Questions for Muslims

[Amica]

Hello/Peace.
These are good questions.
I am a Muslim, so I will try my best to explain our views/answers to your questions.
Before I begin, I want to stress that God knows best about all that is in hear after, and we humans can only assume what might truly happen. With this in mind, here are my answers to your questions:

1) After Adam savs and Eve as commited sin and their sexual organs became visible to them, God Almighty was determined to punish them for their not following His commandment. The emphasis is not on their discovery of their sexual organs (perhaps the knowledge about sexuality itself) is not considered the source of the major sin here, but certainly it seems to be one of its consequences. God Almighty's reaction speaks for itself--there is no sex in Heaven. The Qur'an speaks of virgins as servants and usually, if you look closely at the verses in the Holy Qur'an their beauty is praised and they serve believers with heavenly food, or similar. There is also mention of young male servants, so, think of it as watress/waiter staff in Heaven. Don't know how better to associate it with (God forgive me!)
2 & 3) Women do not have to fight for attention for husbands, because there is no sexual relationships in Heaven
4) There won't be need for procreation because there will be plenty of humanity up there (our souls)
5) Heaven is described in many verses of the Holy Qur'an so please read a few if possible. But it is a place where the believers won't experience any pain, troubles, worries. Their souls will be clean and will have anything they might desire. They will rest in shades and the Heaven will have a beautiful smell. There will be angels greeting them, houris (the virgins) will serve them Heaven fruits/food, they will see waters flowing beneath them and palaces made for them.
In one place Qur'an mentions that the Earth will be inherited by the believers, and God states that He can create another Earth where only believers will enjoy it. Is this alluding to the Heaven on a renewed Earth? I don't know.

[Amica]

Just want to add something here to. Everyone in Heaven, according to islamic teachings, will be young. One hadith mentions an old woman coming to Prophet Muhammad savs asking if she was going to Heaven. He started to answer: "No.." and before he could finish she stormed away crying. He was surprised saying: "no, not old, but she will be young in Heaven."

Houris are mentioned to be created young, beautiful and pure. Perhaps these beings will be a new human nation in Heaven, or simply the souls for young infants who died before going through life on Earth, who never got a chance to marry?

My religion, Islam, puts big emphasis on marriage, and life companions. Even when Adam savs was created, living among angels and near God, he still was lonely (imagine being lonely in Heaven!?) so God created him a companion, Eve as. This tells us that humans need one another. What role will houris have, only God knows fully.

In my homeland community, I've heard Muslims telling me that the houris (the virgins) are actually heavenly birds and the souls of young children who died. The first time I heard that they are virgin women are when I came to the U.S.???

[kiwimac]

Shahada=The Declaration of Faith, "I bear witness that there is no God but God and muhammad is his prophet"

Jihad = Struggle in the way of God = The struggle to live AS a muslim in a non-muslim world, the struggle with yourself.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by kiwimac

Shahada=The Declaration of Faith, "I bear witness that there is no God but God and muhammad is his prophet"

Jihad = Struggle in the way of God = The struggle to live AS a muslim in a non-muslim world, the struggle with yourself.

ji·had [ ji hd ] (plural ji·hads) or je·had [ ji hd ] (plural je·hads)

noun Definition: 1. Islamic campaign against nonbelievers: a campaign waged by Muslims in defense of the Islamic faith against people, organizations, or countries regarded as hostile to Islam

2. relentless campaign: a relentless campaign against somebody or something

[Mid-19th century. < Arabic jihād "effort"]
ji·had·ist noun

Has nothing to do with a Muslim living in non-Muslim world...

[kiwimac]

Quahom,

You are defining an Arabic word using an English dictionary. I am using the accepted Muslim definition of the word which definition has existed for C.1400 years. Would you use an English dictionary to define Shalom?

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by kiwimac

Quahom,

You are defining an Arabic word using an English dictionary. I am using the accepted Muslim definition of the word which definition has existed for C.1400 years. Would you use an English dictionary to define Shalom?

Actually, I asked my Arabic neighbors which definition was correct...

edit: it used to mean defense of the home against foreigners...not anymore.

