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“I want to put out the fires of Hell, and burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to God. I do not want to worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for the love of God.”
— Rabia al Basri
Rabia Basri is effortlessly majestic.
This is how it should be.
I actually pray for you all. I really do. I truly, and with sincerity, pray for your happiness.
“There’s no use in memorizing The Qur’an if you cannot understand The Qur’an.”
…"
In this two-part series (listen to the first part of the discussion here), Imam for the Islamic Centre at New York University Khalid Latif, addresses religion as a difficult learning process with believers and leading theological thinkers.
Using historic and contemporary examples, the Imam examines how religions revise, update or even apologise.
In part one Khalid examines Islam, comparing its early history with its place in the modern world, while considering the tension between fundamentalists and reformists.
At the conclusion, the Imam searches for commonalities among each case of religious renovation while considering examples within Hinduism and Buddhism.
(Image: Imam Khalid Latif. Credit: Bryan Derballa)
What an incredible listen.
What a beautiful message.
I don’t understand Qur’an-only Islam. What was the Prophet (saws) for if only the Qur’an was to be listened to? Was he just a delivery boy? Allah if he wanted to could have just teleported a complete Qur’an in the hands of every bedouin if he wanted. The Prophet was a living, breathing example for how we are to live our lives, a walking embodiment of Islamic ideals.
He was a messenger. He delivered the message. That was his miracle. Ofcourse he was the best Muslim because he practiced what he preached. So naturally it would be beneficial to follow his practices (if you know them… which are pretty clear in the Qur’an).
And even if We had sent down to you, [O Muhammad], a written scripture on a page and they touched it with their hands, the disbelievers would say, “This is not but obvious magic.”
The Qur’an 6:7
From the above verse it seems like Allah would have sent down the Qur’an in paper-only form if the people would have believed it.
What makes someone Muslim?
مُسْلِمًا - muslim
مُ - mu = doer of
سلما - slm = peace
Making peace in this world makes one a muslim.
Interesting.
