₦airaland Forum

Origin of the Qur'an

An interesting feature of the Qur'an is that it replies to critics as to its origin. That is, no one has yet come up with suggestion as to where this book came from which is not commented on within the book itself.

In fact, the new Catholic Encyclopedia, under the heading Qur'an, mentions that over the centuries there has been many theories as to where this book came from. There conclusion: today, no sensible person believes any of these theories. This leaves the Christians in some difficulty. You see, all the theories suggested so far , according to this encyclopedia, are not really acceptable to anyone sensible today. They are too fantastic.

Where did the book come from? Those who have not really examined the Qur'an usually dismissed it as being, they say, a collection of proverbs or aphorisms, saying that one man used to announce from time to time. They imagined that there was a man who, from time to time during the day, will think of some witty little saying and spit it out and those around him will quickly write it down and eventually these were all collected and became the Qur'an.

Those who read the Qur'an will find that it is not anything like that at all. The collection of things said by the Prophet is the subject and the content of the Hadith. But the subjects and contents of the Qur'an are all in a form of a composition and explanation. I site as an example the chapter, Yusuf, which is an entire story in great detail about on e particular episode of one portion of the life of one man. It is a composition.

It is for this reason that virtually all those who have actually examined the Qur'an usually refer to it as being the product of the authorship as attributed to Muhammad and his 'co-adjudicators'. These were supposed to be people who would sit with him and composed the Qur'an. You see they imagined that the Qur'an was composed by a committee.

They acknowledged that there was too much information and it was too well composed for one man to have assembled. So, they imagined that a committee of men used to meet regularly, brought their various sources of information, composed something and then handed to this man and told him, "Go to the people tomorrow, this is your revelation." In other words, it was a fraud concocted by a group of people. But what do we know about fraud? The Qur'an reminds us as it says:

"Saw, now the truth has come, and falsehood neither invents anything nor restores anything." (34:49).

It is hard to translate it into English precisely, but what this verse is telling us is that falsehood is not the source of a new thing. A new and truthful thing cannot come from falsehood and falsehood does not restore, to our minds, the facts. Truth is in agreement with facts. Falsehood is something else. So falsehood is empty. If something is born fraud, it will never bring us new information. It will never endure; it will only collapse over a period of time.

Perfect balance of Words

Now, what is the point of this perfect balance of words? For myself, it shows the author was well aware of the distinction between using words and mentioning words, a fine logical point. But more than that, it indicates the preservation of this book.

After giving a lecture on the subject of the Qur'an , I touched on some of these subjects and a questionnaire from the audience afterwards said: "How do we know we still have the original Qur'an. Maybe pieces of it have been lost or extra parts been added?" I pointed out to him that we had pretty well covered that point because since these items, the perfect balance of words in the Qur'an, have come to light only in this generation, anybody who would have lost the portion of this book, hidden some of it, or added some of their own would have been unaware of this carefully hidden code in the book. They would have destroyed this perfect balance.

It is interesting to note too that, well, such a thing might be possible to organize today by the use of a computer to coordinate all words so that whatever thought you might have as to a meaning of a sentence or however you might construe an equation out of a sentence, you could check for yourself and the book will always have the balance of words.

If that were possible today, if it were possible fourteen centuries ago, why would it be done and then left hidden and never drawn to the attention of those who first saw this book? Why it would be left with the hope of the author who contrived this, that maybe in many centuries someone will discover it and have a nice surprise? It is a scheme that does not make sense.



                                                                       Best Explanation

We are told in the Qur'an that no questionnaire will come to the Muslims with the question for which a good answer has not been provided, and the best explanation for whatever his question. This verse says:

"For everything they say we are given something to go back to them and reply." (25:33)

We looked again to the index of the Qur'an and we found the word, qalu (they say), is found three hundred and thirty-two times. Now, what would be the natural counterpart? The Arabic word, qul, which is the command 'say' and you will find at the index it also occurs three hundred and thirty-two times.

Good and Evil

There is one interesting verse which, I felt, spoke directly to me from right off the page. It mentions two words in Arabic, al-khabeeth (the evil), and al-taib (the good). The verse reads:

"Say, the evil and the good are not comparable, even though the abundance of evil will surprise you. So be mindful of your duty to Allah, O Man of understanding, that you may succeed." (5:100)

When I had a look at those two words in Arabic, the evil and the good, and found it in the Qur'an that they both occur seven times. Yet the verse here is saying that they are not comparable. I should NOT expect to find that they occur the same number of times. BUT what does the rest of this verse say?

"The evil and the good are not comparable. The abundance of the evil will surprise you" - and it did for there were too many of them. But it continues,

"So be mindful of your duty to Allah, O Man of understanding, that you may succeed." - So press on. Use your understanding and you will succeed. This is what the verse said to me. Well, I found the answer on one verse further on,

"Allah separates the evil from the good. The evil He piles one on top of the other, heaping them all together." (8:37)

Here is the solution to the difficulty. While we have seven occurrences of al-khabeeth (the evil) which matches up with the occurrences of al-taib (the good), according to the principle of the verse, evil is separated from good and is piled one on top of the other and heaped altogether as one. Hence, we do not count them as 7 separate instances.


                                                         
                                                           Occurrence of Words

A favourite difficulty, or supposed difficulty, which critics like to cite concerning the Qur'an is that - the author of this book was ignorant because he advised Muslims to follow the lunar new year instead of the solar year.

The critics say the author was unaware of the differences in the length of years, that if one follows the twelve lunar months, one loses eleven days every year. However, the author was well aware of the distinction between the length of the solar year and lunar year.

In Chapter 18, Verse 9:

It mentions 300 years and gives their equivalent as 309 years. As it happens, 300 SOLAR years is equal to 309 LUNAR years.

The arabic word for 'month', shahar will be found 12 times in the Qur'an. There are 12 months in a year. If we find twelve months, how many days should we expect to find? The word in arabic is yaum, and as it happens you will find that the word occurs 365 in the Qur'an.

The original issue which had me interested in looking up the occurrence of months and days was this distinction between solar year and the lunar year. Well, for 25 centuries, it has been known that the relative positions of the sun, moon and earth coincide every 19 years. This was discovered by a Greek by the name of Meton, and it is called the 'Metonic' cycle.

Knowing this, I looked again in the index of the word 'year', sanah and found, sure enough, that is occurs in the Qur'an 19 times.

Jesus and Adam

Connecting these ideas and the idea that the Qur'an composed of verses that are perfected and then expounded for us, consider the verse which says:

"The likeness of Jesus before Allah is as the likeness of Adam." (3:59)

It is very clear that what we have in the statement is an equation. This verse goes on to explain how that is true because they both came under unusual circumstances rather than having a mother and a father in the usual human reproductive way. But more than that, I got to consider the use of the mention of words.

The words are used clearly enough. Jesus is like Adam and by Jesus and Adam, we mean those two men. But what about the mention of the words? Was the author aware of the fact that if we were considering the words as words themselves, this sentence also read that 'Jesus' is something like 'Adam'. Well, they are not spelt with the same letters, how can they be alike in this revelation? The only answer came to me fairly quickly and I took a look at the index of the Qur'an.

The index of the Qur'an has been made available only since 1945. This book was the result of years of work by a man and his students who assembled a book which lists every word in the Qur'an and where it can be found.

So, when we look up the word Isa (Jesus), we find it in the Qur'an twenty-five times. When we look up Adam, we find it in the Qur'an twenty-five times. The point is that they are very much alike in this book. They are equated. So, following up on this idea, I continued to examine the index looking for every case where something was set up as an equation, where the likeness of something was said to be the likeness of some other thing. And in every case, it works. You have to example a verse which reads:

"The likeness of this who reject our signs is as the likeness of the dog." (7:176)

Well, the phrase is Arabic for 'the people who reject our signs' could be found in the Qur'an exactly five times. And so is the Arabic word for 'the dog' (al-kalb). And there are several instances of exactly the same occurrence.

It was some months after I found this for myself that a friend of mine, who is continuing this investigation with me, made a suggestion that there are also some places in the Qur'an where one thing is said to be not like another thing.

As soon as he mentioned this up to me, we both went for the index and had a quick look at several places where on thing is said to be not like another thing and counted their occurrence in the Qur'an. We were surprise and maybe should not have been to find that, after all, they do not match up. But an interesting thing does happen. For example, the Qur'an makes it very clear in the verse that trade is not like interest. The two words will be found six times for on and seven for the other. And so it is in every other case.

When one thing is said to be not like another, they over for a difference of one time. It would be five of one and four of the other, or seven of one and eight of another.

