Salvation in Islam...

Alrighty! Now time for the Islamic perspective on Salvation. In order to understand this concept in Islam, I believe it is completely necessary to understand Islam’s view on:

1.      the 'nature of man'; the concept of original purity (vs. Christian belief of original sin).
2. God's attributes,
3. how 'deeds' and rewards have been 'decided' and how that relates to God's attributes.
4.  We have to take a look at it all, together, as one single equation.

Ready? Let’s start!

To begin with, in Islam we believe that every single individual is born pure.  That is, Islam does not believe in original sin; instead, in Islam, we believe that every person is born free of sin. Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Just, lets us each begin on a ‘clean slate’, so to speak. In fact, He does more than that. He engraves/programs in each of us a compass guiding us to Him. Yes, we believe that every person is born on the ‘fitra’, which is ‘awareness of God and His Oneness’ and is also an innate disposition that guides us to the right way to God. Think of our consciences and how we ‘instantly’ know that some things are wrong without having to be told. Also, you can consider the fact that our bodies physiologically protest when we lie, although lying is an activity that has nothing to do with our physical bodies (meaning we make up the lie using our mind, but it is our bodies that naturally go against us when we do so, with our heart rate increasing, blood pressure acting up, respiratory rates changing, etc!).

Actually, you should know that we say that the moment a person is born, s/he is born a “Muslim”. That is why many converts to Islam call themselves ‘reverts’, because they feel that they have ‘reverted’ or ‘gone back’ to their original state ..

Therefore, it should be obvious that we reject the notion of original sin completely. We do not believe that Adam and Eve’s sin was hereditary or that it is what actually made us imperfect or that it even resulted in us ‘wanting to sin’. We do however believe that every person has been naturally endowed with the inclination to do good as well as the inclination to do bad. So yeah, we may want to sin, but this has nothing to do with Adam and Eve’s sin. We were simply created that way. The test of life, thus, is to rise above the inclination to do bad, follow our innate disposition and put God’s commandments and desires above our own.

And [by] the sky and He who constructed it (5) And [by] the earth and He who spread it (6) And [by] the soul and He who proportioned it (7) And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness, (8) He has succeeded who purifies it, (9) And he has failed who instills it [with corruption]. (Surah or ‘Chapter’ As Shams)

The fact that we ‘can do both good’ or ‘evil’ relates to the fact that we, unlike the angels, have been given ‘free will’. In fact, we believe that when Allah told the angels of His ‘decision’ to create us [with free wil], the angels were very surprised.

And when your Lord said to the angels, I am going to place in the earth a khalif (vicegerent), they said: What! wilt Thou place in it such as shall make mischief in it and shed blood, and we celebrate Thy praise and extol Thy holiness? He said: Surely I know what you do not know.

Therefore, Allah  knew, (like the angels said), that by giving us free will, we would sin, but above that, He also knew (that despite our sins), there would be a be a people who would love Him, put Him above their own selves, and try to draw near Him.

Most importantly, we believe because He knew that we would sin, and because He knew we were created ‘weak’, He never expected perfection from us in the first place. He alone is Perfect. He does not ‘expect’ from us that we should not sin at all, but that we should repent and ask for His forgiveness. This is what He asks from us. Therefore, we do not believe in ‘a redeemer’ to ‘rescue us’, so to speak or God sacrificing Himself (Jesus) to forgive us.  Instead, part of being human is making mistakes.

“To err is human,

And to forgive is Divine.”

Speaking of “Divine”, let’s now talk about the Divine. How do Muslims view Him? What are His attributes that are relevant to this question on ‘salvation’?

We Muslims take the analogy of a mother her  baby when we think of God with us (as Exalted and Beyond Compare as He is) .

Umar Ibn al-Khattab (radhi allahu anhu) relates that some prisoners were brought before Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) and amongst them was a woman who was frantically searching for someone in the crowd. When she found a baby amongst the prisoners, she took it in her arms, cradled it next to her chest and suckled it. So Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: "Do you think that this woman would ever throw her child into the fire?" We said: 'By Allah, Never!' So he said: "Allah is more merciful to His believing servants than that mother could ever be to her child."

Allah did not create us simply to cast us into Hell. Instead, He essentially created us for Paradise and to be Merciful to us: “Except for him on whom your Lord bestowed His Mercy; and for that did He create them…” [Quran, Surat Hud]..

You might know that we believe that Allah has 99 Names or attributes. We need to understand a few of these in order to fully understand the topic of salvation. That is because we believe that Allah Alone is:

Ar-Rashid: The One who guides. Allah guides all the creatures to the proper means of living and performing their role in the worldly life, and He also guides people to the Path of jannah (paradise).  Hence, guidance is not restricted to man, but it embraces all the creatures in the universe

Al-Hadi: The One whom with His Guidance His believers were guided, and with His Guidance the living beings have been guided to what is beneficial for them and protected from what is harmful to them.

We realize that God alone can guide us and that we are spiritually and physically lost without Him. For this reason, we ask Him at least 17 times a day to guide us to His Way, the Straight Path (when we recite Surat Al Fatiha in our prayers.) So say I pray dhuhr (the noon prayer), I recite this surah in ever rakah, asking God to guide me. 3 hours later, when it is asr time, I do it again, asking Him to guide me.  Two or three hours later, I do it again in the maghrib prayer. One hour and a half later, I do it again in the Isha prayer. Then, I do it at fajr, the dawn prayer, then dhuhr again… is a never ending cycle because we are always always in need of guidance and HE alone can guide us.

