Bismillah:
Assalamo Alikum Gill and welcome to your board. :)
Quote:Thank you for the link. It was a inspiring story.
Well Im only half done, but so far it has provided an answer to a great many problems I had with Christianity. My first problem was that in the old testiment of the bible it says to not worship any other God, but modern christians clearly worship Jesus. My other problem was "Why doesnt God still talk to us?" But I remember reading somewhere in the quraan that God has already sent us the message so why should he keep doing so,
That is just normal; the Qur'an will always have the answers for our problems, it is just normal for any open minded person to realize that a perfect religion must have the answer for all problems in all walks of life. Alhamdulelah.
Quote:1) Do muslims have to choose between sunni and shai?
in addition to what sister radiyah and brother Rock's explanation i would like to add the following:
The Qur’an says: "And hold fast, All together, by the rope Which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves;" [Al-Qur’an 3:103]
Which is the rope of Allah that is being referred to in this verse? It is the Holy Qur'an. The Qur’an is the rope of Allah which all Muslims should hold fast together. There is double emphasis in this verse. Besides saying ‘hold fast all together’ it also says, ‘be not divided’.
Qur’an further says,
"Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger" [Al-Qur’an 4:59]
All the Muslim should follow the Qur’an and authentic Ahadith and be not divided among themselves.
The Qur’an also says: "As for those who divide Their religion and break up Into sects, thou hast No part in them in the least Their affair is with Allah: He will in the end Tell them the truth Of all that they did." [Al-Qur’an 6:159]
In this verse Allah says that one should disassociate oneself from those who divide their religion and break it up into sects.
But when one asks a Muslim, "who are you?", sadly the common answer is either ‘I am a Sunni, or ‘I am a Shia’. Some call themselves Hanafi, or Shafi or Maliki or Humbali etc etc
but Subhan Allah one may ask such Muslims, "Who was our beloved prophet (pbuh)? Was he a Hanafi or a Shafi, or a Humbali or a Maliki?" No! He was a Muslim, like all the other prophets and messengers of Allah before him.
It is mentioned in chapter 3 verse 52 of Al-Qur’an that Jesus (pbuh) was a Muslim.
Further, in chapter 3 verse 67, Al-Qur’an says that Ibrahim (pbuh) was not a Jew or a Christian but was a Muslim.
So in short if anyone poses a Muslim the question who are you, he should say "I am a MUSLIM, not a Hanafi or a Shafi". chapter 41 verse 33 says
"Who is better in speech Than one who calls (men) To Allah, works righteousness, And says, ‘I am of those Who bow in Islam (Muslim)?’
hope this answer your question insha'Allah.
Quote:2) I am a regular white north american guy, How would the muslim comunity act around me? Is it strange to see a caucasian in a mosque?
i don’t know why each time when someone ask about the racism issue i immediately remember brother Malcolm X, i will just let you hear some of his beautiful words regarding this matter.
during his visit to Mecca he said:
Quote:There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue eyed blonds to black skin Africans. But we were all participating in the same rituals, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had lead me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white.
Quote:America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem.
There are much to learn from Malcolm X' experience regarding racism. However even if you are a non Muslim and wanted to visit our mosques whether you are a white or black, brown or yellow, you are most welcome.
Quote:These questions have been on my mind for some time.
We are open for more questions insha'Allah :)
May Allah enable us to answer your question and may He guide you and us to the right path, Ameen.
Salam
Wael.