First off apologies if i've posted in the wrong section, i feel it's polite to introduce myself before i join in the discussions. Please delete/move my post as you wish, i don't use internet forums and i may have posted wrong in the wrong forums etc despite reading the FAQ. I just need to express how i'm feeling somewhere, and maybe receive help and guidance. I can't explain how i feel right now...please forgive my ramblings but i have no one at all to speak with this on.


Islam came to me out of the blue. I've previously been an agnostic and the warmth, and overwhelming pull i've been feeling toward Islam over the last five days has been quite suprising and unlike anything else i've ever felt in my life, non stop constantly on my mind for the past few days, non stop, i've started thinking about god, it feels like my head is filled with a screen of endless data and the text is unreadable it's all blurring through my head so fast, it's so constant and so busy in my head right now. All the thoughts are of god, to hear myself say this to me, is truly insane, and this has only hit me the last five days. I don't know why now i should be feeling this warm pull toward god as opposed to any other point in my life, as religions of any kind have never touched me. In fact, at the point of my life now is when it would seem, for want of a better word inconvienient to change my life (on the verge of a major music deal) I've never been religious, or even thought of it. The impact this has had on me is so strong, and so unexpected and literally physical it can't be denied, but accepting this is very scary. The world has always been for the past 25 years viewed from one perspective for me, to have this literally upturned in a day is too immense and i know this is how other new Muslims feel, exactly the same, thus i am here.


I intially investigated Islam because i wanted to see why Allah accepted slavery. I am a African British male, Agnostic, and read a book by Ronald Segal called Islams black slaves for reasearch into a piece on African/Black history i was writing. Even if god said be nice to slaves, i didn't understand why it was even accepted by the allmighty, it didn't make sense. I read an explination which opened my eyes, and it continued from there...then i got to science and the Quran, once i read in detail the unexplainable, absouloutely astounding science in the Quran, there was no way at all to go back, a door was opened. If anyone reads in detail on the science and the Quran and still rejects Islam after this, to my personal eyes, they must be mad. I haven't even read the Quran fully yet, but this is the way, the route god picked me, through science and proof of his almighty power of creation. I've never wanted to embrace a religion, never been interested, but my studies bought me to Islam, to it's science and to a total belief in God. It seems like the natural way to live, it's all actually explained and proven in this book, i find it hard to accept anyone who has read this, the science in particular, can then turn away.


I don't know why now Islam and God are calling me now, and i still have many questions i need to ask about Islam, i hope i can ask here. questions regarding the status of women which concern me, and the existance of the devil etc. Please be patient with me as 25 years of walking around never knowing god and then within literally a day being struck with the most beautiful warmth i've ever felt, such as to bring me to tears is very very very frightening, i've been holding it all in for the past five days and i'm gonna burst soon!! I've been a solid Agnostic or to be honest probably Athiest for the last 25 years, up until the last five days, in which time i've read almost more about islam in such a short time, than i've ever read about one thing in my life.


How am i going to tell my girlfriend of six and a half years i love so much, who i think inside fears Islam. What am i going to do with everything ive done to get me to this point in my music career for the past however many years...and all my life really. To me disposing of what i've done musically now feels like the smallest chorse, but it will hurt so many people. I know none of you here can really answer these for me, and i know every non muslim who god reaches out to feels this way, i just hope someone can guide me. I havent even pronounced the "Shahada" yet. Or told anyone i know.


Thanks for bearing with me...sorry for the rambling

<b>Enemy Becomes a Friend</b>


In the sixth year after the hijrah, the Prophet, peace be upon him, decided to expand the scope of his mission. He sent eight letters to rulers in the Arabian peninsula and surrounding areas inviting them to Islam. One of these rulers was Thumamah ibn Uthal.


Thumamah was one of the most powerful Arab rulers in pre-Qur'anic times. This is not surprising since he was a chieftain of the Banu Hanifah and one of the rulers of al- Yamamah whose word no one dared to challenge or disobey.


When Thumamah received the Prophet's letter, he was consumed by anger and rejected it. He refused to listen to the invitation of Truth and goodness. More than that, he felt a strong desire to go and kill the Prophet and bury his mission with him.


Thumamah waited and waited for a convenient time to carry out his design against the Prophet until eventually forgetfulness caused him to lose interest. One of his uncles, however, reminded him of his plan, praising what he intended to do.


In the pursuit of his evil design against the Prophet, Thumamah met and killed a group of the Prophet's companions. The Prophet thereupon declared him a wanted man who could lawfully be killed on sight.