Al-Waliyy: The Supporter, the Ever Patron. Linguistically, waliyy (patron) is a relative or someone close who takes care of you, “Did He not find you an orphan, so He gave (you) an abode,” (93:6), or someone loving who supports you; a patron is the first person you go to with a problem. Allah is not just a supporter but The supporter. The story of Joseph in Islam is used to explain this. Allah made the travellers need water so they would rescue him from the well, He made the Egyptian nobleman childless so he would adopt him, He made the King of Egypt need him to interpret his dream so he would release him from jail, He made Egypt in need of food so he would became a nobleman of Egypt…etc.

Al-Mujib: The One who answers the one in need if he asks Him and rescues the yearner if he calls upon Him

Al-Ghafoor: The most Forgiving. This name occurs in the Qur’an more than seventy times. There are other names from the same root, such as Ghafir and Ghaffar. The meaning of the “ghafara” is to cover, to hide and from it comes the meaning “to excuse”, “to pardon”, “to remit” and “to forgive”. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala does all these things. The only thing that He does not forgive is Shirk (without repentance) – which is associating partners with Him.

Al-’Afuw: This has another aspect of forgiveness. Some have translated this name to means “to release us from the burden of punishment due to our sins and mistakes”, “to restore our honor after we have dishonored ourselves by committing sins and making mistakes.” Others have also translated it to mean “The One Who Blots out Sins”, which means that not only does He forgive your sins but He erases them from the records completely. He doesn’t even ask you about them (when you repent). A dua (or prayer) we say is: Oh Allah, You are the Afuw, You love to forgive, so forgive me”.

Al-Tawwab: The Acceptor of repentance. The word “tawwab” gives the sense of “oft-returning” which means that Allah again and again accepts the repentance. We make sins and mistakes then we repent, He accepts our repentance. Then again we commit sins and make mistakes and when we repent, He again very kindly accept us and gives us another chance. Day and night, He stretches out His hands, waiting for us to return to Him.
When we read this Name, we must realize that as At-Tawab, He is the One who out of His Mercy taught us the words to ask for Forgiveness. We could never have done this by ourselves.

Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of forgiveness and his Lord turned toward him, for He is Oft-Forgiving and Most Merciful. (2:37) They said, "Our Lord, we have wronged our souls and if you forgive us not, and bestow not upon us your mercy, we shall be losers. (7:23)

Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Allah, the Exalted, will continue to stretch out His Hand in the night so that the sinners of the day may repent, and continue to stretch His Hand in the daytime so that the sinners of the night may repent, until the sun rises from the west”. [Muslim]

Al-Haleem: The Clement. This means that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is not quick to judgment. He gives time. He forebears and is patient to see His servant to return to Him.

Not only is He not quick to Judgment, He has commanded the angels ‘to take their time’ when it comes to recording our bad deeds.

Abu Umamah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “The angel of the left raises [and holds] his pen for six hours from the Muslim servant of Allah who has wronged or committed a mistake. So if he regrets and seeks Allah’s forgiveness from it he returns it back, and if that is not the case then it is written as one.” [Mu'jam al Kabeer, Hasan according to Albani]

Al-Rahman and al-Rahim: The most Merciful and Compassionate. These names are the most frequent in the Qur’an. Al-Rahman indicates that Allah’s mercy is abundant and plenty and al-Raheem indicates that this is always the case with Allah. He is full of love and mercy and He is ever Merciful.

Hadith Qudsi 1:

When Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: My mercy prevails over my wrath.

Ash-Shakur: The One who is Ever Appreciative. He is the One Who appreciates your deeds, however small they are, and doubles the rewards for you in this world and in the hereafter

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "A prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that." 

Allah said: I am as My servant thinks I am (1). I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assemble better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.

Now, a few more general hadiths:

Hadith Qudsi 34:

Allah the Almighty said:

O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great at it.

Hadith Qudsi 31:

A man said: By Allah, Allah will not forgive So-and-so. At this Allah the Almighty said: Who is he who swears by Me that I will not forgive So-and-so? Verily I have forgiven So-and-so and have nullified your [own good] deeds (1) (or as he said [it]).

 Hadith Qudsi 35:

Our Lord (glorified and exalted be He) descends each night (in a way befitting Him) to the earth's sky when there remains the final third of the night, and He says: Who is saying a prayer to Me that I may answer it? Who is asking something of Me that I may give it him? Who is asking forgiveness of Me that I may forgive him? 

Now that we’ve read a little about who Allah is and how He has chosen for His Mercy to prevail His Wrath, let’s talk about ‘deeds’ in Islam.

First of all, deeds in Islam are by intention, as I said before. We can see that clearly here:

Hadith Qudsi 16:

On the authority of son of Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), among the sayings he related from his Lord (glorified and exalted be He) is that He said:

Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones. Then He explained it [by saying that] he who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed. 
As well as here:





On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say:
The first of people against whom judgment will be pronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died a martyr. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. [ The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I fought for you until I died a martyr. He will say: You have lied - you did but fight that it might be said [of you]: He is courageous. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire…..[I’ve previously mentioned this long hadith before.]





Taken together what that means is that ‘what may appear to be a good deed’ may reap nothing if it is not intended for Allah’s sake alone. On the other hand, what may ‘not be considered a good deed’ can actually count as one, if our intention is for Allah.




