The Quran - through my eyes.
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Muslimwoman
Coexistence insha'Allah
Hello and welcome
If you would like to discuss your belief in Jesus (pbuh) as the son of God I shall be happy to do so on another thread where we can discuss the following verses of the bible among others but this thread is intended to be a look at how I personally read and understand the Quran and would appreciate it if you could try to respect that. Thank you.
I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? Isaiah 43:11-13
Of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important answered Jesus is this: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:28-30
Muslimwoman
Coexistence insha'Allah
Chapter 55 is called al-qamar (meaning the moon), it has 55 chapters and deals with judgement and the truth of revelation. This chapter was an early chapter revealed in Mecca.
Allah is telling us that the scriptures hold many stories as warnings against going stray but time and again we fail to listen or remember and carry on making the same mistakes.
Six times in this chapter Allah tells us:
And in truth We have made the Qur'an easy to remember; but is there any that remembereth? (54:17)
remembereth is often translated as receive admonition but I am using Pickthals translation of the meaning of the Quran and he uses remembereth.
The Sura begins with this verse:
The hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain. (54:1)
Islamic scholars over time have given three explanations for this verse:
1) During the life of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) the moon was actually 'cleft asunder' in order to prove the Prophethood.
2) That the moon being split in two will be in the future as a sign of the approach of the Day of Judgement.
3) That it is metaphorical, meaning something as clear to us as would be the moon rent in twain.
There is a particular message to the Quraish tribe of Mecca, it tells of the penalty paid by Pharoah and his people for their disbelief and then goes on to say:
Are your Unbelievers, (O Quraish), better than they? Or have ye an immunity in the Sacred Books? (54:43)
Allah is telling us that the scriptures hold many stories as warnings against going stray but time and again we fail to listen or remember and carry on making the same mistakes.
Six times in this chapter Allah tells us:
And in truth We have made the Qur'an easy to remember; but is there any that remembereth? (54:17)
remembereth is often translated as receive admonition but I am using Pickthals translation of the meaning of the Quran and he uses remembereth.
The Sura begins with this verse:
The hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain. (54:1)
Islamic scholars over time have given three explanations for this verse:
1) During the life of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) the moon was actually 'cleft asunder' in order to prove the Prophethood.
2) That the moon being split in two will be in the future as a sign of the approach of the Day of Judgement.
3) That it is metaphorical, meaning something as clear to us as would be the moon rent in twain.
There is a particular message to the Quraish tribe of Mecca, it tells of the penalty paid by Pharoah and his people for their disbelief and then goes on to say:
Are your Unbelievers, (O Quraish), better than they? Or have ye an immunity in the Sacred Books? (54:43)
Muslimwoman
Coexistence insha'Allah
Woops I do apologise the previous chapter is number 54 not 55 - typing error.
Sura 55 is incredibly important so may take me a while to go through the various issues.
It is named ar-Rahman (meaning the Beneficient, the Mercy Giving) and of course refers to Allah.
You may hear Muslims refer to the 99 names of Allah, these are not names as such but attributes and ar-rahman is one of these 99. We call them names because the Quran says:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Allah! there is no god but He! To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. (20:8)[/FONT]
I have been told that there are 100 parts to everything, Allah has 99 and the other 1 was used to create everything else, showing just how amazing Allah is .... personally I have not read this in texts so can't confirm it.
The Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) told us that anyone who can memorise all 99 Names will enter Paradise.
There are 78 verses in this chapter and 31 of them say:
Which is it, of the favours of your Lord, that ye deny? (55:13)
This is the sixth of seven chapters that deal with the favours Allah has bestowed upon the world and also the next life.
Almost all of the chapter uses the grammatical form for pairs or duel, suggesting He has created everything in pairs but the theme suggests a unity between these pairs. Everything Allah has created is well balanced.
This is demonstrated well in the following two verses:
He hath loosed the two seas. They meet. (55:19)
There is a barrier between them. They encroach not (one upon the other). (55:20)
This refers to salt water and fresh water, they meet but stay seperate. They are duel and yet have an underlying unity.
Then we see:
Soon shall We settle your affairs, O both ye worlds! (55:31)
Even two worlds, this refers to the world of men (the seen world) and the world of the jinn (the unseen). Both man and jinn will be called forth on Judgement Day.
One of the ideas that were new to me when I became a Muslim that made me feel all warm and fuzzy is that all of creations worships Allah, so even my cat worships Allah but we simply do not know how. As humans we worship through prayer and good deeds but even trees and rocks worship:
All that are in the heavens and the earth entreat Him. Every day He exerciseth (universal) power. (55:29)
Now we come to one of my soap box issues I'm afraid, that of this idea of 72 virgins to fool around with in heaven, especially if we commit suicide and commit murder at the same time.
Allah tells us:
Therein are those of modest gaze, whom neither man nor jinni will have touched before them. (55:56)
then goes on to say:
Is the reward of goodness aught save goodness? (55:60)
As Muslims we believe that we will be rewarded for our good deeds done in this life and punished for our bad deeds.
So lets have a look at these 72 virgins .... they are often described as "chaste females" but the word used in the Quran is hur'in (often seen as houri) and 'hur' in arabic can refer to both masculine or feminine. It would translate as beautiful eyed companions. Yes the Quran says they are untouched and pure but are they male or female or both or neither?
They are available to all inhabitants of Heaven, male and female and not just to martyrs. They are also 60 cubits high (over 27 meters).
