Islam for an outsider

ClimberC

Hey i was hoping someone could please explain Islam to me in lay mans terms. I have a great interest in religions (Ironic since i don't believe in a god) but i always had a difficulty in understanding Islam.

I think it is a greatly misunderstood religion with a few terrorists muddling its appearance.
One thing i never fully understood about Islam was the differing types (Sunni, Shiite ect..) and what makes them different. when ever i look them up i get a load of names and terms i cant understand or else a lot of propaganda.

I apologize if this thread is deemed offensive or anything like that but i feel it is a sad state of affairs that someone has to be so careful about asking about someones faith but i guess its a sign of the times......... :rolleyes:

condra

Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔɪsˈlæːm]) is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah), and by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah and composed of Hadith) of Muhammad, often considered by them to be the last prophet of God. In addition to referring to the religion itself, the word Islam means 'submission to God', 'peace', and 'way to peace'. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim.

Source for above: Wikipedia article on Islam.

masadjie

I started another thread which related to OP's question about understanding Islam in very simple manner. Here is the thread: threadid=2056288601

ClimberC

Thanks for the replies.
The main thing i am confused about is the division within Islam. I was told it had something to do with the prophets grandson dying in battle? And also what are the main differences within Islam in terms of beliefs and whatnot

whydoc

Hello,
Good place to start:
http://www.islam-guide.com/

http://www.missionislam.com/discover/index.htm

Search for anything about islam here:

Pakia

As a muslim, I gotta know more about Islam too.

If for no other reason, but to satisfy those curious people who keep bugging me with questions on Islam, and I don't wanna say something that I'm not 100% sure of.

So thanks for the posts, I'll be looking into them too.

Siuin

Pakia wrote: »

As a muslim, I gotta know more about Islam too.

If for no other reason, but to satisfy those curious people who keep bugging me with questions on Islam, and I don't wanna say something that I'm not 100% sure of.

Well, judging by your posting history of saying that you need to check out pubs to sample Irish beer and your posts on the LGBT Forum with articles you're interested in called 'Better Gay Than Average', you probably have quite a bit more to learn about Islam.

Needless to say, I probably wouldn't go to you for advice myself.

noddy78779

ClimberC wrote: »

Hey i was hoping someone could please explain Islam to me in lay mans terms. I have a great interest in religions (Ironic since i don't believe in a god) but i always had a difficulty in understanding Islam.

I think it is a greatly misunderstood religion with a few terrorists muddling its appearance.
One thing i never fully understood about Islam was the differing types (Sunni, Shiite ect..) and what makes them different. when ever i look them up i get a load of names and terms i cant understand or else a lot of propaganda.

I apologize if this thread is deemed offensive or anything like that but i feel it is a sad state of affairs that someone has to be so careful about asking about someones faith but i guess its a sign of the times......... :rolleyes:

Hi there,
I rarely ever post on boards let alone on this forum, however I am happy to see that there are people who are actually willing to understand islam rather than buying into the medias portrayal of muslims...which is based upon a few idiots who have villified a peaceful religion to make it seem as anything but.

Anyway I'd like to point out at the beginning and that I am a shia and would love to answer any questions you have about shia islam.. However saying that does not mean that I hold any discontempt for my sunni brothers and sisters as some people would like you to believe. I am not ignorant about sunni ideology either as I attended a muslim primary school for seven years so I have a pretty good idea on where the two sects differ.

To answer your question the main cause of disagreement between the two sects took place after the death of the prophet. The shia believe that Ali should have become the first caliph as we believe the prophet made this known at ghadeer khum(google it). However sunni believe that there should be an election held to elect the new leader caliph which resulted in abu bakr becoming the first caliph. This was originally the main cause of the split.

However both sects have grown further apart throughout history due to the persecution of the ahlulbayt(Muhammad's progeny) by his enemies Bani Umayyad. Some examples of this are the murdering of of Hussain(prophet's grandson) and 72 companions whilst the females were taken captive by yazid. Other examples of this are the assassination of the shia scholars and mass persecution of shias by idiots who give both sunni and muslims a bad name, for example saddam.

This is the main difference however there are also some minor differences which are not so important at this stage..

irishconvert

Salaam Noddy,

Thanks for your post.

As a revert I don't know a whole lot about the differences. Can you tell me what the differences in prayer are? I know the shia's pray with a stone on the floor but what else is different? Someone told me there are some differences in the five daily prayers, is this true?

JazakAllah.

noddy78779

irishconvert wrote: »

Salaam Noddy,

Thanks for your post.

As a revert I don't know a whole lot about the differences. Can you tell me what the differences in prayer are? I know the shia's pray with a stone on the floor but what else is different? Someone told me there are some differences in the five daily prayers, is this true?

JazakAllah.

No problem. There is not a whole lot different in the ways of prayer. I think the major ones I could tell you is about our qunoot which in essence is a dua which takes place during the second rakat in all our prayers before you bow down whilst standing. We don't fold our hands together whilst standing due to the traditions we follow of the prophet and his family (the imams).

Another thing we do is join our prayers for example dhuhr and asr/ maghrib and isha so they can be prayed after one another. Although we should do it seperately there is evidence that the prophet did it in the same way whilst travelling, at war and when it was raining in both shia and sunni traditions. The reason we do it is because it is more practical when at work(as one is unable to take continuous brakes during work) or you are aware that the latter prayer(asr or isha) will be delayed due to some event.

irishconvert

noddy78779 wrote: »

No problem. There is not a whole lot different in the ways of prayer. I think the major ones I could tell you is about our qunoot which in essence is a dua which takes place during the second rakat in all our prayers before you bow down whilst standing. We don't fold our hands together whilst standing due to the traditions we follow of the prophet and his family (the imams).

