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My Approach to Islam

by HijabMan :: posted 6 December 04

My personal goal is to become a Muslim, or one who surrenders, not just by name, but as one who surrenders to God, and is at peace with her/himself, the world around her/him, and therefore with God. The purpose of the Qur’an, and the other books that contain revelations of God, is apparent in its own contents. Read for yourself.¹

“And this is a blessed Reminder which We have revealed; will you then deny it?”²

“Thus do We relate to you (some) of the news of what has gone before; and indeed We have given to you a Reminder from Ourselves.”³

Also see: 7:2, 11:114, 11:120, 12:104, 15:9, 21:7, 21:10, 21:24, 29:51, 32:22, 36:69-70, 38:49, 38:87, 43:44, 50:37, 68:52, 81:27, 73:19, 74:31, and the list goes on.

As you can see, the Qur’an as a reminder of God, the True Reality, and doing good is a theme found throughout the Qur’an.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) like all other Prophets of God (peace be upon them all) was “only a reminder,”⁴ and a “plain warner.”⁵ We are told in the Qur’an that believers should not make any distinction between the Prophets of God.

“And those who believe in God and His messengers and do not make a distinction between any of them—God will grant them their rewards; and God is Forgiving, Merciful.”⁶

That is, no one Prophet is better than the other Prophets. They all called people to believe in God and do good.

It is misleading to speak of Islam as something completely foreign from Christianity, Judaism, and other “religions” calling people to the belief in God. To discuss Islam without speaking of previous communications from God hampers a true understanding of the message. Pluralism is intrinsic to believing in God. We are told several times that what matters is not where one faces,⁷ or what one calls themselves, but what one does and believes.

“Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in God and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.”⁸

So one doesn’t really need the Qur’an to surrender to God, nor does one need the Qur’an to do good. But if there is a revelation of God available, and it has not been changed by the hands of people, why deny it?

The Qur’an confirms the scriptures before it (including the Torah and Bible), and describes how those texts were changed by people who concealed the truth.⁹ The Qur’an even uses Jews and Christians as examples. I’ll continue on the theme of pluralism.

“And they say: None shall enter the garden (or paradise) except he who is a Jew or a Christian. These are their vain desires. Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful. Nay! whoever submits himself entirely to God and he is the doer of good (to others) he has his reward from his Lord, and there is no fear for him nor shall he grieve.¹⁰

Whereas some Christians and Jews will say they are the only ones who will enter paradise, God tells us in the Qur’an that whoever believes and does good shall have nothing to fear on Judgement Day. Some Muslims seem to have fallen into the same trap.

The Qur’an enjoins such virtues as seeking knowledge, helping those in need, being just, and striving for a better world. Doing the opposite, God tells us, we only hurt ourselves.¹¹ It is in our own interest to do good.

For those of you who are not Muslim but are reading these pages, like I said, Islam is beautiful, but unfortunately, in some cases, Islam and Muslim have become disconnected from their Arabic meanings, and now act as brand names like Nike, taking on entirely new meanings.¹²
—-

¹Arabic is coming soon, and will be placed next to the English translations
²Qur’an 21:50. The Shakir translation has been used, for the most part
³Qur’an 20:99
⁴Qur’an 88:21
⁵Qur’an 46:9
⁶Qur’an 4:152. Also see 2:285, and 3:84.
⁷Qur’an 2:177
⁸Qur’an 2:62. Also see 5:69
⁹Qur’an 6:91
¹⁰Qur’an 2:111-112
¹¹See 10:44, 16:33, 29:40, 30:9
¹²More on this will be available shortly

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