Question for Muslims

[joshua72]

Hello everyone,

I am not Muslim, I am a Christian.

I am not here to inform you of Christianity; but to learn from you about Islam.

I started to read the Quran to learn more about Islam, but there are still questions I do not have answers for about Muslims.

My questions:

Do Muslims hate christians? How do they think of us?

I want to make friends of Muslims, but I do not know if they feel the same.

The reason I ask is because there are many reteraurants owned by Muslims in a very muslim-populated city (every business there is owned by muslims and only muslims live there).

But I was wondering how they would think if I were to go there, to one of their resteraunts. Would they not like it? I only want to go there to eat because I really like their food, but I do not want to go there if they rather I didnt.

Also, how does one pray 5 times a day to Mecca? Are there certain times set for praying? What if you are in class or at work during these times?

And is Arabic a difficult language to learn? I would like to learn it, but I do not know where to begin. I could buy books to teach me, but without knowing anyone who speaks it, it would be hard to get the proper pronounciations.

Thanks in advance for any answers!

[Khairan]

The Qur'an holds Jews and Christians in high esteem as fellow-receivers of scripture and as believers in God, and there is an entire chapter named after Mary mother of Jesus. I in fact believe that Mary's name is the one most frequently mentioned in the Qur'an, even more than the Prophet's himself.

So, if your question is does Islam as a religion mandate an enmity between Christians and Muslims, than the answer is no.

[joshua72]

Thank you for your reply!!

I guess my major concern was if muslims accept christians or not.

Being a christian, I do not know much about Islam or muslims.

But I have a very great interest in Islam - so much that I have considered converting. But I want to learn more before I make that decision.

While I do read the Koran and many articles online to try and learn as much as I can about Islam, I feel the best way to learn is from Muslims. The only thing with that is a) I do not know any Muslims and I was not sure how they would accept my questions and friendship.

Thanks again for your reply!

[wel_mel]

Hello joshua,

most welcome to our board. and if you dont have any Muslims friends now, then dont worry you will meet alot of them here

also you can inform us about your location, and we can send you Inshaa Allah information about the nearest mosque/Islamic Centre to your place.

we are not the enemy of Christians, we are actually commanded to deal with them nicely and to invite them to Islam with wisdom and beautiful preaching.

any question that you have on mind, please let us know:)

once again welcome to the board and May God Almighty show you and us the right path. Ameen.

salam

wel_mel

[Khairan]

Joshua -

there's a story from the early days:

The Muslims, like the Christians, were a very unpopular group in their society because they upset the established political order of Mecca. Like Jesus, the Prophet preached that people should look only to God because the religious leaders of the time were exploiting pilgrims and worshippers and making religion into a commercial industry. Eventually, the persecution became so terrible and the life there so dangerous that the Prophet encouraged many of his followers to flee. He suggested they go to Ethiopia, because the king of the land was Christian, and it was thought he would sympathize with the Muslims' plight.

Well, the merchant kings of Mecca were not happy at the prospect of the Muslims finding a safe haven outside of their realm of influence, and since they had some trading relationship with the Ethiopians, they sent an envoy to the King to convince him that the Muslims were dangerous rebels who should be turned away. The King asked the Muslims to explain their faith to him, and they read passages from the Qur'an that praise Jesus and Mary. Impressed, the King agreed to grant them refuge.

Flabbergasted, the Meccan ambassador complained: "You cannot take these people seriously! Their 'prophet' is nothing more than a goatherd!"

Smiling, the King responded: "And our Lord was but a simple carpenter." And with that, he turned the Meccans away. From a historical perspective, it is arguable that without that first support from the Christians, the Muslims would not have survived.

I really like that story.

[joshua72]

Hello again,

Great story! It is really helping me to understand Islam by learning about its history.

I am from Michigan, USA.

I know Dearborn, MI has a very high muslim population (the highest among any other place in the world outside of the Middle East).

I would feel very uncomfortable going to a Mosque. But I know I must do what I can to learn as much as possible.

