Why do Muslims

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Bi ismillahi rahmani raheem

I am not a Muslim 

thank you for clarifying that, saves me time in assuming we agree on core beliefs like the Quran is from Allah etc.

But surely this refers only to his recitation of the Quran!

The Quran is only known through the prophet [sallah llahu alaihi wa sallam] it didnt comedown as a book whole, so no once you believe that he is a prophet and the Quran is from Allah then the Quran is very clear on who you should follow and take advice from and what authority the prophet had. The verses are numerous and very clear about this.

The entire Sura (53) is about the divine revelation of the Quran, isn't it?

053.003

Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire. 

This essentially is allahs assurance that he guides man through the prophets teachings [sunnah] and that this guidance has divine qualities similar to the Quran since essentially it is from the same source.

the very next verse is clear on this 

053.004

It is no less than inspiration sent down to him: 

i.e the Quran and its teachings [Sunnah: meanings, understanding, wisdom]

Here are three different translations of the same verse so you can better understand what allah is saying about him,

053.006

YUSUFALI:
Endued with Wisdom: for he appeared (in stately form); 

PICKTHAL:
One vigorous; and he grew clear to view 

SHAKIR:
The Lord of Strength; so he attained completion.

053.005

He was taught by one Mighty in Power, 

which goes back to the original point that not only was he given the words of the quran but made to understand its deep knowledge which he shared with us. That knowledge of the quran came from Allah, the prophet does not have to be Omniscient only the one who is teaching him and he certainly knows of all matters and considered them when teaching him, so unless you want to argue that the Quran itself is no longer relevant you can not argue the knowledge that Allah gave to his prophet OF the Quran is not relevant.

I would say yes, most of those things are indeed different.

I would say then you dont know anything about these matters, you may like to consider the maliki madhhab and there use of the actions of the people of madina as a source for legal rullings. Read Imam Maliks Muwattah it is a treatise on islamic law based on there actions, so no nothing has changed at all.

they also affect the older things that the Prophet spoke about.  I am
not a Muslim and don't know in detail what the Prophet said, so it is
difficult for me to give you a specific example, but I will try.

This tells me you are simply debating for the sake of debating since you clearly admit you know little of what he said then you can not have an informed opinion on anything we are discussing. simply because you "feel" a certain way this does not validate your views.

It is also pointless to now go and look for evidence to proove your point since you would essentially be manipulating information to fit into your perspective rather than neutrally and impartially investigating and coming to an unbiased conclusion.

Your limitation is that you know very little about how law in general is derived and Islamic law to be more specific.

I
believe (please correct me if I'm wrong) that the Prophet encouraged
large families.  That may have made sense fourteen centuries ago
because infant mortality was extremely high,

You are wrongly assuming his intension behind the advice, basically you  are assuming the reasons based on your cultural upbringing and experiences which are only specific to you and don't apply to men who certainly lived 1400 years ago a fact which would make it impossible to assume the intentions of others in any way that is logical to us in our time. This fact is also why studying the arabic language as it was understood and spoken 1400 years ago is essential to understanding the Quran and mindset of the people of the time.

He encouraged large families because he loved Allah and loved to see an increase in the people who worshiped him, this was his clearly stated intention it had nothing to do with population growth.

the
planet has almost reached its capacity and resources are becoming
scarce.  If the Prophet were alive today, do you think he would still
be encouraging large families?  Why?

Put aside the fact that what you mentioned wasn't about population growth, if he was alive today and based on things he has said regarding abortion then yes he would still encourage people to have children. Resources are not scarce its only that the western countries in a day consume what the rest of the world could live on for a year.

If people lived by the islamic ideals regarding consumption and the environment then yes we could certainly survive with even larger populations than we see today.

this example you gave does not change much regarding islamic teachings you seem to have an underlaying belief in you arguments that religions are no longer relevant, Islam did not suffer the same fate as the other religions and this is from a historical point of view.