River

In some sense dogs and cats are better muslims than you ....for they do what their inherent nature commands. You on the other hand feel the need to dismiss your very own intrinsic nature.


-River

River

no.

River

Actually, the word Islam is derived from the hebrew "shalom=peace" the arabic word "silm=conditions of peace" and the aramaic word shalem=perfection, completion [ indicating a Revelation that is complete, superseding all that came before it].

Thus, Islam translates to " Submission to the Will of God and surrendering to conditions of Perfect Peace and Harmony"

Novowels

Inherent nature? I really don't think emotional's ancesters were bred for submission and domestication for the last ~13,000 years like cats and dogs.

River

nah, thats not what I meant. i.e Muslims are followers of the Religion Islam.....however, "muslims" are submitters of the Will of God"....this includes all of Creation, nature or anything else that is voluntarily( willingly) or involuntarily(unwillingly) submitting to G-d's Will. Humans, however are given Free Will allowing us the ability to NOT obey G-d.....( however we are still following his Will) despite the fact that we were inherently created to know G-d and to obey . Animals and Angels are obligatory muslims.

Novowels

So God only likes the Happy Slave[tm]. Gotcha.

You'll have to forgive me if I don't think that this interpretation makes God sound like one of the 'good guys' to me.

River

well we are Slaves....but


we are given

Salary, Luxury , Movies , Delicacies and other Extravagances.......


(obviously, in moderation)............so most people should be happy



I guess we are spoiled.

Novowels

Well, since you seem to have a direct line to Mr. God, can you pass along a message from me? He should understand:

LET MY PEOPLE GO.

emotional

River,

I dispute that God commanded humans to encircle a black stone seven times at least once a lifetime in a particular time of the year. Or that He commanded humans to fast one particular month in the year. Or any of the Five Pillars of Islam except zakaat (alsmgiving), which I do believe is something we should do.

River

Perhaps, you might want to dispute " God's first House " which is also referred to in the Bible ( where Mecca is mentioned as Becca) as well as the Book of Enoch " House of My Glory". It doesnt change the fact that this house was the first House built in dedication to G-d on Earth ( making it the world's oldest religious structure). Pilgrimage to mecca is a phenomenal experience ...and one responsible for changing the Revolutionary Malcolm X as well as many other noble figures.


Here is some more information about the Kaaba.

"According to ancient Arabian traditions, when Adam and Eve were cast from Paradise they fell to different parts of the earth; Adam on a mountain on the island of Serendip, or Sri Lanka, and Eve in Arabia, on the border of the Red Sea near the port of Jidda. For two hundred years Adam and Eve wandered seperate and lonely about the earth. Finally, in consideration of their penitence and wretchedness, God permitted them to come together again on Mt. Arafat, near the present city of Mecca. Adam then prayed to God that a shrine might be granted to him similar to that at which he had worshipped in Paradise. Adam's prayers were answered and a shrine was built.

This shrine passed away during the era of the flood, and many generations later Abraham and his son Ishmael were directed to rebuild the ancient tabernacle. According to one Islamic tradition, in 1892 BC God ordered Abraham to emigrate with his son, Ishmael, and Ishmael’s mother, Hagar to the valley at Mecca. Here Hagar lived with her son in a small house, and Abraham came to visit her on occasion. Abraham was then ordered by God to make Hagar’s house into a temple where people could pray. Therefore, he demolished the house and built the Ka’ba.

God gave Abraham precise instructions concerning how to rebuild the shrine and Gabriel showed him the location. It is said that God sent a cloud to shade Abraham, and he was told to construct the shrine directly upon the shadow of the cloud, neither exceeding or diminishing its dimensions. Legends say the shrine was built from the stones of five sacred mountain: Mt. Sinai, the Mount of Olives, Mt. Lebanon, Al-Judi, and nearby Mt. Hira. Upon the completion of the shrine, Gabriel brought a magic stone for the sanctuary. Different sources speculate that this stone was a meteorite or a great white sapphire from the Garden of Eden, that it had been concealed on the nearby sacred mountain of Abu Qubays during the period of the flood, and that it was later restored to Abraham for inclusion in his version of the Ka’ba. Whatever its origin, the stone was most probably a sacred object of the pre-Islamic Arabian nomads who settled around the Zamzam spring that flows at the center of old Mecca.

Nearly all scholars trace the sanctity of Mecca to the Ka’ba edifice built at God’s express command by Abraham and Ishmael. Mention must be made, however, of the Zamzan spring and the nearby holy hills of Safa and Marwa (these hills have since disappeared under the leveling topography of modern Mecca). These geographical formations certainly predated the construction of the Ka’ba and could therefore have given birth to the original sanctity of the place. Whatever the original cause of Mecca’s sanctity, the Ka’ba was destined to become the most important ritual site of the nomadic tribes that inhabited the great Arabian deserts. "

http://www.sacredsites.com/2nd56/279.html