alsalamo alaikum brothers and sisters
i am in dire need of help..i was brought up a muslim and i kno this is gonna sound shallow and weak but i truly love god (allah) he is my best friend elhamdolellah he hasnt rejected my prayers i feel like he truly understands me.but i am now living in a foreign country and no the media is so negative! most of my foreign friends are not muslim but they are wonderful they are open minded and they accept me and my religion. how ever i am very upset as now i just had a philosophical amd spiritual talk ith someone and they really shot me down.they said:
"does not islam teach that muslims should kill "infidels"?(non believers)it also teaches that the original text is the exact word of god.so are you not going against god's own word if you believe that?"
my policy on the ..ermm..more agreesive passages in the koran is that most of them are either telling of the times with holy wars they were savage and bloody times because of the crusades and the romans and all that stuff.but now i am facing alot of people telling me your religion is a religion of war and here is the proof..and then they pull out passages like:
-Allah is an enemy to unbelievers. - Sura 2:98
Slay them wherever ye find them and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. - 2:191
-Slay them wherever ye find them and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. - 2:191
-Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it. - 2:216
(different translation: ) Prescribed for you is fighting, though it is hateful to you.
-Those who believe fight in the cause of God, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil. - 4:76
-But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever you find them. - 4:89
-O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Those of you who make them his friends is one of them. God does not guide an unjust people. - 5:54
-O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight. If there are 20 steadfast men among you, they shall vanquish 200; and if there are a hundred, they shall rout a thousand unbelievers, for they are devoid of understanding. - 8:65
-Allah will humble the unbelievers. Allah and His apostle are free from obligations to idol-worshipers. Proclaim a woeful punishment to the unbelievers. - 9:2-3
-When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. - 9:5
-Fight those who believe neither in God nor the Last Day, nor what has been forbidden by God and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are People of the Book, until they pay the tribute and have been humbled. - 9:29 (another source: ) The unbelievers are impure and their abode is hell. (another source: ) Humiliate the non-Muslims to such an extent that they surrender and pay tribute
-O Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites. Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey's end. - 9:73
and:
what would you say to those kinds of teachings that come straight from the koran?
clearly you should want to destroy me (since i don't believe in allah)....yet you choose not to, which would stand as clear disobedience in the face of the koran."
how do you reply to such a thing! how can i defend my religion when i cant deny that most of these pasages are true..the koran speaks of punishment and jugement but when i was a kid it all seemed to fit in with me.if youre bad then you go to hell etc tec etc but now growing up in a foreign country everyone is making me question what is good and what is bad.i wouldnt kill a jew just because he is a jew no thats murderif he hasnt done anything to hurt me! but then someone liek that will bring up a passage and say "hey wait..your religion oreders the murder of jews" and i cant reply...tell me what shall i say?
everytime i have tried to talk to other muslims they just close the conversation and say "ah those people are close minded dont talk to them" well no! i WANT to find out what i can say to negate those things how can we just settle to being ignorant infront of these attacks? we are not living alone in the world we have to learn how to live at peace with people from other religions and cultures.i always thought that god is a merciful beautiful divine being that will forgive and love because he created everything and everyone...and that even if u dont have the chance to learn abot islam(in some circumstances) but you lived a good life that MAYBE he will forgive you.but now that i read these passages i am so hurt and scared.i want to keep my faith i want to get to heaven but i want to understand creation and understand god...yet the search for a better understanding of creation in a foreign land has meant that alot of the new ideas that make sense to me dont fit in with some strict dogma of islam.
for example: when you pray,it is a form of meditiation.why be distracted when you are actually tryin to connect your energy to a higher divine energy.you are not just saying words when u read the koran i think you are fueling your body with light.such esoteric teachings about karma and the law of attraction and chakra and energy points in the body,,,i studied about them and i found that islam incorporates all of these and i thought "sobhan allah" that when you place our hands up for prayer you are doing so to absorb positive energy form god which is why you feel so brilliant after you do some do'a2.yet there are things like these passages i dont understand about islam.where do i go from here? i know god exists...i know he created everything...sad to say i admit it is my fault i havent read the koran or prayed in a long time but im scared to do so because i dont feel any fulfimnet as i used to do when i was living in the emirates.i always have a seed of doubt in my mind now..my mother tells me its the devil i know she might be right but i still dont believe god might still forgive me.i feel like i hav failed him because i couldnt stand up to this guy about my own religion.all i said to him was please look for the peaceful side of islam and he said well how can i when every other sentence begins with war.i can deny that i kno islam has war themes but what do i do? somehow when i read the koran god sounds much more authoritive than i kno he actually is.i kno he is more loving and kind but the koran seems a bit too...inyourface.and thats what discourages me though i wish it wasnt so.
