Thursday, October 30, 2008
bismillâh ir-rahmân ir-rahîm
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalamu'alaikum
May peace be upon you
Dear Reader,
There is no compulsion for man to accept the TRUTH. But it is certainly a shame upon the human intellect when man is not even interested in finding out as to what is the TRUTH Islam teaches that God has given man the faculty of reason and therefore expects man to reason things out objectively and systematically for himself. To reflect and to question and to reflect.
Nobody should press you to make a hasty decision to accept any of the teachings of Islam, for Islam teaches that man should be given the freedom to choose. Even when man is faced with the TRUTH, there is no compulsion upon man to embrace it. But before you begin to form an opinion about Islam, ask yourself whether your existing knowledge of Islam is thorough enough. Ask yourself whether that knowledge has been obtained through non-Muslim third party sources who themselves have probably been exposed to only random glimpses of Islamic writings and have yet to reason on Islam objectively and systematically themselves.
Is it fair that one should form an opinion about the taste of a particular dish just by heresay from others who may themselves not necessarily have tasted the dish yet? Similarly you should find out for yourself about Islam from reliable sources and not only taste it, but digest it well before you form an opinion. That would be an intellectual approach to Islam.
It is up to you to make the next move.
In making your move, Islam continuously reassures you that your rights to freedom of choice and freedom to use that Godgiven faculty of thought and reason will be respected. Every man has that individual will. No one else can take away that will and force you to surrender to the will of God. You have to find out and make that decision yourself.
May your intellectual journey towards the TRUTH be a pleasant one.
Fi Amanillah
Wassalamu'alaikum wa rahmatuLLAH hiwa barakatuh
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalamu'alaikum
May peace be upon you
Dear Reader,
There is no compulsion for man to accept the TRUTH. But it is certainly a shame upon the human intellect when man is not even interested in finding out as to what is the TRUTH Islam teaches that God has given man the faculty of reason and therefore expects man to reason things out objectively and systematically for himself. To reflect and to question and to reflect.
Nobody should press you to make a hasty decision to accept any of the teachings of Islam, for Islam teaches that man should be given the freedom to choose. Even when man is faced with the TRUTH, there is no compulsion upon man to embrace it. But before you begin to form an opinion about Islam, ask yourself whether your existing knowledge of Islam is thorough enough. Ask yourself whether that knowledge has been obtained through non-Muslim third party sources who themselves have probably been exposed to only random glimpses of Islamic writings and have yet to reason on Islam objectively and systematically themselves.
Is it fair that one should form an opinion about the taste of a particular dish just by heresay from others who may themselves not necessarily have tasted the dish yet? Similarly you should find out for yourself about Islam from reliable sources and not only taste it, but digest it well before you form an opinion. That would be an intellectual approach to Islam.
It is up to you to make the next move.
In making your move, Islam continuously reassures you that your rights to freedom of choice and freedom to use that Godgiven faculty of thought and reason will be respected. Every man has that individual will. No one else can take away that will and force you to surrender to the will of God. You have to find out and make that decision yourself.
May your intellectual journey towards the TRUTH be a pleasant one.
Fi Amanillah
Wassalamu'alaikum wa rahmatuLLAH hiwa barakatuh
