Islaam for a Buddhist

Hi Mr. Tasneem!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for answering me promptly.:)

But my question is not concerned with destiny. I know we are the makers of our own destiny. If we do good we will go to Heaven, and if we do bad we will go to hell.

My question is regarding Allaah's Omniscience. You said," IN Islam we do not believe in pre-destination." I am not at all concerned about pre-destination. I was telling that Allaah knows everything. He now itself knows who is going to Heaven and who is going to hell. Allaah is not bound by time. He knew everything before He started Creation. Thats the reason I particularly asked. If He knows the result, then whats the purpose of the test?

Thats why I was saying that I may be missing some important points about Islaam.

Hope you get my point.

Thanking you,

Everthankful,
Varshaken, the Samurai.

Hi Mr. Tasneem!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for answering me.

But I was not talking about us human beings. I was talking about God. I was saying that God knows exactly what happens and still gives us a choice. God knows exactly that if a certain man is created he will be a non-believer yet He creates him and then "punish" him as said in the Koran. Thats why I was asking you whether I missed any crucial point in studying Koran.

Regarding the versus, I was saying that what does those Right Hand, Left Hand, Nearest etc allude? God is everywhere, then whats the meaning in saying nearest of Him, right hand, left hand etc.

Thats what I was saying to Mr. Muratkose,"When I read the versus, I started speculating about the Day. At the extreme right there will be our Prophets, then the believers and then at last the non-believers. But then, got another problem, Prophets should be the foremost. I could not explain myself and so I asked the question in the forum."

God does not have any shape nor He is a part of something, He is everywhere. Then how could anyone be nearest to Him and some other farthest to Him?

Anyway, thank you for answering.

Varshaken, the Samurai.

Mr Varshaken, the translation from Arabic to English or any other language cannot be completely accurate. There are some words in the Qur'an for which the translators have not been able to find the exact equivalent words. So they have done their best to present it in a manner that we readers can understand from our own perspectives. It is true God is everywhere and He knows the secrets of every heart. Here we are talking about the day of Judgement when this world that we live in bears absolutely no resemblance to what we have seen. As I've said before our ability to think is limited by our experience and the capacity of our mind only. What we have not seen is beyond our imagination. The word "hand" could also mean those who are given their books (their book of deeds) in their right hand who are the fortunate ones, and those given in their left or behind their backs could be the sinners.

When I started reading the Qur'an and understanding my religion I too had some questions, but the more I read, I felt that it is safer for me to understand the plain meaning as I grasp it at that moment. Also I read the commentary that was provided by the scholars, but the commentary is not exhaustive.  The Qur'an is not a book to be read once or twice and kept in a safe place. Unfortunately many of us do not read it constantly, I have heard people (Muslims) say yes I've read the translation once or twice. The more you read it the more you understand its meaning according to when God wants to make things clear to you. To me it is the source of Divine Guidance and so to many Muslims, and we read it everyday of our lives and are grateful to God for having bestowed it on mankind. My advise to you is don't stop if you cannot understand any particular aspect, move on to the next and keep reading. If your search for the truth is sincere, Allah will guide you and help you understand and make it easy for you.

Mr Varshaken, I have been trying to explain to you the meanings of most of the verses about which you have asked as well as I have explained the message of oneness of God and about the Prophets. The only question to which you are not satisfied with my answer is why Allah tests us despite knowing who He will put in Heaven or Hell. Even to this I have tried my best to answer, and because you are not convinced I suggested that you continue to read the Qur'an ie the translation. I have earlier suggested to you the best site that I found. I am once again giving this site link which has translations by three translators: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ Before every sura there is the introduction provided by a very good scholar, which would help you understand. There are a lot of books available explaining Islam. Once again it worries me that people sincerely intersted in learning about Islam may unfortunately get hold of the wrong sources of information or the advise of people who are seen to be following Islam but belong to completely different sects from main stream Islam. Their teachings are in many ways contrary to what the Qur'an says and relate more to historical facts etc.

IN one of my earlier posts I have also suggested some books as well as a site. Please refer to that. The following sites also may be helpful to you: http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=brows e&CR=218&dgn=4. This site is called Islam Q & A.

http://www.islaam.com/ May be this may help. If you want some books mailed to you free of cost you can send your address by private message and I could get them mailed out. Islamicity may also offer this service, you could also check with them.

Please do not think that I am tired of your questions. You can continue to ask and I will try to explain to the best of my ability. However, as I have said earlier that I am not a scholar but only someone who is seeking Allah's guidance and struggling to earn His pleasure. So do not hesitate to pick up some good sources of information (books or learned scholars) - from amongst the Sunni or main stream Islam). Most of the non-Arabs don't understand Arabic and all that we do is to understand the meaning of the verses that we recite in our namaz so that we can increase our concentration and be mindful of what we recite. Some people do learn the language but I would think it would be easier to learn if you are in the company of Arabs or in an Arabic speaking country. But we all have our limitations and we can only try our best with whatever Allah has blessed us with and seek His forgiveness.

 

Edited by Tasneem