That’s right . We believe by our intentions we can turn simple habits into acts of worship. If we eat healthy because we want to take care of the bodies our Lord has trusted us with, we are actually worshipping Him! Our intention changed it into an act of worship. If we sleep early for example so that we can wake up to pray the dawn prayer (fajr), our sleep would be considered worship. The whole time we’re sleeping, we are actually worshipping Him and ‘gaining good deeds’. 



So, as you can see, Allah is so Merciful. He has chosen the most Merciful way to record our deeds (10-700 or more = good deed, 1=bad deed). He is Forgiving, the Clement, the Afu, the Appreciative. He has allowed simple habits to be turned into acts of worship so that we could be worshipping Him 24/7!  

Not only that, but when we realize that good deeds may not be ‘good’ if our heart is not in the right place, we realize that the essential thing Allah looks at is our hearts.



Okay, Sarira, you haven’t answered the real question here, which is, do Muslims think that their good deeds earn them heaven?

No, we could never ever earn heaven by our own deeds alone. We in fact, believe that we can never repay Him for what He has already so Graciously and Generously granted us. Let me paraphrase one hadith: on the Day of Judgment, God will say, let this servant enter heaven through My Mercy, and the servant who had devoted (I remember it being) 80 full years of worship to Allah will say “No, my Lord, through my worship”. Then Allah will say, let us measure your worship with the gift of eye sight that I gave you- and the gift of eye sight when placed on the scale will far outweigh the  servant’s worship.

So not only are we all sinners, we are already all in debt for all that Allah has given us, every breath of life, every chance to draw near Him.

Our very existence is a gift He has so graciously given us. We cannot even pay back for that, let alone, for heaven. In fact, we as Muslims believe that every act of worship we do could never be 100% ‘right’. We could never even worship God completely properly/praise Him as He deserves. We have that we can recite in our prayers: 

O Allah, I seek protection in Your pleasure from Your anger, and I seek protection in Your forgiveness from Your punishment. I seek protection in You from You. I cannot count Your praises. You are as You have praised Yourself.

However, although we cannot ‘earn’ heaven, the primary key to entering heaven then lies in the previous hadith. It is first and foremost through God’s Mercy that we can enter heaven. We see Prophet Mohammed sallah Allahoo alyhee wa salam explicitly stating that here:

"Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and rejoice, for no one's good deeds will put him in Paradise." The Companions asked, "Not even you O Messenger of Allah?" He replied. "Not even me unless Allah bestows His pardon and mercy on me."”

This hadith clearly shows that Allah’s Mercy comes first.

When we think of all that we’ve discussed we realize that we are number one saved through His Mercy, which is exemplified in the fact that He lovingly accepts our Repentance, the fact that He opened the door to us for forgiveness, the fact that He taught how to ask for forgiveness, the fact that He created us with a compass in us guiding us to Him, the fact that He created a Conscience in us, the fact that  He created our bodies ‘naturally detesting lying’, fact that He lovingly put such a ‘low’ standard for us and appreciates what little work we do, even accepts our ‘very fallible deeds’, the fact that he sent us prophets to show us the way, Revealed the Qur’an to teach us, etc.…

This is also why believe it is necessary at the moment one is dying to believe in Allah’s Mercy and to hope for it.

However, as the above hadith also shows, we do believe in the importance of doing deeds. This does not contradict believing in Allah’s Mercy and hoping for it. I like how Ayha.org explains it:

The example of a slave's hope in Allah's Mercy and Forgiveness can be explained by the example of a farmer. If the farmer searches for fertile soil, then sows it with good and healthy seeds, giving to the seeds what they need at the appropriate time, removing from around them the weeds and anything else that may hinder or ruin their growth and then hopes in Allah for His Favor with regards to keeping away violent storms and other harmful elements, until the seeds have fully ripened and grown - then this type of expectation can truly be described as hope. However, if the farmer sows the seeds in hard and barren soil, too high up for water to reach it, and he does not take care or protect the seed from harm, and expects a good harvest, then this expectation is not called hope, it is only wishful thinking.

Similarly, if the servant sows the seeds of Eemaan (faith), and waters them with acts of obedience to Allah, and protects himself from committing sins and seeks Allah's Forgiveness, then he is truly hoping in the Mercy of Allah.

Yahyaa Ibn Muaadh said: "In my view, the worst kind of self-delusion is to greatly sin, yet hope for forgiveness without feeling any regret; and to hope to draw close to Allah - the Most High - without obedience to Him; and to await the fruits of Paradise, by planting the seeds for Hell-Fire; and to seek the abode of the obedient ones, by doing acts of disobedience; and to expect a reward, without doing any worthy action; and to hope in Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - after overstepping the bounds." "You hope for salvation but do not tread its path. A ship never sails upon dry land." [Related by Ibn Hibbaan in Rawdatul-'Uqalaa (p.284), from the poetry of Abul-'Atiyyah]

Again, as Muslims we believe that none of us deserves heaven and none of us can earn heaven without God’s Mercy, including Prophet Mohammed. It is out of His Mercy, that He appreciates any ‘willingness’ we demonstrate that we truly desire to be near Him.

Our willingness is demonstrate d through our actions-

Faith= input, Good deeds= output.

Those who are truly eager to meet God and love Him will ‘race’ to meet Him by doing good deeds.
Input + Output + God’s Mercy (which is in the first place needed for us to have faith and to do good deeds)= going to heaven. 

