revert « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Whilst I love Office 2007 – its snazzy new features and organised tabs are far better than the previous version - but not everybody can get on with them. This is understandable, since we’ve all been brought up with menu bars and toolbars, making it difficult to adapt when such a different approach comes along. In addition, there are times when the old way of doing things is just faster and easier. To combat this, I went gallivanting around the Internet to find some software that would let me use old menus when I wanted, but also keep the snazzy new tabs, and I found that there are a few addons to get the classic look back in Office 2007, but they’ll set you back some of your hard-earned money. Being the cheapskate that I am, I kept hunting until I found a free version, which comes in the form of a German product – UBitMenu. (I’ve linked to the English translated page). The good news is that it’s free for personal use; the bad news is that there’s a cost if you’re planning on rolling it out large-scale – such as at a business or school.

The software adds a tab to the Office 2007 ribbon tabs entitled ‘Menu’, which contains the classic ‘File’ ‘Edit’ etc, menus, and the standard toolbars that you’ve got used to from older versions of Office. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the software works extremely well; the installation took less than a few seconds, and when I loaded up Word to test it out, I had a tab that offered me the old layout of menus and buttons, without replacing my beloved tabs. It works with all Office software in which the old menus were done away with and replaced with a ribbon – so that’s Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, though it doesn’t work with Outlook. The other Office applications (such as Publisher) still use the menu bars in 2007, so it’s not needed there.

There’s very little I criticise with this great bit of software – it’s a very small download and it fulfulls its task perfectly. My only suggestion for improvement would be implementing the ability to alter the existing toolbars and add new ones. I know a certain ICT teacher that will be very excited by this smashing bit of kit. Whilst I’m on the subject, next time, I’ll be reviewing another exciting Office addon that makes life much easier.

UBit can be downloaded from http://www.ubit.ch/software/ubitmenu-office2007/. (But I’d suggest using the English translated page: http://bit.ly/ubitenglish.

BOOK OF MORMON PART 2

amuslimsinvestigation — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:21:46 +0000

When looking at a document claiming to be ancient in origin, I think the following questions need to be posed:

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

The how and the why will usually fall into place.

If these questions can’t be answered then said ancient document is nothing more than a forgery and should be dismissed as such.

WHO?

After an appetizer combo bucket from my favorite bar and grill I came home ready to tackle the question of Who?

The second sentence in the introductory note of the Book of Mormon answers the “Who” question though rather vaguely.

“It (meaning the Book of Mormon) is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas…”

The second paragraph tells us that these ancient inhabitants were known as Nephites and Lamanites and that after the Nephites were destroyed the Lamanites became “the principal ancestors of the American Indian.”

STOP!

Remember how I showed that there were changes found in the Book of Mormon, changes that haven’t been noted in any foot notes in the Book of Mormon? Guess what. There’s another one.

In the edition of the Book of Mormon I own, copyright 1981, the sentence mentioned above does indeed read: After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians. Please notice it says: ARE THE PRINCIPAL ANCESTORES OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. But I noticed that on the Mormon church’s website, www.lds.org, the official scriptures found on the website said this in the Introduction: After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians. The word AMONG was inserted in the sentence which has completely changed the meaning of the original sentence.

Why was the wording changed? If the Book of Mormon is true and the “most correct” then why change the claim that the Lamanites are the principal ancestors of Native American Indians?

The simple answer is: It’s a lie.

From all the reading I’ve done on the origins of the Native American Indians I have never, not once come across any information suggesting that they came from Israel or Jewish migrants. Not that this wouldn’t be neat, but it simply isn’t fact. What I have read, learned and come to know as fact based on DNA, archaeology evidence and all that good stuff, is that the American Indian came from Asia and Siberia.

The Book of Mormon teaches that the Lamanites were a dark, loathsome, and a filthy people and that they were a people full of idleness and all manner of abominations (1 Nephi 12:23)

Sort of sounds like the depiction of the American Indian in Walt Disney’s Peter Pan.