[kiwimac]

Quahom,

Note the following:

ji·had also je·had (jĭ-häd')
n.
Islam. An individual's striving for spiritual self-perfection.
Islam. A Muslim holy war or spiritual struggle against infidels.
A crusade or struggle: “The war against smoking is turning into a jihad against people who smoke” (Fortune).

[Arabic jihād, from jahada, to strive.]

From the Islamic Dictionary

jihad

The word jihad actually means "struggle, strive." The Arabic root of the word is jahada "to strive for." (The Arabic word for war is "harb.") Of the two types of jihad, the lesser type is the struggle against religious or political oppression, the second and greater is the soul's struggle with evil.

Moderates think that while "jihad" might refer to an active war against an oppressive regime, such a war may be waged only against that regime, not innocent people. Radical Islamic fundamentalists assume that a jihad is a war without constraints.

From Wikipedia

Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one's soul (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting.

Muslim scholars explained there are five kinds of jihad fi sabilillah (struggle in the cause of God):[1]

Jihad of the heart/soul (jihad bin nafs/qalb) is an inner struggle of good against evil in the mind, through concepts such as tawhid.

Jihad by the tongue (jihad bil lisan) is a struggle of good against evil waged by writing and speech, such as in the form of dawah (proselytizing), Khutbas (sermons), and political or military propaganda.

Jihad by the pen and knowledge (jihad bil qalam/ilm) is a struggle for good against evil through scholarly study of Islam, ijtihad (legal reasoning), and through sciences (such as military and medical sciences).

Jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad) refers to a struggle of good against evil waged by actions or with one's wealth, such as going on the Hajj pilgrimage (seen as the best jihad for women), taking care of elderly parents, providing funding for jihad, political activity for furthering the cause of Islam, stopping evil by force, or espionage.

Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) refers to qital fi sabilillah (armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war).

Jihad of peace refers to the struggle to make peace in the world, everywhere and anywhere.

SOURCE

You might be interested to read the rest of the article at Wikipedia, as it contains much useful information.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by kiwimac

Quahom,

Note the following:



From the Islamic Dictionary



From Wikipedia



SOURCE

You might be interested to read the rest of the article at Wikipedia, as it contains much useful information.

I'll do that, thanks. However, I still accept my neigbors' definition of the current form of "jihad", as it is practiced today.

[sara[h]ng]

Originally Posted by Quahom1

I'll do that, thanks. However, I still accept my neigbors' definition of the current form of "jihad", as it is practiced today.

The unfortunate thing about that definition, Q, is that it promotes misunderstanding about Islam.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by sara[h]ng

The unfortunate thing about that definition, Q, is that it promotes misunderstanding about Islam.

Ah, but which version of Islam? Who am I to tell Arab Muslims, their definition is wrong, and the Islamic Dictionary is correct? So, what, they are out of line? Not in touch?

Perhaps, it is because they and their families are "safe" in the United States. Ever wonder why they came to the United States to begin with?

Sara, I'm not a Muslim. I just listen to their stories, and lived next to them, and now my parents are surrounded by them (protected by them actually). I only spent weeks in the Middle East, but years in my neighborhood. I know two versions of Islam...what I see going on in the middle east and the refusal of "innocent people" to stand up against what is happening to them by their own, is not the Islam I learned about while I was a boy and a teen, and finally a young man.

Where is the "jihad" of the common people against those that are blowing themselves and others up? Where is the "Jihad" against those who in the name of Allah intend to quell and squash the spirit of the everyday human?

It seems the definition of "jihad" has changed, and the original version has been forgotten by the masses...

Once such a proud people, reduced to groveling and running for cover, because they are too damn afraid to face their own enemies within...

No, Sara, I promote no misunderstanding about Islam. I don't have to.

And it is so sad to watch.

v/r

Joshua

[sara[h]ng]

That the original version has been forgotten by the masses does not mean that it should have been or should continue be. When asked the definition of 'jihad', if one answers in modern terms without acknowledgement of what it was meant to be and how it came to be twisted the way it is today, is perpetuating a very dangerous falsehood.