Not long afterwards, Thumamah decided to perform umrah. He wanted to perform tawaf around the Ka'bah and sacrifice to the idols there (The people of Makkah, before becoming Muslims, placed hundreds of idols in the Holy Ka'bah. These idols were later destroyed by the Prophet). So he left al-Yamamah for Makkah. As he was passing near Madinah, an incident took place which he had not anticipated.


Groups of Muslims were patrolling the districts of Madinah and outlying areas on the lookout for any strangers or anyone intent on causing trouble. One of these groups came upon Thumamah and apprehended him but they did not know who he was. They took him to Madinah and tied him to one of the columns in the mosque. They waited for the Prophet himself to question the man and decide what should be done with him.


When the Prophet was about to enter the mosque, he saw Thumamah and asked his companions, "Do you know whom you have taken?"


"No, messenger of God," they replied.


"This is Thumamah ibn Uthal al-Hanafi," he said. "You have done well in capturing him."


The Prophet then returned home to his family and said, "Get what food you can and send it to Thumamah ibn Uthal." He then ordered his camel to be milked for him. All this was done before he met Thumamah or had spoken to him.


The Prophet then approached Thumamah hoping to encourage him to become a Muslim. "What do you have to say for yourself" he asked.


"If you want to kill in reprisal," Thumamah replied, "you can have someone of noble blood to kill. If, out of your bounty, you want to forgive, I shall be grateful. If you want money in compensation, I shall give you whatever amount you ask."


The Prophet then left him for two days, but still personally sent him food and drink and milk from his camel. The Prophet went back to him and asked, "What do you have to say for yourself" Thumamah repeated what he had said the day before. The Prophet then left and came back to him the following day. "What do you have to say for yourself?" he asked again and Thumamah repeated what he had said once more. Then the Prophet turned to his companions and said, "Set him free."


Thumamah left the mosque of the Prophet and rode until he came to a palm grove on the outskirts of Madinah near al-Baqi' (a place of luxuriant vegetation which later became a cemetery for many of the Prophet's companions). He watered his camel and washed himself well. Then he turned back and made his way to the Prophet's mosque. There, he stood before a congregation of Muslims and said:


"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger." He then went to the Prophet, upon whom be peace, and said:


"O Muhammad, by God, there was never on this earth a face more detestable than yours. Now, yours is the dearest face of all to me."


"I have killed some of your men," he continued, "I am at your mercy. What will you have done to me?"


"There is now no blame on you, Thumamah," replied the Prophet. "Becoming a Muslim obliterates past actions and marks a new beginning."


<b>Source:</b> "Companions of The Prophet", Vol.1, By: Abdul Wahid Hamid.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bismillah .. Salaam Alaikum, dear brothers and sisters ..


The following Hadith is so profound and so true about life for everyone that I thought of sharing it with all of you.


The Prophet once slept on a reed mat and got up with the marks


of it on his body. His companions saw the marks and expressed


concern that they should have made him more comfortable. The


Prophet replied: "What have I to do with this world? In relation


to this world, I am like a rider who shades himself under a tree


and then (continues on his way)."


Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1351


May Allah (SWT) Bless our beloved Prophet (S.A.W.) and the noble members of his Household (A.S.) ... Ameen.

It has taken me a while to come to this conclusion, but I believe it is well formed from my discussions with people on this board over the past however long I've been on this forum. I also draw from muslims I know, both friends and non-friends of mine. My thesis I guess you would say, is that a zealous need for pride and honor is the most destructive thing in Islam (as well as in Judaism and Christianity.)


I have heard many a person on this forum state that honor is more desireable than peace. That they would rather fight until the death before they compromise with the Jews (or Zionists as racist Muslims seem to refer to all Jews as.) They would rather have the blood of their children running in the streets if they could have the satisfaction of "winning." This is not only true for Islam, but for the other two Abrahamic religions as well, but for the sake of discussion (since this is a Muslim message board) I'll stick to how it affects Islam.


The conflict in the middle-east, to most Americans, seems rediculous. It's two people who look alike, live in the same area, and share a common ancestor fighting over a piece of land the size of New Jersey. Both sides refuse to budge. The Jews want Isreal to be a sovereign nation and to spread. The Muslims want Isreal wiped off the face of the earth. When outsiders hear Muslims on TV or radio or see them in print talking about how Allah is commanding them to fight the good fight and they will relinquish nothing to the Jews, it makes the outsider less likely to care what happens with the whole situation. What seems to get lost in all the dialogue in the middle-east situation is that no matter what happens, the Jews and the Muslims are going to have to live together NO MATTER WHAT. You'll never rid the world of Jews and you'll never rid the world of Muslims. Eventually, both sides will have to stop placing their own egotistical pride and honor about peace and settle down and talk.