One last way to think of it is this:  Islam is submission to God! Even Shaytan (or Satan) believed in God and had no doubt of his existence. Is he granted paradise? NO, because he refused to submit to God. He refused to follow God’s commandments, which essentially shows that he did not truly believe in Allah’s Power and Might.

 However, we need to realize that there also could be no Islam without Iman (faith). The two are connected and that is why they are always mentioned together in the Qur’an. Also, the heaviest thing in the scales is the sincere belief of 'la illah illah Allah', there is no God worthy of worship but God.

Let’s wrap this all up with one last ‘interesting hadith’:

“There was among the people who came before you a man who killed ninety-nine people.  Then he asked about the most knowledgeable person on earth, and was directed to a hermit, so he went to him, told him that he had killed ninety-nine people, and asked if he could be forgiven.  The hermit said, ‘No,’ so he killed him, thus completing one hundred.  Then he asked about the most knowledgeable person on earth and was directed to a scholar.  He told him that he had killed one hundred people, and asked whether he could be forgiven.  The scholar said, ‘Yes, what could possibly come between you and repentance? Go to such-and-such a town, for in it there are people who worship God.  Go and worship with them, and do not go back to your own town, for it is a bad place.” So the man set off, but when he was halfway there, the angel of death came to him, and the angels of mercy and the angels of wrath began to argue over him.  The angels of mercy said: ‘He had repented and was seeking God.’ The angels of wrath said: ‘He never did any good thing.’ An angel in human form came to them, and they asked him to decide the matter.  He said, ‘Measure the distance between the two lands (his hometown and the town he was headed for), and whichever of the two he is closest to is the one to which he belongs.’ So they measured the distance, and found that he was closer to the town for which he had been headed, so the angels of mercy took him.”

According to yet another version, God commanded the righteous town to draw closer and the evil town to move away, and He said, ’Measure the distance between them,’ and he was found to be closer to (the righteous town) by a hand span, so he was forgiven.

Alright, I know this was really long, but I hope it clears things up a bit on the Islamic perspective of things. If I said something wrong, I ask Allah to forgive me and my sisters here to correct me. Jazakum Allah koli khair.

P.S I honestly did not type up the Names myself but chose/modified the ones I wanted from Amr Khaled’s site, http://amrkhaled.net/acategories/categories192.html, and http://www.islamawareness.net/Salvation/forgiveness.html ).

PS.S I did not include the ‘list of transmitters’ in some of the ahadith because they took up an incredible amount of space and I didn’t want to confuse the non-Muslim readers. You can find most of them here:    http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/hadithqudsi.html

The "I" Word! (Islam 101)

Asalamu aliakuam wa rahmat Allah wa barkatoo and Hello!

How is everyone? Well, recently, I’ve been asked a few questions about Islam. One was about ‘our Scripture’ and another was about our concept of salvation.  

I thought I would answer by first, giving a tiny little intro on Islam. And then, I would make a new post dealing with the concept of salvation.

Ready?

1.      What does Islam mean? Islam comes from the Arabic root word ‘salama’ which linguistically it means to submit or yield to. In essence Islam is all about submitting to God. It’s surrendering the white flag to Him, following His path, putting Him above everything, including your own self. Islam also derives from the Arabic word meaning peace. It is the way to [inner] peace and its essence is peace [between you and God, between you and others, etc.]. You can also think of it as ‘peaceful submission’ to God, meaning that you voluntarily submit to God.

2.      Who is Allah? Many people do not realize that the word Allah is the Arabic word that literally means “The God”. In fact, Arab Christians use the word “Allah” to refer to God.  It’s similar to the Hebrew “El” or “Elah”,  and you can think of it as the English word ‘God”. However, it should be noted that Allah is a bit more specific because the word is grammatically unique. It can NOT be made into a masculine or feminine form and it cannot be made into a plural. Therefore, it signifies the One and Only. The Magnificent whom there is None Like. The Perfect God who is the Creator and Sustainer of all.

3.      What are our Scriptures? Well, since Islam goes back to Prophet Adam and has existed all through history (has been the Message of God since Adam’s time), we sincerely believe that the Torah and the Bible were Divinely Inspired and were Scriptures of Islam; however, the Book that we use today/follow today is the Qur’an. This is because we believe it is the only Scripture that has remained completely intact and has not been changed. It is God’s ultimate and final message to mankind. The Qur’an in fact remains completely unaltered in its original Arabic text. The other thing that we look at are the ‘hadiths’ of the Prophet. These are his teachings, his sayings, and ‘reactions’. Everything he did was carefully recorded and memorized by his Companions who actually witnessed and heard them themselves. (They did this because we believe that he was the best example for all of mankind). It is important to note that every hadith has two parts- the text and list of narrators or transmitters. (Whenever we ‘accept a hadith’ a rigorous study is undertaken to determine  whether this ‘list of transmitters truly did meet and whether the whole chain of narrators is known to be completely sound and reliable.)

I'm keeping this post short because the next one will be long. Heheh. However, You can read more about what we believe in here:

Understanding Islam and Muslims

An Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam

Asalamu aliakaum wa rahmat Allah wa barkatoo and HellOOo!

GRRRRRR! Blogger isn't letting me comment on your comments :P So, I had to make it as a new post :D

15 comments! AWESOME! I was worried that not many people would be interested in a Muslim’s thoughts on the New Testament and that I was just writing to myself—but yaaaay! I wasn’t!

