Punishment and reward

[Valerie]

I have a (big?) request for anyone that might read this. I'm really conflicted right now, part of me knows that Islam is what I wanted Christianity to be (which I left 11 years ago). The prayer, serving only God, living your life in a good way and helping those less fortunate.

What did turn me off about Christianity (and I'm reminded of recently, with the Jehovah's Witnesses visiting my house often, and I have no spine to just flat out say No, but I should) are the negative things. I understand if you do good things, you'll be rewarded, if you do the wrong things, you'll be punished. I lived my life as a Christian out of fear, and that gets very tiring, very quickly. I don't want to live in fear of Allah. (And I mean fear as in "afraid" not fear as in "respect" which many people use the word for. Respect is something that I want to give of course).

Can anyone share with me the positive things that you have experienced since being Muslim (for some this includes their whole lives, others just recently)?

Thank you in advance.

EDIT: Again, I'm being honest here, I don't intend to offend anyone, I'm just trying to learn and find my way

 

[arzafar]

well if you believe in Allah then you must also fear His wrath. when we say we fear Allah, we imply that we fear Him getting angry with us. A muslim therefore has to seek refuge from Allah's wrath, which has destroyed many a disobedient and arrogant people in the past. The ruins of those cities can be found even today. However, Allah says that His Mercy Supersedes His Wrath.

the understanding in Islam is
"if you do good things with sincerity, you'll be rewarded, if you do the wrong things and die without repenting sincerely, you'll be punished."

so to be safe from punishment, one has to repent for sins and do good deeds sincerely!

Repentance

Praise be to Allaah.

A Muslim’s faith may become weak and he may be overwhelmed by his desires. The Shaytaan may make sin attractive to him, so he wrongs himself (commits sin) and falls into that which Allaah has forbidden. But Allaah is Kind to His slaves, and His mercy encompasses all things. Whoever repents after doing wrong, Allaah will accept his repentance, for Allaah is Forgiving and Merciful.

“But whosoever repents after his crime and does righteous good deeds (by obeying Allaah), then verily, Allaah will pardon him (accept his repentance). Verily, Allaah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful [al-Maa’idah 5:39 – interpretation of the meaning]

Allaah is Forgiving and Generous. He commands all His slaves to repent sincerely so that they may gain the mercy of Allaah and His Paradise. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! Turn to Allaah with sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will expiate from you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise)” [al-Tahreem 66:8]

The gate of repentance is open to His slaves, until the sun rises from the west. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah spreads out His Hand at night to accept the repentance of those who did wrong during the day, and He spreads out His Hand during the day to accept the repentance of those who did wrong during the night. (This will continue) until the sun rises from the west.” (Narrated by Muslim, no. 2759)

Sincere repentance is not merely the matter of words spoken on the tongue. Rather, the acceptance of repentance is subject to the condition that the person gives up the sin straight away, that he regrets what has happened in the past, that he resolves not to go back to the thing he has repented from, that he restores people’s rights or property if his sin involved wrongdoing towards others, and that he repents before the agony of death is upon him. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness and repent soon afterwards; it is they whom Allaah will forgive and Allaah is Ever All-Knower, All-Wise.

And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: ‘Now I repent;’ nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful torment” [al-Nisaa’ 4:17-18]

Allaah accepts repentance and is Merciful. He calls sinners to repent, so that He might forgive them:

“…your Lord has written (prescribed) Mercy for Himself, so that if any of you does evil in ignorance, and thereafter repents and does righteous good deeds (by obeying Allaah), then surely, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful” [al-An’aam 6:54 – interpretation of the meaning]

Allaah is Kind to His slaves and loves those who repent. He accepts their repentance, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He knows what you do”[al-Shooraa 42:25]

“Truly, Allaah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves”[al-Baqarah 2:222]

When a kaafir becomes a Muslim, Allaah turns his bad deeds (sayi’aat) into good deeds (hasanaat), and forgives him all his previous sins, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say to those who have disbelieved, if they cease (from disbelief), their past will be forgiven” [al-Anfaal 8:38]

Allaah is Forgiving and Merciful, and He loves the repentance of His slaves. He commands them to repent so that He might forgive them. But the devils among mankind and the jinn want to turn people away from the truth and make them incline towards falsehood, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah wishes to accept your repentance, but those who follow their lusts, wish that you (believers) should deviate tremendously away (from the Right Path) [al-Nisaa’4:27]

