My Daddy

Salam

Bismillah

My dad doesn't care that I am Muslim. He doesn't care that I believe in God. He doesn't care that I live a more clean life now.

All he cares is that I do not believe that Jesus is God.

For several months now, my Dad has quit talking about religion. Honestly, I was really relieved because I HATE the feeling of disappointing my daddy and I knew that my beliefs would be disappointing to him.

But today he gave me some papers he printed from the internet entitled "Is Jesus God?" and talked about those "cults" that don't believe that Jesus is God.

It gave a lot of Bible verses that supposedly explain how Jesus is God and also tried to answer some more popular arguments against the trinity (although it did in no way try to explain the trinity, why there should be a trinity, how the trinity is different than polytheism, etc.).

How do I explain to my dad that even if he could provide verses from the Bible that say Jesus is God, or can be interpreted/twisted to say that, that I will still most likely not believe them since I have so much doubt about the authenticity of the Bible in the first place?

I don't know if this will be the beginning of more conversations or arguments or what. Honestly I hope it wont be. Not because I am scared of argument or changing my mind or anything (Allah keep us on the straight path, ameen) but because I hate to see that look of disappointment when my daddy realizes he still didn't convince me.

Also on another note, my bother is becoming more and more conservative in his beliefs. Now he has decided to reject science completely since it contradicts with a literal reading of the Bible.

Ya Rabb, Ya Raheem, have mercy on our families and show them the straight path ameen.

Sawm: How do Christians Fast?

Salam!

Bismillah

I am fasting today and it struck me that Muslims are not the only people in the world to fast. Christians and Jews are commanded to fast along with Muslims. However, coming from a Baptist Church as a child, I realized that I was completely ignorant of the way that Christians and Jews fast. (Our denomination did not practice Lent or any other organized fast, nor did they encourage us to fast on our own.)

Time to rectify the situation inshaAllah!!!

It seems that there are three basic categories of Christian Fasting:

1. Abstaining from one certain thing: like chocolate or coke or meat

2. Abstaining from all solid foods: Drinking only water (or for extended fasts, drinking water and juice, vegetable broth, decaffeinated tea, etc.)

4. Absolute fasts: abstaining from all water and food

Fasts can be for one meal, one day, one week, 40 days: you are encouraged to fast however much you feel you are being convicted to fast.

• The purpose of Christian Fasting is to humble yourself before God and to seek his pleasure. (To seek God's "face," as quoted from the Bible)
• Christian Fasting should be intimately connected with increased prayer and meditation on the scripture
• Fasting is prescribed in both the Old and New Testaments and Jesus says "when you fast" not "if you fast" in the New Testament.
• Fasting is a private concern and you should not advertise the fact that you are fasting to others around you.

Some things that seem different than Muslim Fasts:

• They do not necessarily have set times and procedures for fasting. They fast when they feel like it to whatever degree they feel like.
• You can be eating or drinking and still be considered "fasting" in some way.
• You can go through periods when you fast with no water or food, even through the night. You can usually fast up to 3 days without any food or water, but this should always be done under the observation of a doctor.

InshaAllah I will have another post up tomorrow about Jewish Fasting!

Matthew 19:16-17

السلام عليكم

بسم الله

16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

This brings up a lot of questions and thoughts for me.

1. If Jesus=God and God=Good then why would Jesus object to being called Good?
2. If the only way to get eternal life to to accept that Jesus=God, then why does Jesus say that to get eternal life we should keep the commandments?
3. If Jesus=God and this is what is most important, then why does he go out of his way NOT say that?

There is so much in the Bible that I do agree with (almost 100% of which are basic tenants of Islam) but there are these really glaring things that just keep me completely baffled.

Why base a religion on a central idea that is supposed to be supported by a text that contradicts that idea?

Update!

Salam!

Bismillah

So and update for you all is in order.

