Catholics & Catholicism

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I was of course referring to the growth of Protestantism in refernce to the Borgias.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Maybe Islam views earthly unity as secondary to that of the spiritual realm. On the surface there may indeed seem to be many sects.  But American current policy, just like that of the Papacy under the Borgias, is having a unifying effect upon the world of Islam. Why are Muslims Divided into Sects? managed to get two posts onto soc.religion.islam before getting cut off for some reason Don’t give up on SRI. They have some very touchy rules that you somehow violated. Touchy – but not unreasonable. Try again – and follow the guide lines carefully. I’d be interested in the thoughts of any Muslims on this. I’m not a Muslim, sorry. But I doubt if you will get a satisfactory answer. Here is my take on the situation: Potentially there could be as many sects as there are Muslims. In Islam one’s alligence is to Allah rather than to The Church. In practice the situation is closer to one sect per mosque. By and large every Mosque belongs to the sect of its leader (usually, but not always, the imam). Most of the imams have strong enough personality traits (if the mosque is going to survive) to constitute a separate sect. But all theses little sects are constantly forming and reforming joint projects. I don’t think anybody is keeping track in the UK or US, much world-wide. Good Luck on your search for knowledge.

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Was Mo bisectual?

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Maybe Islam views earthly unity as secondary to that of the spiritual realm. On the surface there may indeed seem to be many sects.  But American current policy, just like that of the Papacy under the Borgias, is having a unifying effect upon the world of Islam.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Why are Muslims Divided into Sects? managed to get two posts onto soc.religion.islam before getting cut off for some reason Don’t give up on SRI. They have some very touchy rules that you somehow violated. Touchy – but not unreasonable. Try again – and follow the guide lines carefully. I’d be interested in the thoughts of any Muslims on this. I’m not a Muslim, sorry. But I doubt if you will get a satisfactory answer. Here is my take on the situation: Potentially there could be as many sects as there are Muslims. In Islam one’s alligence is to Allah rather than to The Church. In practice the situation is closer to one sect per mosque. By and large every Mosque belongs to the sect of its leader (usually, but not always, the imam). Most of the imams have strong enough personality traits (if the mosque is going to survive) to constitute a separate sect. But all theses little sects are constantly forming and reforming joint projects. I don’t think anybody is keeping track in the UK or US, much world-wide. Good Luck on your search for knowledge.

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Some of them believe that muhammed was a paedophile, while others believe that he was a camel fucker.

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 He was multi talented and practiced both perversities..

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There are many sects due to individual natures of people. One way is not for everyone. shak el http://www.lulu.com/content/114194

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Why are Muslims Divided into Sects? managed to get two posts onto soc.religion.islam before getting cut off for some reason

Don’t give up on SRI. They have some very touchy rules that you somehow violated. Touchy – but not unreasonable. Try again – and follow the guide lines carefully. I’d be interested in the thoughts of any Muslims on this.

I’m not a Muslim, sorry. But I doubt if you will get a satisfactory answer. Here is my take on the situation: Potentially there could be as many sects as there are Muslims. In Islam one’s alligence is to Allah rather than to The Church. In practice the situation is closer to one sect per mosque. By and large every Mosque belongs to the sect of its leader (usually, but not always, the imam). Most of the imams have strong enough personality traits (if the mosque is going to survive) to constitute a separate sect. But all theses little sects are constantly forming and reforming joint projects. I don’t think anybody is keeping track in the UK or US, much world-wide. Good Luck on your search for knowledge.

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Why are Muslims Divided into Sects? It is mentioned in chapter 3 verse 52 of Al-Qur’an that Jesus (Pbuh) was a Muslim.

Muslims should get their information about other religions from scholars of those religions,  just as they want non-Muslims to get their Islamic facts from Muslims. Read the Holy Bible. Jesus was a Jew. The above chapter, verse, and preposterous allegation only prove the complete and utter illegitimacy of the Quran and Islam. So many lies, so few pages. If only all Muslims read the Qur’an with understanding and adhere to Sahih Hadith, Inshallah most of these differences would be solved and we could be one united Muslim Ummah.