This idea comes from a medievil collector of hadiths called al-Tirmidhi and some of his collection are considered untrustworthy. The Quran does not mention 72 virgins or orgies in Heaven and this hadith is not found in reliable collections of hadith. The hadith also mentions 80,000 servants for each person in heaven ..... what on earth could 80,000 servants possibly do for one person for eternity??
al-Tirmidhi has quite a number of hadith that go into detail about the look of the virgins breasts, etc ... I think he might have needed a cold shower and a lie down personally.
I asked my new husband about the 72 virgins and he thought I had gone slightly mad, he has never even heard of them and yet has commited half of the Quran to memory so far and is quite knowledgable about hadiths. Most Muslims are far too concerned about just trying to stay out of hell to be worried about how many vrgins they'll get.
Unfortunately western propaganda continues to shout about the 72 virgins and the rampant sexual adventures in paradise, yet they never mention that the Quran says they will 'restrained as to their glances' ... that doesn't suggest to me good time girls! Since it is such a sensationalist story I doubt the media will ever look for the truth or bother to ask Muslims about it.
We are given mental glimpses of what may be to come for those lucky enough to get to Heaven, it will be blissful, we may be made young again, we may live with our family and friends, we may be made pure (ie virgins), we may palaces to live in .... but one thing is for certain, Allah has told us anyone entering Heaven will be transformed and only Allah knows what that transformation will be or what rewards he will offer.
Where the houri are concerned I personally believe that symbolism has been used to describe something pure, I cannot imagine Heaven as anything but pure.
Sura 55 is incredibly important so may take me a while to go through the various issues.
It is named ar-Rahman (meaning the Beneficient, the Mercy Giving) and of course refers to Allah.
You may hear Muslims refer to the 99 names of Allah, these are not names as such but attributes and ar-rahman is one of these 99. We call them names because the Quran says:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Allah! there is no god but He! To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. (20:8)[/FONT]
I have been told that there are 100 parts to everything, Allah has 99 and the other 1 was used to create everything else, showing just how amazing Allah is .... personally I have not read this in texts so can't confirm it.
The Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) told us that anyone who can memorise all 99 Names will enter Paradise.
There are 78 verses in this chapter and 31 of them say:
Which is it, of the favours of your Lord, that ye deny? (55:13)
This is the sixth of seven chapters that deal with the favours Allah has bestowed upon the world and also the next life.
Almost all of the chapter uses the grammatical form for pairs or duel, suggesting He has created everything in pairs but the theme suggests a unity between these pairs. Everything Allah has created is well balanced.
This is demonstrated well in the following two verses:
He hath loosed the two seas. They meet. (55:19)
There is a barrier between them. They encroach not (one upon the other). (55:20)
This refers to salt water and fresh water, they meet but stay seperate. They are duel and yet have an underlying unity.
Then we see:
Soon shall We settle your affairs, O both ye worlds! (55:31)
Even two worlds, this refers to the world of men (the seen world) and the world of the jinn (the unseen). Both man and jinn will be called forth on Judgement Day.
One of the ideas that were new to me when I became a Muslim that made me feel all warm and fuzzy is that all of creations worships Allah, so even my cat worships Allah but we simply do not know how. As humans we worship through prayer and good deeds but even trees and rocks worship:
All that are in the heavens and the earth entreat Him. Every day He exerciseth (universal) power. (55:29)
Now we come to one of my soap box issues I'm afraid, that of this idea of 72 virgins to fool around with in heaven, especially if we commit suicide and commit murder at the same time.
Allah tells us:
Therein are those of modest gaze, whom neither man nor jinni will have touched before them. (55:56)
then goes on to say:
Is the reward of goodness aught save goodness? (55:60)
As Muslims we believe that we will be rewarded for our good deeds done in this life and punished for our bad deeds.
So lets have a look at these 72 virgins .... they are often described as "chaste females" but the word used in the Quran is hur'in (often seen as houri) and 'hur' in arabic can refer to both masculine or feminine. It would translate as beautiful eyed companions. Yes the Quran says they are untouched and pure but are they male or female or both or neither?
They are available to all inhabitants of Heaven, male and female and not just to martyrs. They are also 60 cubits high (over 27 meters).
This idea comes from a medievil collector of hadiths called al-Tirmidhi and some of his collection are considered untrustworthy. The Quran does not mention 72 virgins or orgies in Heaven and this hadith is not found in reliable collections of hadith. The hadith also mentions 80,000 servants for each person in heaven ..... what on earth could 80,000 servants possibly do for one person for eternity??
al-Tirmidhi has quite a number of hadith that go into detail about the look of the virgins breasts, etc ... I think he might have needed a cold shower and a lie down personally.
I asked my new husband about the 72 virgins and he thought I had gone slightly mad, he has never even heard of them and yet has commited half of the Quran to memory so far and is quite knowledgable about hadiths. Most Muslims are far too concerned about just trying to stay out of hell to be worried about how many vrgins they'll get.
Unfortunately western propaganda continues to shout about the 72 virgins and the rampant sexual adventures in paradise, yet they never mention that the Quran says they will 'restrained as to their glances' ... that doesn't suggest to me good time girls! Since it is such a sensationalist story I doubt the media will ever look for the truth or bother to ask Muslims about it.
We are given mental glimpses of what may be to come for those lucky enough to get to Heaven, it will be blissful, we may be made young again, we may live with our family and friends, we may be made pure (ie virgins), we may palaces to live in .... but one thing is for certain, Allah has told us anyone entering Heaven will be transformed and only Allah knows what that transformation will be or what rewards he will offer.
Where the houri are concerned I personally believe that symbolism has been used to describe something pure, I cannot imagine Heaven as anything but pure.