1. EID MUBARAK!!!! :-D

2. FIIIIINALLY my brother knows that I converted. He totally cornered me about it, lol.

I went to visit my family over the break. I was bummed about missing the prayer and fasting and everything, but subhanAllah I wasn't able to fast or pray at that time, so it wasn't as big a deal and I didn't have to try to hide from anyone which was great! Alhamdulillah!
On the way there, my brother and I were talking in the car and he was talking and talking like usual and somehow we came upon the subject of drinking. He said that he knows Muslims that drink (astaghfirullah) and I got really upset and said "Well I'm not one of them!!!" and of course he picked up on it and said "oh, so you are Muslim now?" and I looked at him and said "yes I am." and that was that.
He said he pretty much knew before and everything because I've changed so much and he was actually really accepting. He said that if Christians practiced their faith like Muslims, that would be most ideal. I told him that becoming Muslim was the best thing I ever did as a Christian. I feel like I am FINALLLLYYYY following the teachings of Jesus (alayhi salam) and doing my best to be a good person in this world, alhamdulillah.
In the end, when we got out of the car, he gave me a big hug and kissed me on the forehead and said that we all have to take our own path. He wishes I was Christian, but recognizes that I am in Gods hands and alienating me is not going to "bring me back to the fold" so to speak. He promised that he would wait for me to be ready to talk to my dad about it, and I assume he and my mom will both be there with me when it happens, so inshaAllah everything will work out alright.

Please make du'a that my family accepts my conversion fully and that they come to see the beauty of Islam and the peace it brings to life!

Discussions

Peace!

So I had a talk with my dad yesterday about Christianity and my issues with it. It was pretty similar to the posts I've made. I just brought up all of the contradictions I had found and told him about how, when I read the Bible, it doesn't ring true to me. There's just something about it... it seems all wrong with glimpses of the truth.

I told him that I know that God created me with knowledge of him and that my whole life I've been trying to fit Christianity with that knowledge and it hasn't worked yet. I told him how much Islam spoke to me and how it DID fit.

He was understandably upset and is trying to answer my questions, but I'm not sure there are answers.

My mom was there with us as well. She was TOTALLY on my side the whole time. I think she thinks about God the same way that I do. I gave her a copy of the Qur'an and she says that she will read it. Hopefully my dad will too.

I haven't converted yet, but I'm so close I think...

God willing, I'll find the straight path and be content there. Hopefully my family will too.

Continuing on.

Peace!

Same rules as last time apply. :-)

1 Samuel
~15:29 NIV "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind." echoes the other verse about God not being a man or changing his mind, but also answers the problem of regret as well. God cannot regret because he does not change his mind.

2 Samuel
~24:1 NIV "Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, 'Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.'" but later in 1 Chronicles 21:1 NIV it says "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel." speaking of the same incident. I'm sorry, but Satan≠ the Lord so who actually incited David to census?

Ecclesiastes
~1:4 NIV "Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever." but Hebrews 1:10-11 says that God created the heavens and the earth, and while they will perish, He will not.

Isaiah
~40: 28 NIV "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grown tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." If he does not grow tired or weary, why does he need to rest on the seventh day of creation?
~43:11-12 NIV "I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed..." So even in the old testament there is salvation. Salvation through God. He is the only one who can save and forgive us. The people in the old testament did not need the salvation of Jesus. God forgave the righteous. So our "original sin" was never so bad that God could not forgive us.

Jeremiah
~10, This chapter talks about how it is forbidden to the followers of the one God to cut down trees, shape them, decorate them with gold and silver, and put them in their houses because this is a pagan custom and akin to idol worship. Uh... Christmas anyone??

Ezekiel
~18:20-21 "The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him. But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die."

So 1) it is possible to be a righteous person, 2) we will be judged according to our actions, good or bad, 3) original sin is not correct because the son shall not bear the guilt of the father AND it is possible to be righteous, 4) we will live eternally if we follow Gods decrees and laws. So... yeah. If there is no original sin then we don't need a divine sacrifice, right? And it seems like God is just fine with forgiving us when we screw up as long as we do what is right.... I'm not gonna lie, this verse is pretty much a deal breaker for me.
~23, this chapter is pretty much porn. In the Bible. Biblical pornography. Read it for yourself, I'm not going to re-type it. yuck. Can you imagine a 7 year old reading this at vacation bible school???

Malachi
~1:3 NIV "but Esau I have hated..." I find it difficult to believe that God hates any of his own creations... even Satan. Especially a kind and loving God. AND Esau is a descendant of Isaac right? So shouldn't he be included in the blessing of the covenant?