The mercy of Allaah encompasses all things. If a person’s sins are very great and he has wronged himself very much, but he then repents, Allaah will accept his repentance and will forgive his sins no matter how great they are. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say: O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”[al-Zumar 39:53]

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Our Lord comes down to the lowest heaven when one-third of the night remains, and says, ‘Who will call upon Me so that I may answer him? Who will ask Me so that I may give to him? Who will seek My forgiveness so that I may forgive him?’” (Narrated by Muslim, no. 758)

Man is weak. If a person sins then he has to repent and seek forgiveness every time. Allaah is Forgiving and Merciful, and He is the One Who says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allaah’s forgiveness, he will find Allaah Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful” [al-Nisaa’ 4:110]

The Muslim is vulnerable to making mistakes and sins. So he has to repent and seek forgiveness repeatedly. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “By Allaah, I seek the forgiveness of Allaah and I turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times each day.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 6307)

Allaah loves the repentance of His slaves, and accept it. Indeed, He rejoices over it, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When a person repents, Allaah rejoices more than one of you who found his camel after he lost it in the desert.” (Agreed upon. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 6309)

 

[Munawar]

:salam2:
Assalam-o-alikum sister Valerie,

There is a Hadith (saying of Prophet Mohammad): Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) having said: By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if you were not to commit sin, Allah would sweep you out of existence and He would replace (you by) those people who would commit sin and seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would have granted them pardon.

And an another Hadith goes like this: Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His believing servant than a person who loses his camel carrying food and drink. He sleeps (being disappointed of its recovery) and then gets up and goes in search for that, until he is stricken with thirst. then comes back to the place where he had been before and goes to sleep completely exhausted placing his head upon his hands waiting for death. And when he gets up, he finds that camel standing before him with his provisions of food and drink. Allah is more delighted at the repentance of His servant than that person (as he finds his lost) camel along with the provisions.

In an another Hadith from Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said: I live in the thought of My servant and I am with him as he remembers Me. (The Holy Prophet) further said: By Allah, Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than what one of you would do on finding the lost camel in the waterless desert. When he draws near Me by the span of his hand. I draw near him by the length of a cubit and when he draws near Me by the length of a cubit. I draw near him by the length of a fathom and when he draws near Me walking I draw close to him running.

See, we humans are not the only creation of Allah. Allah has created angels, stars and planets, and also created those forces we call "laws of nature" and they all work perfectly and according to the will of Allah, they do not disobey. Even animals work exactly as they are designed to work and live their lives accordingly. But we humans are different, we are here for a test and we have been given the ability to make choices, and Allah knew that sometimes we will make wrong choices and commit sins, that is why he has also given us a choice to ask for forgiveness and to repent. If we use that choice then we will not be facing the wrath of Allah on the Day of Judgment. That is why in the Quran Allah always mentions punishment to those who commit sins and then do not repent. For those who repent there is forgiveness from Allah and His good reward -- Paradise!

But the repentance should be done sincerely otherwise it would be a joke with God Almighty and will not be considered as a true repentance.

So those who ask for forgiveness from Allah and truly repent should not worry because they will be happy on the Day of Judgment.

I hope I have cleared some of your worries.
Wassalam.

 

[rightpath_357]

Well sis- I've always been Muslim- but these are some reasons why I'm glad I'm a Muslim:

-women get treated like precious jewels

- It's righteous, and protects you from bad things- such as if you read the Aytul Kursi in the morning, you will not be harmed till evening

- It takes away the blinding veil and protects us from sins that could really hurt us in this life: clubbing, being very immodest in broad daylight, etc.

And you just feel peaceful.


Sis- Allah (SW) loves us and He does not want us to worship out of fear, but of respect and love back.

Lots of love sis!!!!! from me!
Salam!!!!!

 

[Frank_H_Smith]

Unlike Christianity which is geared to proselytizing, you will not find a strong organized support system within Islam to help you learn what you need to know like there exists in organizations like The Jehovah Witnesses or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the various other denominations who seek new converts and than raise them from milking drinking infants to meet chewing Christians.

However, what you will find is a book, Al Qur'an that provides answers for all of your major questions. If you were on a desert Island and had only AL Qur'an to read, you would have a book that you could read forever and never fully comprehend the depth of truth that exists within its' covers.