The Two Phenomena

A friend of mine from the University of Toronto, had the experience of dealing with a man who was doing his doctorate in psychology. He chose as his subject: 'The Efficiency of Group Discussion'.

He suggested a number od criteria as to what constitutes an efficient discussion. He graphed the process; that is, he achieved a measure of efficiency of all groups in their discussions according to an index by his system. On his graph he indicated the progress made by the discussion groups of various sizes.

The interesting thing that happened which he did not expect to find when he began his project was that, while there were some differences between the size of any given group and how well they did in discussions, he was surprised to find that groups of two were completely off his scale! In other words, when people sit down to discuss something, they were so much more efficient than any other size of group that it went completely off his scale of measurement.

When my friend heard about this, something went on at the back of his mind. My friend, being a Muslim, thought there was something familiar here about this idea. The psychology researcher was not a Muslim. He was debating with himself on changing the topic of his thesis. Should he call it 'The Phenomenon of Two' or 'The Two Phenomena? He was SO surprised at his discovery.

Meanwhile, my friend found that there is a verse in the Qur'an, and he found it for himself on the same night, which speaks on discussions and the size of groups and how efficient they are. And maybe we should not be surprised to find that it is the groups that are two in numbers that do the best in achieving results. The main verse in the Qur'an reads, concerning discussion groups, that when discussing the Qur'an one should sit alone and reflect on its meaning or discuss it in groups of two.

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Use and Mention of Words

For myself, as I said everyone knows something for sure or has an interest and experience in life; my interest is in mathematics and logic. There is a verse in the Qur'an which says:

"This a scripture whose verses are perfected and then expounded." (11:1)

Which tells me that there are no wasted words in the Qur'an; that each verse is perfected and then it is explained. It could not be in a better form. One could not use fewer words to say the same thing or if one uses more words one would only be adding superfluous information.

This directed my attention to a particular mathematical subject, a logical subject, and I examined the Qur'an to see if I could find something of what I knew to be the case.

A revolution in logic has occurred in the last one hundred years, primarily over the difference between use and mention of words. A structure of logic seemed to be in danger of collapsing about a hundred years ago because it came to the attention of the people who studied these matters that the structure was not quite sound. The issue involved 'self-reference' and the use and the mention of words which I will explain briefly.

Aristotle's law of the 'excluded middle' was the statement that every statement is either true false. About a hundred years ago, somebody pointed out that the law of the excluded middle is a statement and is therefore not a law after all. It could just as well be false as well as true.

This was a tangled knot for the logicians to untie until they came to understand the difference between the use and the mention of a word.

When we use a word, we consider its meaning. When we mention a word we are discussing the word itself. If I said Toronto is a large city, I mean Toronto, that place, is a large cit. If I say Toronto has seven letters, I am talking about the word 'Toronto'. In the first case I used the word and in the second I mentioned the word. You see distinction.

Predictions

In fact, the Qur'an confidently predicted a number of things only a few years before they came to pass. The fall of the Persian Empire, for example, was predicted in spite of the fact that it had just suffered a serious military reverse. The evidence was all to the contrary. But in the chapter entitled Rom, the fall of the Persian Empire who were recently victors over the Romans was predicted.

When all the Muslims in the world could meet in one room, the revelations were already discussing their future successes. In confidence, they were planning for the day when they would be in charge of the city where they were forced at that time to hide for their very lives.

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                                                           Evidence of Divine Origin

Some people may like to find any number of things in the Qur'an. But an honest method in examining this book, looking for evidence of the Divine origin, is to take things at their value, to look for things that are clear and to look in those places where we are invited to look. Remember the passage that I quoted earlier: "Have not the disbelievers seen, " This a common phrase of the Qur'an: "O Man, Have you not seen." The invitation is to examine the evidence in these places. We are doing the sensible thing if we examine the words used to look for the doubted meaning and to find evidence of the Divine origin.

Each one of us is an expert on something. One does not have to have a degree in a particular subject to decide that now, "I can take my expertise to the Qur'an and see what I can find." We all now something for some from our own experience and life.

I heard a story, several years ago in Toronto, of man who was given the Qur'an to read. The man was a member of the merchant marines who spent his life on the sea. When he read a verse in the Qur'an describing the wave on the ocean, "waves within waves and the darkness between," he was surprised because the description was just what he knew the situation to be. When he returned the Qur'an to the man who gave it to him to read, he asked him (because he was completely ignorant of the origins of Islam): "This Muhammad, was he a sailor?" Well, of course, he was quite surprised to know that the man spent his life in the desert. So he had to ask himself: "From where did he get this knowledge of what looks like on a stormy sea?"

We all know something that we can be confident of and if we can turn to the Qur'an to read what it says about that subject, we are asking for confirmation of our belief in the Divine origin of the book.

The Smallest Matter

For example, there is a word which is translated today usually in Arabic as Zarrah. This is usually translated as 'atom' and it is usually thought of in Arabic as being the smallest item available at one time. Perhaps, the Arabs thought it was an ant or a grain of dust. Today, the word is usually translated as 'atom'.

Those who would outsmart the author of the Qur'an have insisted that, well, the atom is not after all the smallest piece of matter because in this century it has been discovered that even the atom is made of still smaller pieces of matter. Is it them possible to outsmart the author who chose to use this word? Well, there is an interesting verse, in chapter 10, verse 61, which speaks of items the size of a zarrah, (atom) or smaller. There is no possibility that on this subject someone is going to say a new discovery has outdated the words of the Qur'an on the issue of the size of matter or the ultimate particles. The verse talks about items the size of a zarrah (atom) or smaller. [hence, it IS written in the Qur'an that an atom IS NOT the smallest particle!]


Forgiveness

Speaking of outsmarting the author of the Qur'an, the Islamic point of view is that when a man embraces Islam, his past is forgiven from the very beginning. This has been the invitation to Islam: come to Islam and all is forgiven from the past.

But consider this. There is only one enemy of Muhammad, peace be upon him, who is mentioned by name in the Qur'an: one Abu Lahab. In a short chapter of this book, he is condemned to punishment for his sins.

As it happens, the man himself was alive for many years after this revelation. He could therefore have finished Islam very easily. He needed only to go to the Muslims to announce his conversion. They had in their hands the revelation which said that this man is doomed to punishment. He could have gone to Muslims and say: "I accept Islam, am I forgiven or not?"

He could have confused them so much as to finish this small movement because he would have been pointing out to them that they were now in confusion. The policy was instant forgiveness of the past, but their own revealed scripture announced that he was not forgiven. As it was, Abu Lahab died without accepting Islam.

The Expanding Heavens

Let me first show more of our examination of the Qur'an, and then an examination of some words of prophets to find this point of convergence. In Chapter 51, verse 47, it is mentioned that the heavens are expanding. As I mentioned earlier, this is in connection with the 'Big Bang' origin of the universe, as it is usually called, and it was in 1973 that the Nobel prize was awarded to three men who were confirming that, after all, the universe is expanding.

The comments of Muslims over the centuries on this verse which speaks of the heavens doing exactly that is very interesting. The wisest among them stated that the words are very clear, that the heavens are expanding, but they could not imagine how that could be so. But they were content to leave the words as they were, to say: "Allah knows best."

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The City of Iram

The Qur'an mentions a city by the name of Iram (89:7). The city of Iram has been unknown to History, so unknown that even Muslim commentators, out of embarrassment or feeling apologetic for their religion, have commented on this mention of the city in the Qur'an as being perhaps figurative, that Iram was possibly a man and not a city.

In 1973, the excavation in Syria at the site of the ancient city of Eblus uncovered the largest collection of cuneiform writings on clay tablets ever assembled. In fact, the library discovered in Eblus contains more clay tablets that are more than four thousand years old than all the other tablets combined from all other sites.

Interestingly enough, you will find the details in the National Geographic of 1978 which confirms that in those tablets the city of Iram is mentioned. The people of Eblus used to do business with the people of Iram. So here in 1973, comes confirmation of the fact that, after all, there really was an ancient city by that name, wherever it was. How did it find its way into the Qur'an, we might ask?

Those Muslims who may have offered their comments, trying to explain away this reference that they were uncomfortable with, were outsmarted by the author of the Qur'an. They were those who would attempt to outsmart the author of the Qur'an. Primarily, their activity would involve trying to produce the evidence that the author of this book had a primitive understanding of the world around us.

Taking a Stand

Everyone must be committed to something. You have to put your foot down some place. It is impossible to be neutral at all times. There has been a point of reference in the life of any thinking individual. You have to take a stand somewhere. The question, of course, is to put your foot down in the right place. Since there is no such thing as a proof of a proof and so on, in order to find the right place to put one's foot down, to take a stand, we have to search and find that place and it is by a method that I hope to illustrate here.

