situation, because I wasn't capable of handling strict criticism. My friends also overlooked my flaws and tendencies. I have been the benefactor of forgiveness.

Forgiveness

Yet, forgiving is hard. Many times I struggle to forgive others. On Instagram I was recommended a video by a person named Guru Singh, and he said:

"Forgiveness doesn't make something permissible, it causes us to detach ourselves from the wrongs of the past, so we can live in the present moment."

This revolutionized how I perceived forgiveness, because before I had thought forgiveness was a moral requirement expected of me. Yet, afterwards, I realized how forgiveness can be a mental tool to achieve enlightenment and higher consciousness. For me, this made forgiveness seem powerful and something someone needs to attain to achieve mastery over life. It also aligned with the idea of Jesus as a holy gifted person, who had extraordinary capacities.

However, I believe we can be like Jesus or imitate Jesus, or even better, imitate the characteristics of God (names of God, stories, observations), which I believe Jesus did, and that's what the Bible suggests we try to do (Gospel of Matthew 5:45,Gospel of John 14:6, Ephesians 5:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:14). I've learned we should be careful how we accomplish that, and be open-minded to new ideas in the process of life. Because trying to be good sometimes isn't enough, and we should know what to do or rely on others who know better. Hardship and difficult life experiences can sometimes inform people.

Forgiveness has helped me live with others in peace, and has rewarded me with stable family life, friendships, and opportunities. When something happened against me, I would try my best to let it go and move forward. However, I often struggle to share my frustrations and grow resentful instead of being authentic, because the conflict it creates cannot be easily resolved. I believe this is necessary to a certain degree, yet it can become a problem if one lives a life unsatisfied. All people have flaws, and today in the world, because of systemic issues, we often do not operate at our optimal state of mind and body.

Values and shame

Many people impose these higher values and big great ideas on others, and enforce them, making people feel bad they can't forgive or bad they can't be grateful. This is worse than not forgiving and not being grateful in my opinion. It is like a body builder shaming a frail person, because their muscles can't lift the weight, rather than training them on lighter weights they can achieve and become stronger.

Scriptures

From my studies it seems there are many perspectives on the meaning of forgiveness. In Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and English, the word for "forgiveness" has a unique implication or connotation, which offers wisdom to how it is achieved.

There are many stories of forgiveness in the TaNaKh, such as the Mark of Cain (protect them from vengeance by cursing the avenger a 7-fold curse), Joseph's brothers sold him to slavery (sees how the wrong thing led him to his powerful position and does not seek vengeance, rather gives land to family), and Leviticus law to forgive your neighbor and to not avenge, and many more...

I've learned forgiveness is also an important value in the Qur'an and in Islam, and it is one of the names of Allah.

Please discern truth from falsehood, I make mistakes, I don't know all the answers. I write these messages, because it is what helps me feel adequate, worthy, powerful, and productive, and because I believe it will be beneficial somehow. May Allah guide us.

Can anyone please share more about Qur'an or TaNakh and its similarities to the concepts I've shared in the previous topics?

Sincerely,
Fireheart47

[Resist War]

Dear people,

Resist War

A cousin created a poster and it reminds me that it's important to resist war. It wasn't until I studied horticulture, and took courses in plant sciences and soil sciences that I realized how destructive and terrible wars like WW2 were.

Before then I used to think it looked cool and wouldn't think about how destructive it was. Someone with connections to US govt told me once how WW1 was terrible and how inventors and geniuses die in wars, people who could've made the world a better place. WW1 created trauma for many of the problems of WW2, and WW2 polluted environment, left unexploded munitions over Egypt, Europe, and created divisions between similar ethnic groups, which persist today.

Today it frustrates and saddens me that countries fight and destroy people and resources. For example: they pollute the fertile soil chernozem, which took thousands of years and more to form.

War destroys the body and hurts sensitive parts of the body the most, like our minds and our reproductive systems. The military has many other responsibilities not only war. In times of catastrophes, the military helps organize resources and help people.

One of the Bible verses that surprised me the most is Psalms Chapter 46.

