Religion Thread

[26spyker]

nation of islam? that was organisation in america. Elijah Muhammad, Malcom X, and Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) are the big names of the organisation. but they had their own brand of islam which was not orthodox .Malcolm X realised this big difference on his holy pilgrimage to Mecca and it was his reason of departure from the Nation, which led to his assassination.. After the death of the leader Elijah Muhammad his son dissolved it to join the mainstream orthodox islam in mid 70s. NOI was at its peak in the 60s in america.

Muslims have 2 major sects: sunnis and shias.
the taliban followed a new sect not popular in both shias and sunnis. they are wahabis/salafis.
Iran, Iraq and hizbullah in lebonan are majorly shia (mostly on news)
Rest of the muslim world is sunni.
I hope this helps..

[Royal Freakiness]

lol spyker. may Allah bless you.
before you mistakenly spread wrong ideas i kindly suggest you keep a low profile and learn more on sects in Islam
do you know who the salaf as-saalih are and what's the history of the term salafi? do you know who the tabe'een  and the atba'at tabe'een are?
do you know that there is a sect that specifically calls them selves salafi and distances themselves from another sect who specifically call themselves ahlas sunna wal jama'ah and vice versa.
do you know who sufis are? ash'aris? berwelvis? deobandis? qutbis?
do you know who was Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahab and what he taught ppl?
did you know that wikipedia says that sheikh al islam ibn taymiyyah is a wahhabi!? Ibn Taymiyyah was there LOOOONG before Imam Abdul-Wahhab. Even the west classifies Ahmad ibn Hanbal a wahhabi... he's like 1000 years before abdul-wahhab
do you know where the term "Wahhabi" came from and when it started?
taaliban is not wahabi or salafi. they're what you call extremists. Usama bin laden shown in the media is what you call a khawaarij.
Do you know who shi'as are? what's there ideology?
if i ask, why do you hate shi'as, what will be your response? what have you read about in their teachings?
if i ask, why do you hate salafis/wahhabis, what will be your response? what have you read about in their teachings?
if i ask, why do you love to be called sunni, what will be your response? what have you read about in their teachings?

here's a question for you that you should ponder on, spyker. what's the difference between:
muslim
sunni
follower of the salaf as-saalih
ahl-alhadeeth
ahl-as-sunnah-wal-jama'ah
orthodox islam
?
(i forgot the names some other "so-called" "sects")
i suggest you do some actual research on what great scholars like muhammad bin abdul-wahhab, ibn taymiyyah, ibn baaz, othaymeen, albaani etc... taught ppl. see their actual works before blindly saying that they're part of another misguided sect.

I'm not trying to act all knowledgeable n stuff, i'm just asking you the questions that a student of knowledge asked me, which opened my mind more on other sects. it's better for us simpletons to learn more knowledge than to badmouth ppl who actually tried to acquire knowledge and teach it.  

[26spyker]

i m not arguing with you Royal..
if this got u offended..
the taliban followed a new sect not popular in both shias and sunnis. they are wahabis/salafis.

there is nothing wrong with it. they were an extension of wahabiism, even if they didnt follow the textbook wahabi/salafi ideology. Above i have used the word orthodox in terms of culture/tradition.
i was trying to give an outline. and if u want those questions answered i m not going to do them here, to save time and energy. the guy just wanted an intro
and i gave a good outline then u could ever give....
THE END. 

[Royal Freakiness]

i'm saying wahhabism is not a new sect, that's all
Imam Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhaab tried to keep his teachings as simple and clear as possible and only sticking to the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet and the teachings of those rightly guided who followed him. They're not his own thoughts and ideas. Hence, they're known amongst those neutral to "wahhabis" as sunnis.
His main interests, may Allah have mercy on him, were to abolish innovations (bid'a), such as grave worshiping of companions of the Prophet, and polytheism, especially in KSA.
Among those who criticize the use of the term Wahhabi is social scientist Quintan Wiktorowicz. In a footnote of his report, Anatomy of the Salafi Movement, he said:
    "Opponents of Salafism frequently affix the "Wahhabi" designator to denote foreign influence. It is intended to signify followers of Abd al-Wahhab and is most frequently used in countries where Salafis are a small minority of the Muslim community but have made recent inroads in "converting" the local population to the movement ideology. ... The Salafi movement itself, however, never uses this term. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find individuals who refer to themselves as Wahhabis or organizations that use "Wahhabi" in their title or refer to their ideology in this manner (unless they are speaking to a Western audience that is unfamiliar with Islamic terminology, and even then usage is limited and often appears as "Salafi/Wahhabi")."
The truth about Shaykh al-Jilaani and Shaykh Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab
http://islamqa.com/en/ref/12932/
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab – a reformer concerning whom many malicious lies have been told
http://islamqa.com/en/ref/36616/
Did Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab rebel against the Ottoman Caliphate and what was the reason for its fall?
http://islamqa.com/en/ref/9243/
anyways it's a complicated subject that shouldn't complicate this thread   
I'm giving you this knowledge because I know many, if not most, of the indian sub-continent (especially pakistan), love using the term "wahhabi". they use it as a sort of insult to those who don't celebrate the Prophet's birthday, practice suffism, dance for the spirit of the Prophet, and other innovations in Islam. just trying to pass on knowledge to a fellow muslim bro. 