It is a question of finding a point of convergence. You see, we search for truth in many places and we begin to know that we are succeeding in finding the truth if all our different paths start to converge; they start to come together at the same point.

If we are examining a book, looking for evidence of divine origin, and we are led to Islam, this is one path. If at the same time, we examining the words of all those who were called prophets and we find ourselves led to Islam, we have a firmly grounded basis for belief. We started looking for truth in two different places and found ourselves going down the path headed for the same destination.

No one ever proves all things. We have to stop at some point being satisfied with our standards as I have mentioned earlier. The point is, in order to take a stand and to be sure it is in the right place, we want to examine all the evidence around us and see where does it lead us and anticipate this point of convergence; to say it looks like all things are pointing to this place. We go to that place and then look at the data around us to see if it fits into place. Does it now make sense? Are we standing in the right place?

This is a recent confirmation.

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded only a few years ago to those who confirmed the Big Bang Theory origin of the universe. It was only 200 years ago that Leeuwenhoek and others perfected the microscope and discovered for the first time that living cells are composed of 80% water.

The above information which was scientifically confirmed only in the last 2 centuries, can be found in the Qur'an which originated 14 centuries ago! Could it then have been written by an ordinary man or can it only be the work of God?

The verse above, (21:30) states that disbelievers will scientifically prove the Big Bang Theory and that living cells are made of water -- Those Nobel Prize winners and the Dutchman who invented the microscope were not muslims. And yet they confirmed the vital statement that at one time, the universe was one piece, that life was made from water, just as verse says,

"Have not the disbelievers seen that the Heavens and the Earth were one piece and we parted them? And We made every living thing from water. Will they not then believe?" (21:30)

Does this not prove that the author of the Qur'an, has indeed met the challenge, "Was He there when the universe began, when life began."

The Big Bang Theory

Verses in the Qur'an claim that the author of Qur'an was present when the universe first appeared, when life first began billions of years ago.

We have a right to question this claim. We ask the author, "Well tell us something to prove to us that YOU were there when they world began, life began."

In reply to our challenge, the Qur'an contains a dumbfounding statement. It reads, "Have not the disbelievers seen that the Heavens and the Earth were one piece and we parted them? And We made every living thing from water. Will they not then believe?" (21:30)

(in the Qur'an, 'We' is used not to show plurality, that several Gods exist but rather as a sign of respect)

There are 3 key points in (21:30). First of all, it is the disbelievers who are mentioned as being those who would discover that the heavens and the earth were one piece and then parted and it is the DISBELIEVERS (non-Muslims) who will DISCOVER that all life came to be made from water.

Coincidentally, the universally accepted theory of 'the origin of the universe' is now the BIG BANG THEORY. It maintains that at one time ALL OF HEAVENS AND THE EARTH were one piece, the 'monoblock' as it is called. At a particular point in time, this 'monoblock' burst and it continues to expand. This is the origin of the universe we have today.

This is a recent confirmation.

Sign of God

While all the Prophets have their signs, Moses had the competition with the magicians and the Pharaoh, Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead and so on, one Sign was given to the last of the prophets. According to the Muslims, this is the Qur'an. And this one Sign is still with us. Does not that after all seem fair, that if prophethood is to end that the last prophet should bring something that stays with us so that, in fact, a Muslim who takes his religion seriously suffers no disadvantage to Muslims who lived fourteen centuries ago?

Those people who kept company with the Prophet had access to no more of the necessary information than we have today. They had the Qur'an. That was the sign for them. It is still a sign to us today, the same miracle.

Well, let us test the Qur'an. Suppose that if I say to a man, "I know your father." Probably he is going to examine the situation and see if it seems likely that I have met his father. If he is not convinced, he will start asking me questions like: "You know my father, you say, is he a tall man? Does he have curly hair? Does he wear glasses?," and so on. If I keep giving him the right answers to all these questions, pretty soon he is going to be convinced. "Well, I guess this man did meet my father like he said." You see the method.

@Davidylan:

How is this defined in the quran? That is all i ask and please don't tell me to go "researching" . . . i will no longer entertain that hypocritical muslim game of trying to dodge questions by pushing it on the questioner.

The whole jibiti of Ijebu people is actually in your pocket. Just continue to dock with all your semantics. our conscience is surely aware of your deceitfulness.


                                                  Dilemma of Applying Reason

Almost all of us have been faced with the questioning of a child by repeating one word over and over. He can be very frustrating to us as he asks, "WHY?" If you put a knife beyond his reach, he wants to know "WHY?" When you explain it is sharp, he asks "WHY?" And so you explain, "in order to cut fruit," and he asks, "WHY?" And so it goes.

It illustrates the dilemma of applying reason. What we have to do when we apply reason is first set standards of proof. We decide for ourselves, "What will I be satisfied with if I find such and such and so and so that constitutes for me a final proof?" We have to decide on that first.

What happens though, is that on the really important issues, the philosophical matters, thinkers set standards of proof and they take a look at their subjects and eventually they may arrive at their standards. They may arrive at the point which say would constitute a proof. But then they ask for a proof of the proof.


                                                       
                                                                         Setting Standards

The key to avoiding this endless dissatisfaction is to satisfy ourselves about the standards first; to satisfy ourselves that such and such are a list of criteria that constitute proof, satisfying proof, and then we test the subjects that we examine. In particular I will apply this to the Qur'an.

Ask a thoughtful Christian why he is a Christian, and he will usually reply, "The miracle of the Resurrection." The basis for his belief being that about two thousand years ago a man died and he was raised from the dead. That is his miracle, his 'touchstone', because all else depends on that.

Ask a Muslim, "Well, what is your miracle? Why are you a Muslim? What is your miracle? Why are you a Muslim? Where is your miracle?" and the Muslim can go over and take his miracle off the shelf and hand it to you because his miracle is still with us today. It is the Qur'an; it is his 'touchstone'.

@Davidylan:

I asked a relevant question, it is your duty to either answer it or shut up. Why are you asking us questions too? At your age, can't you do a research on trinity yourself instead of spamming the board?

I did. But what i came up with are many; The word Trinity does not occur in the pages of the Bible. How you can then defined the unknown beats me! Further the concept of 3 to equal 1 is very strange. The Old and New testaments verses do not support it. None of the Prophets ever hinted it. The Jews never knew it. This was the very reason they took jesus to be a fake and blaspamer. So they were determined to shame his soul by killing him on the cross.

The following Biblical Verses go against trinity: Check the first part of the 10 Commandments and then the NT's mark 12 verse 29. Now its your turn to tell me what you have done on faith or Belief  from the Pages of th Qur'an. Please quote verses. Then the whole nairaland will witness for you or for me. This is between you and me now, as people of different faiths, but still brothers from Adam and Eve. lol.


I can not but post the materials from the excellent human being. He was a former Christian. Proving the ahadith about the good people outside islam are always better people when they become Muslims. They have reason to do good; God!

                                    About Gary Miller, the author

Gary Miller (Abdul-Ahad Omar) shows how we can establish true faith by setting standards of truth. He illustrates a simple but effective method of finding out the right direction in our search for truth.

G.R, Miller is a mathematician and a theologian. He was active in Christian missionary work at a particular point of his life but he soon began to discover many inconsistencies in the Bible. In 1978, he happened to read the Qur'an expecting that it, too, would contain a mixture of truth and falsehood.

He discovered to his amazement that the message of the Qur'an was precisely the same as the essence of truth that he had distilled from the Bible. He became a Muslim and since then has been active in giving public presentations on Islam including radio and television appearances. He is also the author of several articles and publications about Islam.

Iman or Faith Previous Next

Iman is the unshakable belief, without a shadow of doubt, arising out of knowledge and firm conviction, in:

A). the existence of one and only true God with all His attributes,
B). all the true Prophets of the past, Mohammad (P*) being the last Prophet,
C). all the revealed unaltered Holy Books of God,
D). the angels of God,
E). life after death and the Day of Judgment,
F). fate



A) Faith in the existence of one and only true God with all His absolute attributes as described previously:


He must believe in Him whole heartedly and obey His commandments. Believing in God without any doubt and obeying His commandments without any hesitation, guides a person to follow the path that leads to eternal life and salvation.