It starts off with one of many examples of earthquakes in Bible. I first thought to look for this topic, because of a video I watched about the African tectonic plate on YouTube from black African people (even though I don't agree with everything they say): 

https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=ikqbP81gFes

Israel

I believe this tectonically active geography is one of the reasons for the name Israel, which can mean "to contend with God", like how Jacob in the Bible wrestled against a messenger and received that name. There is some linguistic similarity between Jacob and Aqaba. I believe these stories and names may be related to the tectonic fault between the African tectonic plate and Arabian tectonic plate, between the countries of Palestine/Israel and Jordan. The Force is acting against us at times and we must contend with its power over us together. From my perspective, "Israel" is a word with a deeper concept, which describes humanity's survival/cooperation situation in this world.

In the Americas, because of the colonization of the indigenous people, we have lost knowledge of the natural disasters and qualities of the land. In the US state of Washington, they used Native American deity myths to inspire scientific research and discovered ancient earthquakes and tsunamis. In certain regions like Chile and California, where the risk of earthquakes is obvious, they have many experts who've learned to live with these limits.

In Arabic, this word is different and there are many reasons why. In languages it is common for words to change spelling, because of pronunciation, because most words are spoken before they are written. One story, which I believe influenced this difference is the pronunciation of "shibboleth".

Psalms 46:2-3 (BSB, BibleHub)

2 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth is transformed
and the mountains are toppled
into the depths of the seas,
3 though their waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake in the surge.

There are also mentions of earthquakes in the Qur'an, however I do not know them well.

What surprised me the most about this chapter is that I belong to a group that emails me Bible chapters each day and have been thinking about the topic of earthquakes, because of YouTube video. Also I see news of war in Palestine. And in this chapter it talked against war too:

Psalms 46:8-9

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

Although some translations confusingly misguide (because shields are protective mechanism, see etymology of the word "Panzer"):

He burns the shields in the fire.

The chariots of Egypt were considered the best. This is where the cult of Set was popular with Pharoah kings like Seti and so on. Yet, it was the observer Horus that was important. Believers in Allah were simpler and didn't struggle between worshipping archetypes, although some may place more importance on certain things like sun or moon, we must remind ourselves with our intelligence and our faith what controls and gives the sun it's life giving qualities and what prevents its life taking power, or what put the moon in its place so perfectly in geological time for a sentient species to observe a solar eclipse and to study the corona of its solar system's star. Allah.

Psalm 20:7

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

In the story of Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah tells the powerful people of Jerusalem that they're going to be conquered and need to surrender to survive. The king was so mad they burnt the scroll and they had to make a new one. This is an example of how one city continued to exist, because they allowed people to take it over, because they valued peace over war.

The worldview of Islam is of Dar Al-Islam vs. Dar Al-Harb. I believe if we look at modern maps and statistics, we will see where those regions truly are, and why it became that way.

In Ancient Egypt the desertification of the Nile and conflict caused changes in society's organization and consumption of resources, which spread to Greeks and Romans. This happened before they became Christian, yet it continued even after.

According to the book Environmental Problems of Greeks and Romans, the Mediterranean used to have forests, and the ashes where the pottery was baked show which trees were consumed first and then last ones up in the hills, which contributed to soil erosion.

Between WW1 and WW2 the USA dealt with similar problems and employed people through an organization called CCC, which built the headquarters of our amazing national parks, like our amazing USFS. Because of over consumption of forests, there were forest fires and the Ottoman Empire gave financial aid to US states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Yet, forests like those of Native American Menominee tribe persisted, because of their management strategies.

With the wisdom of the holy books (TaNaKh, Bible, Qur'an) we can learn to find peace and learn about more things and live a better life, and give a better life to others.

Of course, war is not the only problem in society. In times of peace, women and men are enslaved, people still can hurt each other. Again, the fundamentals of these books guide us that this is wrong, and history shows that people who do this suffer from the consequences of their actions in complicated ways (ex: societal dysfunction from dietary changes due to sugar cane slavery, generational trauma due to sexual exploitation, psychological dysfunction, and faulty systems of healing people based on chemicals, not sympathy, empathy and compassion taught in the Bible).

