This article was first Published on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at – : http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/01/mistakes-few-muslims-make.html
The following articles (listed below) disingeniously compare Christianity with Islam , presenting Christianity in a negative way. I am posting here to share another point of view knowing well that these kind of articles are not important to an overwhelming majority of Muslims, these issues are not in their day to day life nor do they care. These articles are not part of any majority of people regardless of their faith. They focus on their family and work and being good human beings.
These articles, just as the ones bent on Islam bashing are the domain of the Neocons, i.e., those who are bent on creating chaos. These Necons are in every faith; be it Christiandom, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam or others.
Please think about this, and if it makes sense to you, speak out against any articles by any group that prey on deriding others, that is contrary to what their faith advoactes – peace, harmony and co-existence.
1. First of all, I want to affirm that I am a Muslim and practicing Islam works for me and the values of Islam run in my veins. Just as it is natural for a Christian, Hindu or Sikh to follow his or her faith, my faith is natural to me.
2. Religion came into being to bring peace to an individual within, and what surrounds him or her; life and matter. It is God’s creation to keep the world and his diverse creation in some order or equilibrium.
3. Religion is simply faith – believing in God, Angels, Prophets, Heavens, Hell and the Day of reckoning etc. Each faith has its own list to complete that particular faith.
4. What one believes is how one is conditioned (Faith by birth) and how one feels comfortable with the ideas and subscribes to it (Faith by conversion).
5. It is hard to imagine the following scenario; During the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia or war torn Iraq or any other conflict – many a children were rendered homeless and thank God, there were good people around the globe whose kindness allowed them to adopt those children. Imagine a family with 5 kids, all their relatives were wiped out and each one of the kids was adopted when they were from one to five in age… by a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and a Jewish family.
6. Let’s say you are the Muslim kid who was adopted and your brothers or sisters are following other faiths. Do you believe that your siblings; who were raised as a Hindu, Christian, Jew or Buddhist will not believe in what they were raised? Would they not claim that their belief is the right one? As you claim yours is the right one? Who is right?
7. What is the difference then? Is it what we are conditioned to believe? You can experiment with your own kids and you can witness the result twenty years from now. Religion is faith, what you believe.
8. A majority of Muslims, like majority of any religious group is not in the business of selling religion like a product; putting down competition to sell their own. Religion is not for sale and it does not have to be sold by putting other faiths down. If you enjoy the fruits of peace and happiness that your faith gives you, share it with others, and if they can feel the same, let them make that call. If you do the mud slinging, you are inviting mudslinging back and that is not religion in any form or shape.
9. The following two articles are not only flawed in comparisons but downright breeders of conflict. Your faith does not strengthen by creating low points for other faiths. You ask the believers, they see it in a different way.
This perhaps is the reason God has cautioned us so many times ” to you is your faith as mine is to me”; If he had chosen, all of us would have followed the same faith, he would have made us all exactly 6′ tall, 200 pounds, blue skin color…. and Mount Everest and Mt. St Helens and all other mountains would have been 30,000′ tall, 10 Miles wide… and all oceans to go from 1 foot to 7 miles deep at the same distance…
But God chose to make us all different, let’s honor God’s wish. He said I want to see all of you get along with all the uniqueness I have endowed you with, look at the planets, stars and universe, each one has its own space and trajectory, you need to figure it out to live in peace.
Qur’an, Al-Hujurat, Surah 49:13: “O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Allah Knows and is Aware.”
Please think about this, and if it makes sense to you, avoid circulating these articles and instead work on creating peace.
Qur’aan – 109:6 “Unto you, your moral law, and unto me, mine.”
To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker; one who constantly seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for harmonious co-existence and world peace – God wants his creation to be in peace that is the chief purpose of religion.
As Muslims we should not resort to this disgusting activity, we are the ones who are hit every day with Quranic verses misquoted to denigrate the faith that we believe in, and we should not be doing the same to others, no matter how much they hit us below the belt. Our goodness should not be dependent on how others treat us.
Jazak Allah Khair
Mike Ghouse
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
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