An example of that, say a child asks their parent what the word jihad means, and the parent answers as you did, the child is going to think poorly of Islam and Muslims after that because of what they heard about extremists. That's a big thing with Americans now and the in the past years. Most of us would be nervous boarding a plane with someone who is obviously a Muslim. It isn't a very long leap from nervousness to outright discrimination.

Not to say that it's a good idea to live in some idealistic world. One should also recognize the modern, extremist ideas of jihad, but it's kind of like a story I read somewhere, maybe Chicken Soup for the Soul? ...And thanks to the wonder of google, I don't have to paraphrase it in my poor storytelling. This looks really long on this forum, but it's great. It will go quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A turning point in my life came one day on a train in the suburbs of Tokyo in the middle of a drowsy spring afternoon.

At one station the doors opened, and suddenly the quiet afternoon was shattered. There stood a man in the doorway, bellowing at the top of his lungs. He yelled violent, obscene, incomprehensible curses. Just as the doors closed the man staggered into the car. He was big, drunk, and dirty. He wore laborer's clothing. His front was stiff with dried vomit. His eyes bugged out a demonic, neon red. His hair was crusted with filth. Screaming, he swung at the first person he saw, a woman with her baby. The blow glanced off her shoulder, sending her spinning into the laps of an elderly couple. It was a miracle that the baby was unharmed.

The couple jumped up and scrambled toward the other end of the car. They were terrified. The laborer aimed a kick at the retreating back of the old lady. "I'll kill you, old woman!" he bellowed. He missed, and the old woman scuttled to safety. This so enraged the drunk, he grabbed the metal pole in the center of the car and tried to wrench it out of its stanchion. I could see that one of his hands was cut and bleeding. The train lurched ahead, the passengers frozen with fear.

I stood up. I was young and in pretty good shape. I stood six feet, weighed 225. I'd been putting in a solid eight hours of Aikido training every day for the past three years. I liked to throw and grapple. I thought I was tough. Trouble was, my martial arts skill was untested in actual combat.

As students of Aikido, we were not allowed to fight. My teacher, the founder of Aikido, taught us each morning that martial arts were devoted to peace. "Aikido," he said again and again, "is the art of reconciliation.

Whoever has the mind to fight has broken his connection with the universe. If you try to dominate other people, you are defeated. We study how to resolve conflict, not how to start it."

I listened to his words. I tried hard. I wanted to quit fighting. I could feel my forbearance exalting me. I felt both tough and holy. In my heart of hearts, however, I was dying to be a hero. I wanted a chance, an absolutely legitimate opportunity whereby I might save the innocent by destroying the guilty.

"This is it!" I said to myself as I got to my feet. Thus slob, this animal is drunk and mean and violent. People are in danger. If I don't do something fast, somebody will probably get hurt. I'm gonna take him to the cleaners. Seeing me stand up, the drunk saw a change to focus his rage. "Aha!" he roared, "A foreigner! You need a lesson in Japanese manners!"

I held on lightly to the commuter strap overhead. I gave him a slow look of disgust and dismissal. I gave him every bit of nastiness I could summon up. I planned to take this turkey apart, but he had to be the one to move first. And I wanted him mad, because the madder he got, the more certain the victory. I pursed my lips and blew him a sneering, insolent kiss. It hit him like a slap in the face. "All right!" he hollered. "You're gonna get a lesson." He gathered himself for a rush at me. He'd never know what hit him.

A split second before he moved, someone shouted, "HEY!" It was so ear-splitting. I wheeled to my left, the drunk spun to his right. We both stared down at a little old Japanese man. He must have been well into his seventies. He sat there immaculate in his kimono and hakama. He took notice of me, but beamed delightedly at the laborer, as thought he had a most important secret to share. "C'mere," the old man said in an easy tome of voice. "C'mere and talk with me." He waved his hand lightly. The big man followed. He planted his feet in front of the old man and towered over him. "Talk to you?" her roared above the clanking wheels. "Why should I talk to you?" The drunk now had his back to me. If his elbow moved so much as a millimeter, I'd drop him in his socks.

