[conurgenceDen]

I am afraid to talk with a local imam or scholar about this, because I am afraid he would shout at me. I also want to keep this a secret, because I've heard people who've been killed because they made public that they doubted religion.

That's why I am seeking help online. I also posted many questions to an online-imam, on one of the Q&A-sites.

I am also considering to discuss this with my mum, but I don't wanna dissapoint her making this known to her.

I also want it to be clear that I didnt chose to doubt or question Islam. I always loved my religion. The doubt and the questions just pop up in my head and I cant be in peace with myself before I really try to settle this.

great to see you trying to settle it. boy, i wish i was older so i could know how to give proper advise!!! but i think its a gud idea 2 talk 2 ur mum... as long as it won't make things worse. and only a total freaky imam or scholar will scream at u instead of helping, and i really don't think you can be killed for trying to understand your deen... so maybe u shud consider talking to one - a gud one! is your family VERY religious?

[ftqwhbvxlcfop]

I partly agree. If Islam is proven, beyond any doubt that it is absolutely true than the only true thing to do for me is to follow every single piece of it. I get that. I have two probs with it tho.

1. Are there any evidence suggesting that Islam is true beyond any doubt?

2. Even if it was true, wouldn't it be a bit too far stretched to follow the religion no matter what? Imagine if God told you to kill your mum? I wouldnt do it, even though i would be disobeing god. I feel like sometimes you should follow your own moral values, but still love Allah and his messenger. but yet again it seems you cant believe in God and still follow your own values

it feels like I cant make sense out of anything

1. Yes, there is an abundance of evidence suggesting Islam is true beyond any doubt. If you look at the link I had posted, you will find some articles showing you this. The evidences are many.

2. Why is it too far stretched to follow the religion no matter what? Again, I mention that if it is proven that God commands a certain thing, then we must obey no matter if we dislike it. For example, there are people who have addictions to drugs/alcohol. If I prove to them that God commands us to abstain from these things, they can use the same argument that you are using, just because they don't like the idea of giving up drugs/alcohol

Secondly, if you disobey God because you believe that your morals are superior, you are saying you in one way or another are superior to God which is logically impossible as God by definition cannot be inferior in any aspect to anything whatsoever. May Allah protect us

Thirdly, God commands us things because He has infinite wisdom and we have only finite wisdom. So how can we reject the commands of God just because we think we know better? That is strange to say the least!

Anyway, if someone chooses to reject the commands of Allah and pretend that their own values are better than the ones given to us in Islam, they can continue to submit to their own desires instead of submitting to the Will of God . They have the free will, they can do what they want. But when the Creator does what He wills with them upon their death, they should not be surprised.

[BamSaitinypap]

1. Yes, there is an abundance of evidence suggesting Islam is true beyond any doubt. If you look at the link I had posted, you will find some articles showing you this. The evidences are many.

2. Why is it too far stretched to follow the religion no matter what? Again, I mention that if it is proven that God commands a certain thing, then we must obey no matter if we dislike it. For example, there are people who have addictions to drugs/alcohol. If I prove to them that God commands us to abstain from these things, they can use the same argument that you are using, just because they don't like the idea of giving up drugs/alcohol

Secondly, if you disobey God because you believe that your morals are superior, you are saying you in one way or another are superior to God which is logically impossible as God by definition cannot be inferior in any aspect to anything whatsoever. May Allah protect us

Thirdly, God commands us things because He has infinite wisdom and we have only finite wisdom. So how can we reject the commands of God just because we think we know better? That is strange to say the least!

Anyway, if someone chooses to reject the commands of Allah and pretend that their own values are better than the ones given to us in Islam, they can continue to submit to their own desires instead of submitting to the Will of God . They have the free will, they can do what they want. But when the Creator does what He wills with them upon their death, they should not be surprised.

Yes, you speak a lot of truth here. I will be reading your link as soon as possible.