Many think the Bible is full of war, and that is unfortunately a reality. However, there's a book with a lot of war and genocide called Book of Samuel and this is how it starts. This is what the scribes write before they learn about their warrior ancestors, this is what the students learn:


1 Samuel 2:2-4, a segment of Hannah's Prayer (NIV, BibleGateway)

2 "There is no one holy like the Lord;
    there is no one besides you;
    there is no Rock like our God.

3 "Do not keep talking so proudly
    or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
    and by him deeds are weighed.

4 "The bows of the warriors are broken,
    but those who stumbled are armed with strength.

Peace,
Fireheart47

[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.

As-salam aleikum,

Since I've shared some Hebrew scripture, and criticize organized religion & dogmatic traditional people, I think it brings balance to share positive attributes and knowledge I've learned from Jewish people:

I do not agree with everything these people say. For example, today in Israel like many in the USA during wars of 20-21st century, justify violence against people, and then confuse innocent people and antagonists, or justify violence against innocent people. Also like the USA, there are many good people, who are innocent and many who are confused.

For example, here are rabbis who protest war, not just government: https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=uSEs5nq3X0k
Or these people who protested war: https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=-LX1okX8ziI
And these people: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEdFLl-NeoB/

Yair Levi - Secret from the Bible "I will bless those who bless you"
https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=Ji1UHtZf6HM

Gilgamesh of Utah - 10 Bible Verses That Can't be Translated * He's a great teacher.
https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=RsI3lAllM7g

Rabbi Paysach Krohn - You're Going to Make It
https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=FFW57ACaWo0

Rabbi Paysach Krohn - Hoshana Rabbah: Setting Our Priorities
https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=JykHtVTekoA

Fania Lewando, Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook (1939)
https://www.yivo.org/The-Vilna-Vegetarian-Cookbook

Gilgamesh of Utah Podcast - Johann Reuchlin
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/gilgameshofut/episodes/Episode-4---Johann-Reuchlin-e2olur6

Tapfer im Nirgendwo Blog - Juden leben in Köln länger als Deutsche
https://tapferimnirgendwo.com/2016/05/18/ein-denkmal-fuer-eines-der-aeltesten-voelker-deutschlands/

Hope these augment your study of the Hebrew Bible.

Sincerely,
Fireheart47

Wa salaam,

In the previous response I would've liked to have written: Allah, our One Imageless Living God.

Sincerely,
Fireheart47 

Wa salaam,

This is a great idea. If there were such resource, I think it should have a disclaimer or warning so people don't get hurt by others, and an invitation for people to study the scriptures themselves.

While debating online, I've seen people find contradictions in Bible, which from my perspective are not equal comparisons, because the person didn't put verse into context of chapter/book/history or because of misleading translations. This caused me to question the accuracy of the graphic found online of all the contradictions of the Bible shown in a timeline format with arches between contradicting stories.

Despite contradictions, I still find value in these ancient books and believe the spirit of God is within them and that they can reveal to us important truths about our societies and about Allah, our One Imageless God.

May Allah help you all in this effort and guide you to make merciful distinctions.

Sincerely,
Fireheart47

[θεόπνευστος]

Dear Quran's Message forum,

A Jehovah's Witness once showed me on JW mobile app a verse, which helped me keep my faith and communicate it when studying the scriptures. Because while I studied all the similar words shared between TaNaKh in Hebrew, the Gospels in Greek, and the Qur'an in Arabic, I began to think it was all human and began to lose faith. I also did not want others to feel the same and want to respect our religion(s).

2 Timothy 3:16 (Stephenus Textus Receptus 1550, Greek Parallel, BibleHub)

πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος καὶ ὠφέλιμος πρὸς διδασκαλίαν πρὸς ἔλεγχον, πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν πρὸς παιδείαν τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ

2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV, BibleHub)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

The word γραφὴ indicates that a person had written this. It is text, it is shapes of symbols created by people to communicate ideas, that's how linguists and historians perceive them. The word θεόπνευστος is interesting, because the second part of it πνευστος is similar to the Spanish word "pneumático", which means "tire", like the wheel of a car. The Greek word pneuma and the Spanish word pneumático are related, because a tire is filled with air.

