Losing My Religion

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Re: # 209

Please read the Quranic Verses in context and with explanations. The one you talk about means that Muslims are firm in their faith and are not to be bent around/pushed by disbelievers. Hope this answers the question.

``Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are hard *52 on the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. *53 `` - Sura Alfatah verse 29

EXPLANATIONS

*52 ``The Companions (of the Holy Prophet) are hard on the disbelievers`` : they are not ``wax that the disbelievers may mould them as they like; they can neither be cowed nor. purchased by any inducement. The disbelievers have no power to turn them away from the great objective for the sake of which they have joined and followed the Holy Prophet even at the cost of their lives.``
*53 That is, ``Whatever their hardness and severity, it is only for the disbelievers, not for the believers. As regards the believers they are soft, merciful, affectionate, sympathetic and compassionate. Their unity of aim and object has produced in them love and harmony and complete accord among themselves.``

Re: # 208

Rabia Bibi, I ask , how could you be a Muslim and not hate disbelievers as Quran adjoins, ``Those who are with him (the prophet) are hard against the disbelievers`` - verse 29 of Sura Alfatah.

After reading this article I felt a bit quesy and attempted to assuage that feeling by reading through the reply posts -- bad idea, made me positively ill. Although I wanted to read every one I lacked the stamina but, sigh, here are my comments and contribution to this string. BTW I just joined chowk and this is my first post, go easy on me.

First I have to comment on the article itself. Religion is matter of belief and practice. The belief and practice you`ve taught your child is their religion until or unless they convert to another. It is beyond me to comprehend what fractions have to with it. From what I understand at some point long ago my forefathers were Hindu rajputs who converted enmasse to Islam. It makes no difference to me what religion they were or, as a matter of fact, what religion any of my relatives are even today. My religion is what I personally believe and practice, period. And just to provide some frame of reference, I am a practicing Muslim woman, I wear hijab, pray, fast, am a mother and hard working lawyer. My three closest friends are Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist, respectively. We all love one another and share so much in common that the way we practice our religion has never interfered in the bonds of our friendship. We respect one another and encourage each other to pursue sprituality in all aspects.
As a mother I`ve taught my daughter Islam but I`ve also taught her to respect people of every religion. It saddens me that this author has done nothing but feed the atmosphere of intolerance by teaching her innocent child the fractions of his identity. Utterly sad...

Now, as for the other posts:

1. With respect to a post declaring all children born of Muslims to be Muslim (#9 I think) let me clarify the Islamic perspective to you: Islam teaches us that all children, ALL CHILDREN, are born Muslim because to be Muslim simply means to be someone who is submitting to the will of God. So a newborn child, clean as a slate, pure and innocent, of course has not done anything against the will of God and therefore submits to the will of God until that child is taught to practice a religion that does not submit to the will of God. Whether or not you agree with this perspective is not the point, thats simply the Islamic perspective of the original human condition at birth.
2. Others have suggested circumcision to be an indiction of religion, it is simply incorrect. There are countless western male converts to Islam who were not circumcised at birth but are now practicing Muslims. The prophet Abraham (may God be pleased with him) was commanded to circumcise himself at a ripe old age and he did so to please his Lord. Likewise converts can and perhaps should get circumcised but at the same time if they do not it does not negate the fact that they are Muslim nontheless.
3. Further on the point of circumcision, and this time of the female variety, someone responded that Islam abrogates female circumcision, which is practiced in countries such as Somalia. This is unequivocally incorrect. Female circumcision is matter of cultural practice, not religious practice, and is performed in many tribal areas, by pagans, by Christians, and yes by Muslims, who live in certain African regions. As a southasian woman I am certainly not circumcised nor do I know a single Muslim woman who is.
4. I find it absolutely fascinating that so many folks here are encouraging Muslims to convert b/c the rest of the world doesnt seem to particularly like them. May I say how decidedly lacking in integrity a person would have to be to abandon any part of their identity because others didn`t like it? But to abandon your religion? Would any of the Hindus or Sikhs here abandon their religion b/c all of a sudden things were getting difficult for you? Speaking of which, at no time in history has it been easy to be a person of faith, whether that faith is Islam, Judaism, Christianity, or any other religion. The ease of practicing a religion is simply a function of where you live. It makes me giggle to consider the post of the person who suggested you should convert to Hinduism b/c India is experiencing bright economical propects...seriously? Have you been to the Gulf? Would you convert to Islam for all the oil money? lol..come on...
5. I also have to comment, for all of those bemoaning the ``forced`` conversions of ancestors long ago, that conversions to Islam today must make you scratch your head. Growing up in the US I`ve met probably hundreds of Muslim converts (or ``reverts`` as they usually like to be called b/c they believe they were born Muslim) who have yet to experience a sword to their throats. Can anyone explain why, according to Time magazine, nine out of ten religious conversions are individuals accepting Islam? Who is forcing who at this point?
6. Let me say finally that religion is a matter of choice. The Quran tells us to say to the nonbelievers ``I do not worship that which you worship; you do not worship that which I worship...to you, your religion, and to me, mine``.