B) Faith in all the true Prophets of the past, Mohammad (P*) being the last Prophet:


A Muslim must believe and accept all the true Prophets of God. He must not make distinction between any of His messengers. He must show the highest respect to each and every prophet of God, even when the followers of other Prophets do not show any respect to Prophet Mohammad (P*). You will not find a Muslim on the earth who will say one disrespectful word against Prophet Moses, Jesus (P*) or any other Prophet. Besides Christianity, Islam is the only religion on earth which accepts the miraculous birth of Prophet Jesus (P*) in its Holy Book. A Muslim must add "peace and blessings of God be upon him" after pronouncing the name of every Prophet. Muslims show the highest reverence to Moses (P*) and Jesus (P*). Unfortunately many of their followers have not been able to show respect to the Prophet of Islam.

Prophet Mohammad (P*) is the last of the prophets and there will be nor more Prophet till the Day of Judgment.




C)Faith in all the revealed unaltered Holy Books of God:


Holy Books of revealed religions are guidance from God to mankind. A Muslim must believe in all the original revelations of God to the earlier prophets.


The earlier revelations were not recorded by the Prophets properly. In later years they were mixed up with legends, false stories, rituals, and man-made laws. The earlier Holy Books did not have complete guidance for mankind. They were addressed only to a specific group of people of a specific period in time. They were also lost and were re-written from stories circulating in the communities. What we have today are not in the language of the Prophets. They all are translations.


A Muslim is obliged to believe in the existence of Holy Books from God in the past. All commandments and stories that agree with the accurately recorded and unaltered Holy Book of Holy Quran, is acceptable to him. The revealed unaltered Holy Book from God should be standard for determining the accuracy and authenticity of the contents of other revealed Holy Books.




D) Faith in the angels of God:


Angels are invisible creations of God, created from spirit. God conducts the affairs of the universe through them. They do not have any freedom of choice and are incapable of disobedience. In contrast to the angels, there is another invisible creation of God called Jinn. They are created from fire and have limited freedom of choice like the human. Satan belongs to them.




E) Faith in life after death & Day of Judgment:


A very firm and unshakable belief in life after death and Day of Judgment is the single most important factor that determines the behavior of a person in this life.


There is always extra effort and hardship on every person who wants to lead a righteous and just life on this earth. If a person is told that, on the "Day of Judgment", he will not be accountable for all his deed on this earth, will he care to undergo the hardship of a righteous and just life? If he is further told that someone else has already paid in advance for all his sins, will there be any limit to his unjust and immoral behavior? If one looks at the life of people around him, who do not believe in the accountability on the "Day of Judgment`, he will notice how immoral life these people lead and how unjust are their deed.


Many of the evils of the society stem from the belief that someone else has already paid in advance for all their sins that they already have committed and will commit in the future!
Every person who has firm faith in (1) life after death, (2) Day of Judgment, and (3) accountability for his deed in this life, has to try to live a righteous and just life. He will always try his best to avoid evils and be fair to others. Every pious and righteous person wants to please God. Anything that pleases God is good.


One day this world will end. There will be resurrection of the dead, followed by the Day of Judgment. People will be rewarded, forgiven or punished according to their life in this world and will end up in heaven or hell. The precise time and date of the end of the world is only known to God.



F) Faith in ultimate fate:

A Muslim must believe that everything in the universe that has happened in the past and that will happen in the future are within the knowledge of God and with His permission. We have a limited freedom of choice. Many things will depend on our choice. Whatever we shall choose and the results, good or bad, are already within the knowledge of God and He permits it to happen.

@Davidylan: Its a good thing that you are from the stock of people who have better than average IQ. Otherwise, you would be a very bad student. At your age, you can't do a research on Faith in God from Islamic perspective? What if you are one of the Berean Christians? You would never have hit the scriptural books and seek the guidance of the "Holy Spirit," that never was! No wonder your phrase hook, line and sinker about Paul. You are the prototype to fall for a thing like that.

From Wikipedia first: There definition of Islamic Iman, without Qur'anic verses. I will in time post the verses from the Qur'an.

[edit] Islam
Main article: Iman (concept)
Faith in Islam is called iman. It is a complete submission to the will of Allah which includes belief, profession, and the body's performance of deeds consistent with the commission as vicegerent on Earth, all according to Allah's will.

Iman has two aspects

Recognizing and affirming that there is one Creator of the universe and only to this Creator is worship due. According to Islamic thought, this comes naturally because faith is an instinct of the human soul. This instinct is then trained via parents or guardians into specific religious or spiritual paths. Likewise, the instinct may not be guided at all.
Willingness and commitment to submitting that Allah exists, and to His prescriptions for living in accordance with vicegerency. The Quran (Koran) is the dictation of Allah's prescriptions through Prophet Muhammad and is believed to have updated and completed previous revelations Allah sent through earlier prophets.


Iman or Faith

Iman is the unshakable belief, without a shadow of doubt, arising out of knowledge and firm conviction, in:

A). the existence of one and only true God with all His attributes, (Qur'an 2 verses 2 and 284)

B). all the true Prophets of the past, Mohammad (P*) being the last Prophet, (Qur'an 2 Verse 284)

C). all the revealed unaltered Holy Books of God, (Qur'an 2 Verse284)

D). the angels of God, (Qur'an 2 Verse 284)

E). life after death and the Day of Judgment, (Qur'an 2 Verse 4)

F). fate (Qur'an 2 Verse2)

Note there are many more verses I could quote in addition to the above. But, if I know you well, I by now, I now the style you are used to, I need you to helo your own soul now. We in Islam have met your challenge, every way till sunday. Now you should fear the fire of Hell. Take your experience here to better your own life and improve others. Start from your own family. They are the first that must benefit from you.

Faith is belief in Allah as your Only Lord and adhere to all His commandments. Thats the shortest and direct summary you can have of this. But it is more complex that that. But I guess your heart can not handle anything deep right now.

@Ndipe:

Ok, for doubters of the Trinity or the Divinity of Jesus Christ, how can you explain this Biblical Verse in Proverbs 30:4

This confirm doubter will give you an answer to one of your questions below. That will shut you up quick. rather will throw you into a confusion frenzy. Just watch me now. InshaAllah.

Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?

Muhammad did in his Isra wa Miraj night journey. Read it in the first ayah of Surah Isra, and then almost all of Surah Najm is about the heaven portion, the sight and sound of the journey. You can google tafsir Ibn Kathir for it. Or just buy the book or borrow one from the library about the Subject. Anybody on that Subject will have the same subject as Title or derivatives of it. The nIght Journey of Muhammad (AS).

This is enough to derail your hypothesis of trying to associate Jesus with God Almighty, more than a mere prophet and messenger specific for the nations of Israel. Now try to provide analysis of mark 12 Verse 29 which Davidylan, Queenisha and others in the Christian community of Nairaland have failed to do. s Jesus in that Verse of mark 12 Verse 29, talking about himself or his partner, whereby he let us know that entity he was referring to is also his own Lord God. Obviously, the statement states that thsi Lord God is indivisible, and we know He is not breaking to three persons or personality forms, at no time. Jesus woud have told us, in that vey verse if it is so.

Ol boy, the ball is in your court. I ask you to be Christian Chukwu and not Maradonna here.

who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?

Instead of me answering every question therefore, my chopping of to give you clear understanding that your questions are not truly unique 100% to anyone here, is sufficient. Now Ndipe, try to chew on the Deut. verse shereby God spoke to Jesus abut a future prophet to be raised, who will be like Moses, from their bretheren, whom God will put His words in his mouth and will say only wat he is commanded. Please who is this prophet of the future, who is a subordinate to God? I hope that you will answer as best as you can, with sincerity. Considering in essence that the Christians claim that Jesus is son of God, and this is the reason that the Jews were determined to kill him off, since that very speech indicates that he is saying that he is equal to God. A blaspemous thought the Jews felt.

And by the way, Islam is in Igboland, already and growing. Ready to put on your islamic garment if you can't saisfy the the assignments above. You can even make your own Proverb verse essense unique enough anyway.

@Davidylan:

alhaji, who has time to read your meaningless epistles? Did you learn summary in secondary school?

Yes I learnt it in High school. And also did technical writing in College. BBut for you, I got to be generous. maybe Over kill. Since you are not honest about what the real world is, then i have to go the extra mile.

But all of these mean nothing to a heart that has not faith! Now, go and acquire faith first. You will see what it means to be thorough. You can't assume that i am saying something else, since an point specific.

@Davidylan:

. . . they on the other hand had the scriptures of the prophets and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide them.

It seems as if you are telling us that the holy spirit did not dwell inside people until post Jesus era? Is that so? I remember that even John who later bermitva Jesus according to the Jewish culture/law had the holy sirit dwelling inside him, while he was still in his mother's womb! So were others, with different experiences of the holy spirit dwelling inside them.