[Kamepherype]

Bismillah Al-Rehman Al-Raheem

Assalam-Alaikum:

Dear Sister, I am a sister myself; so, I can sympathize with some of what you feel at this time. However, Islam is a pro-woman religion in that I have found through my own sincere evaluation that Islam does not contain any demeaning meaning.

Sister, first and foremost thank you, for being brave enough to come forward with your questions on the Forum and entrusting us with the matter of your confusion.

1. Are there any evidence suggesting that Islam is true beyond any doubt?

Yes, Sister. Islam is the truth. And many proofs exist. However, Sister, before I do that, I am going to link you to my own stories which comprise of a partial (emotional journey) and detailed (physical, emotional, intellectual, mental journey) account that will bring hopefully Insha-Allah to life for you the matter of why I choose to follow Islam.

However, I highly recommend and urge you to watch these two videos, Divine Speech Prologue 1 and Divine Speech Prologue 2, which are all about the miraculous nature of the Quran, which will Insha-Allah able to give you the evidence you need. However, I am sure others can provide you yet even more evidences and works that scholars or other learned men have written or even other speeches in video or audio formats.

2. Even if it was true, wouldn't it be a bit too far stretched to follow the religion no matter what? Imagine if God told you to kill your mum? I wouldnt do it, even though i would be disobeing god. I feel like sometimes you should follow your own moral values, but still love Allah and his messenger. but yet again it seems you cant believe in God and still follow your own values

Sister, your question is a valid one, I know. However, Sister, unlike your other proof-based question, this question is a matter of iman. Sister, if you loved someone so much in the world that all you could do was see, hear, live for that person, you would be surprised at what you would happily do for that person. But Sister, all creation-based love (temporary and fickle) is not on the same level as the love that can permeate the heart for Allah (permanent and unchanging). Sister, when the love of Allah, the Prophet or/and Islam pierces the heart, no sacrifice is too big for a person to make. Why do you think Ibraheem (alayhis salaam) agreed to sacrifice his only son? Sister, Allah likes to test believers, among them especially His friends, to see whether they are sincere towards Him. And Ibraheem (alayhis salaam) was and is His special friend from among the prophets (peace upon them all). He passed the test as Allah willed and whose sacrifice we commemorate on Eid. Sister, no one can reach iman until they are ready to see everything as special favors of Allah and therefore realize that they themselves are not the possessors of those special favors. If nothing is yours to begin with now (or will be even tomorrow), can anything reverting back to the Original Owner be a matter of following your own values, as you say? No, Sister. But Sister, do not worry about that now as iman comes with understanding. Concentrate instead on asking guidance from Allah and reading or understanding the proofs of Islam given. Baby steps, Sister, will prepare you for all Insha-Allah.

If I have said anything that is good and true, it is from Allah, and anything other than that is my own mistake.

[Todilrdc]

sister,

you have to study and to know Islam first. Your question about taking one's life is not something that anyone can do. In Islam, only the authority has the power to do that, thus no vigilantism is allowed. And furthermore, the court process has to be thorough and complete. So rest assured, none of what you afraid of is allowed in Islam.

You should know that Islam teaches us everything, from our own personal management - from eating (divide your intake into three segments, one for food, another for water and the rest for air. Plus, stop before you're full, etc), to cleanliness and more. And the guide expands further to how to interact within a society or how to administer a society. Then how to govern a nation (judicial, financial, education, etc) and more. Even in war, we are not allowed to cut tress. By now you should know that everything has its own context. Knowing what are the contexts can help us to understand the beauty and the reasons of the guide given to us.

As for proof that Quran is from God , this is just a small addition to what our brothers/sisters have provided here;

http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/show...l=1#post680609

If you do have specific issue that bothers your mind, feel free to say it here and we all will try to address that.