And thus ends my notes on the Old Testament so far. Most of these I just came across while reading, some I found reference to at other places that I can't remember at this point. I may find more later, but then again I might not. :-P

I'll try to go through the New Testament soon to find the notes I have that don't double up the ones I have already posted. I hate to be redundant...

In the Beginning

Peace!

So here we go... starting with Genesis
Most of the time I'm getting verses from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. Occasionally I will reference a King James Version (KJV) or New Living Translation (NLT) as they don't always say the same thing. God willing, I will try to cite everything correctly.

Genesis:
~In the Introduction of this book it says that after the Pentateuch (first five books) were revealed to Moses, there was later "EDITORIAL UPDATING" by scribes.
~Christians take the 6 days of creation to be literal "days" that we experience. However, I argue that time is a creation of God, so he is not bound by it. A "Day" to God could be thousands of years or a split second. We should not try to view God through our limited human experience.
~6:6 NLT, "So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them [humans]. It broke his heart." God does not ever regret his actions... this would suggest that he did not know what was going to happen.
~16:11, God gave and named Ishmael so he is not an "illigitimate" child.
~21:9 NIV, "But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking," here the translators have chosen to use the word "mocking" but the original word also means "at play" or "playing." Why would they choose to use the more negative of the two words? To justify Sarah's throwing Hagar and Ishmael out when there was no justification. (this note about "playing" is actually included by my study Bible...)
~22:2 NIV, "Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.'" Okay, the issue I have here is that Ishmael was born first. He was the only son who had ever been an "only son." Isaac always had a brother. So here I think that there is a possibility that those "editorial updates" led to the erroneous insertion of the name Isaac here to bolster the "exclusive" claim to the covenant.

Leviticus
~11, pigs are forbidden in the Bible, but Christians eat them.
~12: 1-5, If a woman gives birth to a boy, she is unclean for 7 days and must wait 33 days after that to go to a holy place. If a woman gives birth to a girl, she is unclean for 14 days and then must wait 66 days to go to a holy place. This is whack.

Numbers
~In the introduction of this book in the NIV, it says that whole portions were added by scribes or editors.
~23:19 NIV "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind." Uh.... so God is not (and will never be ) a man, or a son of man. Interesting.

Deuteronomy
~33:17 NIV "In majesty he is like a firstborn bull; his horns are the horns of a wild ox." KJV "His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns." First of all, unicorns do not exist. They are fictional. Why are the in the bible as real animals? Second of all unicorn ≠ wild ox.
~34:5-12 recounts the death of Moses. If Moses wrote the first 5 books, how could he write about his own death?

All of the italics and [brackets] are mine in the quotes for emphasis and clarification. I hope that, God willing, someone finds this interesting, informational, or helpful. Hopefully, I will continue on later!

Where I Started

Peace!

So my roommate my freshman year of college (about 3 or so years ago) was a Muslimah from Pakistan. I didn't ask her a lot of questions about Islam a lot at that time, but we became really good friends. I actually fasted with her for part of Ramadan. This fall I became friends with a group of Muslims through school. They were probably the nicest, happiest, and most peaceful people I have ever met...

One day while we were in the Student Union at my school, one of my friends asked me some questions about Christianity and what Christians believed. I realized that I couldn't explain what I believed in any kind of intelligible way. I just didn't know the answers... and that really really bothered me.

I made it my mission to find a way to explain my religion to my new friends. I started reading the Bible like crazy, but instead of finding answers I just ended up with more questions. I think this might be a common situation. I started putting post-it notes in my bible where I had questions or issues. I started reading books and blogs and websites about the Bible, different versions, conflicts in the bible, Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and conversions of people to Islam who were just like me.




I bought a copy of the Qur'an in English and started ravenously reading it. It basically just laid out everything I had ever believed deep in my heart. It really spoke to me in a way that the Bible never did and I was amazed at how relevant it was to my life. I started going to our local Masjid with my freshman roommate for the Friday lecture and also for a study group on Sundays. I feel so comfortable and welcome there. Everyone is SO supportive and really helpful, Thank God. I'm learning so much!

I wanted to include some of the issues I found in the Bible in this post so that hopefully someone might find it useful in conversation with a Christian. I know some of my Muslim friends have already used some of this information to talk to some of the people who approach them about Christianity.