They had the torah, they had some of the gospels, they definitely had the books of the old testament prophets as Christ and the other apostles quoted liberally from them in some of their letters.

If the Torah was the scripture and some gospels, the two books must have agreed with each other about God. Otherwise, there would have been so much redflag about 3 gods manifestations, known as trinity? We see that the Jews were up in arm to kill Jesus for what they considered as blasphemy to God, since they take his word, indirectly to mean that he was equal to God! Tell me, how did trinity came about since the Old Testament is not aware of its possibility?

Above you had mentioned that the apostles quoted liberally the OT in their letters. WWould you not see that their letters were admixtures of the Scriptures and personal opinions? Could both, especially the personal opinion parts of the letters be considered God's own words? You see where and how the Bible is corrupted now? This is just an example.

[/quote]Every true born again child of God has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Its not too farfetched to assume the Holy Spirit was guiding them in their spiritual walk with God.
[quote]

It seems therefore, again you are insinuating that the companions of jesus were not truly born again? How can he not have a good selection of followers, at the end of his prophetic life? Should he have been capable of molding them to first class born again? The best of his followers?

Paul did not overturn any commandments. Like i said earlier please remove your head from the sands of deliberate lies . . . circumcision and dietary laws are not part of the 10 commandments.

As I read about the 10 commandments, I just can't but notice that Paul, acted as a usurper in the company of his expected "more learned," companions. Afterall, the original disciples had the luxury of the master himself, Jesus as their noble professor. At best Paul, to this people could never be able to serve more than a tutorial instructor, while they they, the disciples are supposed to be the professors and head of departments and dean of school! But it seems now that he had overcome them and actually is teaching and they were listening to him. Explain that to me, David!

Is it possible that you, a young man be lecturing your older sibling or cousins, the family history, while they had spent long time within the family structure/compound in Nigeria, and actually listened to grandpa tell them directly, while you were being raised up in boarding school? Then ending up in Overseas, for as long as you had? Could you be an authority in your family history over these other family members? If your answer is no, since they painstakingly listened to grandpa tell it to them, and you did not, then, know that this is the same condition with paul versus the true companions of Jesus Christ!

Quote from the intro on the 10 Commandment from Wkipedia: Still others believe that the Sabbath remains as a day of rest on Saturday, reserving Sunday as a day of worship. In reference to Acts 20:7, the disciples came together on the first day of the week (Sunday) to break bread and to hear the preaching of the apostle Paul. unquote.

@4Him:

You laid the false allegation, the burden of proof is on you. Find me circumcision and dietary laws in the 10 commandments.

Though, the circumcision and dietary laws are not in the 10 commandments. They are however parts of the major laws in the Old Testaments. They were nonetheless observed by all prophets, including Jesus son of Mary. Do I have to remind you that Jesus, from his own lips said that he came not to abolish, but rather to fulfil all the laws that were given before him. He therefore warned the people who will live after him, not to abolish and never to encourage anyone to fail in observing these laws. What did Paul do? He discouraged compulsion of circumcision, and encouraged the consumptions of Pork!

The circumcision is still very much around - water baptism . . . Read Colossians.

When the foreskin is removed, there is blood. Replacing this rite with the so called water baptism is like calling the servant in the family, the head of that family. Did Jesus have his foreskin removed? Did Jesus, at anytime advocate for a water baptism as a replacement for the removal of foreskin from the Instruments, which is worldwide known as circumcision for males? Are you circumcised? Its a Yoruba rite. Mine is primary because of islamic religion. Even my boys have their removed. One in Brookly's kings County Hospital. The other in Newark, NJ's St Michael's Hospital. I guess I am a follower of Jesus more than you. Yours is lip service, only.

Quote from: olabowale on Yesterday at 10:08:14 PM
Let me use your analogy here to illustrate, the matriculating effort of the Berean Christians: The Professor who is teaching them, and the tutor who is given tutorial and the more learned colleague are one in different bodies/manifestions! Each with a different name though. Hogwash!

Your statement here is not only grammatically incorrect, it makes no sense whatsoever . . . hogwash is perfect description for it i agree.

I leave my response intact for others to see, so that they will know how deceitful you are!
Some how, you developed reader's blockage to my writing. Do not forget that you had laid claims that the Berean Christians were being tutored by Paul. He was there Professor, was he? Then you said that the Berean Christians were consulting the Holy ghost/spirit for understanding of what he, Paul had taught them. When I look at the verse of the Book of Act, that you quoted, there is no inkling of holy ghost being consulted by the Berean Christians. How come? Did you infer this from your own deduction, or there is a verse that indicate it, in the Act?

If there is no verse, then how can I believe that you are not to pull wool over my eyes? This is your Book. Its not complicated for you. Unlike me, Bible is not something I pick up to read, routinely.

Again, since Jesus, was the professor, textbook and most knowledgeable with his disciples, realising that they would not need holy ghost. We see co-god, Jesus is available. Who are the entities now playing the same roles in the lives of the Berean Christians? Tell me by name, who is the Professor, who is the textbook and who is the more knowledgeable colleague? And finally what is the role of the holy ghost that is not there, in the quest for scriptural knowledge effort mounted by the Berean Christian, in the context of the Book of Act verse you quoted? David, there was no Holy ghost/spirit in the Verse of the Book of Act! You simply have invented it. You can not draw the conclusion from any inference.

There are plenty of verses where Christ said - I and MY FATHER ARE ONE.

You wrote a long riposte . . . most of it was unintelligible nonsense.

You lied. You and your father are not one. Proof; His wife testifies to the fact that you are not her husband. Your father is a husband. Your father's parents are very clear who is their son. Your father is their child, while you are their grandson. Your father's friends know who their friends from youth is. Definitely not you, because you shared none of the histroy/knowledge of their youth. (Do you know anything about the 1960s? Anything, David? This reminds me of Jesus not knowing the time of the Hour!). Your father's colleagues in his office or emplyment know who can rightfully sit in his seat. It aint you, David. You can not sign with any authority where he will sign. If you did, you will charged for fraud. Just imagine you trying to notarize a document, passing up as your father? How can you pass for 50 something man, at your age? (THis remind me the foolish claims that the Christians have made for Jesus, as the own who will save and also judge. Even they exagerate the roles of the 12 disciples/apostles to be judging 12 nations of Israel!

What will be the role of God? Who will be judging the rest of mankind?

@4Him:

This is the 3rd time i am correcting this deliberate lie . . . which of the 10 commandments did Paul overturn?

To answer your question, I I had to post the 10 commandment, as provided by Esss. I highlight the portions that I deem compromised by Paul and Company. It is now that you have to defend it. Prove me wrong, considering what Jesus said that is so clear about his fulfillment of these very 10 Commandmends. And also his injuctions of not diminishing as to obliterate the least of its parts. How then, in addition can Trinity finds its way to post Jesus era, in the light of these 10 Commandments and Mark 12 Verse 29?

THE TEN COMMANDMENT OF GOD TO THE ISREALITES THROUGH MOSES

Exodus 20:1

And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. {bondage: Heb. servants} : Please note that Jesus, when was threatened, the first time, his parents ran off with him, for preservation of his life, in the same Egypt! Was he the One Who brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, under Moses? We must consider that, according to the Bible the 3 wisemen had already shown him to be a king, he had already had been displaying some good knowledge of the scripture, even in the Temple!



3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.: Is Trinity therefore an antithsis of this very verse, if one look at the Mark 12 Verse 29 of the bible? What exactly will this Mark 12 Verse 29 supports, Trinity of 3 manifested persons or the One God whereby any other form of existence of gods is nullified?


4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:: The cross and all the imageries, etc, if they are not against this very verse, what then is against this verse?


5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; Please tell me is what the Christians doing today, Praising Jesus and serving him not directly against this verse, after knowing fully well that Jesus declared himself, in Mark 1 Verse 29, that he is neither God nor Lord ver anyone! Read it again. You will see that it goes directly to the meat of this 5th commandment. Interestingly, that verse has Lord and God in the same way as Mark 12 verse 29.

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. : THis is Saturday. Jesus observe it, with the addition of doing life saving work. That is holiness. What have the Christians, except a few did? Completely abandoned it for another day; Sunday.


9[b] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:[/b]: Do the Christians follow this rule?


10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: Do the Christians observe this law? The lifesaving deed performed by Jesus is in line with though shall not kill. If he had left out the performance of that deed, it could be taken as if Jesus himself had murdered him.