There are many sects in Christianity and Judaism, but you don’t hear them complaining. They are fine, free, and prosperous just like that. Islam shows it’s backwardness yet again. Diversity is a good thing. Unless you are a Sunni or Wahabbi (Fascist) Muslim.

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  They find that having good sects can be elusive.

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Why are Muslims Divided into Sects? Dr. Zakir Naik There are many non-Muslims who have studied Islam. Most of them have only read books on Islam written by biased critics of Islam. These non-Muslims have a different set of twenty common misconceptions about Islam. For instance, they claim to have found contradictions in the Qur’an, they contend that the Qur’an is unscientific etc. In this issue I shall deal with why are Muslims Divided into Sects? Question: When all the Muslims follow one and the same Qur’an then why are there so many sects among Muslims? Answer: It is a fact that Muslims today are divided amongst themselves. The tragedy is that such divisions are not endorsed by Islam at all. Islam believes in fostering unity amongst its followers.

<big snip Hi, Your post made me think. Like many other people (probably) I first got interested in Islam following the events of 9/11, the invasion of Iraq and the problems in Israel/Palestine. I am a Christian and live in an area of the UK where there are few Muslims, so I knew next to nothing about Islam. The first book I read was the Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Koran, which, as far as I can tell, teaches authentic Islam despite being from a rather unusual stable. I’ve also had some offline discussions with Salahuddin, read most of the posts on uk.religion.islam (including ones that also made it to other newsgroups, but not these days the ones where certain individuals dump a dozen newspaper articles at a time), managed to get two posts onto soc.religion.islam before getting cut off for some reason and have posted a few myself to uk.religion.islam. My initial impession was of Islam being a well organised, easy-to-understand religion. The Qu’ran was claimed to have been delivered to one man with no arguments about what made up the text and this was the supreme authority by which Allah showed people how to live and how to worship him. Compared to the Christian faith, it seemed so simple, which is a claim made in one or two of the testimonies of converts to Islam that have been posted here. I knew of there being Sunnis and Shi’ites, but the one split seemed pretty good going compared to what there is in Christianity. My reading of the Qu’ran so far is that there is some good stuff in there, e.g. God existing, God being holy, our responsibilities to him and to others, its requirement for Muslims to believe the Jewish/Christian scriptures etc., mixed in with some duff stuff, e.g. misinterpreting what the Gospels say. I’ve come to realise that things are a lot more complicated in Islam than it first appeared. In your post, you mentioned the various groups that exist with the Muslim community and there have been posts about the claims for variations in the text of the Qu’ran. My question today is how on earth do you know which hadiths are authentic and which are not? If I’ve understood correctly, all authentic Muslim groups believe that people need to follow the authentic hadiths as well as the Qu’ran as the Qu’ran does not cover everything. In that sense, it now appears in my mind that the nearest equivalent to mainstream Islam in the Christian faith, in terms of where teaching comes from, is the Roman Catholic church rather than historic Protestantism since the RC church holds that the church can add teachings over and above those which are explicitly stated in the bible. Historic Protestantism (Evangelicalism) teaches that everything that is necessary for salvation is to be found in the bible (e.g. see 2 Timothy 3.16) and if something isn’t clearly taught in the bible, we should not require people to believe it. The point of my long ramble is that working out which hadiths are authentic and applying them seems really complicated and perhaps beyond the reach of most people. What comes across intially as a simple-to-understand religion is actually more complicated than Christianity – even with the Trinity included! I’d be interested in the thoughts of any Muslims on this. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1.7). Alan Cossey