These notes come from http://jews-for-allah.org/Prophet-Jesus/pauls-anomalies.htm This just highlights the conflicts in Paul's books of the New Testament: Galatians, I Corinthians, II Corinthians, Romans, Philemon, Philippians

Is "Everyone" who hangs on a tree 'Accursed' ?

---------------

Paul says;

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree" Ga 3:13

Now according to Paul, absolutely anyone who hangs on a tree is cursed.

What does Moses say in the Bible;

"And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; De 21:22,23

Here we clearly see that not everyone who hangs on a tree is accursed, but rather only people who meet certain criteria which certainly Jesus did not meet for the simple fact that Jesus did not commit a crime punishable by death.

The fact that not everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed as Paul misquotes, is demonstrated by the following people;

(Ge 40:19) The chef who went against Pharaoh was certainly not cursed and was most likely rewarded by God for resisting Pharaoh.

(Es 7:10) Haman was not cursed, instead another victim. God does not curse those who were murdered, instead, those deserving of Murder which Jesus was not.

Is Everyone a sinner ?

---------------

Paul says;

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" Ro 5:12

According to Paul, everyone is a sinner because everyone dies, Paul was obviously unfamiliar with the Scripture, for if he was inspired by God, he would have known that there were people who did not die, and were perfect.

The Bible says;

"having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God;" Hebrews 7:3-4

Now we see that Paul's attempt to try to explain the natural process of dyeing by calling everyone a sinner, falls short when you have others who did not die.

Furthermore, there are those whom are without sin;

"These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Ge 6:9

According to Paul, everyone is imperfect, and has sin, here we see that Noah was perfect, fore if Noah was a sinner, surely he would not walk with God as the Bible documents.

"But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days." 1Ki 15:14

If everyone had sinned as Paul labels all, then Asa's heart would be blemished, instead, it was unblemished for the entire lifetime.

We know that having a perfect heart means that you keep all the commandments as shown here: "And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments" 1Ch 29:19

Another man who was sinless was; "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." Job 1:1

We know a perfect man is sinless because God says; "Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:" Job 8:20

Finally, to breath is not a sin, but according to Paul, babies are sinners too.

The "only" way to remove sin ?

-------------

Paul says the only way to remove sin is Jesus's blood; Re 1:5,

The Bible says;

You can also remove sins by; giving charity Exodus 30:15-16 and Numbers 31:50, incense Numbers 16:46-47, etc...

Who did Jesus, upon arising , reveal himself to ?

--------------

(a) in Galilee to the eleven remaining disciples (Judas, of course, being absent JUDAS WAS DEAD )--Matt. 26:16,Mk 16:7,14;

(b)in Jerusalem to the eleven--Lk.24:33,36;

(c) in Jerusalem to the ten, Thomas being absent--Jn.20;10,19,24; or

(d) to Peter and then to the twelve--1 Cor.15:5? (Paul's version, obviously presents a problem:

who were the twelve, since Judas was already dead (Matt. 27:5) and his successor had not yet been chosen (Acts 1:26)?

These are only a few of Paul's Anomalies which clarifies that Paul was not inspired by God and was in fact defied the teachings of God.

Here are more of Paul's anomalies;

GE 4:4-5 God prefers Abel's offering and has no regard for Cain's.
RO 2:11 God shows no partiality. He treats all alike.

GE 7:1 Noah was righteous.
JB 1:1,8, JB 2:3 Job was righteous.
LK 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous.
JA 5:16 Some men are righteous, (which makes their prayers effective).
RO 3:10, 3:23 No one was or is righteous.

GE 11:9 At Babel, the Lord confused the language of the whole world.
1CO 14:33 Paul says that God is not the author of confusion.

GE 17:7, 10-11 The covenant of circumcision is to be everlasting.
GA 6:15 It is of no consequence.

EX 20:1-17 God gave the law directly to Moses (without using an intermediary).
GA 3:19 The law was ordained through angels by a mediator (an intermediary).

EX 20:8-11, 31:15-17, 35:1-3 No work is to be done on the Sabbath, not even lighting a fire. The commandment is permanent, and death is required for infractions.
MK 2:27-28 Jesus says that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (after his disciples were criticized for breaking the Sabbath).
RO 14:5, CN 2:14-16 Paul says the Sabbath commandment was temporary, and to decide for yourself regarding its observance.