16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.: Who could be jesus' neighbor, except those who claimed to be his disciples and then his earliest of apostles? These were the people who formulated Christianity and Churches and Bible, etc. Please somebody should tell me how Jesus became god, in the face of Biblical New Testaments that clearly contradict it? Look at Mark 12 Verse 29, for a starter. Where did worshipped in a Church, when it was always in a Jewish Temple? Did he himself bulit, participated in building one? Is this not the same light of case, which are clearly thoughts of deceiving the gullible, specifically after jesus had left the world stage?

It reminds me of the guy who is alluciating and claimed that he heard Jesus talking to him from heaven. Whereas the fellow never was known to Jesus, while he was on earth. He was the only person hearing this heavenly jesus voice, while he himself did not hold any prophetic office from God Lord Almighty! Those who lied against Jesus, claiming for Jesus, what he did not claim for himself, are no less that false witnesses and actually liars.

@RedHotChic:

Give me one good reason why I should dump christianity for Islam and am all yours?

Question:
Can you shed some light on islam and it's concept called Fatwa?

You are all over the places, after your outwardly-sincere looking questions above. You should settle down. You wanted a good hearty discussion, that may bring you good, based on your first question of the two that I quoted. Babs787, has humbly volunteered to participate with you where you will need understanding.

Why not take it, instead of concerning yourself with "farting, and other discharges," at least for now. You will have to agree though, that a cleaner private part is better than a dirty one. That alone should encourage you to at least get involve with Babs787 volunteering effort to meet your challenge, God willing.

My hope is that when you finally get it, when it clicks in your head, you will make a good decision from your heart about the course for the rest of your life. There is no success, except those who God says are successful. Remember that.

Fasts the Prophet recommended
With Abdulfatah Oladeinde 08058105396
Friday, July 4, 2008


•New Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos State, Alhaji Aminu Idris Yaro (left) with his Sarkin Fulani counterpart, Alhaji Muhammadu Bambadu during an Islamic outing in Lagos recently.
Photo: Sun News Publishing

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There are various fasts that Prophet Muhammed (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) kept besides the fast of Ramadan. The companions of the Prophet (May Allah be pleased with them) mention that, at times, the Messenger of Allah would fast so much that ‘we thought he would not stop and at times He did vice versa.’ (Sahih Bukhari Hadith1141, 1972) The Fuqaha (jurists) have classified the fasts into two types; a) Sunnah (recommended) and b) Mustahabb (preferable).

The fast of the 9th and 10th or 10th and 11th of Muharram has been classified as a Sunnah fast. (Durrul Mukhtar vol.2 pg.374; Maraaqiul Falaah pg.350) By fasting on the 10th, one year’s minor sins are forgiven. (Sahih Bukhari Hadith2000-2007; Sahih Muslim Hadith2838)

The following are those classified as Mustahabb (meritorious):
1. Every Tuesday and Thursday. (Maraaqiul Falaah pg.350; Aalamgiri vol.1 pg.201). Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) chose to fast these days because the deeds of the Ummah are presented to Allah Ta’ala on these 2 days. (Sahih Muslim; Sunan al-Tirmidhi Hadith745, 747; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah Hadith2116-2120)

2. 13th, 14th and 15th of every month which are known as Ayyaamul beedh. (Maraaqiul Falaah pg.350; Darrul Mukhtaar vol.2 pg.375; Aalamgiri vol.1 pg.201). One who observes these fasts every month will be rewarded as if he fasted his entire lifetime. (Musnad Ahmad vol.5 pg.140, 252; Sunan al-Tirmidhi Hadith762; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah Hadith2128). However, the 13th of the month of Dhul-Hijjah is excluded. (Imdaadul Fataawa)

3. Any three days of each month. (Shaami vol.2 pg.375; Tahtaawi alaa Maraaqil falah pg.350; Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith1981; Sahih Muslim Hadith2736, 2739; Sunan Abu Dawud; Sunan al-Tirmidhi Hadith742; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah Hadith2126). The reward of this fast is same as the previous, and in fact this one could be incorporated in the Ayyaamul beedh. (Shaami; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah vol.3 pg.303)

4. The 9th of Dhul-Hijjah which is the day of Arafaat. However, the Haaji (pilgrim) who is in Arafaat is excluded, because he may be weakened through the fast. If this is not the case, then the Haaji may also keep this fast. (Durrul Mukhtaar vol.2 pg.375). Some Ulama have classified this as a Sunnah fast just like the 10th of Muharram. (Shaami vol.2 pg.375). By fasting on this day, two years minor sins will be forgiven. (Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith1988; Sahih Muslim Hadith2738-2739; Musnad Ahmad; Sunan Abu Dawud; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah Hadith2099, 2101)

5. Any 6 days of Shawwal (month after Ramadan). (Maraaqiul falaah pg.350; Aalamgiri vol.1 pg.201). The one who observes these fasts together with the fast of Ramadhaan, will receive the reward of fasting for the entire year. (Sahih Muslim Hadith2750; Musnad Ahmad; Sunan al-Tirmidhi Hadith759; Sunan Abu Dawud; Sahih ibn Hibbaan Hadith3634; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah Hadith2114)

6. On Fridays. (Shaami vol.2 pg.375; Maraaqiul falaah pg.350; Aalamgiri vol.1 pg.201). However, it is better to fast a day before it or after it as well. (Ibid; Shamaail al-Tirmidhi pg.288; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah Hadith1229; Sahih Muslim Hadith2678; al-Targheeb vol.2 pg.126)

7. Saturday and Sunday (together). (Shaami vol.2 pg.375-376 refer Musnad Ahmad vol.6 pg.323; Mustadrak al-Haakim; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah vol.3 pg.318 Hadith2167; Sahih ibn Hibbaan Hadith3616)

8. As much as possible in the first half of the month of Sha’baan with no specification on condition that one is confident that this will not weaken him for the fast of Ramadan. (Aalamgiri vol.1 pg.201 refer Sahih Bukhari Hadith1969; Sahih Muslim Hadith175, 176, 1156; Musnad Ahmad vol.6 pg.165; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah vol.3 pg.282-283; Sahih ibn Hibbaan Hadith3591)

9. Any or all of the first nine days of Dhul-Hijjah. (Aalamgiri vol.1 pg.201). The fast of each of these days is equal to the fast of one year. (Shu’ubul Imaan Hadith3758; Majma-uz-zawaaid vol.4 pg.20; Sunan al-Tirmidhi Hadith758)

10. As much as possible, in the month of Muharram. The best fast after Ramadan is the fast of Muharram (Sahih Muslim Hadith2748) and for each fast one will receive the reward of fasting for 30 days. (Tabrani; al-Targheeb vol.2 pg.114)

These are most of the fasts that the Messenger of Allah either observed himself or encouraged others to observe. Besides these, the Fuqahaa have stated that it is virtuous for one to fast as much as possible (if he has the strength to do so), for the fact that fasting is an act of worship in itself, hence, the more one does, the better.

Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) is reported to have said that the most beloved fasts to Allah is the fast of Daawood (alayhis salaam), he would fast every alternate day. (Sahih Bukhari Hadith1131; Sahih Muslim Hadith2731-2732). One should also bear in mind that it is forbidden to fast on the days of both Eids as well as the 11th, 12th, and 13th of Dhul-Hijjah. (Sahih Bukhari Hadith1990; Sahih Muslim Hadith2666-2672; Sahih ibn Khuzaymah Hadith2100; Shaami vol.2 pg.375)

I Copied this article, directly, from The nigerian Sun Newspaper. May Allah gives us the good knowledge it contains. Amin



Re: Fasts the Prophet recommended
With Abdulfatah Oladeinde 08058105396
Friday, July 11, 2008

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In the article with the above title published in the last edition, Tuesday and Thursday were erroneously listed as days recommended as mustahabb (meritorious) for fasting by the Prophet (peace be upon Him) as against every Monday and Thursday. The error is regretted.
Many readers also wanted to know what the Prophet said about fasting in the month of Rajab. The position on this is presented below:

Imam al-Nawawi said: "Neither prohibition nor praiseworthiness has been established for the month of Rajab in itself, However, (1) the principle concerning fasting is that it is praiseworthy in itself, and (2) in the Sunan of Abu Dawud the Prophet has made the fasting of the sacred months praiseworthy, and Rajab is one of them."

1. `Uthman ibn Hakim al-Ansari said: "I asked Sa`eed ibn Jubayr about fasting in Rajab, and we were then passing through the month of Rajab, whereupon he said: "I heard Ibn `Abbas saying: "The Messenger of Allah used to observe fast so continuously that we thought he would not break it, and did not observe it so continuously that we thought he would not observe fast." Muslim and Abu Dawud relate it in Kitab al-sawm, respectively in the chapter on fasting at times other than Ramadan, and in the chapter of fasting during Rajab.