Think about it this way. Two men are in a bar fight, we'll call them Bill and Mike. Bill is punching and swearing at Mike, whereas Mike is trying to block Bill's punches and saying "Bill. Why do you seek to hurt me? Can we not settle this peacefully?" Who do you think outsiders are more likely to take sides with? A raging violent alcoholic? Or a rational, calm, peace-seeking Mike? When I see Arab Muslims on TV talking of jihad and "getting back" at the Jews, I can only think of one word to describe them. Stupid. Has jihad ever worked? Do you think that bombing the Jews will make the Jews less likely to attack you again? How about what the outside world thinks? How does that make you look to America, Europe, East Asia?


Islam has a chance to rise above the hatred they see in Judaism. It called taking the moral high-ground. Sometimes, you have to suck it up and take one for the team. I can only thing of the Dalai Lama. A man who's country was invaded and taken over by the Chinese; millions of Tibetans killed and tortured. If he were waging terrorist attacks on the Chinese from his home in India, would he be in any better shape? WOuld Tibet all of a sudden become his? No. His Holiness instead acted peacefully and reached out to the outside world. Tibet now has millions of people all over the globe sympathetic to the Tibetan cause, simply because the Tibetans had no pride to defend, only peace. I am Irish-American. Ireland and England have been, essentially, at war for the past 600 years (if not more.) Pride is what fuels the IRA the Ulster Unionists. Peacefull effort to mend the wounds of the Irish and British are always thwarted by Irish and British terrorists, and both Islands are worse off because of it.


The point it, pride and honor are not more important than peace. Jews have too much pride; they refuse to share a nation with the Muslims. Muslims have too much pride; many of them have a near insane hatred for the Jews and want to constantly "win." Christians have too much pride; they have carried out crusades against millions of people just because they thought their way was the right way.


A lot of you will probably say "But you can't possibly understand the situation. You're not a Muslims or a Jew." or "You are just ignorant. You have not seen the light of Islam." But perhaps it is my inability to see the light that keeps me from becoming blind to reason and sanity.


As a post-script, I think it goes without saying (however, I'm saying it. Funny huh?) that OF COURSE not all Muslims place pride over peace. I know pleanty of muslims from the middle-east and Africa who just want peace and don't care how it comes about. It's easy to call for death for honor if you aren't the one strapping on a pack of dynamite. A Sudanese friend of mine who fled the Arab militias of Sudan said to me once something along the lines of "the Arabs came and bruned my village, so I was very mad at them. But then, I realized I was more mad at the violence itself. I wish I could tell the Arabs that I was willing to live in peace with them, and there was no reason to be fighting."


There is NO reason to place pride and honor above peace. Freud would call you a sociopath or an egotists.


Salaam.

<i>By the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful</i>


Assalaamu’alaykum….


Since there are peoples who do not have respect for the holy book, Al-Qur’an, let us browse through several ayahs/sentences from the Qur’an and for those who choose to remain ignorant, this is an open invitation to you, if you are true….


THE QURAN ON THE UNIVERSE


“Verily in the heavens and the earth are Signs... (45:3)



Signs? What signs? Let us see the signs…..


“Then He turned to the heavens when it was smoke...” (41:11)



The science of modern cosmology, observational and theoretical, clearly indicates that, at one point in time, the whole universe was nothing but a CLOUD OF SMOKE” (i.w. An opaque highly dense and hot gaseous composition)


“Have not those who disbelieved known that the heavens and the earth were one connected entity, then We separated them (21:30)



The entire universe came into existence from only one entity, and then they were separated (Big Bang theory)


“We constructed the heaven with our hands, and we keep expanding it.” (51:47)



Our knowledge of the Expansion of the Universe


“It is He Who created the Night and the Day and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) SWIM along each in its orbit.” (21:33)



“He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law) each one follows a course for an appointed time” (39:5)



The sun and the moon move along their on orbit


“He draweth the Night as a veil over the Day. Behold verily in these things there are Signs for those who consider!” (13:3)



Now, would you consider these signs or would you remain in ignorance?


THE QURAN ON THE CEREBRUM


“Let him beware! If he does not stop, We will drag him by the Forelock, a lying, sinful forelock” (96:15-16)



P/s - * Forelock is the front portion of the head.


The motivation and the foresight to plan and initiate movements occur in the anterior portion of the FRONTAL LOBES, the PREFRONTAL AREA.


In relation to its involvement in motivation, the PREFRONTAL AREA is also thought to be the functional center of AGGRESSION...


