Questions ?

[ISFP]

hello, all

thank you to Mason for your questions, and to Friend and thipps for their answers!

i have a question of my own regarding Islam:

how do men and women's spiritual obligations and spiritual lives differ? i've heard Muslims say often that men and women are equal before Allah and yet i've also heard that the religious obligations for the sexes are different. how does this work?

[PluckyAli]

That to me atleast, is extremely different to looking at some finely carved stone, and could never be compared.

Actually i was pointing the fact that you asked whether muslims refuses to see this kind of art or not is a very subjective question.5 fingers are not equal.You should theoratically be interested in what islam teaches and not what muslims do.

Anyway, so seeing carved stone depicting a nude human is against the teachings of Allah....

Morality can be very subjective for all of us.I know the persons who don't have any problem with being nude in front of their mother.So in that context your morality depends on how you have been raised.It's hard to def morality as either right or wrong.God laws are perfect.We can understand most of the God laws like why alcohol,cigarette or intoxicants are prohibited but we can't understand all God laws.
_

I started asking questions about Islam because i was curious to see if it was something that could be a part of my life.... (sadly) Its seems the more i understand about it, the more it seems that it can't.

You asked questions which can neither make any religion true nor make any religion false.instead i will suggest reading religious scripture or asking such questions like How you know islam is the true religion and then repating this question to every religion.In the end choice is yours.

One more thing i want to make clear is Are you searching for true divine religion or are you just searching for religion?If latter is true then i am 100% sure islam is not for you.

Another problem i see is people don't know what faith means.Generally faith in dictionary =belief on something but many ppl def faith=blind belief on something.
But faith of islamic is totally different.In islam everything is about logic,sense and reason.It's a challenging religion,we don't revise quran,it's as old as 1400 yrs,and all one person has to do to prove islam wrong is find a contradiction or some scientific error in the quran.Personally when i will find some contradiction in quran,i will become atheist rather than choosing some other religion.

Though good things happen here to, as i have many a decision to make and if i choose to.... forget about Islam, then i'm only one step closer to having no more hard choices to make.

Reson,logic,sense are the tools we have. The problem is not selecting religions,it's very easy in my view if we just follow simple logic and science.The Actualy problem i see is people lack belief in God.So they choose some religion to just organised their life or it's because they like the particular religion.It's all depend on how much do you believe in God.I love this quote.

"And you shall know the truth,and the truth shall make you free"----Bible

[Mason]

You should theoretically be interested in what islam teaches and not what muslims do.

Well, if i was to become a muslim then i would most likely live my life as they do, so to me asking this sort of question was the right thing to do,.... I'm not going to change the way i think because you think i should do so differently.

You asked questions which can neither make any religion true nor make any religion false

Yes, ok, maybe they weren't the best but, this doesn't however stop the fact that i feel that islam clashes with my basic beliefs. Obviously i am prepared to change and learn more refined beliefs,.... but for example, i don't think i could believe there is only one god, thought i realised this about islam early on, i then believed that i could live in some form of denial about this.... I will always believe that there are many deities, watching over their own part of our world.

One more thing i want to make clear is Are you searching for true divine religion or are you just searching for religion? If latter is true then i am 100% sure islam is not for you.

Though this is what i sent out to find, i wanted to know if it was, and it seems that it isn't for me. I'm sorry if i've offended any one by doing this, but please don't get flustered because of me.

Though good things happen here to, as i have many a decision to make and if i choose to.... forget about Islam, then i'm only one step closer to having no more hard choices to make.

When i said this i meant that i have alot of decisions to make as in about my life, like what i'm going to study next year, etc. as time is running of for that. Also, i was only reading, etc. about islam, not any other religions at this time.... so i'm not deciding between religions, if thats what you had thought.

