Careful, Ruth, you're sounding very Christian
Muslims and Christians are REALLY not very different. The basic difference is that Christians believe that Jesus (peace be upon him) was divine, and/or, God in the flesh. Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, a human like you or I, but with God-given talents and gifts. Christians see Mohammed (peace be upon him) as a historical figure while Muslims see Mohammed as God's final prophet and messenger to mankind. Generally speaking, fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Muslims follow the same moral code and have many of the same beliefs about the way this world, and the Hereafter, works, with some slight discrepancies. So... a Muslim's ideas are very often going to have a great deal of overlap with a Christian's. So quite often, I'm going to "sound Christian". (Kinda misleading, my name being Ruth and all.) But it is also a point-of-view thing. To me, sometimes Christians sure do sound very Muslim.
I'm lucky to live 3 months of the year on a little cul-de-sac in North Texas. Two of my neighboring families are good people, and practicing Christians that I really admire and feel safe and proud to live around. Oddly enough, both those women have daughters my age but I feel more in the same "league" with them than I do usually with women in their 30's. They probably think that's cute or something. Anyway, I was talking to one of them yesterday and our conversation again verified that 1.) no, I'm not the only one appalled at some things going on and condoned here in American society and 2.) practicing Christians and praciticing Muslims have the same hopes, dreams, values, expectations and manners. We both feel sadness and frustration over unwed teenage mothers, and divorce of so many families these days, and over what's being shown on television. As I stood out on the lawn, watching my sprinkler water our grass that her fiance installed for us, I didn't think of us as a Muslim woman talking to a Christian woman. I just saw us as two good people, trying to live righteously, being good neighbors to one another.
I don't think I've ever known a Jehovah's Witness but my father relates this:
I've been having discussions with a Jehovah's Witnesses couple and their explanation (which I largely agree with) is "Lasting peace will never be achieved on earth as long as Satan rules the Earth."
I, as a Muslim, don't think that Satan "rules" the Earth. Doesn't God have Supreme Power over the Earth and the Heavens and everything between them? But God did permit Satan to enter into our world and try to tempt us into being arrogant. So I do think that Satan will ALWAYS be trying to influence people's hearts and minds until the end of time when our judgement starts. And I do believe that God did create mankind to be weak, and that some of us will fully succomb to Satan's whisperings and all of us will succomb to those whisperings SOMETIMES (because none of us is perfect). That could turn into a big theological debate- "Why did God create man to be weak?" which I have the answer to but probably not the audience. :-)
To further elaborate- yes, Satan can give us evil thoughts and sometimes we really can't control that and as a muslim, I believe we are NOT held accountable for our thoughts, or our feelings. We ARE held accountable for our words and actions, however. But it not only takes INTENTION to turn those thoughts into actions, it also takes WILL. God gave each of us a WILL to choose what thoughts we want to act on. This is what seperates us from animals. (Well, one thing that seperates us anyway.) We may have urges and yet, refrain from acting on them. We might even have bad intentions, yet still control ourselves, and not act on them and still not cause harm. In fact, to my Muslim mind, that is where the greatest reward lies. Wanting to do evil, but choosing not to. Self restraint. Huge source of brownie points right there. Or put another way, if you decide your intention is to always make your Creator pleased with you, and put that above any other goal, then your actions will follow that intention. You have flexed your will.
I'm lucky to live 3 months of the year on a little cul-de-sac in North Texas. Two of my neighboring families are good people, and practicing Christians that I really admire and feel safe and proud to live around. Oddly enough, both those women have daughters my age but I feel more in the same "league" with them than I do usually with women in their 30's. They probably think that's cute or something. Anyway, I was talking to one of them yesterday and our conversation again verified that 1.) no, I'm not the only one appalled at some things going on and condoned here in American society and 2.) practicing Christians and praciticing Muslims have the same hopes, dreams, values, expectations and manners. We both feel sadness and frustration over unwed teenage mothers, and divorce of so many families these days, and over what's being shown on television. As I stood out on the lawn, watching my sprinkler water our grass that her fiance installed for us, I didn't think of us as a Muslim woman talking to a Christian woman. I just saw us as two good people, trying to live righteously, being good neighbors to one another.
I don't think I've ever known a Jehovah's Witness but my father relates this:
I've been having discussions with a Jehovah's Witnesses couple and their explanation (which I largely agree with) is "Lasting peace will never be achieved on earth as long as Satan rules the Earth."
I, as a Muslim, don't think that Satan "rules" the Earth. Doesn't God have Supreme Power over the Earth and the Heavens and everything between them? But God did permit Satan to enter into our world and try to tempt us into being arrogant. So I do think that Satan will ALWAYS be trying to influence people's hearts and minds until the end of time when our judgement starts. And I do believe that God did create mankind to be weak, and that some of us will fully succomb to Satan's whisperings and all of us will succomb to those whisperings SOMETIMES (because none of us is perfect). That could turn into a big theological debate- "Why did God create man to be weak?" which I have the answer to but probably not the audience. :-)
To further elaborate- yes, Satan can give us evil thoughts and sometimes we really can't control that and as a muslim, I believe we are NOT held accountable for our thoughts, or our feelings. We ARE held accountable for our words and actions, however. But it not only takes INTENTION to turn those thoughts into actions, it also takes WILL. God gave each of us a WILL to choose what thoughts we want to act on. This is what seperates us from animals. (Well, one thing that seperates us anyway.) We may have urges and yet, refrain from acting on them. We might even have bad intentions, yet still control ourselves, and not act on them and still not cause harm. In fact, to my Muslim mind, that is where the greatest reward lies. Wanting to do evil, but choosing not to. Self restraint. Huge source of brownie points right there. Or put another way, if you decide your intention is to always make your Creator pleased with you, and put that above any other goal, then your actions will follow that intention. You have flexed your will.
posted by Just Ruthie at 2:33 PM
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