For ancient people, spirit was similar to air, which is mostly invisible to the naked eye. Early scientists would call Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) the spirit of wood. I believe the idea of spirit is the idea of metaphysical properties, a quality of something hidden inside of it, which goes beyond physical barriers.

I believe the words in these books are written by people, who were trained and educated. I believe the words contain the spirit of God, the deep wisdom that God wants us to know so that we can be aware of God, live a better life, and cope with the struggles.

There's a Messianic Jewish Christian named Rabbi Steve Berkson and he runs a ministry on YouTube called MTOI. While I don't agree with everything does, I gain a lot of knowledge and perspective from his sermons on YouTube. He receives a lot of criticism, and so I look beyond the differences and focus on the ideas that resonate with me. He said that in the time of Jesus and the writing of the Gospels, people didn't have the New Testament, a term which many Jewish people and some Christian people don't agree with, because it implies the TaNaKh is less worthy or irrelevant. Therefore, he says that the people writing about scriptures were talking about the Torah and probably would've had difficulty accessing the entire TaNaKh, since perhaps only the central temple would have had all of those scrolls. Made me think.

Sincerely,
Firehear47

[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 abdul.samad and Wakas,

Do you think the meaning of "qatal" in 9:5 could be interpreted as "fight" instead of "kill". If the former where true, perhaps it would indicate holy months as time when religious conversion would be less intense, in order to be merciful. It seems like a contradiction to permit killing.

What is holy about the holy months? Are there any activities forbidden during the holy months, which indicate why and how they are holy? For example, do they coincide with any agricultural activity or hardship due to difficult yearly weather?

Thank you for considering these questions.

I've been thinking about topic of animals, and diet.

As a baby I was fed a lot and was fat, and had big head. When I was a kid, I ate dairy, meat, and seafood. Then became skinnier with time as diet changed.

The diet I eat now is particular to my stage in life and the health issues I have made for myself because previous diet.

In documentary about Sahara, showed young women being fattened. Seems like another diet related change that occurs during stages of life.

Watching the documentary and seeing the diet of the nomadic desert people reminded me of the Qur'an and how it focuses on livestock (meat, dairy) as the main good thing. Yet also encourages eating dates and other fruit and vegetables to possibly encourage a balanced diet.

In the Bible, it talks about how it is our words that are more important than our food. Some stories make it look like dietary restrictions don't matter. I don't think this is what Jesus preached, because he is quoted saying that the body is the temple of God. Yet, he also is quoted questioning the purpose of tradition and wanting to establish the fundamentals, which are to treat others with empathy and to worship God. He is quoted saying to worship God secretly, hidden, with faith that God knows everything. He is quoted criticizing the people who look Godly and yet put people down, making rules and not following them themselves.

Food for thought.

Dear relearning,

I thought to check back on this topic, because I remembered something, which I forgot to mention.

Some of the earliest evidence of Jesus was found in the ruins of Pompeii, which was preserved in the pyroclastic flow. Graffiti showed signs of Jewish followers of Jesus. Pompeii erupted in 79 A.D. in the Gregorian calendar.

Scientists who studied these ruins, and the writings of philosophers and ancient authors, say that Pompeii was famous for its sex slavery. They had many male and female Jewish sex slaves.

In my mind, it is not a coincidence it suffered such fate at the moment it did. In my experience, moments often align, and things occur simultaneously without explanation.


I don't know a lot of the answers to the questions you have. However, I can tell you first what I'd do to find the answers.

The Qur'an is written in Arabic, and so first I'd look at all the problematic verses and try to find out if there's a hidden translation or interpretation that can be rationally determined through linguistics, comparative linguistics, scriptural comparisons, and historical comparison. Part of this process includes looking at what scholars have already said in what people call, "tafsir".

If that doesn't make sit right with my conscience, then I'll read the entire Surah, looking for connections across long portions of the text, because people's attentions span was much longer during that era.