The Book of Moron further explains that their dark skin was a curse that was set upon them from God (Alma 3:6) and that this curse will only be removed after they have accepted the gospel of Mormonism and then they will become a white and delightsome people (2 Nephi 30:6). {Please note that the word white was changed to pure. The original text from 1830 read white. pp 117, 1830 edition of Book of Mormon.}

You know, maybe it’s just me but if a book of scripture claimed to be written to my ethnicity specifically, as the Book of Mormon does to the Indians, I’m not too sure that I’d give it much attention if it kept repeatedly telling me my ancestors were lazy and blood thirsty (Enos 1:20). That’s just not good public relations.

But here’s the problem with the Book of Mormon claim that the American Indians are any way shape or form related to a band of Jewish migrants: As of March 2006, 99.5% of American Indians who had their DNA tested demonstrated that their ancestral linage came from Asia. The other .5% was a mix of European and African. Beyond this, scientists cannot find any Hebrew influences in America whether it be in culture or language, architect or religious practices. It simply isn’t there.

An article posted on the Institute for Religious Research website (www.irr.org) posed this question: If we don’t know who the Lamanites are, how can the Book of Mormon promise to bring them back? It’s an identity crisis for many of us that [must] be understood.

Show me a Lamanite and I’ll be a Mormon convert.

WHAT?

What is the Book of Mormon about? According to the introductory note it deals with the history of the Nephites and Lamanites and one can surmise that because after thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, that the book probably deals with wars. We are told that:

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

Here’s the thing: If the ancestors of the American Indian were Jewish then there would be evidence supporting this in ancient religious practices. Shockingly, there is no evidence of such. For lack of a better term, the ancient inhabitants of America were “pagan”. If Jesus Christ really did appear then those inhabitants would have converted to Christianity, which the Book of Mormon states was the case and that all the people’s were converted to Christ for two hundred years following his appearance to them. But there isn’t any evidence for this. Christianity didn’t come to the Americas until the first Europeans showed up.

Another problem is that the history of these peoples cannot be established. We know that there were peoples here way before 600 B.C.E. which is the time the Nephites supposedly arrived in the new world. We can find the places that Incas, Aztecs and Mayans lived and even in my own state, we know where the Mississippian Indians hung out. We cannot find any ruin that is similar to the cities the Book of Mormon describes. The claims of the Book of Mormon are not established by archaeology or any other supporting science.

WHERE?

In just about every Bible I’ve been given I have found maps in the back or front of the book. These maps usually highlight Paul’s missionary journeys or the land of Palestine at the time of Christ. Some maps are greatly detailed with notes about the places highlighted while others are simply illustrated. But nearly every Bible I’ve purchased or have been given there has been an accompanying map.

If I had thousands o extra dollars lying around I could go to places like Bethlehem and Jerusalem. I could see Nazareth and I could dip my hand into the Jordan River. I could see the ruins at Capernaum and see the steps of Herod’s temple. Thousands of years after these places have been written about I can still go see them today.

So here I sit looking at the copy of the Book of Mormon I have. Cracking it open I flipped through the introduction and explanatory note and came to eight pages of beautiful, full colored pictures. There is a portrait of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith and a few paintings depicting various stories found within the Book of Mormon.

I flipped to the back of the book and found a pronouncing guide and an index. But, no maps.

As I studied the Book of Mormon in depth it dawned on me that there were numerous cities mentioned in the stories but there was no map indicating where any of the cities were.

If the Book of Mormon was a true volume of scripture about the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, as the introduction note states, then why were there maps indicating where these peoples lived?

I began to question: Can I visit cities like Zarahemla? Bountiful? Or Manti?

A brief look at older Central and South American maps quickly revealed I could not. The names didn’t exist.

But if the Book of Mormon was true then why weren’t there maps?

