WHAT IS KUFR?????

We believe in Muhammad (pbuh) as prophet and not as son of god and partner of god. For us, Muhammad is the messenger, a forewarner,  a guide for us to meet and know the commands of Allah. Muslims believe in the ONENESS OF ONE TRUE GOD-->ALLAH, the All-hearing, All-Seeing, All-knowing.. that doesn�t need to die to save His servant from hellfire.

�Say (O Mohammad pbuh):� He is Allah, (the) One. Allah-us-samad (The self-sufficient Master whom all creatures need, He neither eats or drinks). He begets not, nor was He begotten; And ther is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.� Suratol Ikhlas

"He is Allah, the one and only God," means that He is "the Eternal and the Absolute," and that, "He begot none nor was He begotten," and that "there is none comparable to Him." The Arabic term "Ahad" used here to refer to the unity of Allah is much more precise than the much more frequently used term "Wahid" which means "one". "Ahad" has the added connotations of absolute and continuous unity and the absence of equals.

"The Eternal, the Absolute" means the supplicated Lord without whose permission nothing is decided. Allah is the One Lord. He is One in His Divinity and all the other beings are but His servants. To Him and Him alone are addressed all supplications. He and only He decides everything independently. No one decides with Him. And since He is the one and only God this quality is already His.

"He begot none, nor was He begotten," means that the reality of Allah is deep-rooted, permanent and everlasting. No changeable circumstances ever affect it. Its quality is absolute perfection at all times. Birth is descent and multiplication and implies a developed being after incompleteness or nothingness. It requires espousal which is based on similarity of being and structure. All this is utterly impossible in the case of Allah. So the quality of "One" includes the renouncement of a father and a son.

"There is none comparable to Him" means that no one resembles Him in anything or is equivalent to Him in any respect, either in the reality of being, or in the fact that He is the only effective power, or in any of His qualities or attribute. 

believer wrote: Very interesting post Ron.   Do you think GOD wants us to believe in Him?

I think that a truly loving God would want us to believe the same things that He believes, and that that would include a profound love of and respect for mankind, His greatest creation.

If God really cared about my belief in Him personally, He could easily convince me.  (He is supposed to be omnipotent, isn't He?)  IMHO the fact that He doesn't is sufficient answer to your question.

I have been told by Muslims that a person has to believe in Allah and Mohammad to be allowed into heaven.

Yes, one thing I have noticed about most of the world's religions is that they start out urging us to love one another, but they always end up trying to coerce us to love God -- or else.  Is that what a loving God would teach?

As'Salaamu Alakum

( if anyone decides not to read my whole post, I made it easier by having my questions stated in bold-)

Finally replying to this post makes me feel like a guest to a party that showed up very late. When all the food and cake is gone and everyone is already on their way home....

But in all seriousness their is a understanding I hope to receive that I was not able to achieve even after the 10 pages I read.

Seek and truth-light, the two of you really explained as best what a Kufr is----

to make sure I understand let me sum it up in my own words. If I'm missing or still got it wrong, correct me please....

Layalee's understanding of a kufr- ' A kufr is a individual that rejects due to disbelief the unity of Allah-s.w.t-( Tawheed) AND also rejects  due to disbelief ANY of the messengers/ prophets that Allah (swt) has provided to us. A kufr also does NOT ACCEPT ISLAM.'

If this is the sum of it all- I agree and accept the definition.

In my defintion I wanted to talk about two matters---

1) Rejection 2)Islam

Rejection

1 a: to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use

If a individual decides not to practice or follow something then they are rejecting. But just because someone does not practice or follow a particular way of life, or follow through with a particular matter, doesn't mean it is done out of disbelief.

So, for whatever reason a individual decides to practice a religion that does not include all the prophets doesn't mean they practice in a manner or fashion that causes them to reject a prophet due to disbelief.

If my above statement is wrong, please correct me.

I want to provide a very simple, easy to understand example that I hope to use to support my statement.

Their are many ways a individual can diet. Their is a very popular way known as the Atkins diet, it requires for a individual to eliminate food that has 'carbo' in it. This diet has been known to help many individuals lose weight.

Another diet is the 'weight watchers diet'. It involves this type of point system that deals mainly in counting calories. The diet allows you to eat food that has 'carbs'. It is another diet that has helped individuals lose weight.

After reviewing diets lets say, I go for the weight watchers diet, for what ever the case may be. Lets say I want to do so because all my family does it, and it allows us to develop a really good support team. Mine you though, I have nothing against the Atkins diet, I believe the Atkins diet DO WORK, If I choosed the Atkins diet I believe I will still lose the same amount of weight. I believe the Atkins diet it good, but I just don't want to follow it.

Did I reject the atkins diet. Yes, I did! Did I do it out of disbelief, NO!

Do I believe in the atkins diet. Yes!

Did I lose the weight, yes! Did my way still allow me to reach my goal! Yes!

Back to religion----

So if a individual practices in a way that allows them to understand and adhere to the message of Allah(s.w.t), but it does not include a practice that involves all the Prophets then do they go to hell?

There is a ayat in the Quran I want to bring up....

