Rayaan, all the discussions focusing on Islam have made me very curious about your position on some of the muslim apologetics that seem to form the core of the debate.

If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to know where you stand on:

The beauty of the Quran (specifically as it is leveraged to support the claim that it is the revealed word of god)

Scientific details revealed in the Quran.

Quranic inerrancy.

The spread of Islam (obviously tying in with the next point)

Fulfilled prophecy

The Miracle of Quranic composition (specifically the literary mathematical composition)

And of course finally the preservation of the Quran.

Obviously you don't have to write a novel, We could use a scale for simplicity (any additional comments are still welcome of course)

so, lets say: strongly agree, agree, no opinion, disagree, strongly disagree (if that would work for you)

Anyone else who has an opinion on this, is of course welcome to chime in.

(July 16, 2011 at 11:00 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Rayaan, all the discussions focusing on Islam have made me very curious about your position on some of the muslim apologetics that seem to form the core of the debate.

Glad that you're interested. But, I can't do this right now because I'll be away from the forum for 2 weeks (or maybe less).

I have already said this in a different thread (in this post) before you made this thread. After I come back, however, I may post something in response to the OP (even though I discussed most of these topics in greater details before). Anyone else can post their comments and/or questions while I'm away.

He blindly agrees with everything the koran says, as he has to, as a Muslim, no matter how questionable, disgusting, evil or violent. And will make any possible excuse to try and justify whatever is done in the name of Islam.

But whilst saying that, he is actually one of the more decent religious folk around here...but that says a lot about religious people.

The only question I want Rayaan to give an honest answer to is why he is muslim.

I don't want, 'because the quran is true', or 'because I know'.

Seriously, what lead to you being a muslim? Were you brought up as one? Did something happen or someone convince you that the quran was true? I'm genuinely interested. Why out of all other religions did you choose Islam?
I'd actually respect Rayaan a lot if he just said, "you know what, I just want to believe" rather than giving some bullshit reasoning to believe.

Yeah : I just want to believe > I have no reason. Nothing for observers to think about then!

Rayaan strikes me as a Muslim who actually believes rather being born a Muslim. Is that correct Rayaan in 2 weeks? Was there a point you chose to believe? Is it a moment? Or is it slowly learned?

(July 18, 2011 at 7:47 am)fr0d0 Wrote: Yeah : I just want to believe > I have no reason. Nothing for observers to think about then!

Lol I'd actually think fair enough if he did say that. I'd think he was a complete moron but at least it's an honest answer.

I'm curious too .

I didn't forget about this thread at all. I am still intending to answer the questions.

The reason that I didn't answer after coming back is because of the questions raised by fr0d0 and Napoleon particularly (i.e. on why I'm a Muslim).

The OP is very easy to address. However, I didn't want to post the answers to the OP without making another thread on why I believe in Islam because that one requires some kind of an evidence or an argument to back it up. So, I will reply in this thread once again after I create a new thread that will explain the reasons for why I believe in the existence of God and further why I'm a Muslim. I would like to post them around the same time.

I'm just taking a long time to make the new topic because I've been thinking about my beliefs a lot. And it's something difficult for me to explain to others. I can't do it so quickly. But, I'm still working on it and you guys will see what I have in my mind whenever I'm ready.

I have already posted some of the arguments for Islam in the following two threads:
Atheism vs. the Quran
Riding on a Cosmic String

^ But those are old threads. I have more things to share about Islam which you guys may not have heard of before and I'm going to post them later.

I have changed my mind on this since posting that - I now know that Rayaan is a hereditary Muslim. Plus I don't know if there is any other kind. I suspect not.

After clicking Rayaan's link and reading some of his posts on these matters, I begin to wonder what all the fuss is about. It's constantly trotted out that Rayaan is 'one of the better theist posters' here, which as far as I can tell basically seems to mean 'polite, has been here a while and posts pictures of himself'. Someone in that first thread makes the comparison to Statler Waldorf, and it's hardly an unfair one. Mindless arguments, logical fallacies and mental gymnastics. Colour me unimpressed.