Imam Nawawi said: "It would appear that the meaning inferred by Sa`eed ibn Jubayr from Ibn `Abbas's report is that fasting in Rajab is neither forbidden nor considered praiseworthy in itself, rather, the ruling concerning it is the same as the rest of the months. Neither prohibition not praiseworthiness has been established for the month of Rajab in itself, however, the principle concerning fasting is that it is praiseworthy in itself, and in the Sunan of Abu Dawud(Kitab al-siyam, Chapter: "Fasting During the Sacred Months" the Prophet has made the fasting of the sacred months praiseworthy, and Rajab is one of them. And Allah knows best." Sharh Sahih Muslim Kitab 13 Bab 34 #179.
Also in Ibn Majah and Ahmad, hadith of the man who repeats: "I can bear more," and to whom the Prophet finally says: "Fast during the sacred months."

It is established that Ibn `Umar fasted during the sacred months: Musannaf `Abd al-Razzaq 4:293, Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba 1:125.
2. Abdullah, the freed slave of Asma' the daughter of Abu Bakr, the maternal uncle of the son of `Ata', reported: "Asma' sent me to Abdullah ibn `Umar saying: "The news has reached me that you prohibit the use of three things: the striped robe, saddle cloth made of red silk, and fasting the whole month of Rajab." Abdullah said to me: "So far as what you say about fasting in the month of Rajab, how about one who observes continuous fasting? And so far as what you say about the striped garment, I heard `Umar ibn al-Khattab say that he had heard from Allah's Messenger : "He who wears a silk garment, has no share for him (in the Hereafter)." And I am afraid that stripes were part of it. And so far as the red saddle cloth is concerned, here is Abdullah's saddle cloth [his] and it is red.

I went back to Asma' and informed her, so she said: "Here is the cloak (jubba) of Allah's Messenger," and she brought out to me that cloak made of Persian cloth with a hem of (silk) brocade, and its sleeves bordered with (silk) brocade, and said: "This was Allah's Messenger's cloak with `A'isha until she died, then I got possession of it. The Apostle of Allah used to wear that, and we washed it for the sick so that they could seek cure thereby."" Muslim relates in the first chapter of Kitab al-libas. (Nawawi adds: "In this hadith is a proof that it is recommended to seek blessings through the relics of the righteous and their clothes (wa fi hadha al-hadith dalil `ala istihbab al-tabarruk bi aathaar al-salihin wa thiyabihim)." Sharh sahih Muslim Kitab 37 Bab 2 #10)

Nawawi says: "Umar's reply concerning fasting in Rajab is a denial on his part of what Asma' had heard with regard to his forbidding it, and it is an affirmation that he fasted Rajab in its entirety as well as fasting permanently, i.e. except the days of `Id and tashreeq. This is his madhhab and the madhhab of his father `Umar ibn al-Khattab, `A'isha, Abu Talha, and others of the Salaf as well as Shafi`i and other scholars. Their position is that perpetual fasting is not disliked (makruh)."
[Another opinion is reported from Ibn `Umar through a hadith from Ahmad reported in "al-Mughni" 3:167 whereby he disliked that people fast the whole of Rajab but said: "Fast some of it and break fast in some of it."]

3. Bayhaqi relates in Shu`ab al-iman (#3802): Abu Abdallah al-Hafiz and Abu Muhammad ibn Abi Hamid al-Muqri said: from Abu al-`Abbas al-Asamm, from Ibrahim ibn Sulayman al-Barlisi, from Abdallah ibn Yusuf, from `Amer ibn Shibl, who said: "I heard Abu Qilaba say: "There is a palace in Paradise for those who fast the month of Rajab."
Bayhaqi adds: "Even if it is mawquf at Abu Qilaba (i.e. not traced back to the Prophet) who is one of the Successors, such as he does not say such a saying except if it were related to him by someone who had heard it from him to whom revelation comes (i.e. the Prophet ), and success is from Allah.""
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions

I found this in a Nigerian Newspaper: The Sun on the Worldwide Web. The Nigerians do produce a good article that is direct to the point, and relevant to this thread. I asked Allah to give abundant of knowledge to good servant of His. Amin

What happens after death?
By Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Friday, July 11, 2008


•From left: Hon Justice Adamu Jauro -Court of Appeal Lagos, Hon Justice Bilyameen Adamu High Court, Kano State and Justice Massoud Oredola, Court of Appeal, Kaduna discussing at the 2nd Bi-ennial National Conference of Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) held at the Ikeja Airport Hotel, Lagos, recently
PHOTO: FESTUS ODOFIN

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What happens once you die? Does your soul go straight to Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’ala) to be judged? Do you feel your body go into the grave? When we are put in the grave do we feel the dirt on top of us? Do we feel stiffness in our legs? How long is life in the grave? Please I really need help. I have a fear of after death. Shukran Ilak.

When a person dies, he goes to the world of Barzakh and stays there till Qiyamat (resurrection). The period after your death until Qiyamat is known as Barzakh.
Hazrat Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) quotes Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as saying, “When the corpse (of a Believer) is placed in the grave, he supposes that the sun is setting. When his soul is returned to it, he sits up rubbing his eyes and asks (the angels) to let him alone so that he may offer his prayers.” (Ibn Majah)

It is as if he considers himself alive in the world and tells the angels to leave aside the reckoning because he had to offer his prayers before the prescribed time is over. Obviously a person who is regular in offering his prayers in this life will say so. Those who are slack in offering their prayers must take a lesson from this. Let them think what will become of them if they are put to question suddenly?

According to Hazrat Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “When the body is placed in the grave, two angels come to it. They are dark coloured and have blue eyes. One of them is Munkar, the other Nakir. They begin by asking him about the person (sent to them). If he is a Believer, he will say, He is a slave of Allah and His Messenger. I bear witness that no one besides Allah is worthy of worship and that without doubt Muhammad (pbuh) is His slave and Messenger.”

The angels remark ‘we knew you will give this answer.’ His grave will be then extended seventy arms length square.
He is asked to sleep but he wants to go and report his position to his family. They (angels) inform him that once here, no one can return and that he must sleep like a bride whom only her husband can awake. (Thus he remains in the grave peacefully). He will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection by Allah.
If he is a hypocrite, he will reply I do not know more than what I have heard people say. The angels will say that they knew he would give such a reply. The earth will be directed to squeeze him and he is pressed so that his ribs are broken.

Then, he remains in torment until the Day of Resurrection.” [Tirmizi]
These Ahadith (sayings of the Prophet) tell us that the Believers will be content in the world of Barzakh. They will be full of consciousness. So they will be careful of their prayers and they will not be worried about reckoning. When they realize their good fate, they will wish to pass on the news to their family. They will be eager to face the Day of Resurrection so that they are admitted to Paradise soon. The point is when Allah is compassionate to anyone, he retains his consciousness and Allah inspires him to give the correct answers.

It is stated in Surah Ibrahim: “Allah confirms those who believe with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter…” (14:27)
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) “O Umar what will be your condition when you are placed in the grave? The Munkar and Nakir will come to you. They will be dark skinned and their hair will be very pulling along on the floor. Their voices will be like intense thunder and eyes threatening like lightening. The teeth will be long, digging the ground before them. They will wake you up terrorizing you, the while. Hazrat Umar enquired, “O Messenger of Allah (pbuh), will I be in my senses then as I am now?”
The prophet (pbuh) confirmed to him that he would be in his senses as he was then. Hazrat Umar submitted to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam “O Messenger of Allah, I will manage them.” (Sharah us-Sudur).

The possession of full consciousness will be the result of firm faith and righteousness. If deeds are not righteous, then how will one be in his senses during the reckoning?
It is worth considering that no one will live in this world forever. Life is ephemeral. The comfort of the world is not extraordinary and the afflictions tolerable. The next stage of Barzakh (after death) is going to be very long (until the Day of Resurrection). If a man has not been righteous in this world or has neglected his duties (worship of Allah) and other Articles of Faith, he will be punished at this stage. What will he do then?

We must -all of us- worry about our fate after death. Verily, this world is coming to an end. Life in this world is temporary! Is it not foolish to forgo Salat (prayers) only so that we may sleep a little more? Or to love money so much that we do not pay zakah? And go through a severe torment in the grave (just for a little bit of sleep or money, etc.) Let us do pious deed and keep away from sins so that our period in Barzakh is spent comfortably and on the Day of Resurrection too, we emerge honourably.
May Allah guide us to prepare for the Hereafter. May He preserve us from the punishment of the grave, on the Last Day, and of the Fire. Aameen.
And Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

@KunleOshob:

@Gamine
Olabowale wants to put you in bondage, probably recruiting terrorists for the next AL queda attack?? why else would he be asking someone to live the light and join him in darkness.