I have so many questions and curiousities about Islam that I am sure it will take more than just the Koran to answer.

(For example: Why does the Koran say women who do not obey should be beaten? That is very different from my beliefs. Do muslims follow that still today? I know in the Old Testament of The Bible there are some very strict things (such as being stoned to death) but Christians today no longer feel that way).

I also feel it would be very difficult to be a Muslim not only in today's world, but also in western culture.

I am 19 and a college student, and I work all day and go to school at night. How and when would I pray? Where would I pray? How will I be able to eat only the correct things if I am always on the go? How can I learn arabic without knowing any who speak it?

See, many, many questions lol. I do not expect answers to them - just giving an example of how I have soo many.

Thank you all for your understanding and knowledge you are sharing!

[SisterJennifer]

Nice to see you here Joshua,

I also am from Michigan, but the Upper penninsula, currently I live in the middle of Wisconsin.

I wanted to reply to the question you had about how would you pray considering your schedule:

All the Earth is a place of worship, therefore you may pray anywhere when the time for the prayer arrives. There have been times me and my family (I am married to Brother Todd on this board) gave prayed in some interesting places. We are blessed with 3 children who pray at their school when the time arrives. So you see, anyplace you are, you can pray in it.

I just wanted to tell you hello and welcome. Nice to see you here.

Take care,

~Jennifer

[joshua72]

Thanks for the kind welcome!

I really like the friendliness I am finding here.

I was reading around the net, and I found a page that calculates your prayer times based on your location.

For me, the 5 times a day for prayer began at 4:30 in the morning.

If you are up all night studying, and need sleep before you wake up in the morning - how do you pray that early?

It seems like it would be quite difficult to pray at the correct times.

In western society, we have jobs and school that take up most of our day. I simply could not just walk out of class, pray, and come back.

How does one deal with this?

[Dan]

Bismillah

I converted while I was in college. The prayer was one of the things that kept me from Islam for some time. It seemed to be so much. Once I converted, it was not that big of a deal in terms of time but sooo rewarding for my relationship with Allah.

My advice is to go to the mosque. It will seem different and you may feel uncomfortable. Once you make it known why you are there, muslims are very helpful. It is amazing.

Right now, the devil is doing everything he can to try to keep you from Islam. If you convert he has less and less power over you as you grow in faith. For right now though, he is using the same exact tricks on you that he tried on me, like being overly fearful and worried about the prayer and afraid of the muslims I would meet. Trust in Allah and take the steps you know to be true in your heart and all will be okay.

Welcome to the board and I look forward to welcoming you as my brother in religion one day as well. If you need anything let me know. Feel free to pm me about anything which you may feel weird or embarrassed about asking. I have been where you are so nothing is taboo.

Peace.

[joshua72]

Thank you!

Its good to know that someone understands my concern.

Would the muslims at the mosque speak english? I imagine some of them would, but I could also see how they might not.

How would I let them know why I am there if they do not speak english, and I do not speak arabic?

I have been trying to learn basic arabic (such as greetings and simple replies). I havnt got it down just yet though. I have also started to attempt how to read and write arabic - but I am finding that to be quite difficult.

Arabic seems like it would be a very difficult language to learn!

I am also concerned about my family. I come from a VERY christian family and they would not take it very well. My mom does not like that I read the Koran - but mostly just because she does not understand it (she thought that Allah was a different god than the christians worship). And I also am not sure if I am making the right choice.

Do only muslims make it to heaven? The Koran says that those who bear witness that there is only one God will enter paradise. Even before I had an interested in Islam I knew there was only one god.

If both christians and muslims worship the same God, how can one religion be better than the other?? Could one be both christian AND muslim?

Other muslims have told me that saying the shahadah will make you a muslim. Surely saying that alone cannot allow you to enter paradise...or can it?

What if a christian says the shahada??

As you can see, there are many, many things I do not understand. But slowly, thanks to many of you, I am learning!

So far I have enjoyed every minute of learning about Islam. Although I may not be on it yet, I do feel that God has pointed me to the right path.