In your questions you mention God a lot. If God is the force which set the world in motion, giving life, instead of letting it be nothing, than it doesn't make sense for people to act against that by opposing others into submission and killing.

This sort of logic is the reasoning behind the Golden Rule and the fundamental ideas in Qur'an and earlier books, which give context to what "peace", "completeness" and all these other concepts which define "Islam". This is often not said, because religion is organized and people repeat the same thing over and over, fighting and killing, contradicting the fundamentals, instead of considering, discerning and testing through various methods.

For this reason, I do not want to mislead into an organized religion. Yet I believe the concept of Islam is important, and it's why the Qur'an has value.

You said I didn't answer any of your questions before, so I'll re-address myself simply. Scripture is written by humans called scribes. God is spiritual, it communicated with people before any book ever existed. The books have the spirit of God, because when you study it, it gives us wisdom and guidance in a transformative powerful way.

Errors, mistakes, and misleading information which contradict the fundamental ideas exist in all the scriptures. Yet, people say they're 100% true, because they just want everyone to follow along.

Be should careful what we follow, because if we don't know where we're going, than there's a risk we're going to be misled. Like a bunch of buffalo jumping off a cliff together unable to stop, because the people behind push you towards it.

Just because these scriptures aren't 100% true doesn't mean they aren't perfect. Because they reveal something important: a warning of what is truly happening.

It is a mystery, because even though it's not all true, it fits together and works together. Someone wise told me if this is a religion of God than only God can add and remove. Even if something seems bad, we shouldn't change it. It's not our responsibility, and the burden falls on those who made that mistake a long time ago. That's what, "Woe to the scribes" means. The scribes made a big big shameful mistake, yet God is merciful and exceeds our understanding.

I think we should forgive the scribes, just like we would want others to forgive us.


The way it happens is complicated (ex: the real first surah, the real first ayah, the location of vowels,  differences in archeological finds). The Qur'an is exceptional in that it seems to have less differences than other scripture.

So, when the Qur'an says to kill pagans, I am upset that it says that, and I disagree with it because it contradicts the fundamental ideas (ex: Cain and Abel, Mark of Cain to prevent vengeance, Noah's flood on murderous world, Jesus pacifism even with Samaritans, Hud's camel).

However, it doesn't shake my faith in the rich wisdom that it provides me with. For me, the Qur'an answers the mysteries of why Christianity and Judaism are what they are.

Allah, al-Ilah, ilah, El, Eloh, Elohim, Elaha. These are the original written names of an ancient idea of single source behind and pushing reality.

Traditionally when a word in Hebrew ends with Ha, it is feminine.

Please question this information, doubt it, test it. I hope you find an answer and that we all figure it out ourselves. I hope you or anyone reading this does not get mislead into harmful situations.

Sincerely,
Fireheart47

Dear relearning,

Forgive me, because I did not address the topic of sex slavery as much as I wish I would have.

It goes against the basic principles of these religions.

Even if it is popular in society, and found in scripture, it contradicts the fundamentals (Leviticus 19:17-18)(Gospel of Matthew 22:36-40)(Qur'an 41:34-36).

https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/naseer-ahmed-new-age-islam/the-quran-golden-rule-do-unto-others-them-unto-you/d/108800

People like Dan McClellan look deeply into scriptures and talk about these sensitive topics. It is important to discern what he says, yet he knows a lot about the meaning of words.

Just like people should discern what I say. I am fallible. Only human.

May God guide us all.

Sincerely,
Fireheart47

[Pre-Islam]

Dear relearning,

Your questions seem important to me. Although I am not a woman, it is important to strive to find the truth, for the sake of all of Allah's creatures. Here is my perspective on the verses and topics you have mentioned.

