10 and ½ COMMON MYTHS ABOUT MUSLIMS (in no particular order): i'm here ! :)

» Binte - i'm here ! :)

I did post something in the discussion 'Allah or God?' and then I lost the link to that page and couldn't find it again

The first I heard of this Islam originates from idols was years ago and frankly I didn't take it seriously as an accusation because it seemed to be obviously ridiculous to me ... apparently I was wrong.

Perhaps, my thinking is simple, but I fail to understand how a faith that is supposed to have its roots in idol worship or the worship of a pagan god could possibly give birth to a faith that is so completely and totally opposed to the worship of anything except One God.

And the reason why we normally say One with a capital 'O' is because the arabic word used to define this 'one' is ahad and not the numerica; wahid. The latter implies that it is a one that can be followed by a two, while the former refers to an absolute unique One that cannot be divided, added to or subtracted from.

All this from a moon god?

It's easy to say Muhammad came up with Islam from here or there - but if he was going to pick an idol anyway, why go to so much trouble (and bear violent opposition) to go against the grain of idol-worship. He should have been more successful if he just picked an idol and promoted himself as its prophet.

Yes, the Ka'bah had 360 (some say 365) idols and the very first thing that Muhammad did when he re-entered Makkah and (peacefully) conquered it (without shedding a drop of blood)was to destroy each and every idol. Why would he do that if the basis of his faith was one of them. He could have broken 359 and left the one that Islam is supposed to have stemmed from.

The one fact that stands out in the life of Muhammad before he openly proclaimed his prophethood was that he never worshipped an idol. This was a 40 year period when he was being watched by everyone. He preferred to spend his time in the Cave of Hira meditating and praying to the God of Abraham.

And just to clarify - Muslims believe Islam is the very same message God sent from the moment He created the earth, to Adam, Abraham, Jesus and Muhammad - that we should believe in One God and only Him.

Our differences arise because of our interpretations of the messages, but the essence is the same - monotheism.

Fatima

-- posted by Binte