[jammy]

well fuk reading all that i just want to learn the teachings of islam cos i have been thinking of converting

[26spyker]

ohk. what makes u wanna convert?
this is a soccer forum. but i can try...
Pray 5 times a day (minimum takes around 20 mins in total), fast 30 days in a whole year.. go to holy pilgrimage once in a lifetime if u can afford. Once a year,give 2.5% of your savings (if any) to the deserving poor.
Belief. Oneness of God, The Last Prophet brought the final Message which wont change till the Judgment Day, Belief in angels, Belief in Quran and lastly belief in the Judgement Day(afterlife) where your deeds will be judged .
Islam encourages modesty, no premarital sex, no drinking alcohol, no pork and some other food restrictions.

On a personal note, i think a person should live with the thinking that u treat people like u wished to be treated and be honest to your conscience. It is the first step to be a good human, the rest just flows. If a person born in the jungles of amazon where no Quran/Bilbe/torah ever reached or where no preist/cleric ever visited God will judge the person(after death) not according to any religion but according to what he knew, how much honest was he to his conscience and if he treated others like he wished to be treated. 
On a larger scale, i believe that all the wars and corruption can only come to an end if we unify under God, thats the only way to salvation.

[Royal Freakiness]

masha Allah. that's great news that you're interested, jammy  
May Allah guide you to the right path
i'm sorry, those posts weren't for you lol, those are a bit advanced. i was just replying to spyker
a very short Introduction to Islam
http://islam.about.com/od/basicbeliefs/p/intro.htm

if you're interested, here's a more comprehensive introduction to islam compiled by my mother  
She tried to make sure that the sources are only from known authentic literature written by scholars.
I suggest you read this.
Introduction to Islam
http://www.wefound.org/Introduction.pdf

if you're more interested on learning more detail before converting here are few of her works that i recommend you to read
A comprehensive compilation on the Oneness of Allah
http://www.wefound.org/Tawheed.pdf
A comprehensive compilation on the pillars of Islam
http://www.wefound.org/Pillars.pdf
A comprehensive compilation on Belief in Allah
http://www.wefound.org/Aqeedah.pdf
Lastly, a comprehensive compilation on the Qur'an: Qualities and Sciences
http://www.wefound.org/Qur'an.pdf

I have books in my library at home that are great for non-muslims who are interested in converting, but i can't find them online.
they're only a few pages long. if i have time, i'll try to search for them  

to spyker's above post, good job.
but the first thing to do to become a Muslim (first pillar of Islam) is to say the shahadah (testimony of faith) wholeheartedly
which is: laa ilaaha illallah, muhammad ar-rasoolullah
there is no true god except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
another translation: there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
without that all your actions will not be accepted even if they're good

[26spyker]

ok royal..next time i will write something u cant find a fault in..lol.
Peace to all.

[Royal Freakiness]

it wasn't a fault lol
you just forgot to write the 1st pillar of islam  


also, Islam encourages a lot of good things. Actually, not encourages, it's made incumbent upon all Muslims.  Kindness to neighbours, whether muslim or non-muslim. kindness to children. Respect to elders and parents. Hospitality to guests.
Good manners is one of the most important characteristics of a Muslim.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I have only been sent to perfect good characteristics.” Narrated by Bukhari
Abu Darda' reported that the Prophet of Allah, upon him be peace, said, "Nothing is weightier on the Scale of Deeds than one's good manners." Bukhari
Abu Huraira, r.a., said, "I heard Abu al Qasim (the Prophet saaws), say, 'The best among you in Islam are those with the best manners, so long as they develop a sense of understanding.' Bukhari
'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr said, "The Prophet of Allah, upon him be peace, was never obscene or coarse. Rather, he used to tell us that the best among us were those with the best manners." Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi
Anas bin Malik said, "I served the Prophet of Allah, upon him be peace, for ten years. During that time, he never once said to me as much as 'Oof' if I did something wrong. He never asked me, if I had failed to do something, 'Why did you not do it?,' and he never said to me, if I had done something wrong, 'Why did you do it?'" Bukhari
Abu Huraira, r.a., said that the Prophet of Allah, saaws, said, "If one has good manners, one may attain the same level of merit as those who spend their nights in prayer." Bukhari
The Prophet of Allah, saaws, said, "He who does not show mercy to our young or show esteem for our elders is not one of us." Bukhari
many others other than good manners but my post is already long enough.

peace 2 all  

[jammy]

wow big help thanks alot and just intrested cos i feel lost and in need of guidence

[Royal Freakiness]

no problem, mate
May Allah guide you to what you're looking for 
where's the simple smiling emoticon when you need it...

[Christof]

1 - Proof Of Islam - The Proof That Islam Is The Truth

No offence, but that title is ridiculous. Religion is based on believe, not on proof. To proove something, you need science, and science is the opposite of religion.
I think Religion exists because of phenomens nobody could explain. Things like polar light, lightning, etc were belived to be something magic, sign of God (or Allah, whoever). But today, all those things many things can be explained scientifically.
I have no problem with people believing in anything, as long as they are not fanatic about it.