I am curious about islam

[lordofgemini]

Praying 5 times a day.
Fasting in the months of ramazan
Charity on raw material. 2.5% a year.
Khums: an annual taxation of one-fifth (20%) of all gain. Khums is paid to the Imams or to poor and needy people.
Pilgrimage
Jihad :
Amr-bil-Maroof: calling towards Good
Nahi Anil Munkar: Stopping others from evil acts
Tawalla: expressing love towards Good.
Tabarra: expressing disassociation and hatred towards Evil.

Alright the same questions I asked major before I will ask you.

1. How do you address contradictions like the one made before?


2. If islam is the religion of peace what is with sharia law?


3. What makes the quran different from lets say christianity or hinduism?

4. Is there a end time prophecy in islam if so what are its signs?

5. What about the one thing I heard where Muhammad was in the bible?

I will try my best to answer you questions.

1. Hmmm I don't see a contradiction,
In the first verse it says those who 'believe'
And in second verse its addressing to those who 'disbelived'

2. It seems that there is a lot of misunderstanding amoung non-muslims regarding this topic, so I will give a brief summary

In the Western media, they refer to "Sharia" as if it is some monolithic entity agreed on by all Muslims, IT IS NOT!

Each Western country also has it's own legal system, just as most muslim coutries do.

In every legal system, basically, you have three parts

1) The founding principles(s) (which establishes the basis for the law)
2) The legal code (which is derived from the founding document(s) and legal precedent)
3) An enforcement mechanism( a judges order, based on the legal code)

These three are essential because the founding documents give a basis for the legal code.
The legal code would be useless without an enforcement mechanism, otherwise the legal
code would just be philosopy and not law.

If we use the US as an example,

The founding principles of US law is based on the US Constitution and legal precedent. Legal precedent is derived from the past decisions of the courts. This gives rise to the legal code (Federal, State, County, and City). The legal code is enforced by a court order ( a bench warrent, Supreme Court decision, etc)

When we talk about Islamic Law (Sharia), we are talking about a legal code. The problem is that there are many Islamic groups and nations and many use different documents to form their founding principles, as Western Nations do. A Western Example might be British Common Law. This is used a a founding principle to derive the British legal code whereas in the US, this is used a basis for the US Constitution but the document itself is not used a a founding document. In the West, there is a seperation of Church and State, so religious law is not used explicitly to derive the US legal code, although most of the principles of the Ten Commandments are included in US legal code (although they are not refered to explicitly).

Commonalities in Islamic Law

All Islamic legal codes are claimed by their authors to be derived from the Quran. The problem with this is that most of the legal pronouncements in the Quran are not explicit, but must be derived or interpreted by Scholars who are well versed in the nuances of the Quranic language as well as the Hadith (sayings) and Sunnah (actions) of the Holy Prophet
(pbuh) and in the case of the Jaafari law schools, the Ahl Al Bayt ( peace be upon them).

In Islamic countries, there is not seperation of Church and State so that , in most Islamic countries, founding principles are derived from on or more of the Islamic law schools explicitly(Hanafi, Hanbali, Malikki, Shaafi, Jaafari, and Selifi) as well as non Islamic or secular founding principles. A good example of this is Turkey, where the legal opinions and precedents of Kamal Attaturk are combined with Islamic law to form the Turkish legal code.

Many of the laws of Afghanistan were derived from a reinterpretation of US law, brought in vis a via Karzai, as well as a mix of Selefi legal code. The pronouncement about killing Muslims who convert to Christianity is based on Selefi legal code, which is not accepted by 99% of the Muslims. It is truly astonishing to me how this very tiny minority of muslims seems to get so much media coverage whenever they issue a fatwa (enforcement mechanism) which is not accepted by most muslims and then called 'Sharia'.

3. Well as Muslims we believe that bible was the word of God. Which was over time changed and re written and true word of God was lost and corrupted. Thus having some contradictions in it.

As for Quran it is the same as it was revealed to the prophet (peace be upon him) and not a single letter has been altered. And it is also promised by God that it would be kept safe.

‘’We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption). (Al-Hijr –Stone land-:9)

Quran speaks about a variety of branches of science like: Astronomy, Embryology, Hydrology, Geology, Sociology, Psychology, Oceanography, Law etc. and is including lots of scientific statements (about the universe creation, clouds, mountains, embryology, rains, deep sea, difference between sun and moon, etc) that were validated only recently and were not known in the time of the prophet. No single contradiction found between any of Quran scientific statements and the current scientific findings or discoveries. Quran included correct scientific information on some incidents that are scientifically incorrect in other holy books (e.g. in the bible mentioned that sun was created after the creation of earth Genesis 1:9-19 and vegetation was created before the Sun-Genesis 1:11-13, 14-19).

And this thing I just like anyway

The word sea (bahr) is used 32 times in the Quran. The word bahr is used both for the sea and other waters like lakes and rivers. The word land (berr, yabas) is used 13 times. If we calculate the ratio of 32 to 45 the result is 71.111%.