_

I guess i won't be coming here much anymore,... until i have finished making all my important decisions,... and if i choose to learn some about another religion... So, its good bye from me and i would like to say thanks to Friend for trying to help me understand more about Islam.... I like the way you write,... kind i think. ^_^

[thipps]

Originally Posted by ISFP

hello, all

thank you to Mason for your questions, and to Friend and thipps for their answers!

i have a question of my own regarding Islam:

how do men and women's spiritual obligations and spiritual lives differ? i've heard Muslims say often that men and women are equal before Allah and yet i've also heard that the religious obligations for the sexes are different. how does this work?

hello ISFP,
I dont know about others, but for me to say anything, you will have to be more specific... the question is too general in form. and please give an example of where 'religious obligations for the sexes are different'. It will really help to give an answer.
thanks.

[Friend]

Salaam
Mason ,Thanks about your thanks to me .
I knew that you said you will not coming here much anymore ... but I want to tell you that Islam is very simple ,actually we have billars , if any one believe in it he became muslim ...

Just for information, you can see this site (If you have time )

http://www.islam101.com/dawah/pillars.html

God (Allah ) bless you

[ISFP]

thipps-

well, i've heard that in general, while it's obligatory for a man to pray in a mosque, it's acceptable for a woman to just pray at home. also, from what i've seen on the interior of many mosques, the men's section for prayer tends to be spread out over the entire first level, while women typically pray in a gallery. i understand this is for the seperation of the sexes during prayer, but is the disparity between the two prayer spaces intentional?

thank you for your help!

[Mason]

^_^ I will look at the link Friend, thank you.

I'm not very sure of anything at the moment.... So i'm finding it hard to make sound choices. Part of me wants to learn more about Islam and like it, and the other wants to let go, so i can just have less to think about.... Maybe its because i'm a weak person or something,... though i couldn't be muslim and believe that Allah isn't the only god,... could i...
Maybe there's another religion out there thats good for me.... I might find it,... one day ^_^

[ISFP]

Originally Posted by Mason

^_^ I will look at the link Friend, thank you.

I'm not very sure of anything at the moment.... So i'm finding it hard to make sound choices. Part of me wants to learn more about Islam and like it, and the other wants to let go, so i can just have less to think about.... Maybe its because i'm a weak person or something,... though i couldn't be muslim and believe that Allah isn't the only god,... could i...
Maybe there's another religion out there thats good for me.... I might find it,... one day ^_^

Mason-

i can relate. i was looking at Islam for a while. before that, Buddhism. the best thing to do is ask questions of knowlegable people and decide for yourself. best of luck on your path!

[Mason]

I was thinking alot last night about it and all that i have learned... So i came to the decision that i should keep reading and asking questions about Islam, and make the bigger decision later, when i really know more about it...
Well, i never know, it could end up being the right religion for me after all. ^_^

[thipps]

Originally Posted by ISFP

thipps-

well, i've heard that in general, while it's obligatory for a man to pray in a mosque, it's acceptable for a woman to just pray at home. also, from what i've seen on the interior of many mosques, the men's section for prayer tends to be spread out over the entire first level, while women typically pray in a gallery. i understand this is for the seperation of the sexes during prayer, but is the disparity between the two prayer spaces intentional?

thank you for your help!

h|, i think this topic was covered before, cant find it at the moment though. anyway, you see this as an example of 'religious obligations for the sexes are different'. I dont. The religious obligation is salaah [prayer]. It is obligatory for both.
and yes you have heard correct. it is not only acceptable for a woman to pray at home.. it is preferred. furthermore, it helps the woman out too as there are children at home (especially if they are lil ones) and she might have chores etc. BUT if she wishes to come to the mosque, she may. no one can stop her.
What you are describing is serving the purpose of keeping the men and woman separated. They have come there to pray, not for anything else. As far as the disparity you mentioned... what i can tell u is that Islam requires that all the facilities for men and women be equal. They should be separate but equally good.
When you find people not doing this, i would suggest that you ask them why there is a disparity... see what they say. It may explain why you see what you see. As far as what Islam requires, i have told you. If you have any other questions about other religious obligations, by all means ask.

[ISFP]

thank you for your answers, thipps.