This area of the cerebrum is responsible for planning, motivating and initiating good and sinful behavior, and is responsible for telling lies and speaking the truth. Thus, it is proper to describe the front of the head as lying and sinful when someone lies or commits a sin as the Qur’an said, “...A lying, sinful Naseyah “(front of the head)!


Just continue to live with your ignorance, and you will be dragged by your frontlock!!!


THE QURAN ON OCEANS


“He has let free the two seas meeting together. There is a BARRIER between them, they do not transgress.” (55:19-20)



Modern Science has discovered that in the places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity and density.


The Mediterranean Sea water enters the Atlantic Ocean over the Gibraltar sill with its own warm, saline and less dense characteristics, because of the barrier that distinguishes between them.


“He is the one who has let free the two bodies of flowing water, one palatable and sweet, and the other salty and bitter. And He has made between them a barrier and a FORBIDDING PARTITION.” (25:53)



Modern Science has discovered that in estuaries, where fresh (sweet) and salt water meet, the situation is somewhat different from what is found in places where two seas meet. It has been discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in estuaries is a “pycnocline” zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two layers.


“Or is like the darkness in a deep sea. It is covered by waves, above which are waves, above which are clouds. Darkness, one above another. If a man stretches out his hand, he cannot see it...” (24:40)



The darkness in deep seas and oceans is found around a depth of 200 meters and below. At this depth, there is almost no light. Below a dept of 1000 meters there is no light at all.


Scientists have only recently discovered that there are internal waves which “occur on density interfaces between layers of different densities.”


The internal waves cover the deep waters of seas and oceans because the deep waters have a higher density than the waters above them. Internal waves act like surface waves. They can also break just like surface waves. Internal waves cannot be seen by the human eye, but they can be detected by studying temperature or salinity changes at a given location.


THE QURAN ON HUMAN EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT


“Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed (the womb of a mother). Then We made the drop into an alaqah(leech, suspended thing, blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed, lump)” (23:12-14)



In comparing a leech to the embryo at the transitory stage (alaqah) we find similarity between the two.


Also, the embryo at this stage obtains nourishment from the blood of the mother, similar to the leech which feeds on the blood of others.


The second meaning of the word alaqah is “suspended thing”... The suspension of the embryo, during the alaqah stage, in the womb of the mother.


During the early stages (about 15 days old), the embryo suspended to the womb of the mother. The actual size of the embryo is about 0.6mm.


We find that the external appearance of the embryo and its sacs during the transitory stage (alaqah) is similar to that of a blood clot. This is due to the presence of relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo during this stage.


The blood in the embryo does not circulate until the end of the third week.


Thus the embryo is like a clot of blood at this stage!


The embryo at the mudghah stage acquires the appearance of a chewed-like substance because of the somites at the back of the embryo that “somewhat resemble teeth marks in a chewed substance.”


When comparing the appearance of an embryo at the mudghah stage with a piece of gum that has been chewed, we find similarity between the two.


THE QURAN ON MOUNTAINS


“Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse and the mountains as PEGS?” (78:6-7)



Mountains have underlying roots.


Modern earth sciences have proven that mountains have deep roots under the surface of the ground


The mountains, like pegs, have deep roots embedded in the ground.


“And he has set firm mountains in the earth so that it would not SHAKE with you; and rivers and roads: that ye may guide yourselves” (16:15)



The mountains play an important role in stabilizing the crust of the earth.


Likewise the Modern theory of plate tectonics holds that mountains work as stabilizers for the earth has just begun to be understood in the framework of plate tectonics since the late 1960’s


THE QURAN ON CLOUDS


“Have you not seen how God makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a stack, and then you see the rain come out of it...” (24:43)



<b>The clouds are pushed by the wind</b>: Cumulonimbus clouds begin to form when wind pushes small pieces of clouds (cumulus clouds) to an area where these clouds converge


<b>Joining</b>: Then the small clouds join together forming a larger cloud.


<b>Stacking</b>: When the small clouds join together updrafts within the larger cloud increase... These updrafts cause the cloud body to grow vertically, so the cloud is stacked up... When these drops of water and hail become too heavy for the updrafts to support them, they begin to fall from the cloud as rain, hail, etc.


“And he sends down HAIL from mountains (clouds) in the sky, and he strikes with it whomever he wills, and turns it from whomever he wills. The vivid flash of its lightning nearly blinds the sight.” (24:43)



Meteorologist have found that these cumulonimbus clouds, that shower hail, reach a height of 25,000 to 30,000 ft (4.7 to 5.7 miles)


Clouds become electrified as hail falls through a region in the cloud of supercooled droplets and ice crystals... The hail, left with a negative charge, falls toward the bottom of the cloud, thus the lower part of the cloud becomes negatively charged. These negative charges are discharged to the ground as lightning.