Okay, first things first, Joni and Carmen! What would you like to drink (non-alcoholic, LOL.) Orange juice? Chocolate milk? I’m an Arab, you know. This is how we treat our guests, hehehe. Seriously welcome! I’m very glad you guys could come and answer these questions. (Thank you, Susanne). Oh and I think it’s great that y’all met online. I’ve got many great online ‘sisters’, friends I’ve met and had for 5 years or so. (I met a few of them in person this year!)

Naz, I really love your comments. Man, I always ask myself, “was I that mature at 17?” Ma’shaAllah. As for your question about ‘everybody going to heaven’ since “Jesus already atoned’ for mankind’s sins, a similar question was asked on Susanne’s blog by another Muslim. You can see Susanne’s answer in her post called “Christianity Q&A.

Rebecca, thank you so much for your suggestion about reading the Apologetics. I bet that would help clarify things just as we always recommend reading ‘tafisr’ or scholarly explanation of the verses of the Qur’an (context of verses/etc.). It’s just right now my time is a bit limited, but we’ll see how it goes!

Anon, hope you had a good weekend too and of course, as a Muslim I noticed the '3rd person pronoun' as well ;)

Moonsmile! I was also pleasantly surprised to see many similarities! In fact, I left out a number of other similarities because I thought I had written too much but now, I’m going to share them with you as they might surprise you (like they surprised me!).

1.Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,[c]' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell (Matthew 5: 22)

It reminded me of this: O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one's] faith. And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers. (Surat Al Hujurat 11)

2.The titles in chapter 6: Giving to the needy, Praying, Fasting- doesn’t it sound familiar? Like 3 out of the 5 pillars of Islam! SubhanAllah.

3.Also, about praying- they have this: But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Of course, we have that it is recommended to pray the 5 obligatory prayers in a congregation( in a Masjid). This helps foster ‘a sense of unity and brotherhood/sisterhood in the community’ and allows people of different nations, ages, social classes, economic classes to all meet each other and stand united. Blacks, whites, Pakistani, American, Egyptian, Chinese, rich, poor, a janitor, a Prince, whatever—all stand together, acknowledging that no one else is worthy of worship but the Lord, and together bowing down to Him.

However, we are also warned of praying just for others to notice us, and thus, besides the 5 obligatory prayers, we have the ‘voluntary night prayers’. Qiyam al Layl- ‘the standing up at night’. WE are advised to get up in the middle of the night and pray secretly- this is a true testament of faith (why else would anyone get up at 2:00 at night for example and pray when no one else can see him/not even his parents/etc.) and it is also has been described as having the ‘sweetest, most delicious taste’. When everyone else is sleeping, it’s just you and God :D

4. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15

Reminded me of : …and let them be clement and let them pardon . Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Ever-Merciful” (Surat Nur: 22) (There’s even a specific story regarding this verse but my point here is just to say that were still lots of other similarities that I didn’t get to touch upon.)

There were more, but I want to start commenting on all these answers, explanation and questions! My ‘answers’ will be a bit jumbled- sorry about that :P I am trying to connect relevant points together. I also won’t be able to get to ‘everything’ today but I have read all of the comments and appreciate every sentence! 

Before I begin though, I want to say I sincerely apologize if I had written (or am going to write) anything ‘scandalous’, or ‘very blasphemous’ to you. I try my best to avoid saying anything that may offend you. Also, I know that ‘online’ things can be interpreted differently/you may hear my tone differently than the way I am writing…:D I trust you know that I am not coming here to insult or defame Christianity and that I would never insult (who we consider to be one of the greatest) Prophets, Jesus.

Okay, so first of all, Carmen (and Susanne), thanks for pointing out that Mary was married to Joseph, the carpenter. That’s what happens when you’ve got a migraine and you try reading something new! Hehe!

Second, about “the Virgin Birth”. I in NO way, meant to imply that she had consummated her marriage before Jesus’ birth or that she was pregnant as in had a relationship with God. I know that, of course! We have it that Jesus’ birth was miraculous as well. WE believe that God created Jesus without a father and that his birth was a divine proof of God’s power and Jesus’s prophethood.

(Actually, while we’re on the subject, we believe that there were 4 kinds of ‘births/coming to life’. One- Adam was created with neither a mother nor a father. Hawa was created from a man, without a woman (rib of Adam). Isa (our name for Jesus- Joni, I wrote since you noticed Hawa) was created from a woman, Mariam/Mary, without a man. And finally, me and you- we were created with moms and dads, hehe. Taken together, these 4 'births' testify to God's Absolute Power.) 

So definitely, I knew that and I understood that she had not consummated the marriage- the betrothal sorta thing- but what I was commenting on was that from the version I was reading, she did consummate the marriage after Jesus’ birth, which we don’t have in our traditions:

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Actually, lol, we don’t have anything about her being married- so it was interesting to me. Also, now I understand that the ‘siblings’ may not necessarily be Jesus’ siblings- but say his step siblings, etc.

Perhaps it's like some people I've known who have Islamically married yet not consummated the marriage, yet when they broke up they had to be divorced. Also Susanne: bout divorce -- Of course there are reasons for it, but divorce isn't something we should enter into just because the wife burned dinner or stop looking attractive.

