Hello Everybody
I haven’t been posting in the forum for a little while as I have been busy.
Thank you for your post Hsiang-Lin, you raised interesting points. I will present to you the Islamic point of view on this thread (that includes my personal point of view) .. Excuse me as it is a along post however it contains more in depth points about Islam for anybody who is interested.
You mentioned the point of the Idea that the action of Jesus is more appealing to you than Mohammeds as he did a very noble thing. One must understand the basics of both beliefs very clearly to understand the actions that where built upon them.
First of All people must understand the definition of Mohammed in Islam. Mohammed is NOT GOD in Islam. He is a human being that is chosen by the higher power that controls the universe, God. Mohammed is a prophet. The definition of a prophet in Islam is different form Christianity a bit. We believe that because the prophet was chosen by the All mighty power the prophet will do a perfect job. They are normal human beings however they are not Gods (including Mohammed) but they are the highest of the human beings. The difference in Christianity is God came in the picture of a human as the prophets did not do a perfect job because they are humans only hence humans sin. With Muslims we believe that once God wants a message to be revealed the method that God chooses can not be flawed hence there is no need for God to come down because he doesn’t make the wrong choice from the first place. It is up to people whether they follow the prophets or not.
As a Prophet i.e the choice of God Mohammed had to build the best way for humanity to live i.e a great society hence any body who chooses to follow his example will need to have to follow applicable examples from Mohammed. It is different from Christianity in a building a society wise. I am not saying Christianity did not advocate building a society and all however as I mentioned in my last posts matters regarding the social, economical and political system is part of the belief of a Muslim. It isn’t enough to go to the mosque and do the best prayers you have done in your life. If you go to the mosque and do the best prayers you have done in your life however if you are bad outside your prayers you have not earned the acceptance of God. In the Quran it says “Prayers should stop you from any wrong doing” .. The Islamic traditions put the base of “prayers and good behavior goes hand in hand” .. The aim in Islam is not to try and reach the best of Spirituality only it is for both physical life and spirituality.. Treating each other with respect, thriving for the best in life and being succeful in all types of fields in life, forgivness and other noble manners are part of being a good Muslims and it goes hand in hand with your spiritual activities. Mohammed said "I was sent to prefect the noble manners" ..
Therefore if Mohammed did not protect that perfect society that he wanted to build there won’t be anything to have. If he needs to relate to people who want to follow him he must try to get to their level and show them how to live, that’s how a leader should live. We believe a leader should feel the same thing as what people feel. He should feel pain, have a family. Live like a normal human being however he must be the best of them. That is a True messenger of God. Mohammed advocated self defense and to struggle against any type of harm to end it (and not attack others if not attacked) to protect the family or the society that you have to keep peaceful life going for others and for the future generations. We do not take the idea of God needs to come to peoples level it is actually a very opposite idea to the Islamic belief to try and personalize God as a Human. If God is powerful God can send representatives if God wants, and they shouldn’t fail by breaking Gods laws. Another issue is the idea of Jesus being God and in the same time he was abused. I do understand the idea of a sacrifice and being noble but Islam believes that God can not be harmed and the sacrifices happen to the people who advocate Gods message and not God himself. (if I refer to God as himself or he I do not mean to make it a male, God is beyond Genders)
I do hope that people do not get offended as I am projecting the Islamic idea. All my respect goes to my fellow Christian friends, as Steve said we are allowed to discuss beliefs in here
The definition of God in Islam is a higher power beyond anybodies senses that crated and sustains every piece of the universe. It does not take a physical shape nor can be harmed. It does not have a family nor friends. It is something beyond all that we know. We believe that if you think the universe is great, complex and beautiful. And believe some power formed it then that power is beyond every thing you think off and one can not capture it in any type of physical sense because if it is captured by any sense then it is sized hence it is limited and one can keep thinking of anything bigger than the picture you placed God in it. Muslims also believe that any higher power communicates with its people below it. For example a manager communicates with his or her employees hence the greater owner of the universe does communicate with the creatures. And those forms of communications are the prophets. All Prophets are the greatest of human beings as they should be the best example. It isn’t worthy following a lying cheating leader. Jesus in Islam is considered one of the top prophets and his sayings are quoted by Mohammed and his followers a lot. As Islam does recognize the messages before it. We believe that you get to know God through different parts of the creation and ponder about them. Any great creation should have a great creator behind it. We resent the idea of picturing God as a man or anything like that as it is missing the point in looking at the greater, more spiritual and beautiful picture of that power.
I do feel that Islam is getting very very bad rep from media and some stupid Muslims themselves, as a Muslim I have the duty to show people what is the truth about Islam. Whether you agree with it or not that isn’t the point, the point is you do get the right picture of what the belief says and not the wrong picture.
I do beg your pardon for writing such a long post. May be I need to take a course in simplification
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Thanks
Ali