I have read the bible, the new testament, the quoran, and chunks of various other religions "scriptures", in addition to any number of apolgetics for same. Matter of opinion that truly is not worth engaging in. The evaluation of which religion is better and which is worse is not really worth engaging in. Its like arguing which type of hepatitis is better, its still friggin hepatitis.
LOL. You are not going to learn anything about Islam, by reading the Qur'an. And I'll bet you don't even know the correct way to read it. And most of what you did learn is wrong. How did you learn about Muhammed and Jesus.
Did I not say that I read numerous apologetics? I didn't say that I have also read extensively of the history of the Arabia Pennisula and what is known of mohammed and the rise of Islam. He was a genius, but he sure as hell didn't "receive" the word of allah to be recited in two distinct chunks at different times in his war to attain dominance of the haj to mecca. I suggest you don't make stupid bets.
Not sure where you could conclude "Genius", I've never heard that before, and nothing in his writings of the period would suggest that. Just a bully, crime boss, murderer, thief, rapist, and a slew of other adjectives. There is so much BS. written about him, you need the source writings to get a clear picture.
Qur'an, and Sunnah, are the main sources. But Qur'an must be read correctly. There are other hadiieths from questionable sources, and not reliable. Realistically, nothing written about Islam can be considered the truth, however it is these writings that formulate the religion, and a lot of people actually believe them. The different sects pick out what they want to believe, and a reason for them killing each other.
It seems you are missing something. The main sources are within the sunnah. The Qur'an itself is jibberish, written on a 5th grade level, no context, no storyline, goes in and out of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person, you never know who you are talking to. Sporadic bastardized stories from the OT and NT, written with a twist toward Islam. All the Judio/Christian charactors are turned into muslims, at a time when muslims did not exist. And it is not in chronological order, a reader, even muslims themselves, know nothing of abbrogations. I have often made the statement, I know more about Islam than most muslims do, and am willing to back that up.
We also have the Schools of jurisprudence These are basically laws mainly accepted by physical location. I am not real familiar with all of them, just browsed through some. The main 4 are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. Hanbali and whabbism is the most common, and used by Saudi Arabia. More …
Did you learn on the internet or did you have a Muslim scholar or Judge helping you? The koran isn't gibberish. What are the outstanding features of Islam?
The schools are however, written hundreds of years after the fact, and have nothing to do with the creation of the religion.
A muslim scholar is the last place to go to learn about Islam, because he will preach his version, and probably do it well, however you will experience Kitman, (Lying by omission), not to be confused with taquyyia, I have the entire Qur'an and sunnah in print. I can't think of any outstanding features of Islam, suppose you tell me, with the source.
When I reference Qur'an I use the top 5 translarions, I prefer Noble, because it is in all the mosques. Others are Yousaf Ali, Achmed Ali, Pitchal, and Shakir. I have a new one, not accredited yet, that I like by Zoh------ Hoque. I like this because every page is divided into 3 phases, the original Arabic, the English translation, and a commentary on words used, ( Variations). The English is almost word for word, like Noble.
Just another little tidbit. When the flotilla to Palestine happened a few years back, the battle cry from the Muslims was, "Remember Khaybar".
Of course, it's a different religion. BTW, abortion is Harum, however you are allowed to kill your children, and your children's, children, after they are born.
I like Picthal... Muslims who are proficient in Arabic, English and Amharic tell me that's the closest translation. Kaybar was an oasis that the Jews took over.. Most of them left and returned to Jericho. The Jewish numbers are grossly exaggerated. You start by assuming that Muslims lie by omission etc. So did your interaction with Muslims leave to to believe such things?
The word is "Haram"... Killing children is expressly forbidden by Muhammed.. Babies are not to be "exposed" and the rules of warfare forbid the killing of women, children and the elderly. Abortion is permitted.
There is a huge difference between Muslims, and Islam. Muslims are people, human beings, subjected to whatever their environment dictates. In this reasoning, Muslims are victims also. Islam is a written doctrine, that cannot change. Many muslims try to change it, but are branded apostates. The leader of the day can cast judgement on what happens to his people, however when the shift changes, from overthrow or whatever reason, the Qur'an and sunnah take over. The same one from 1200 years ago.
No you didn't ask. You jumped to a stupid assumption. I spent many decades in a quest to discover my personal "religious faith". My knowledge and understanding of Islam was further driven by contemporary politics. - I desperately wanted to understand why these crazy arsebiters gladly blew themselves up in the name of their god. I wouldn't classify myself as an expert in Muslim dogma by any means, but I do have a broad and fairly deep understanding of its main elements. I found it fascinating that Mo's genius was to weave politics, economics and religion into one integrated and inextricably linked whole, subsuming both christian and hebrew religions and practices thereby creating an extremely effective autocratic social framework to control the populace in the name of their god. Truly genius, but like everything else, its purity (if it ever was) was corrupted by those that followed. Happened in every damn religion where men believe they know the mind of god.
Abortion is not permitted, but there are isolated medical cases where it is. It is reported on the authority of Sa'b b. Jaththama that the Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him), when asked about the women and children of the polytheists being killed during the night raid, said: “They are from them.” (Sahih Muslim 4322, see also Bukhari 52:256) …two singing-girls Fartana and her friend who used to sing satirical songs about the apostle, so he ordered that they should be killed…” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 819, Ibn Kathir v.3 p.403) This is why I suggest to people to learn about Islam from the original sources, and then they can better evaluate the different stories This is written of in several places, but I just dug up one. Qisas is obligatory on whoever kills a person purely intentionally and aggressively (that is, not in self-defense). But qisas is not applicable on children or the insane under any circumstances, nor is it applicable on a Muslim for killing a kafir, nor on a free man for killing a slave, nor on a dhimmi for killing an apostate, nor on a father or a mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their child, or their child’s children.