LE 3:17 God himself prohibits forever the eating of blood and fat.
CN 2:20-22 Paul say that such rules don't matter--they are only human injunctions.

NU 25:9 24,000 died in the plague.
1CO 10:8 23,000 died in the plague.

DT 24:16, 2KI 14:6, 2CH 25:4, EZ 18:20 Children are not to suffer for their parent's sins.
RO 5:12, 19, 1CO 15:22 Death is passed to all men by the sin of Adam.

DT 30:11-20 It is possible to keep the law.
RO 3:20-23 It is not possible to keep the law.

JN 3:13 Only the Son of Man (Jesus) has ever ascended to heaven.
2CO 12:2-4 An unnamed man, known to Paul, went up to heaven and came back.

PR 3:13, 4:7, 19:8, JA 1:5 Happy is the man who finds wisdom. Get wisdom.
LK 2:40, 52 Jesus was filled with wisdom and found favor with God.
1CO 1:19-25, 3:18-20 Wisdom is foolishness.

MT 7:21 Not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
RO 10:13 Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

MT 7:21, LK 10:36-37, JA 2:24 We are justified by works, not by faith.
RO 3:20-26, GA 2:16 We are justified by faith, not by works

MT 28:19 Jesus instructs his disciples to baptize.
1CO 1:17 Although he considers himself a disciple of Jesus, Paul says that he has not been sent to baptize.

LK 18:9-14 Do not boast of your virtue.
RO 11:20, 1PE 5:5 Do not be proud.
RO 15:17, 2CO 1:12, HE 3:6, 2CO 2:14, 5:12, 11:17 Paul boasts of his faith and says that one should be proud of it.

JN 3:17, 8:15, 12:47 Jesus does not judge.
2CO 5:10 Jesus does judge.

JN 12:31 The Devil is the ruler (or "prince") of this world.
1CO 10:26, RE 1:5 Jesus is the ruler of kings--the earth is his.

AC 9:23 The governor attempted to seize Paul.
2CO 11:32 It was the Jews who tried to seize Paul.

AC 10:34, RO 2:11 God shows no partiality. He treats all alike.
RO 9:11-13 God hated Esau and loved Jacob even before their birth.

AC 16:6 The Holy Spirit forbids preaching in Asia.
AC 19:8-10 Paul preaches in Asia anyway.

RO 2:12 All who have sinned without the law will perish without the law.
RO 4:15 Where there is no law there is no transgression (sin).

RO 2:13 Doers of the law will be justified.
RO 3:20, GA 3:11 They will not be justified.

RO 4:9 Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.
JA 2:21 Abraham was justified by works (which made his faith perfect).

RO 10:11 (An alleged OT quote; no such statement in the OT.) ["As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'"]

RO 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything that might cause your brother to stumble or be offended.
CN 2:16 Let no one pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink.

1CO 7:8-9 Widows should not marry (although it is better to marry than burn).
TI 5:14 Young widows should marry, bear children, rule the household, etc..

2CO 12:16 Paul says that he does use trickery.
1TH 2:3 Paul says that he does not use trickery.

GA 6:2 Bear one another's burdens.
GA 6:5 Bear your own burden.

TI 1:15 Paul says that he is the foremost of sinners.
JN 3:8-10 He who commits sin is of the Devil. Children of God do not sin.

1TH 2:2 God gave Paul the courage to continue his work.
1TH 2:17-18 Satan hindered Paul.

There are even inconsistencies regarding his conversion

AC 9:7 Those present at Paul's conversion heard the voice but saw no one.
AC 22:9 They saw a light but did not hear a voice.

AC 9:7 Those present at Paul's conversion stood.
AC 26:14 They fell to the ground.

AC 9:19-28 Shortly after his conversion, Paul went to Damascus, then
Jerusalem where he was introduced to the Apostles by Barnabas, and there
spent some time with them (going in and out among them).
GA 1:15-20 He made the trip three years later, then saw only Peter and James.

I have checked these and do find the differences in the Bible. The parts in [brackets] were added by me.

I will end here for now with these, but I plan on doing another post just starting at the beginning in Genesis, God willing, and going through as much of the issues I've found as possible.