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Do you think that people who were raised Muslim in the context of a Muslim-majority culture have more leeway with regard to straying from orthodoxy than converts do? It amazes me, for example, that historically Muslim communities in Europe and Central Asia basically allow alcohol, but it's strictly forbidden in a lot of other Muslim communities. Do you feel like you'd catch more poo poo for something like that compared to, for example, a Bosnian muslim? How would you feel about it personally?
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Sep 23, 2015 15:17
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 01:47 |
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Tendai posted:Leaving out obvious steps like "believe in it" because duh, the steps to officially becoming a Muslim are as follows: This has always been my understanding too, but I'm curious if there are any groups that require more than that (such as saying the shahada in front of the community or an imam... theoretically, that shouldn't be an issue. One specific issue that I've always been curious about is: for immigration purposes, and for visiting Mecca and Medina, how does Saudi Arabia judge one's muslimness? Is it just a matter of declaring that you're a Muslim, or do they want a reference from an imam or something like that?
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Sep 27, 2015 07:21
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Tendai posted:I'm honestly not sure of that. I can't think of any that just out and out require it but there may be some. As for the "Are You Muslim Enough, Bro?" game, this is what the Saudi embassy says: "If the applicant has converted to Islam, an Islamic certificate must be presented; this needs to be notarized by an Islamic Center." I'm not sure how they know that, I know there's an application but I haven't checked it out, it may ask for history. Or they might just go by country. And then if you're a woman under 45 you can't go without a male guardian and even if you are over 45 you can only go in a group and with permission from the necessary male relative because if we just let the women go willy-nilly on religious pilgrimages alone they'll start having sex all over the place In your opinion, do you feel like "Saudi Arabia is loving crazy" is a sufficient excuse to not do the Hajj? Obviously it's a matter of personal conscience, but given the disasters that have happened this year, and in other years, and the fact that Saudi Arabia observes a particularly hard-line version of Islam as compared to many of the Muslims in the rest of the world, I think I'd still have reservations about going there even if I were an observant Muslim. On a similar note, the wording of the regulation you quoted seems to imply that someone born Muslim (I suppose born to at least one Muslim parent) would automatically be considered Muslim. Religiously speaking, is it considered that a child born to a Muslim parent is Muslim, regardless of whether they have confessed the shahadah upon becoming old/mature enough to understand what it means? In general, how is the Qu'ranic statement that there should be no compulsion in religion reconciled with the extremely dim view many Muslims, and many Muslim nations, take on the subject of apostasy?
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Sep 27, 2015 07:42
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Amun Khonsu posted:The Prophet Muhammad "adopted" Zaid Ibn Thabit, whose father died when he was 6. He became his personal secretary and authenticator of the final printed version of the Quran after Muhammad's death. This is interesting, and I can certainly understand this viewpoint. The only people I knew who were "adopted" (that I know of) were officially adopted by their stepfather, who married their mother. They knew who their biological father was all along, and, to put it mildly, they don't want the faintest connection with him. To them, their dad was the guy who always took care of them growing up, etc, basically treating them as his own children. Do you think that the prohibition or discouraging on adoption in the western sense could be seen as unfair to people who feel this way? How are stepchildren generally handled, either according to Islamic doctrine, or according to the law in various Muslim countries?
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Oct 7, 2015 03:26
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Amun Khonsu posted:She claims to have been abused by her father in the name of Islam. I think this explains a lot of her vitriol. I think the problem is that, like many extremists on the other side, she sees her conception of Islam as the only correct conception of Islam, and that's a problem I had myself for a long time. Following from that premise, "Islam" does indeed need to be destroyed, and moderates can be ignored because they aren't really practicing Islam. Of course, the flaw in the argument is viewing Islam and Muslims as a monolithic entity that can only be practised in that sort of extreme way.
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Nov 23, 2015 01:05
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 01:47 |
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bitterandtwisted posted:Is it common to believe God is unfair? Christians tend to believe either God is fine with homosexuality or being gay is a choice, I've never come across one who would even consider God is unjust. My understanding of the official Catholic position on homosexuality is that people with homosexual desires (people who identify as gay and bisexual, but presumably also anyone with those desires who identifies as straight) are as God made them, and you should love them, but they still shouldn't have gay sex because it's wrong (like any sex outside of marriage, or masturbation). More generally, I think God/Allah being unfair (or giving certain people additional challenges) is preferable to a world where people deserve whatever bad things happen to them. Even if we take homosexuality off the table for the moment, there's still the issue of certain people being born with birth defects or disabilities, myself included. It's pretty lovely to say that an all-powerful God let that happen because we deserve it. To actually ask a question in this thread, instead of rambling on about things: what is the general understanding of people with handicaps in Islam?
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Dec 6, 2015 22:38
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