brothers and sisters please help me out here,and plase dont say just ignore what that guy said...god said i want you all to search and think of my creation well here i am i am doing so but i am so utterly confused.people in this country call the prophet muhammed a pervert i say whatever they are wrong.but then i read the hadiths and the prophet got angry over someone having a picture of animals in their house (i think his wife) he went out of the house so angry and i thought "something to impulsive is not so graceful for the prophet to do..yet he did..what is going on here.."
and how can i defend the idea of the prophet marrying a 9 year old...? i tried to argue the point that human bodies were different back then and that the female developed earlier but i am still not 100 percent convinced..now im not saying islam is horrible i love it i think its the true way but somehow i am growing more and more doubtful of everythig i learnt as a young girl in school as i am faced with the opinions of those who hate islam and new ideas about life that make *sense*.
for example: i dont think evil or good matters.i dont think black or white or light and darkness matter,god created everyone of us and we are part of him so we make up his experience.he set laws in motion on earth and in the universe so a unified experience can happen....but "good" and "bad"...i dont think it matters...aaaaa!!! see what i told you!! i study philosophy at university and it is confusing my spirituality!!! philosophy makes sense but i want religion to make sense too
and i am not prepared to adopt somethign unless it makes sense to me..otherwise it doesnt feel right to me...when i was young i ouldnt question islam how dare i, i knew it was right,,,but now im scared to find myself doubting and questioning things that dont make sense.i always held on to the belief everything god tells us to do is for ur own good,but somethings like music is forbidden and pictures are forbidden and if someone is a christian or jew they are your enemies.can they help it though? can a 16 or 20 year old who has been brought up as a christian or jew and they didnt do anything wrong to me..and god created them just as he created me..why should i hate them?it isnt in my nature to not question and just follow..it makes me feel weaker than stronger and i believe religion was presented to humanity to enlighten and strengthen them instead of turning everyone into sheep.
sorry i am just very hurt that i didnt kno how to shut that guy up..im angry at myself for not appreciating god's endless gifts to me and taking his name in vain and not praying..i am also scared i want salvation and enlightenment but nothing makes sense anymore im sorry if i seemed like i am offending islam..i am angry at myself for thinkign and doubting my religion but i hope some of you can be patient and understandin and inshallah i can strengthen my faith and overcome this doubt and hopefully make it to heaven..somehow doubt it right now lol but hopefully if i work on it.thanks
i am in dire need of help..i was brought up a muslim and i kno this is gonna sound shallow and weak but i truly love god (allah) he is my best friend elhamdolellah he hasnt rejected my prayers i feel like he truly understands me.but i am now living in a foreign country and no the media is so negative! most of my foreign friends are not muslim but they are wonderful they are open minded and they accept me and my religion. how ever i am very upset as now i just had a philosophical amd spiritual talk ith someone and they really shot me down.they said:
"does not islam teach that muslims should kill "infidels"?(non believers)it also teaches that the original text is the exact word of god.so are you not going against god's own word if you believe that?"
my policy on the ..ermm..more agreesive passages in the koran is that most of them are either telling of the times with holy wars they were savage and bloody times because of the crusades and the romans and all that stuff.but now i am facing alot of people telling me your religion is a religion of war and here is the proof..and then they pull out passages like:
-Allah is an enemy to unbelievers. - Sura 2:98
Slay them wherever ye find them and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. - 2:191
-Slay them wherever ye find them and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. - 2:191
-Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it. - 2:216
(different translation: ) Prescribed for you is fighting, though it is hateful to you.
-Those who believe fight in the cause of God, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil. - 4:76
-But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever you find them. - 4:89
-O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Those of you who make them his friends is one of them. God does not guide an unjust people. - 5:54
-O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight. If there are 20 steadfast men among you, they shall vanquish 200; and if there are a hundred, they shall rout a thousand unbelievers, for they are devoid of understanding. - 8:65
-Allah will humble the unbelievers. Allah and His apostle are free from obligations to idol-worshipers. Proclaim a woeful punishment to the unbelievers. - 9:2-3
-When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. - 9:5
-Fight those who believe neither in God nor the Last Day, nor what has been forbidden by God and his messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are People of the Book, until they pay the tribute and have been humbled. - 9:29 (another source: ) The unbelievers are impure and their abode is hell. (another source: ) Humiliate the non-Muslims to such an extent that they surrender and pay tribute
-O Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites. Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey's end. - 9:73
and:
what would you say to those kinds of teachings that come straight from the koran?
clearly you should want to destroy me (since i don't believe in allah)....yet you choose not to, which would stand as clear disobedience in the face of the koran."