Oh yes, Susanne, first of all, we have this concept and I understood it when I read that part about Mary. We have that first you ‘give the marriage vows/sign the contract’ but that there is usually a period between that and consummating the marriage. However, as you said, if you do not consummate the marriage and choose to end it- then, it is a divorce. For your info, though, the difference though is that is not a ‘regular divorce’. In a regular divorce scenario, one who had consummated the marriage, a divorce does not take place instantly. What happens is say a man tells his wife that she is divorced, they do not leave and go on their own ways- they MUST remain together for another 3 months (3 period cycles/known as the Iddah, or if she is pregnant, until the baby is born! Which could be 9 months, lol), to see if they can reconcile their differences, if they’ll change their mind and decide to go back together, etc. During these 3 (or 9)months in fact, the man still has to provide for the ‘wife’, her food, clothes, etc. (Now, let’s say, he does change his mind- and decides that ‘yeah, what the hell was I thinking, this woman is a gem’. That ‘divorce’ is canceled. Ultimately, he can only do this 2 times- the 3rd time for example a man tells his wife that she is divorced, that’s it…he can never marry her again. This is sorta like protecting women’s rights as you were saying. You can’t just divorce your wife as you said because she burnt the bread. 3 times and you’re out buddy.) But on the other hand, in the case of those who have not consummated marriage, divorce takes place instantly. The only thing is that a man can ask back for half the mahr (wedding gift that a groom must give the bridge, which unfortunately, contrary to our teachings, today costs thousands and thousands), but he is told in the Qur’an that it is better to leave it entirely to her... (And you were referring to MR. Handsome, right? Wasim? May Allah bless him and his ex with good partners :D)

Now about my question about the birth- He always was, but there was a point at which he took on the form of man, was born and died and then was resurrected (how do you keep someone with no beginning or end, dead?)

Oh, thank you, Joni for explaining that. That is why I said I must not have understood what was meant with ‘birth’- so what is meant is the ‘birth of the human form’ but not the birth of God- just a birth of a form. And since you brought death up, I was wondering about something.

This is what Carmen said: (thanks Carmen, btw) Jesus began His life on earth as a little baby and was fully God, and fully man. He experienced everything we has humans experience although He was still Jesus, perfect in every way.

Since Jesus was fully human and fully God, does this mean that Jesus, who was both human, and “God” at the same time, was “God” at the same time he was being crucified or was it ‘only’ the human form on the cross? I mean was Jesus ever only in the human form or was he at all times thought to be “still God”?

I ask because it wasn’t only the birth that confused me, hehe, but the idea of death. See, I had been thinking, if Jesus is God and Jesus died on the cross, what does that mean happened to God? I mean how could “God” die, right… It doesn’t help that I got even more confused because I had been told before that the reason the crucifixion all works out is’ because it was “God, himself, ‘sacrificing himself”, and not just a ‘sinless person’ taking our blame/shouldering mankind’s sins’ (Jesus as a human). Again, I could not understand how God could die? But what it sounds like to me you are saying is that it wasn’t actually “God dying”-not real death, anyways- but it was just the human form, right (Jesus as a sinless person)?

Is that correct? Or am I again totally confused? I didn’t want o ask this until I reached that part, but since my blog is only supposed to be 50 days anyways..;)

While we are on this topic, Regarding the trinity, consider as a weak analogy an egg: it has three parts - the shell, the white, the yolk.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this analogy out to me. The thing is that I always understood it before kinda like that- I think I had understood it as 3 separate parts that together are supposed to make up one, sorta like the analogy implies. It’s sorta like I have 5 fingers which make up my hand. But my recent discussions with Susanne have led me to finally understand that the idea is a bit more complicated, right, because each part, individually, in itself, is considered the whole. What I mean is that you consider Jesus as God, right? So it’s like saying that the yolk by itself is the whole egg in itself, or God completely? Right? Like one finger is by itself like a whole hand and at the same time, all together, they are one? Or is the Son not by himself the Father? Is the Son different from the Father or equal to and is the Father ?

While it is confusing for me, I understand that many Christians take it as a leap of faith and not that we ‘should try and grasp who God is’ with our finite mortal minds, right? In any way, I know that it is also similar (at least to me) to what the Hindus also believe. From what I read about Hinduism at least, Hindus believe that Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are not three independent and separate deities, but three different aspects of the same Supreme God, with each part in charge of a certain purpose=the creation, sustenance and destruction of the universe. Is the similarity that I see clear? Or totally off? (I remember some websites even explain it by calling it the Trinity of Hinduism.)

And while we’re on this topic, I appreciate, Joni, your honesty in saying that you cannot answer my question regarding if the 3 themselves see each other as separate entities since they converse with each other and ‘see’ each other, ‘hear each other’. We always say the best answer when someone asks you a question and you do not know is to say “God knows best and I do not know”- that way we avoid saying anything blasphemous. So I really respect your answer.

As for my point about the genealogy, Joni, I can’t take full credit for that! Hehe! See, before I started reading the Book of Matthew, I started reading about Jesus and I stumbled on this website which was trying to explain what his name means/should be pronounced/etc.

The website turned out not to be a Christian one, but Jewish. It said (or claimed, at least) that the word Jesus in Hebrew was Yeshua and that the first one to be called that was Joshua (the successor of Moses) who was known as (Yeshua ben Nun- Jesus of the Fish- by the way, ‘nun’ is used in classical Arabic to refer to fish). Anyways, it then said that Jesus was originally a title and that there were several Jesus’ in history and even a few that were his contemporaries.