Pre-Islam

What is the role of scripture? And what does it mean for it to be the word of God? There was a moment in history when the Qur'an did not exist. I have faith that it was a prophet named Muhammed, who revealed the Qur'an and it changed how Arab tribes lived. Women in some places were very mistreated, and the spread of the Qur'an helped better their condition. https://www.mehbooba.com/women-in-the-jahiliyyah-pre-islamic-arabia/

Arabs

Arabs traveled a lot. The people of Judah were more sedentary with a central temple in Jerusalem for all tribes, all believers, and descendants of Israelites that left Egypt. Not all people in Judah believed or practiced the way the priests and scribes instructed. Those who did, are the antecedents of the Jewish faith. They had faith this is how God wanted them to live. Christians became a group of Jewish and non-Jewish people who became categorized as different group, because they came from Nazareth and had beliefs which differed from the religious authorities in Jerusalem. They used metaphor of Father for God very frequently, whereas Jewish writings used it less frequently. Some Arabs traveled and heard all of this, participated in this, because many of them too had ancestors who left Egypt and who had lived earlier in Mesopotamia. An Arab prophet miraculously recited what we now know as the Qur'an, which gave the believers (Jewish, Christian or any other group) a reminder of the earliest wisdom.

Islam

Now this wisdom has spread around the world through travel, commerce, war, conquest, recitation, book, and computers. It is part of what people call the religion of Islam, though the word Islam has a deeper meaning and is not just a category. That's why the prophets before the recitation of Prophet Muhammed were also muslims. It is an idea central to the Isrealite worldview and the word "muslim" is an attribute or adjective.

Here are two documentaries showing the lives of Muslim people: "A Glimpse of Paradise Culture Garden in the Islamic World" by Veronika Hofer. "Mystic Iran: The Unseen World" by Aryana Farshad.

Your verses

Some people say, the verse you shared Quran 33:59, has the implication that too much covering of the face is not advisable. The issue of sex slavery is important. It is not mentioned in this verse.

The other verse has interesting words with possible different translations. Same words in other parts of the Qur'an have different meanings. For example, "fataya-tikum" or "فتيتكم" comes from root letters ف-ت-ى, which can mean "ask", "boy", or "youth" in different contexts. Why? I don't know. Though it seems societal. https://www.islamicity.org/quransearch/?q=chapter:24

Woe to the scribes

In the Gospels, Jesus is quoted announcing to the crowds how scribes mislead people (Gospel of Matthew Chapter 23). The four gospel books were written in Greek by Christians, and the narratives are similar to each other in many ways. They must be discerned and evaluated. In the Book of Revelation, the names of God (Book of Revelation 3:14) are repeated between "ὁ"'s. There are more names of Satan repeated together (Book of Revelation 12:9). The scribes and priests in many organized religions of the ancient world and today have been forbidden to be with women. This might be a reason why they would depict The Church as a woman, in the allegory.

Wisdom of Islam

I have been told that Islam doesn't have this situation, because it promotes people to have families. The Qur'an also affirms that God is not a literal father, which is the belief of the community. It also prompts the inquisitive believers to go back and find out that the Father was a metaphor in Jewish literature, which appears to have caused people to deviate from the original wisdom and faith. The original wisdom and faith is that Allah cannot be represented by physical forms.

I have faith that if you pray to God, especially with repetitive meditational prayer like Lord's Prayer and/or Surah al-Fatihah. This technique grows faith that God already knows all of your thoughts (Gospel of Matthew 6:7-13). Comparison of Lord's Prayer and Surah al-Fatihah: https://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~mmiller/Fatiha-LordsPrayerComp.pdf

God will show you what you seek.

Sincerely,
Fireheart47



 

One of the things which I've been reminded to consider is my privilege to be able to do what I do without immediate consequences. For example, the privilege to read the Bible and the Qur'an. I also come from a place with resources, education and other advantages. If it wasn't for the struggles, I wouldn't have pursued trying to understand the Qur'an and scriptures the way I have. I feel as if good to acknowledge the constructive role of bad things to alleviate worries. Yet, it is the material advantage which allows me to do what I do. My hope is that I can flow and be part of the many.

I feel as if I should still provide my perspective when it is needed or requested, however I seek to be more conscious of the differences between people, and what role I play and how I influence. Forgive me if I misguide you. May God guide us. May God protect us from people and keep us and our loved ones safe.