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Why are Muslims Divided into Sects?  Dr. Zakir Naik There are many non-Muslims who have studied Islam. Most of them have only read books on Islam written by biased critics of Islam. These non-Muslims have a different set of twenty common misconceptions about Islam. For instance, they claim to have found contradictions in the Qur’an, they contend that the Qur’an is unscientific etc. In this issue I shall deal with why are Muslims Divided into Sects? Question: When all the Muslims follow one and the same Qur’an then why are there so many sects among Muslims? Answer: It is a fact that Muslims today are divided amongst themselves. The tragedy is that such divisions are not endorsed by Islam at all. Islam believes in fostering unity amongst its followers. 1. The Glorious Qur’an says: And hold fast, All together, by the rope Which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; [Al-Qur'an 3:103] Which is the rope of Allah that is being referred to in this verse? It is the Glorious Qur’an. The Glorious Qur’an is the rope of Allah to which all Muslims should hold fast together. There is double emphasis in this verse. Besides saying Hold fast all together, it also says, Be not divided. 2. The Glorious Qur’an says: As for those who divide Their religion and break up Into sects, thou hast No part in them in the least: Their affair is with Allah: He will in the end Tell them the truth Of all that they did. [Al-Qur'an 6:159] In this verse Allah (swt) says that one should disassociate oneself from those who divide the religion and break it up into sects. But when one asks a Muslim, who are you, the common answer is either I am a Sunni, or I am Shia. Some mention subjects and call themselves Hanafi, or Shafi or Maliki. Some say I am a Deobandi, while some others say I am a Barelvi. Some say I am a Bohra and some others call themselves Aga Khani or Ismaili. One may ask such Muslims, Who was our beloved prophet (Pbuh)? Was he a Hanafi or a Shafi, or a Hambali or a Maliki? No! He was a Muslim, like all the other prophets and messengers of Allah before him. It is mentioned in chapter 3 verse 52 of Al-Qur’an that Jesus (Pbuh) was a Muslim. Further, in chapter 3 verse 67, Al-Qur’an says that Ibrahim (Pbuh) was not a Jew or a Christian but was a Muslim. 3. If anyone poses a Muslim the question who are you, he should say I am a MUSLIM, not a Hanafi or a Shafi. No verse of the Qur’an encourages a Muslim to call himself a Hanafi or a Shafi. In Surah Fussilat chapter 41 verse 33: Who is better in speech than one who calls (men) To Allah, works righteousness, And says, I am of those Who bow in Islam (Muslim)? [Al-Qur'an 41:33] The Qur’an says: "Say I am of those who bow in Islam. In other words, say, I am a Muslim." 4. The Prophet (Pbuh) dictated a letter, to be sent to the Emperor of Persia, inviting him to accept Islam. In this letter he mentioned the verse of the Qur’an from Surah Al- Imran chapter 3 verse 64: Say ye: Bear witness That we (at least) Are Muslims (bowing To Allah’s Will). [Al-Qur'an 3:64] 5. We must respect all the great scholars of Islam, including the four Imaams, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi, Imam Hanbal and Imam Malik. They were great scholars and may Allah reward them for their research and hardwork. One can have no objection if someone agrees with the views and research of Imam Abu Hanifa or Imam Shafi, etc. But when posed a question, who are you, the reply should only be I am a Muslim. 6. Some may argue by quoting the Hadith of our beloved Prophet from Abu Dawood Hadith no 4579. In this Hadith the prophet (Pbuh) is reported to have said, My community will be split up into seventy-three sects. This Hadith reports that the prophet predicted the emergence of seventy-three sects. He did not say Muslims should be active in dividing themselves into sects. The Glorious Qur’an commands us not to create sects. Those who follow the teachings of the Qur’an and Sahih Hadith, and do not create sects are the people who are on the true path. According to Tirmidhi Hadith no 171, the Prophet (Pbuh) is reported to have said, My Ummah will be fragmented into seventy-three sects, and all of them will be in hell fire except one sect. The companions, asked Allah’s messenger which group that would be. Whereupon he replied, It is the one to which I and my companions belong. The Glorious Qur’an mentions in several verses, Obey Allah and obey His Messenger. A true Muslim should only follow the Glorious Qur’an and the Sahih Hadith. He can agree with the views of any scholar as long as they conform to the teachings of the Qur’an and Sahih Hadith. If such views go against the Word of Allah, or the Sunnah of His prophet, then they carry no weight, regardless of how learned the scholar might be. If only all Muslims read the Qur’an with understanding and adhere to Sahih Hadith, Inshallah most of these differences would be solved and we could be one united Muslim Ummah.

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