Anyhow, I say all the above with the utmost respect for every person who has posted an opinion here. May God grant us all humility, tolerance, and respect for one another.

Ciao
rabia

Re: # 206

This what they call `Khtame Nabuwwat` in Pakland which is actually `Khatamaa-e-Nabuwwat`. The mullah thus cutting off direct dialing of the man with God which makes room for him to become a god himself. His motto is `Khuda ki khudai khatam, Nabi ki nabuwwat khatam, insan ki insaniat khatam, mullah ki mullah gardi zinda baad`.

Our prophet had said:

``Apne dil se fatwa poochh agarchih log tum ko fatwa dewein`

(Ask your heart (truth-seeking mind) about the truth and don`t care what the people say)

The mind of religious believers is closed on the existence of `God`.

And naturally what follows from that is an acceptance of religion and a conscious rejection of people belonging to `other` faiths and the injection of this vile logic into fragile minds, thus subconsciouly making them fertile for a future of more falsehoods, violence and conflict.

Why should nt governments give atheism its due?

re: Jiinah-Churchill tango!
This will have YLH`s chaddi in fire. Ha, ha, ha.
YLH, read on:
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=75870
Sridhar

I mostly lurk once in a while..

Are there cases of multiple identities talking to themselves? it is so confusing.

In some ways the atmosphere in chowk mirrors trends outside.. Namely, this is not a good time to be a pakistani/muslim... even mush seems to be apologetic

re the article, nandita seems to be clueless. first of all the concept of ``religion`` is semetic. there is no parallel entity called hindu religion. the right word for it is ``dharma`` or sanatana dharma. as someone pointed out ``baig`` is not logically muslim and even if it was inconvenient, changing a name is not a big deal. people routinely do this in america.

see http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/102.htm for bground on dharma

very nice article

very nice article

Re: # 200
A good man like robinhood was mistreated and now he is not showing up anymore.
Seth Robinhood Jee, please come out and fight for us with the evil-axis at chowk. We need you here. You are the last hope for showing the shitbox to shitheads.

Helping alleviate unemployment in Pakiland


Salim is responsible for providing employment to several Pakis

Chowk has provided three FTE CHAPRASIS to keep track of Salim`s threads and messages and delete them regardless of the topic or content.
If this isn`t solving the unemployment problem among Pakis what else will.
Thank you Salim.

robinhood #195, {``mr salim seems to be a very nice person to interact with.
sir, you have impressed me with your intellect. you deserve commendations not mistreatment``}

Mr. Hood,
That was very nice of you to support me. Thank you, sir. I appreciate your objectivity, fairness, and kindness. I have a viewpoint and Chowk Staff`s cruel suppression of this right is perplexing.
Thanks,
Salim

well...I just wanted to look enthusiastic.:)

May be Shanker can help Chowkstaff in this. Since it is his field.:)

now that saminaji on the filter list, can Chowk staff do us another favour and start noting how many conjunctive posts a poster has...if it exn number exceeds a certain number start rating the poster as following:

up to 3 conjunctive posts Rating: Enthusiastic
3 to 6 Conjuctive posts Rating: Need Pepto Bismol
6 to 9 Conjunctive posts Rating: Get a Life
9 to 12 Conjunctive posts Rating: I need help
above 12 conjunctive posts Rating: Needs a Shrink Badly

If the conjuctive posts reach as many as 15, quarantine the Poster, demote him to a Patient and tie him to the bed.