No Compulsion in Religion
Cont’d from page 2
[16:125] You shall invite to the path of your Lord with wisdom and kind enlightenment, and debate with them in the best possible manner. Your Lord knows best who has strayed from His path, and He knows best who are the guided ones.
[29:46] Do not argue with the people of the scripture (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) except in the nicest possible manner - unless they transgress - and say, “We believe in what was revealed to us and in what was revealed to you, and our god and your god is one and the same; to Him we are submitters.”
In this way, the Quran not only emphasized the use of the best available fundamentals but also the best possible method. Thus, there is no obligation of Islam on non believers. Coercion in any form or denomination does not exist at all in Quranic teachings.
It is the Divine Scheme that a human should be given absolute freedom to think and act feely. God does not snatch this freedom from us at any moment of our life span. All Prophets and Messengers were assigned the task to gently coax people into accepting and believing what was revealed to them. They just convey the message to humankind.
However, even the Prophet or the Messenger cannot guide us. Only God guides:
[28:56] You cannot guide the ones you love. GOD is the only One who guides in accordance with His will, and in accordance with His knowledge of those who deserve the guidance.
[24:46] We have sent down to you clarifying revelations, then GOD guides whoever wills (to be guided) in a straight path.
[6:149] Say, “GOD possesses the most powerful argument; if He wills He can guide all of you.”
Alim C.
|
Comments From Submitters
Salamun alaykum
It's like a candle lit glow through the darkness, shadows appear and disappear. …whether you choose to believe or whether you don't know who to follow, you need to trust in the light of the Book (the Quran) and you need to put the Book as your light and your way home will be lit. But if you take illusions as real, then the light may leave you behind, or there maybe obstacles in your way that you would need the light to know how to get beyond them. May God guide us to the straight path, may God enlighten us, and may we find our way home in the Garden of Eden. I submit to the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the one God, Exalted is He.
I don't know sometimes I seek God's protection from the uncertainty and of hypocrisy. I hope no grey zone appears in my writing or in my experience, if I follow the light of the Quran and submit then there will be light and an answer.
Islam is an Abrahamic faith, not Muhammadan. It was Abraham who named us Muslims, Submitters if you follow or read the Quran, but the followers broke away into sects and different groups. …There is only one God, I submit to Him. To God belong the most beautiful names.
Submission to the will of God—when Abraham was asked, do you submit? His response was, I submit to the Lord of the heavens and the earth. This is the perfect religion, Submission the religion of Abraham, whose belief was that there is no other god besides God, and there is none worthy of worship except God.
Return, think twice, remove the burden and enter the religion of Peace.
Kashif
* * * *
Salam Alikom
I am so glad to find your website—right after my prayer to Allah, seeking for truth about what is the true Islamic faith. I am a new convert. What attracted me to Islam is its ability to answer my questions about Christianity. The Quran shows me a God that is all loving, all-powerful, and all-merciful. Quran shows me a God that is complete in His teaching (as it should be).
Then my boyfriend who was raised in Morocco, recently started giving me issues
|
about the way I dress (“non-Islamic” according to the Mosque leaders here as well as the hadiths). I am modest, and by no means try to flaunt myself and get attention.
We've been practically arguing every day about following the Quran vs. following the Hadiths. He thinks Hadiths should be followed because that’s what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said or did. I think the Hadiths are the Muslim equivalent of the Christian Gospel—not a direct word of God and has been altered and created by men. My constant argument- because God is all-knowing and goes into details about so many things in the Quran, why wouldn't he put a specific dress code there? To follow the hadith is to say the Quran is incomplete.
Anyway- I am so glad (alhamdulilah) that I found your site. I was getting very upset and doubting my ability to follow Islam anymore if the “institutionalized teaching” requires Muslims, or the submitters (to Allah), to follow Mohammed's words and actions that aren't documented in the Quran. Unfortunately, the mosques I have been trying to go to all enforce “Islamic” dress codes. I actually got kicked out of two of them because my hair wasn't covered—both times when I was trying to learn more about the faith.
Are there “submitters” here in NYC area and where do they meet? I plan on going to your July conference, and hopefully (if God wills) that my boyfriend will open his heart and seek complete truth in the Quran—and only Quran. Meanwhile, I'd love to still practice my duties as a Muslim (and not be kicked out of a mosque) because my hair isn't covered. I'd much appreciate it if you can recommend a mosque to go to in NY that will allow me to practice my faith, prescribed by God alone —rather than a faith that has been institutionalized through centuries.
Thank you and God bless.
Sincerely,
Sister LK
* * * * *
Peace be upon you and all my submitting brothers and sisters around the world,
Just wanna let you know that I really enjoy reading all the information you provide on your website, and wanna gives thanks for all the submitters perspectives, they totally rock. Keep up the good work.
K. from London
|