Another thing we do is join our prayers for example dhuhr and asr/ maghrib and isha so they can be prayed after one another. Although we should do it seperately there is evidence that the prophet did it in the same way whilst travelling, at war and when it was raining in both shia and sunni traditions. The reason we do it is because it is more practical when at work(as one is unable to take continuous brakes during work) or you are aware that the latter prayer(asr or isha) will be delayed due to some event.

Thanks for the reply, very interesting. We can also combine prayers, but only when travelling. Would make it a lot easier with work if we could do it all the time!

ClimberC

Thanks for all the replies!

Something that always annoyed me is the medias portrayal of jihadists (dont know the spelling)..............

Are they as popular in Islamic countries as portrayed?

Another thing that annoyed me deeply and can be considered racist on my part (Not intentionally being racist) is when Islamics complain about Irish law (there was a discussion on another forum about a Muslim in the high court because he wanted his second wife reconised or something along them lines).

Im not attacking the faith im just looking for views on this kind of matter. I personally think that if you move to a country you should obey its laws regardless of your religion.

Also, what is the religious stance on corporal punishment?

I seen a picture of a small child covered in blood after being whipped at a Islamic festival a few years ago, im quite pessimistic as to weather its real or not, any ideas?

It seems that all we get to see of the religion is people being killed, people whipping themselves and the evil religions rulers being naughty :rolleyes:

Ps, sorry for the somewhat harder questions, i just wanted to get this stuff out of the way if you get my drift!

noddy78779

ClimberC wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies!

Something that always annoyed me is the medias portrayal of jihadists (dont know the spelling)..............

Are they as popular in Islamic countries as portrayed?

Another thing that annoyed me deeply and can be considered racist on my part (Not intentionally being racist) is when Islamics complain about Irish law (there was a discussion on another forum about a Muslim in the high court because he wanted his second wife reconised or something along them lines).

Im not attacking the faith im just looking for views on this kind of matter. I personally think that if you move to a country you should obey its laws regardless of your religion.

Also, what is the religious stance on corporal punishment?

I seen a picture of a small child covered in blood after being whipped at a Islamic festival a few years ago, im quite pessimistic as to weather its real or not, any ideas?

It seems that all we get to see of the religion is people being killed, people whipping themselves and the evil religions rulers being naughty :rolleyes:

Ps, sorry for the somewhat harder questions, i just wanted to get this stuff out of the way if you get my drift!

I believe that the media has taken the term "jihad" completely out of context. Yes they are correct in saying that a war can be waged,but only when the citizens in an islamic state are being oppressed or are at war with foreign forces invading the country (only the soldiers can be fought with). It does not mean that you can blow yourself up and kill innocent people around you or women and children and the rules of war(stated by the quran) must be followed.

I also believe that there is a support for jihadists only because 1. their land is being invaded 2. innocent people are being killed unneccessarily(drones) 3. human rights are being violated. Support will grow as long as these crimes are perpetrated.

Western people should stop being shocked at the fact that these people are also standing up to these foreign powers. I mean seriously do they expect them not to stand up for their country. What would you do if Ireland was invaded tomorrow? Obviously stand up to it so why do the media expect something different.

What I have referred to above is known as the "minor jihad". The "major jihad" is the daily struggle that takes place within oneself in order to get closer to god through fasting, prayer and overcome desires. In essence it is overcoming one's ego.. which is seen as better in the "eyes" of god as you are trying to beccome a better follower of god, which is what god wants.

In terms to the law bit I'll leave that for others to answer, I'm in the middle.

I cannot comment on the religious festival picture as I have not seen it but before people start commenting on child brutality in islam. Think of all the children who have been killed/ become orphans/injured in the wars in iraq, afghanistan, northern pakistan, middle east etc.:(
I don't intend to have a go at you at all but before we look at others for brutality we have to look at ourselves and how the money we pay for certain items is going towards killing these children.(I appologise if I've gone off topic):eek:

blackthorn

Hi,

As an FYI, 'Islamics' isn't a word. The word is 'Muslims'.

I'm not aware of the high court case you mentioned, but even if it's true the person in question is not disobeying Irish law by bringing a challenge to have a second wife recognised. He's participiating in the process of law. If he didn't try to get legal recognition and just ignored the law, then I could see how that would be annoying. But being Muslim doesn't exclude someone from having the same rights under the law as any other citizen including the ability to bring a challenge in the high court.

ClimberC

I'm sorry if anyone was offended by that last post, but as i said i just wanted to get the somewhat harder questions out of the way...............................

In relation to the child whipping picture, I didn't mean it as an accusation, i was just wondering if such practices exist, i am well aware of the traditions of self mutilation by Christians in the Philippines,i was wondering if such practices where existent in Islam.

In relation to the court case, i was just using that as a stepping stone for the discussion of shira law. I am aware that the high court is a right we are entitled to, i was just using it as an example of the supposed "mission" to implement Islamic law as the law of the land, as portrayed by a couple of threads on this site. i was wondering as to weather all Muslims (i seriously thought that Islamics was the PC term ) agree to this or is it the more hard line followers.

I didn't mean to attack anyone's faith, like i have said, i just want to understand the religion more

Yusuf34

Peace ClimberC;

If you are interested in learning about Islam and if you would like a copy (English translation) of the Holy Qur'an, please let me know.

Peace,
Yusuf