....regarding Quran, i do not pick and choose, rather i interpret using a compassionate and non-suspicous heart - the way i believe we are supposed to read the Quran. in addition rather than concentrating on single verses i try and take the Quran as a whole to interpret the individual verses - this is a well accepted method from some scholars on the correct way to interpret the Quran.....
Dear Abuyunus, what make you think that the Quran you are reading is the same Quran that Mohamed revealed to his followers? What if Othman
et al have added and substracted as they saw fit. Do you know the story about
Abdullah Bin Saad Bin Abi Sarh and who he was? He was the foster brother of Othman the 3rd Calif. He was also one of the writers of the revalation. According to Baidawi in Tafsir “Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta'wil”, Muhammad dictated verses starting at (Qur'an 23:12) that says;
"We created man of an extraction of clay" and when Muhammad reached the part that says, "... thereafter We produced him as another creature (23:14)",
Abdullah said, "So blessed be God the fairest of creators!" in amazement at the details of man's creation. The prophet said, "Write it down; for thus it has been revealed." Abdallah doubted and said, "If Muhammad is truthful then I receive the revelation as much as he does, and if he is a liar, what I said is a good as what he said.". After this incident, Abdullah repudiated Islam, left Medina and went to Mecca, spreading his belief that Muhammad composed the Qur'an himself without divine intervention.
Following the conquest of Mekkah in 629 CE, Muhammad ordered that Abdullah should be executed but Uthman protected him. When conditions calmed, he was presented to Muhammad seeking pardon and offering the oath of loyalty. However, Muhammad withheld his hand and maintained silence. Uthman begged him to pardon Abdullah and on the third attempt Muhammad accepted Abdullah's oath of loyalty, effectively pardoning him.
Nevertheless, as soon as Abdullah had left, Muhammad turned to the Muslims who were in the room and asked: “Was not there a wise man among you who would stand up to him when he saw that I had withheld my hand from accepting his allegiance, and kill him?” The companions, aghast, responded: “We did not know what you had in your heart, Apostle of Allah! Why did you not give us a signal with your eye?” Muhammad said: “It is not advisable, for a Prophet to play deceptive tricks with the eyes.”
Anyways, if this was the Quran collector's brother whome he apointed ruler on Eygpt and obviously though highly of him, what makes you sure that they together did not write and added new verses and hence the division between Shiit and Sunis and all the accusation of Quran corruption could be explained. What do you think?
.......why do i still have faith?? i don't think it's pascals wager - i'm sure it's something much deeper than that. there are things that don't sit well with me i.e hell, creation of evil etc. - but i fully embrace the fact that i probably do not understand God's plan - he must have a good reason - that's what faith is all about. i truly beleive in my heart that all humans have a soul - we are more than just the product of evolution - this soul must have come from God - and since i use it to guide my morals it it doesn't make sense to me to judge God as being immoral using the soul He Himself gave me....
Which God Abuyunus you are refering to? Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Eygptian, Mayan, Greek? What makes you "know" that Allah is the true God, if any? What if you were born Christian, would you have converted to Islam?
Thanks in advance for answering!
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