I can’t remember the specific contemporaries it listed, but one that stuck in my mind was: Jesus ben Damneus, (It reminded me of Damascus, lol); if you check Wikipedia, it actually states that he became high priest after the original high priest ‘killed James the ‘brother of Jesus Christ’. So he was living at the same time. Okay, I know that was probably boring to you, but it was all very interesting to me! Hehe!

But about this most Christian theologians say that the author's intent with the genealogy was to establish that Jesus was the heir of Abraham - this sets him up to be the fulfill-er of the Abrahamic covenant.

The funny thing is that our genealogy of Prophet Mohammed traces back to Prophet Abraham as well, for the same reason. I don’t know if you guys know this or not but we believe that Prophet Abraham built the Kabah in Mecca with his son; we even have ‘his footprint’, and actually much of the Hajj, the pilgrimage every able bodied and financially able Muslim must perform, commemorates Abraham and his family. Oh and I also thought it was interesting that Jesus’s ministry began at the age of 30! Alyhee as as salat wa salam (Blessings and peace be upon him :D)

Okay, now I’m REALLY going to jump around, lol.

Satan tried to prey on the face that Jesus faced emotion, fatigue, hunger, thirst, and much more while here

Oh, okay! Now I don’t think that is that ‘funny’ anymore, lol. Basically, he was trying to tempt the ‘human form’, right, that Joni was talking about? But not that he actually thought he could trick God.

I once heard it said, the best's enemy is not bad, but the good. Meaning, We often lose out what's best because we accept mere good.

I know what you mean. In Islam, we say that Paradise is promised to those who pardon others- so obviously you are ‘missing out/losing’ when you don’t go that extra mile and forgive.

But here’s the thing. The general day to day rule in Islam is :

Nor can goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: Then will he between whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and intimate! (41:34)

So definitely, someone backbites against you, someone starts a nasty nasty rumor about you or your kid even accusing you of adultery (as in the famous Ifk incident that happened during the Prophet’s time), you should forgive the person. Just overlook it, just like you want God to overlook your own sin.

But when it comes to murder- things are a bit different and as I said before it is perfectly acceptable to ‘ask for exact retribution’. Let me explain the thinking a bit better this time. We believe that God is Merciful not only to those who have ‘committed crimes’ (e.g. murderer) but to the victims and He does not make them ‘shoulder a burden greater than they can bear’. Sometimes, they just cannot find it in themselves to reach the point of forgiveness. Since they are the innocent ones, it seems a bit unfair to burden them with more than they can handle.

See, the thing is that that we believe in the necessity of following the Commandments. Not following them means that we are sinning, so if it was a Commandment to HAVE to forgive a murderer, one who didn’t would be sinning - do you see how that would be a bit difficult and harsh? God is Merciful and Just, but He is Merciful and Just to all.

Also, at the end of the day, this system also acts a ‘deterrent’ to crime and protects not just individuals (the criminals/etc.) but all of society at large. Islam is a religion that promotes not only the individuals’ rights but society’s rights. A murderer chooses to jeopardize society- by killing one individual, s/he kills all of these: a mother/sister/daughter/wife/employee/aunt/niece/etc.

I guess you can think of it as how some states employ the death penalty- why? As protection of the whole society. For us, Islam is not merely a religion but also includes a judicial system, set in place to protect all of society, just like how laws are made in any country. I hope that makes it a bit more clear :D

And Jesus isn't saying "don't pay all you owe" - rather he is saying for us to be honest and humble rather than stubborn. The two ideas are the person who pays back willingly and the person who refuses to pay and whose "money" is taken from him by force. Jesus wants us to be the willing one

Right!! I knew that there was no way I could have understood that right. Thanks for explaining that. I get it, now!

- Jesus is saying, there will people on Judgement day that say "but, but, but....and fumble over their words, calling out Jesus' name but not truly having lived here on earth as He and His Father have said. Even Satan knows that Jesus is God's Son. Jesus is saying, it's not enough to know -who- I am but to follow God's laws. By God's laws, Jesus is not trying to be legalistic but saying, IF you love Me and My Father you will desire to follow His will (what he instructs us) AND you will try with all of your heart to do so. Also: 
Jesus didn't speak about his resurrection because it hadn't happened yet.;) But more than that, he's definitely talking about the spirit of the law which he later sums up as "Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself".

Oooo, okay, yeah, I understand now how you interpret it. Funny thing is that this is what I was telling Susanne the other day! Heheeh! I said that even Satan (or Shaytan as we call him) has complete belief in God. Satan does not deny God’s existence nor does he deny that God is Mighty and Powerful (he happens to swear by God’s Might in the Qur’an.) So I was saying that is not enough to ‘just believe’. I’ll discuss more of the Islamic concept of this but in a Islam 101 post, later, God’s willing.

As for the ‘God’s laws’, I understand that you all take it as not ‘being the legalistic laws’, but I was wondering if Jesus anywhere explicitly says that those laws are not needed at all? And that he wasn’t referring to those when he said that verse? Because I had understood it that those 2 laws, that you mentioned, the summary, were ‘the greatest’ but not the only laws. I guess I sorta don’t understand why would God ‘tells us certain rules/Commandments’ if they’re not important to Him? I don’t mean to imply that they are the most important thing to Him- purifying our hearts and turning to Him, Loving Him is more important- but do we really love Him when we won’t obey His laws?