Kunle, I am recruiting for the "Crusade," African style. Orishi rishi e po ju. I will ignore the rest of your poor presentation.

@Davidylan:

Analogy - When you don't understand a concept in class you have 3 options - read a textbook for better understanding (like the Berean christians did in Acts 17:11), ask your professor after the class (like the disciples did in Mark 4) or ask a more knowledgeable colleague.

Why are you still perplexed?

Which position was Paul, compared to Jesus, since he overturned parts of the 10 commandments? Could he be the more learned to even the 12 disciples? Were they not the upperclassmen who should be tutoring paul, the freshman, who is now the one given lectures? Is paul ever a colleage of the 12 disciple if you think about it. The 12 were eyewitnesses, while paul at best was a person who was action one hearsay.

Please note that the bible said that there will be 12 judging the 12 tribes. Is Paul among the 12 judges?

You just betrayed your bias and ignorance. Circumcision and dietary laws are not part of the 10 commandments.

Then please do me a favor, list the 10 commandments of Moses. Further, it is no secret that Paul was instrumental in dismantling the need for circumcision and then  he encouraged or allow pork to be eaten. You will have to work hard to deny this fact!

The trinity i know and the one you constantly peddle like a noise maker are not the same. The trinity i know is 1 God, 3 manifestations

Let me use your analogy here to illustrate, the matriculating effort of the Berean Christians: The Professor who is teaching them, and the tutor who is given tutorial and the more learned colleague are one in different bodies/manifestions! Each with a different name though. Hogwash!

Even the disciples asked questions.

From a Prophet of God. A man who is given prophetic office, by The Almighty Supreme Creator, is not the same as a fake, who overtunes everything the prophet he claims to be following says. You will therefore see that what Jesus said, about God, is exactly what Moses said. This is exactly what is repeated by the "Unlettered Prophet, Muhammad bin Abdallah!" May Allah bless them all. Amin.

Dissertations are lost on those who are simply being mischievous.

Thanks for the correction of my spelling. Mischievousness, is when is deceitful about a matter, knowingly doing so. I do not fall into that category with you.

Now tell me, how do you explain the Mark 12 Veres 29, which clearly states, coming from Jesus that he is not God. Compare that to the verse, post Jesus wherein he is declared as god? Help out here. ts like two friends are arguing.

The premise is known that one of them is 100% correct on the matter. If the other friend takes the completely 100% opposite position, then he has to be 100% incorrect.

These two friends are in the Bible. Tell me who is correct, Jesus clear words about having a God, or, paul's assertions that Jesus is god?

@Davidylan:

Would studying a textbook imply that your professor was no good?

Studying was not the Issue here. The Issue is there consulting the holy spirit to direct them! I asked the question, here and now again, then I will quote the line about the holy ghost/spirit; If Jesus was teaching them, would they have consulted or hoped that the holy spirit/ghost will make it clear for them? If your answer is yes, then I will ask why, since Jesus is in equal position of co-godship with the holy spirit/ghost. If your answer is no, then I will ask you who is more important, to christians and salvation, Jesus or Paul? Who is the one between the two that can do and undo for the good of the Christians, in this world and in the day of judgement? You will notice that I skip the grave because I do not know whether you will be raptured, right away, cheating death.  

Alhaji i meant to say that the Berean christians were so mindful of personal study of the word of God that even after hearing from an anointed apostle such as Paul they still felt the need to go back home and allow the Holy Spirit teach them all they had learnt through the scriptures.

This is your quote, as a way to wiggle your way (I did not say wizzle) out of the primary entry where you gave us your thought of Professor Pauls lecture.  Now I will post the act verse, which carries to indication of holy spirit/ghost about why the Berean Christians were studying the Scripture so much. THis also raised another issue, if these brand of Christians were studying the scripture, while after Paul was still teaching them, what Scripture were they studying? What is meant by Scripture here?

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Please show me how you deduced a holy ghost/spirit from the above quote, to explain the previous action of the Berean Christians after Paul's infamous lectures?

Now, if Jesus is in the same level as co-god of the Christians as the holyspirit/ghost, and definitely the boss of Paul, how can Paul therefore overtune what jesus never did disregard, of the 10 Commandments and other verse in the Bible that indicated tht Jesus is not God and not more than a human prophets?

@Davidylan:

Alhaji i meant to say that the Berean christians were so mindful of personal study of the word of God that even after hearing from an anointed apostle such as Paul they still felt the need to go back home and allow the Holy Spirit teach them all they had learnt through the scriptures.

For the sake of argument, if these people actual took the step you mentioned to allow, the holy spirit to mentor to them, of whatever Paul taught. Would they have done the same, if it was Jesus that was teaching them? If not why?

Then explain this to me then, if Jesus clearly said something, like in the case of himself observing all the 10 commandments, to the point that he declared that he was on earth to fulfill them and warned anyone not to abolish them, even a single jot of it. If Jesus said that he and all persons have the same Lord God. Why then that after Jesus left the earth that Paul proposed the rejections of any of the 10 commandments? Example is the circumcision and the dietery where by Pork is now allowed. This is just a few from the 10, without wanting to go to the graven image and co.

But I also have to allude to Mark 12 verse 29, actually complimenting the first of the 10 commands, of One single God. Now, in faces of these Old and new testaments stments, how did the trinity developed and jesus became one of three with his Lord?

Caqn the Berean Christians be sincere to the Bible, without asking why are these verses, pre-Paul, against Post Jesus era, the period that Paul became the most important figure in christianity, over and above all the disciples that struggled with Jesus. Heck. Paul is almost as powerful as Jesus, if not more!

Are we not seeing a usurper of opportunity here? Please david, I need a good lecture from you. And please don't shy away from a though decitation.

@Davidylan: Aburo. I was not born yesterday. If I were, not yesterday night, for sure. I am going to place your entries one after the other. I want you to look at them, and then with clear conscience, interprete the first to mean exactly the second.

We will see very clearly how honest you are. The differences are like Night, without the moon and stars, and day, a bright summer day, full of sunshine. Hey, just like this moment in Manhattan.


Number 1 statement from Davidylan.

davidylan (m)
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 Re: The Church Has Rejected Christianity
« #10 on: Today at 03:51:14 PM »  

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Quote from: KunleOshob on July 08, 2008, 04:21 PM
well for a start i think all christians should start studying the bible well especially the new testament. As in read it thoroughly and study how the early church organized it self.


Thank you for pointing this out. I have long noticed on this very section that a lot of "christians" attempt to explain cardinal doctrinal issues OUTSIDE the context of the bible. It is like trying to understand physics without a standard physics textbook. The best you can do is rehash what you've heard your pastor preach.

I long for the day Berean christians will rise up again, willing to study their bibles rather than take Paul's words hook, line and sinker.  

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David's blog - 4 Him is born again.

Number 2 statement from Davidylan.

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 Re: The Church Has Rejected Christianity
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Alhaji i meant to say that the Berean christians were so mindful of personal study of the word of God that even after hearing from an anointed apostle such as Paul they still felt the need to go back home and allow the Holy Spirit teach them all they had learnt through the scriptures.

No where is it implied that Paul's words were wrong.  

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David's blog - 4 Him is born again.

Now david. You have both of your 2 entries, one after the other. Now tell me how is it possible that number 1 is to mean number 2? Remember that there is no texturial similarities except the  Berean Christians whom you wish to ressucitate. After that, about Paul, its a case of Tomatoes and Oranges. Notice that I did not say apples and Oranges.

I was going to say, Potatoes and Oranges. But a good friend adviced me against it. That I should not just decapitate your entries like so. At least i should give you some space for a fighting chance. I guess though, that you will rope yourself even tighter as we go along. If I were you, I will quit while I still have a chance to free myself.

Aburo. How is the Summer? Its been nice, since the 4th. David you took all the stubbornness that belongs to Ijebu Ode township, without leaving any for me? I guess i should have the first choice of refusal.

@Davidylan: I am lifting your above statement and record it in my file. I am writing a Book. InshaAllah, I will dedicate it to the sometimes loving and always hearty dialogue I have had here, on Nairaland. I have learnt alot. I do not take anyone, or anything for granted any longer.

I do enjoy the people, all of them, including the ones who are puffed up with pride. I guess we are all humans, seeing ourselves as individuals to be rekorned with.

Now explain yourself, since I can't read your new age English. lol.

Queenisha, listen to david and help me bridge the generation, between he and I.