I reject the Jehovah Witness Organization because the reject Allah and replace Him with "The Faithful and Discreet Slave." (Their organization)

I reject The Church of Jesus Christ because it believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that The Book or Mormon is true. The The book of Mormon contradicts itself and The Bible.

I reject the majority of Christianity because even though each denomination has some aspect of Truth, the majority cling to the Blasphemous Doctrine of The Trinity.

I reject Hinduism because it has a pantheon of gods. Although, many scholars now claim that this pantheon is just anthropomorphic aspects of The One True God.

I reject Buddhism because it is atheistic.

I reject Taoism because it is both atheistic, or perhaps, deistic would be a better term and yet has godlike beings.

I reject Shintoism because it worships the dead.

I reject Baha'i because of its' claim to replace all religions by acceptance of contradictory religions.

I reject Sikhism because, although, I like their understanding of God and many of their beliefs, Punjabi and Gurmukhi are just to hard to learn. No, seriously, I like the Sikhs that I know and I like their teachings and if I were not a Muslim, I would investigate the religion of the Sikh. I also like their cool turbans. (Truthfully, I don't know much about Sikhism since it tends to be a regional religion of the Punjabi Providence of Northern India.

One can find things they like in all religions. One can't find only find the high character of The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and the Glorious Qur'an in Islam. The more I read Al Qur'an the more resolved I am in stating that it is the book of the original teaching of Abraham as revealed to him by Allah.

 

[sal12]

Hello Valerie,

I'm glad that you have chosen us to answer you questions and queries!

It's strange that you said you don't want to live in fear because today that's what I was thinking that I hate to live in fear. The reason I was thinking it is because of the earthquake that's just hit Chile only sometime after the Haiti earthquake and then there's a warning to several countries that a tsunami could hit them! This scared me as I thought it's only a matter of time that something could happen to England where I live as Allah can do whatever He wants!

This would still not put me off Islam.

Apart from the fear there are many good things about life as a Muslim. For example if you lose something and you are looking and searching everywhere all you need to do is say a few words in arabic, innalillahi wa inna ilayi rajioon and within a few minutes you'll find it insha'allah! (works for rme anyway).

If you need to make a decision about anything and you don't know what to choose then you can make a quick prayer which takes about 10 minustes called istikhara and you ask Allah to guide you to the right decision as He has the answers to everything. (this works for a lot of Muslims).

Also if your suffering from a pain, a stomach ache or something you can recite a few verses from the Quran and blow on the part where there is pain and it usually goes away (this has worked for me and my sister).

The examples I've given may seem insignificant but they're everyday things that occur and by doing something quick and simple, can it be rectified.

My point is is that my experiences have taught me to live in fear and hope! Obviously we're not gonna get what we want all the time. In fact we're told that those Muslims that go through trials and hardhips wll get a high place in Jannah so maybe it's a good thing, a blessing in disguise if you going through tough stuff and live in fear as you'll get immesne reward for it in the next life!

But I thought I would mention those things, as in my opinion, just reciting from the Quran or simply praying can make your life a lot easier insha'allah! It's certainly made mine easier! We don't need a massive miracle to happen to us to know that Allah exists and Islam is the right one!

Also if you don't want to live in fear then don't. Live in hope and love for Allah. Mind, you my motivation is fear, fear of death and not doing enough good deeds or asking for forgivensess enough before I die etc. This is what motivates me but everyone has different motivational aims and ways to get there! So if fear isn't for you then simply having faith in Allah is more than most people have!

Hope you understood my post and hope it helped!

Thanks
Sal

 

[Aapa]

Assalaam walaikum,


Dear sweet sister..what is that is not positive about Islam. When you sin and repent and ask forgiveness .it is granted.
When you are in need and pray..it is requested..
When you are alone..you never are..
When the Love is all around you at all times.everywhere and always..

Hey life is pretty good even if you don't have a penny..you remain in the Blessed state..and it just gets better and better and better with each breath.

It is not one singular experience..it is the experiencing of life that changes.

 

[Valerie]

Thank you everyone I just wanted to hear what was special to you about Islam. My motivation for looking for a religion is finding a place where I can be a better person and find peace. Hearing from those who have already found that is a wonderful thing. Thank you