See, we have a similar concept to “Love God with all your heart, mind and body” as you said –but for example, I believe that loving God with my heart= faith, loving Him with my mind equals knowledge (learning about Him and His Wonderful and Perfect Attributes, His 99 names, living with these names, seeing them in my day to day life, like “Al Ghani” that I shared with you guys, and reading His Divine Words, etc.), and loving Him with my body= loving Him enough to put His (legalistic) commandments over my own desires. Having faith actually show on my appendages so to speak- my hands giving charity, my feet standing up in prayer, etc.

One verse that is often called the ‘summary of Islam is this:

It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West; but it is righteousness- to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfill the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the Allah-fearing (2:177)

One hadith which is similar to the neighbor one says: None of you is a believer until you love for your brother (obviously not real brother) what you love for yourself.

About Jesus not having talked about the Resurrection because it hadn't happened yet, but isn't God above 'Time'? Doesn't He know what will happen? What I mean is that if the Resurrection is the single most important event in all of mankind's history and that believing in it the key to salvation and if God actually came all the way down to Earth, why would He not have told us that 'the great in heaven' would be those who believed in it? Do you understand why I was confused about it? 

Probably this is because when the Bible was first translated into English they used the word "apple" which at that time (1600s) meant any fruit of any tree "As late as 17c. a generic term for all fruit other than berries but including nuts. Hence its grafting onto the unnamed "fruit of the forbidden tree" in Genesis."

Oh my gosh, that was so interesting, Joni. Thanks for sharing that!

Thanks also for explaining the baptism question I had.

Okay, guys, I know there were more points I just don't have the time right now. I hope to get to them soon, as well as to your questions regarding Islam, inshAllah. Once again, thank you for sharing your explanations~ I know I didn't comment on everything but I want you to know that I have read every single comment and appreciate every single sentence. :)

You'll have to thank my commentators...

Asalamau aliakum wa rahmat Allah wa barkatoo and Hello!

I want to thank each and everyone of you who has commented on my blog. Also, my apologies if I have failed to comment on yours. But recently, there were two really 'fabulous' comments on my blog that have actually inspired this post- you can pretty much thank them for this :P

First, Oldie goldie's comment regarding the situation in Palestine and Israel and how on a personal level Jews and Muslims can be friends. I told her how I agree with this and how I've taken a test before that said I coulud be 93%  Orthodox Jewish. I looked the quiz up and took it again- this time, it was even 97%! I must have not 'selected ' something last time that was 'needed' to be Jewish, hehe.

Anyways, I am asking you to take it for fun! Here were my results: (it's really interesting because it makes you realize that other religions may be quite similar to yours.)

1. Islam (100%)

2. Orthodox Judaism (97%)

3.Sikhism (95%)


4. Jainism (88%)

5. Baha'i Faith (88%)

6. Reform Judaism (86%)

7. Mahayana Buddhism (80%)

8. Orthodox Quaker (78%)

9. Liberal Quakers (73%)

10. Theravada Buddhism (71%)

11. Hinduism (70%)

12. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (69%) [I've always wondered about Mormons! Any Mormons out there? Can you tell me how you are 'different' from other Christians?]

13. Unitarian Universalism (67%) {See Mormons!}

14. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (63%)

15. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (62%)

16. Neo-Pagan (60%)

17. Seventh Day Adventist (59%) (What's that?) 

18. Eastern Orthodox (54%)

19. Roman Catholic (54%)

20. Jehovah's Witness (53%)

21. New Age (51%)

22. Taoism (40%)

23. Scientology (36%)

24. Secular Humanism (36%)

25. New Thought (35%)

26. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (26%)

27. Nontheist (22%)


This is what the website says, (hehe): Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-MaticTM knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing.


Warning: Belief-O-Matic™ assumes no legal liability for the ultimate fate of your soul. (Hehehe!)

Click here and tell me your results!


The second comment that I noticed was by anonymous. I loved the link they provided for me in the Mountain vs. Fly post, so I'm putting it up here :D Imam As Shafi was one of the greatest greatest Islamic scholars out there- he, with 3 others, are often referred to for their fiqh or jursprudence rulings. When asked how he was feeling on his death bed, he had this to say (remember, this is translated from Arabic, so it doesn't necessarily sound like "English").

“I am journeying from this world, and departing from my brothers, drinking from the cup of death, and upon Allah, Exalted is His remembrance, arriving. And no! By Allah, I do not know if my soul is travelling towards Paradise or the Fire!”


He then began to cry profusely and recited the following,

‘In You, the Creator, I raise my longing, and even if I am, O Possessor of Kindness and Generosity, an evildoer, a criminal…

When my heart became hardened and my paths became narrow,

I took my hope in Your pardon and forgiveness as an opening and an escape,

My sins seemed very great to me but when I compared them to Your forgiveness,


I found Your forgiveness to be far greater,

You are and still remain the only One who can forgive sins,

You grant and forgive out of Your benevolence and generosity,

Perhaps the One who is the source of all goodness will forgive and overlook my mistakes,

And will hide the sins and burden that I accumulated,

My sins seemed very great to me, so I turned (to You) in humility,

Were it not for my contentment in you, I wouldn’t, O my Lord, have seen any comfort at all,

So if You forgive me, You would have forgiven a sinner, A rebellious, oppressive tyrant still sinning,

My crime is very great, past and present, But Your forgiveness that embraces Your servant is greater and higher,

So whomsoever holds fast to Allaah  (God) is truly saved from mankind, And whosever’s hopes are in Him, will be far removed from any regrets.’






p.s. I may be back later with another post ;) I've got something "I want to write" but am being too lazy, hehe.