[Trebbinsa]

Assalamu aleikom

I am your regular Muslim teenage girl,originally from Libanon, located in Sweden and 18 years of age. I was raised up in a conservative and strict family. I had no problems with it either. I cherished the family moments where we sat down and memorized the Quran or had a family prayer together. Heck even the hijab was OK. But then again, I was a child, not aware of what it all really was about.

This year I turned 18. It marked the climax of what has been a turbulent couple of years for me. Suddenly, the cosy, loving yet religious family was exchanged by a totalitarian monster. My dad first and furmost. One day, a year ago or so, he called my name. He wanted to talk to me. He said that I by now was old enough to destroy the honour of my family. My whole life would by now depend on my modesty, he said. This occured, when I started to demand independency and some breathing space from my family. The pressure from my fam, to become a modest, homestaying girl and my ambitions as an independent woman had constant struggles and it climaxed a couple of months ago. I had this argument with my dad after I came home from my friends house (and she is almost my neighbour). He told me that I was a disgrace towards the family and that I was for him a "western stranger" and not his Muslim daughter. In his opinion, I was too free.

Too free, I asked myself. My whole life was about going to school, keeping my grades up, staying away from boys and relationships and spend some time with my friends when I had the chance. And that was too free?

And then, I started reading about the sexism of middle eastern cultures and the role of women in Islam. What I learned was shocking. I had this picture in my head, of the Quran being a book of wisdom and guidance, void of immorality and injustice. Prophet Muhammed was a barometer of perfection and moral values. That did not rhyme with the concepts of heritage and witness accouting in Islam. It was so sexist, so unjust. How could an Almighty God really be so hateful and discriminating towards one gender, I thought to myself. But even then I was fine. It was minor doubts, I thought. Everyone go through them, they'll eventually fade away. Then I learned about Muhammeds relationship with Aisha and it crumbled my world. The man I've been raised to love and respect, had a relationship with a 9 year old? My research went on and on and for every single day, I discovered immorality, injustice, violence in the religion I loved.

I became ill. Very ill. I cut contact with all my friends. I barely talked to someone for weeks. I was isolated in my own room, trying to convince myself that Islam was the truth. I tried hard. I didn't want to lose my religion, I didn't want to dissapoint God, I didn't want to dissapoint my family. I cried for myself so much.

Please, I am lost. I don't know what to do. I pray every day that I might be guided, but it feels there is no god there to answer. Please anyone, help me out. I am in a really dark place.

انا لله وانا اليه راجعون

[siklop]

I had promised you earlier today to give you a detailed reply, I will now.

More than a year ago (Autumn 2010) I suddenly went through a severe depression and physical sickness with no obvious causes or reasons.
That state realised me that there's more in life than just material gains, everything what people did seemed so futile and useless.
I visited my GP a few times and he advised me to a consult a psychologist.
The thought of that seemed to me rather akward, I would be a number to that person and he/she would try to
'repair' me and send me back to the place I came from and I would blindy continue doing the things I used to do.
So I declined and stopped visiting the GP. I basically hoped it would dissapear, but it didn't.

In the end I decided to pick up my faith, gain knowledge and start practising.
Till that point I had never read the Qur'an but I started reading the translation.
It was a wonderful experience and was quite dissapointed when there was nothing more to read after the 114th Surah.
Then I emerged myself into the Ahadith of the Prophet (s).
When I started practising, slowly but gradually the depression slipped away and we
Muslims have a good phrase to acknowledge that gratefulness; .

I continued walking this path, with now and then falling from this path, sometimes deep and sometimes not so deep.
Carrying all the doubts that modern society injects into you I did not want to lose God again.
So I struggled to keep my faith with now and then really falling into the abyss. And this really reminded me of the following:

In my view, no one becomes a Muslim just once. He becomes a Muslim, then he becomes an unbeliever, then again he becomes a Muslim, and each time something comes out of him.
So it goes until he becomes perfect. - Shams-i Tabrizi

And indeed the last few month's I did not experience a drop but an increase of Imaan (Faith).