3:59- O you who believe! obey Allah and obey the Rasul, and those in command among you; then if you differ in anything then refer it back to Allah and the Rasul,- if you are believing in Allah and the Future day. This is better and excellent conclusion.

Taking a mini break away from religious talk (but keeping the above mention verse in mind) I want to bring up another simple easy to understand story.

When I was younger, my mother would leave out early in the morning to do errands. She would leave notes on her instructions and rules for me and my siblings to follow while she was gone. Sometimes she would leave them in odd places, and not all of us had to chance to read and follow. Despite this, I could still manage to simply behave and do the 'right thing', do everything that was stated on the note but without the actual knowledge of what is on the note, which in the end still leaves me out of trouble.

Considering my lil story,.....

Can a individaul follow the ONE message that Allah(swt) gave all the prophets, without having the knowledge of the ways of a particular prophet?

Islam

This is a ayat that I seen stated quite often throughout the ten pages. Like all verses in the Quran, it is a very important one.

3:82- And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, then never will it be accepted from him, and he will in the Future be of the losers.

What is Islam?

This is a question that I don't want a webster dictionary or wikepedia 'answer' to. This is a very important question that I think we as muslims and non-muslims have to ask ourselves. I forgot who stated it in the post---ok now I remember, Angela stated it. She made a really good statement..she said 'but what Islam are they exposed to'.(On page 6) 

I am not a 'Quranist'...but I turn to my Quran quite often and feel as if all 'answers' can be found in this Holy book.

So to determine what Islam is can be found in the Quran.

Tonight I'm using the Holy Quran that was translated and provides a commentary by Dr. Zohurul Hoque.

I will like to state another ayat which he provides a commentary for. It provides a good starting to grasping what Islam is.

3:18 ( Whereas there is only one way to Heaven having tributaries more, 71:20) Decidedly the (true) religion with Allah is (only) Islam (i.e. entire submission to His will, 2:112, which is the natural religion of man, 30:30, and of all the nabis including the Patriarch Ibrahim, 2:128,131;3:66,5:44; whereas every child is born as a Muslim, it is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian, Bu.23:79). And those who were given the scripture do not differ ( in it) except after what came to them of the knowledge ( of Allah's unity) out of jealousy among themselves ( for the false concept of favored nations). And whoever disbelieves in the Messages of Allah, then (he will find that) Allah is indeed Quick at reckoning (his account)

In very simple terms Islam is TOTAL SUBMISSION to God.

2:112- No! whoever submits himself entirely to Allah and is a doer of good- for him then is his reward at the presence of his Rabb; and there is no fear on them, now will they grieve.

To sum up what Islam is-

22:78- And do Jihad in Allah the striving that is His due. He has chosen you, and has not put upon you any hardship in the Religion- the faith of your father Ibrahim. He has named you Muslims,- from before and in this, that the Rasul may be a witness over you and that you may be witnesses over mankind. Therefore keep up the Salat, and give the Zakat, and hold fast to Allah. He is your Protector, so what an excellent Protector and what an excellent Helper!

 What a verse....what a great verse....

If a indvidual follow the description as stated above including total submission to Allah( s.w.t), - but they are for whatever reasons maybe a,  ( taking a statement made by Jamal Morelli on page 7)

'Righteous Jews, Christians, Bahai's, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Animists, Atheists - no matter what they have done to ease another's suffering, no matter how much they have done to increase the flows of connectivity, information and love to reach the troubled corners of the earth, to alleviate disease, heartbreak, hunger, soul crushing poverty ...  all these non-muslims, they all go to eternal hellfire for not accepting Mohammed as the Last Prophet and observing the proscribed practices of Muslims??( my question marks)

I can't for some reason stop my text from being underline after I copy and pasted J.M statement,

So I will stop typing soon 

my personal view is this: Islam and accepting and embracing the Prophet Muhammed (p.b.u.h) and following his sunnah and deciding to follow particular Islamic law is very benefitual for ME, and millions of others. But I am not one that at this moment, unless shown a different light, feels as if we are the only muslims. A person can, from what I believe in my heart, follow and submit to God, without 'being' a muslim. Yet, still have characteristics of what a Muslim is according to the Quran. Such individuals are not 'disbelievers' and can still go to heaven. Insha'Allah.

Am I wrong for feeling this way( as stated above)?

Salaam,

Layalee

Hayfa, exactly right :-Becasue I love Allah, my creator, the devinie essence that gave life to all, I will love all that Allah created.

To love Allah means we have a greater ability to love others, if we allow it.  This kind of love is not selfish, or envious. It is unconditional, and the greatest love we can have for a fellow human being. Mothers are especially blessed with unconditional love. But let us not make any mistake. Unconditional love does not mean we excuse wrong doings, but instead it helps to teach others their errors, so they can correct their ways. Sometimes some restitution,or just punishment, is required.I am confident that all of us can give ourselves our own punishment as saying sorry often is not enough. We have to correct our mistake, and this is often harder than the mistake we initially made. But any punishment a mother for example gives her child, is still done with love, in a similar way that Allah punishes us. Not always easy for any human to practice. It takes a huge amount of effort. Our perfect example to follow is of course the Prophet Muhammed(pbuH)