You may look up in any encyclopedia in the world and see that the lands cover 29% of the earth whereas the seas cover 71% of it.And it rhymes :p

4. Yes there are many prophecies.

Like:
Imam Ali(pbuh) said: ".....When people would forget the prayers, trusts will be betrayed. Lying would be considered lawful. Usury will become common. Bribes would be rampant. Tall buildings would be constructed. Religion will be sold in exchange of worldly gains. Fools will be in power. Advice will be sought from women. Relationships will be broken off. Carnal desires will be widely followed. Bloodshed will be considered a minor matter. Forbearance will be looked upon as weakness and oppression will be considered a matter of pride. Kings and rulers will be sinners and transgressors. Ministers shall be liars. The general public shall be dishonest. The reciters of Quran will be transgressors. False testimony will be acceptable. Sins would be committed openly. Laying false allegations will be a common thing. Sinfulness and rebellion will be rife. The Quran will be looked down upon. Mosques will be decorated. Minarets will be elevated. Evil people would be accorded honor. Rows, instead of displaying unity would present a scenario of strife. Hearts of the people will be distant from each other. Oaths and promises will be readily broken. That which has been promised will come near. Greed for wealth will impel people to take women as partners in business. Voices of the singers will rise up high and they shall find much audience. The lowly people shall become the leaders of the community. Male and female singers shall be procured on payment. The people of this age will curse the people of the past. Women will ride (horses). Women will resemble men and men will resemble women. Witnesses will testify without being asked to do so and other people
without recognizing the truth and in other than religion they will give deep thought and give testimony. World would be given precedence over the hereafter. Apparently they would be like wolves but their hearts will be more rotten than carrion. They shall be stinking and more bitter than aloe. At that time all would say, ‘Hurry up, hurry up. At that time the Baitul Maqdas will be the best place to live in. And a time will come upon the people that everyone will wish to reside in the Baitul Maqdas.”

You can Google signs of day of judgment you will get many of them.

5. Well these are a few verses I found.
Deuteronomy 18:15 - The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

John 1:25 - And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

Isaiah 29:12 - And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

Deuteronomy 18:18 - I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

John 1:21 - And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

The Quran says that he was mentioned by name in the Bible well I guess that much has been lost over the years. But it was still in the bible when prophet (s) was born. There are many traditions stating this. And also like prophets Jesus (peace be upon him) every messenger came with the Same message of God that is Islam. Which by time was corrupted by men.

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Some article I read

Not sure about the authenticity but I thought I would share.
Splitting of the Moon.

2. Death of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

3. A form of death, which will kill thousands of Muslims. (Understood to refer to the plague of Amwas during the caliphate of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab.)

4. A major fighting in Madinah (understood to refer to the battle of al-Harrah during the caliphate of Yazid, 63 AH).

5. The Muslim conquest of Jerusalem.

6. The Muslim conquest of Constantinople.

7. Two large groups of Muslims will fight in war.

8. A war between the Muslims and a reddish people with small eyes, wearing sandals made of hair (understood to refer to the Mongol Tatar invasion of the Islamic lands.)

9. A peace agreement between the Muslims and non-Muslims from the yellow race (Chinese, Mongols, etc.)

10. Thirty impostors (Dajjaal) will appear, each thinking he is a prophet.

Present
11. Naked, destitute, barefoot shepherds will compete in building tall buildings.

12. The slave-woman will give birth to her master or mistress.

13. A trial (fitnah), which will enter every Arab household.

14. Knowledge will be taken away (by the death of people of knowledge), and ignorance will prevail.

15. Wine (intoxicants, alcohol) will be drunk in great quantities.

16. Illegal sexual intercourse will become widespread.

17. Earthquakes will increase.

18. Time will pass more quickly.

19. Tribulations (fitan) will prevail.

20. Bloodshed will increase.

21. A man will pass by the grave of another and wish he was in the latter’s place.

22. Trustworthiness will be lost, i.e. when authority is given to those who do not deserve it.

23. People will gather for prayer, but will be unable to find an imam to lead them.

Future
24. The number of men will decrease, whilst the number of women will increase, until for every man there are 50 women.

25. The Euphrates will reveal a treasure of gold, and many will die fighting over it, each one hoping to be the one who gains the treasure.

26. The Romans (Europeans) will come to a place called A’maq or Wabiq, and an army of the best people will go forth from Madinah to face them.

27. The Muslim conquest of Rome.

28. The Mahdi (guided one) will appear, and be the Imam of the Muslims.

29. Jesus Christ will descend in Damascus, and pray behind the Mahdi.

30. Jesus will break the cross and kill the swine, i.e. destroy the false Christianity.

31. The Antichrist (al-masih al-dajjal, the false Christ) will appear, with all his tools of deception, and be an immense trial. He will be followed by 70,000 Jews from Isfahan (present-day Iran).

32. The appearance of Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog), and the associated tribulations.

33. The emergence of the Beast from the Earth, carrying the Staff of Moses and the Seal of Solomon, who will speak to the people, telling them they did not believe with certainty in the Divine Signs.

34. A major war between the Muslims (including Jews and Christians who truly believe in Jesus after his return) led by the Imam Mahdi, and the Jews plus other non-Muslims led by the Antichrist.

35. Jesus will kill the Antichrist at the gate of Ludd (Lod in present-day Israel, site of an airport and a major Israeli military base).

36. A time of great peace and serenity during and after the remaining lifetime of Jesus.

37. Wealth will come so abundant that it will become difficult to find someone to accept charity.

38. Arabia will become a land of gardens and rivers.

39. Society will then decay.

40. The buttocks of the women of the tribe of Daws will again sway in circumambulation (tawaf) around the idol Dhul-Khulsah.

41. A great fire in the Hijaz, seen by the inhabitants of Busra.

42. Three major armies will sink into the earth: one in the east, one in the west, and one in Arabia.

43. An Abyssinian leader with thin shins will destroy the Ka’bah.

44. The huge cloud of smoke.

45. The sun will rise from the west (its place of setting).

46. A gentle wind, which will take the souls of the believers.

47. There is no-one left on the earth saying, "Allah, Allah" or "There is no god except Allah."

48. Eventually the Day of Judgment is established upon the worst of the people, who copulate like donkeys in public.

49. The blowing in the Trumpet by the Angel Israfil, upon which everyone will faint except as Allah wills.

50. The second blowing in the Trumpet, upon which everyone will be resurrected.