how do you reply to such a thing! how can i defend my religion when i cant deny that most of these pasages are true..the koran speaks of punishment and jugement but when i was a kid it all seemed to fit in with me.if youre bad then you go to hell etc tec etc but now growing up in a foreign country everyone is making me question what is good and what is bad.i wouldnt kill a jew just because he is a jew no thats murderif he hasnt done anything to hurt me! but then someone liek that will bring up a passage and say "hey wait..your religion oreders the murder of jews" and i cant reply...tell me what shall i say?
everytime i have tried to talk to other muslims they just close the conversation and say "ah those people are close minded dont talk to them" well no! i WANT to find out what i can say to negate those things how can we just settle to being ignorant infront of these attacks? we are not living alone in the world we have to learn how to live at peace with people from other religions and cultures.i always thought that god is a merciful beautiful divine being that will forgive and love because he created everything and everyone...and that even if u dont have the chance to learn abot islam(in some circumstances) but you lived a good life that MAYBE he will forgive you.but now that i read these passages i am so hurt and scared.i want to keep my faith i want to get to heaven but i want to understand creation and understand god...yet the search for a better understanding of creation in a foreign land has meant that alot of the new ideas that make sense to me dont fit in with some strict dogma of islam.
for example: when you pray,it is a form of meditiation.why be distracted when you are actually tryin to connect your energy to a higher divine energy.you are not just saying words when u read the koran i think you are fueling your body with light.such esoteric teachings about karma and the law of attraction and chakra and energy points in the body,,,i studied about them and i found that islam incorporates all of these and i thought "sobhan allah" that when you place our hands up for prayer you are doing so to absorb positive energy form god which is why you feel so brilliant after you do some do'a2.yet there are things like these passages i dont understand about islam.where do i go from here? i know god exists...i know he created everything...sad to say i admit it is my fault i havent read the koran or prayed in a long time but im scared to do so because i dont feel any fulfimnet as i used to do when i was living in the emirates.i always have a seed of doubt in my mind now..my mother tells me its the devil i know she might be right but i still dont believe god might still forgive me.i feel like i hav failed him because i couldnt stand up to this guy about my own religion.all i said to him was please look for the peaceful side of islam and he said well how can i when every other sentence begins with war.i can deny that i kno islam has war themes but what do i do? somehow when i read the koran god sounds much more authoritive than i kno he actually is.i kno he is more loving and kind but the koran seems a bit too...inyourface.and thats what discourages me though i wish it wasnt so.
brothers and sisters please help me out here,and plase dont say just ignore what that guy said...god said i want you all to search and think of my creation well here i am i am doing so but i am so utterly confused.people in this country call the prophet muhammed a pervert i say whatever they are wrong.but then i read the hadiths and the prophet got angry over someone having a picture of animals in their house (i think his wife) he went out of the house so angry and i thought "something to impulsive is not so graceful for the prophet to do..yet he did..what is going on here.."
and how can i defend the idea of the prophet marrying a 9 year old...? i tried to argue the point that human bodies were different back then and that the female developed earlier but i am still not 100 percent convinced..now im not saying islam is horrible i love it i think its the true way but somehow i am growing more and more doubtful of everythig i learnt as a young girl in school as i am faced with the opinions of those who hate islam and new ideas about life that make *sense*.
for example: i dont think evil or good matters.i dont think black or white or light and darkness matter,god created everyone of us and we are part of him so we make up his experience.he set laws in motion on earth and in the universe so a unified experience can happen....but "good" and "bad"...i dont think it matters...aaaaa!!! see what i told you!! i study philosophy at university and it is confusing my spirituality!!! philosophy makes sense but i want religion to make sense too
and i am not prepared to adopt somethign unless it makes sense to me..otherwise it doesnt feel right to me...when i was young i ouldnt question islam how dare i, i knew it was right,,,but now im scared to find myself doubting and questioning things that dont make sense.i always held on to the belief everything god tells us to do is for ur own good,but somethings like music is forbidden and pictures are forbidden and if someone is a christian or jew they are your enemies.can they help it though? can a 16 or 20 year old who has been brought up as a christian or jew and they didnt do anything wrong to me..and god created them just as he created me..why should i hate them?it isnt in my nature to not question and just follow..it makes me feel weaker than stronger and i believe religion was presented to humanity to enlighten and strengthen them instead of turning everyone into sheep.sorry i am just very hurt that i didnt kno how to shut that guy up..im angry at myself for not appreciating god's endless gifts to me and taking his name in vain and not praying..i am also scared i want salvation and enlightenment but nothing makes sense anymore
im sorry if i seemed like i am offending islam..i am angry at myself for thinkign and doubting my religion but i hope some of you can be patient and understandin and inshallah i can strengthen my faith and overcome this doubt and hopefully make it to heaven..somehow doubt it right now lol but hopefully if i work on it.thanks 