The old man continued to beam at the laborer. There was not a trace of fear or resentment about him. "What'cha been drinkin'?" he asked lightly, his eyes sparkling with interest. "I been drinkin' sake." the laborer bellowed back. "And its none of your business!" Specks of spittle splattered the old man

Oh, that's wonderful," the old man said with delight, "absolutely wonderful. You see, I love sake, too. Every night my wife and I (she's 76 you know) warm up alittle bottle of sake. We take it out into the garden and we sit on the old wooden bench that my grandfather's first student made for him. We watch the sun go down behind the persimmon tree. It is most gratifying, even when it rains!" He looked up at the laborer, eyes twinkling, happy to share the delightful details about his personal life.

As he struggled to see where the old man's

conversation was taking him, the drunk's face began to soften. His fists slowly unclenched. "Yeah," he said slowly, "I love persimmons too..." His voice trailed off.

"Yes," said the old man, smiling, "and I'm sure you have a wonderful wife.

"No," replied the laborer. "My wife died." He hung his head. Very gently, swaying with the motion of the train, the big man began to sob. "I don't got no wife. I don't got no home. I don't got no money. I don't got nowhere to go. I'm so ashamed." Tears rolled down his cheeks. A spasm of pure despair rippled through his body. Above the luggage rack a four-color ad trumpeted the virtues of suburban luxury living.

Now it was my turn. Standing there in my well-scrubbed youthful innocence, my "make the world safe for democracy" self-righteousness, I suddenly felt dirtier than he was.

Just then the train arrived at my stop. The crown surged into the car as soon as the doors opened. As I struggled to get out, I heard the old man cluck sympathetically, "My, my," he said, "that is a very difficult position to be in. Tell me about it."

I turned my head for one last look. The laborer was sprawled like a sack on the seat, his head in the old man's lap. The old man looked down at him, all compassion and delight. One hand softly stroked filthy, matted hair.

As the train turned away, I sat down on a bench. What I had wanted to do with muscle and meanness had been done with a few kind words. Now I had seen Aikido tried in combat, and the essence of it was love, as the founder had said. I would have to practice the art with an entirely different spirit. It would be a long time before I could speak about the settling of conflict.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To recognize the modern meaning of jihad is to be the young man who sees a problem and gears himself up for a fight. But it's certainly not the best way to solve the problem and it might not even work at all.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by sara[h]ng

...To recognize the modern meaning of jihad is to be the young man who sees a problem and gears himself up for a fight. But it's certainly not the best way to solve the problem and it might not even work at all.

Good points all. But then, you are preaching to the choir...

[zaim187]

Originally Posted by Terrence

I know that you believe that in paradise you will have 72 virgins, so here are my questions.

1. Will they always remain virgins in eternity?
2. Are the Islamic woman of the world looking forward to being only one of 72 wives?
3. Will the woman be nagging and fighting for attention?
4. Will they procreate?
5. What is Islam's understading of Heaven?

The 72 virgins is usually only attributted to Martyrs. I recall reading somewhere that the number 72 is not meant to be a literal number but was used in those times as a number to signify a large amount of something. For instance if we say someone one hundreds of pounds it could be somewhere between two hundred and 1000 pounds that that person has won.

Islams understanding of heaven is what you would literally assume heaven is. An actual place with gardens, rivers etc where life is great and everyone lives in Luxury

[Abubakar]

Originally Posted by Terrence

I know that you believe that in paradise you will have 72 virgins, so here are my questions.

1. Will they always remain virgins in eternity?
2. Are the Islamic woman of the world looking forward to being only one of 72 wives?
3. Will the woman be nagging and fighting for attention?
4. Will they procreate?
5. What is Islam's understading of Heaven?

Are you sure that I believe that there will be 72 virgins in Paradise for me?

Where do you get your information?

I think that only question 5 is really in the spirit of this board.

And the answer to that question is something better and more wonderful than you or I can imagine.

[Abubakar]

Sarah [h] ng,

I have always loved that story and think it is a very good one to illustrate the correct way of Jihad, in fact I have used it myself when talking about this subject.

It does not support your suposition.

Peace