“Those whom God willeth to guide He opens their breast to Islam; those whom He willeth to leave straying He makes their breast close and constricted as if they had to climb up to the skies” (6:125)



So which one are you, the guided or the staring one?


"This is no less than a Message to the Worlds and they shall certainly know the truth of it (all) after a while" (38:87-88)



Do you know the truth yet?


“God, Who will soon show you his signs, so that ye shall know them.” (27:93)



He did showed His signs……


“Do they not consider the Qur'an? Had it been from other than God they would surely have found therein much discrepancy.” (4:82)



Do I have to tell it once again?? No, consider by yourself……


Wallahu’alam…..

Dear brother and sister


I just seem to have always when it comes to Islam / Quran thousands of question upon question.


It never ends why is this yet still when I am doing my M.C.S.E I just have few questions.


These are some of my question


Why do you have to eat with right hand and if you were bore by mother nature to eat with left then what do you do. And where in the Quran does it say you have to eat with right hand.


Ps to the above question please don’t go to your hadith and pick up a point from there I need the above information from the Quran


2) Is it really against Islam to watch TV and if so where does it say in the Quran , just where.


3) Why is it that Muslim can’t unite as one and this it say in the quran and if so where.


4) Why is it that its far to hard to find any good information on islam and yet its easy to find information on Jesus or any other piece of infor such as computers etc….


5) why , just why are there over 75 sectors and which sectors does this fourm room belong to and why can’t we have one sector just to keep things simple and does it say in the quran that we should have 75 sectors if so where in the quran does it say


6) I just want to once just once in my life pray to Allah , from deep in side me I know that I am a sinful person , but god or mighty I just want to help the poor and become a good Muslim and pure my soul , how can I take the first step in once again praying and learning the quran.


7) one last question out of my thousands of question it just came into my head is it really wrong to listen to music and if so where just where does it say in the quran

Dear brother and sister


I just seem to have always when it comes to Islam / Quran thousands of question upon question.


It never ends why is this yet still when I am doing my M.C.S.E I just have few questions.


These are some of my question


Why do you have to eat with right hand and if you were bore by mother nature to eat with left then what do you do. And where in the Quran does it say you have to eat with right hand.


Ps to the above question please don’t go to your hadith and pick up a point from there I need the above information from the Quran


2) Is it really against Islam to watch TV and if so where does it say in the Quran , just where.


3) Why is it that Muslim can’t unite as one and this it say in the quran and if so where.


4) Why is it that its far to hard to find any good information on islam and yet its easy to find information on Jesus or any other piece of infor such as computers etc….


5) why , just why are there over 75 sectors and which sectors does this fourm room belong to and why can’t we have one sector just to keep things simple and does it say in the quran that we should have 75 sectors if so where in the quran does it say


6) I just want to once just once in my life pray to Allah , from deep in side me I know that I am a sinful person , but god or mighty I just want to help the poor and become a good Muslim and pure my soul , how can I take the first step in once again praying and learning the quran.


7) one last question out of my thousands of question it just came into my head is it really wrong to listen to music and if so where just where does it say in the quran

Salam alaikum!


I know I have not been around much, but I do still read here and other places.


I recently came across this: http://www.muskurahat.com/islam/teachjihad.asp


It is an article about preparing for Jihad.


Up until now, I believed "Jihad" meant any struggle you do in the cause of God. Such struggles could be writting a book, building a masjid - anything you can do in the cause of God.


But the article above clearly defines Jihad as a term of violent acts (whether one feels they are justified or not, war and fighting is still violence).


How can Islam be the religion of peace, when such articles exist?


To struggle and do for the cause of God, I do not need to know how to opperate mortars, ak-47's, and know martial arts. I can do for the cause of God without violence.


Do muslims really think Muhammad (pbuh) had ak-47's and mortars? Why then, does the author of the article above believe those things are necessary for Jihad?


Do you agree with that article?

<b>Asalamu Elykum wr wb,</b>


I am a very big fan of Harry Potter Books, so i thought if no one minds i should start a topic about it.


My favourite books were "Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix" and "Harry Potter nad the Goblet of Fire"


They were great


So, which book is your favourite, out of the 5 of them?

To mant zealots, bigots, and the like...


Feel like I'm wasting my time with a bunch of fanatics...in fact, I am