Islam requires that all the facilities for men and women be equal. They should be separate but equally good. When you find people not doing this, i would suggest that you ask them why there is a disparity... see what they say. It may explain why you see what you see.

thank you for the suggestion. may i ask, if you worship as a mosque, what are the prayer spaces for men and women like at your mosque? are they "seperate but equal" as Islam requires? is not, what reasons are given for this?

[thipps]

hi ISFP,

id just like to add something to what i wrote before... i was in a hurry at the time.. still am
anyway, i still cant find that thread.. it discussed this topic in detail but just to add in short... there are two other ways to attain the pray for both men & women. first, it can be like that the rows of women are completely behind those of the men. second, if it is somewhere in the middle of the men, like it is in Makkah at the Ka'bah, they must be screened from the men.
regarding the situation you talked about before, it could be that since it is known among the muslim community that women are preferred to stay at home, some communities might develop this habit that thier women dont come to mosque except in Ramadhan... so maybe thats why they might give less space for them. It might be that.. just one possibility that occured to me.
oops, have to go again... prayer time but please clear up something for me. What do u mean by 'if you worship as a mosque'? I dont understand what this means. If you mean do we perform congregational prayer, then the answer is yes. If it means anything else, i dont understand.
Hope this helped
And Allah knows best.

[ISFP]

thipps-

thank you for your reply!

that was a typo sorry! i meant to say "if you worship AT a mosque" and wondered what the situation for men and women's worship spaces was at your mosque.

thank you for answering, thipps. much appreciated!

[Friend]

Originally Posted by Mason

I was thinking alot last night about it and all that i have learned... So i came to the decision that i should keep reading and asking questions about Islam, and make the bigger decision later, when i really know more about it...
Well, i never know, it could end up being the right religion for me after all. ^_^

Salaam

Mason , you are more welcome to ask any question . Actually we are human beings and Allah create us and he know that we can't always behave correctly , So he told us that he always ready to forgive us if we ask him about that , He open his door for us all the time and all places . At the same time he give us main principles to follow them such as believe in one God (Allah ) the God of All human and creations , he give us many details which prove that he is the creator in his book Quraan …that we as human discover some of them lately … Science always prove that he is the unique creator ( One creator ) he told us also that if there is more than one creator then each one will take his creation in certain direction ,or may be there will be conflict . and the balance in our universe or cosmos told us that there is one creator who built this harmony .if some one give you a big present or serve you always while he isn't need you at all … would you want to thank him ??

So what we can do for our god who give us every thing .

The best idea here that when you make relation with the great creator you feel that he is always with you support you and help and strengthen you …. Just put your trust that he is the only one who can help you , ( because everything is under his control ) you can make a very simple experiment to understand my point here if you lost any thing in your home or can't remember where you put something just think that the one god will help you and say (Bism Allah Alrahman Alrahiem ) Which can be translated as by the name of Allah who is the beneficent , I 'm sure you will find it ….and every thing you started it by these words will be very very easy .

Forgive me about my writing , Actually English isn't my first language .

And I will return back to explain the Islamic vision about humans and faith .

Asking = searching about the truth ....and this is what Islam encourage us to do . ( to use our mind always )

May be, Allah guide you one day to the truth

Thanks

[Mason]

Hello Friend,
I did have one question, but now i have two after reading your post...

Firstly,... you said:

the unique creator (One creator) he told us also that if there is more than one creator then each one will take his creation in certain direction, or may be there will be conflict. and the balance in our universe or cosmos told us that there is one creator who built this harmony.

So, what can i do about my belief that there is more than one god... I have believed this for some time and i don't know if i could shift it.
I doubt its possible to be a muslim & believe that allah isn't the only one, is it...?


Secondly,... I was wondering if there is a reason why most of the mosques i have seen (from photographs) have domes that are just one single plain colour and some have a patterned, miti-coloured dome. Is this because the patterned domes belong to Shia mosques and that the plain single colour domes belong to Sunni mosques? Or does it just depend on where the mosque is built?