What I learned from my experience that doubt is like the monster of Hydra from the Greek mythology.
Every doubt is a head and if you get rid of that doubt by gaining knowledge on the issue, then the head will be chopped off.
You’d think that you’re closer to the Truth but from the same neck, two heads will grow again and you will end up being tired of all the chopping and eventually give up.

The remedy to this problem is to study good Islamic books intensively but also understand the contemporary world we live in to have a good understanding of your environment.
You’ll always have doubts if you keep trying to understand one issue, and at the same time another issue will be raised.

As I said, you need to emerge yourself into the Islamic cosmos. I’ve tried to come up with good books for you, you should absolutely read.
Read the following books in the corresponding order:
(Number 4 will be the most useful for you, but before you read that, please read the first three.)

1. The Vision of Islam – Sachiko Murata & William Chittick

2. Muhammad: His life based on the Earliest Sources – Martin Ling

3. Islam and the Destiny of man – Charles Le Gai Eaton

4. The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender relationship in Islamic thought – Sachiko Murata

5. Man and Nature – Seyyed Hossein Nasr

The following articles will be of good help:

http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/ez/dc/isls_e.html (Islam and Modern Science – Seyed Hossein Nasr)

http://www.livingislam.org/k/ppt_e.html (The Prophet and Prophetic Tradition – Seyed Hossein Nasr)

You should absolutely read the books above, they will give you a good grasp of what Islam is really about. Only then you’ll be able to eradicate your doubts forever.
This will be probably the most critical step of your life. So before talking with scholars or upsetting your mother, please read the books above.
Only then you’ll raise the right questions that you need to have answers on. Going to a professor of mathematics without able to solve 2 + 2 = 4 will be a disaster.
I’ve been through the same situation, and the books above have changed my life .
Going through this proces is not easy, but remind yourself that other's went through the same and have left that state behind.

The only reason that state is there is because of ignorance, your intention will be the key to leaving that state or staying in that state.

You are in my Prayers,

[BamSaitinypap]

Thank you for your great post, IsoK. It is appreciated.

[siklop]

There is no need to thank, I would greatly appreciate it if you follow the advice
the brothers and sisters gave you here. And read the books I recommended.
They will change your life, like they changed mine by the Will of God.

Before I forget, the first Islamic lecture I listened to more than a year ago was 'The purpose of Life - Jeffrey Lang'.
That lecture inspired me to read more and start practising.
Dr. Lang speaks about his experience and journey when reading the Qur'an.

Here is the link, please do watch all 17 parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE8LVsCPQcs

Another lecture; Pillars of Islam is also good material to listen to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1QwC-h3AVg

May Allah guide you in your journey sister.
Please consult this forum everytime if something is not clear, and do not give up hope.

~Believers, be steadfast, and vie in steadfastness, stand firm in your faith, and hold Allah in fear that you may attain true success.~ The Noble Qur'an

[secondmortgages]

Dear sister I am 20 years old and my father is muslim and my mom is an atheist who got married to a kaffir after she divorced. I grew up in two houses and my father gve me the choice of choosing what i believed in at the age of 14. I had some bad experiences here and there and then eventually when i became 16 I became agnostic. I didn't drink or do drugs or have relations alhamdulillah but I saw the dirty world that lies out there being friends with drug dealers and bi sexuals. Subhanallah although I was alhamdulillah quite moraled not only being in that environment but just being agnostic myself i felt so sad. There was nothing to do no one to rely on when in trouble and nothing to follow. Sometimes we need guidance and instructions in our life and other times we need some space. My solution was leaving to take a break from everyone and I traveled to the middle east and just hearing the athan on an everyday basis hit my heart and made me realize that islam is not based on people. You might have enjoyed all the time you had with your family but maybe allah hu alum you didn't build a strong relationship with your lord. Keep asking him for guidance open the quran search for answers to your questions with sheikhs or youth counselors or even just ask the question and open the quran and inshallah allah will show you.