The answer: There are no maps because you can’t place the events in the Book of Mormon in a real world setting. You either have to distort the text itself or the real world setting. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes no official position as to where the events took place. One reason for this is obvious: the events didn’t take place any where!

WHEN?

The Book of Mormon claims to encompass a one thousand year time period beginning in approximately 600 B.C.E. and ending in about 420 C.E. It tells the history of a people who claim to be literate and claim to have kept records (Helaman 3:13).

But when a claim that a group of people kept records about their proceedings and the scholar can’t find the records then it’s a pretty good guess that the peoples didn’t exist. Let’s look at the Book of Mormon for instance.

It encompasses a thousand year time period. It tells us that it was abridged from other plates that contained longer stories. It tells us that there were multiple records about the people. But there’s not documentary trace. From the time that the Book of Mormon was originally written in 400 C.E. to its English publication is fourteen hundred years. Where’s the trail? The Bible has a documentary trail. Why doesn’t the Book of Mormon?

Simple answer: It’s nineteenth century religious fiction.

COMPOUNDED COMPLICATIONS

To be a Mormon is to accept the extraordinary with no proof. In fact, the less proof there is for their convictions the more my Mormon friends believe. Example of this would be the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is the foundation of the Mormon Church and the proof of Joseph Smith’s prophetic call. If the Book of Mormon falls then so does Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church and thirteen million people’s faith.

It’s dangerous to be a Mormon and openly publish statements like: There is no archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith is the author of the book. It usually lands people in excommunication.

Got to love those fear tactics.

My cats have these annoying little fuzzy mice that if seen in a dim light appear to be large roaches. I hate them.

Much to my dismay my cat will often jump on my desk while and drop one of these God forsaken toys on my key board. I throw it and like a dog she brings the thing back. I have long since figured out that if I throw her toy mouse under something she becomes convinced that it’s gone and the game ends…until she finds a paper ball.

Children are like this as well. A child can sit and play with a tennis ball for a while and be as happy as a honey bee in a flower garden. But if that tennis ball happens to roll under the couch then the ball is gone. Because the child can’t see it, the ball is gone.

But we know that isn’t the case. The ball is still there it just takes someone with a little more understanding to find the ball and make it come back.

Guess what! History is the same way. Someone with a little more knowledge and understanding that the average bear can bring it back to life and make these fun little things called artifacts reappear.

The funny thing is that the artifacts that one should find in conjunction with the Book of Mormon story aren’t found. Anywhere. They aren’t found in North America, Central America or Southern America. However, we can, have and do find artifacts of the Native American tribes that have roamed this land for thousands of years. We just can’t seem to find anything that correlates with the Nephites or the Lamanites.

ARTIFACTS

Coins

While working in a shipping department for an antiques dealer I came across a coin simply marked ancient. Popping the plastic baggie open I pulled a coin out carefully clutching it in between my index finger and thumb. Laying the coin in the palm of my opposite hand I examined it closely.

What I was holding in my hand wasn’t of much worth: the coin sold for only a dollar and twenty cents, but for the love of history I possess it was a momentous occasion.

My imagination ran wild as I thought of the thousands of hands that had touched it between it’s creator and me. The stories this coin could tell!

The coin was from Ancient Rome during the reign of Emperor Constantine AD 306 through AD 337. The coin was no bigger than a modern day American penny and contained a bust of Constantine and Greek lettering on the back.

And then something struck me.

An object no bigger than a penny, the coin had been preserved through seventeen hundred years of history. An object with a circumference of only 59.84 mm and a diameter of 19.05 mm had been preserved. There in my hand was an Ancient Roman coin and was available for purchase on Ebay.

Not available on Ebay are Nephite coins called:

Senine

Seon

Shum

Limnah

They aren’t available because they don’t exist.

Coins never existed in America before the 16^th century and they certainly weren’t used as any medium of exchange amongst the native peoples of America. They tended to trade food, animals, clothing, people etc. They wouldn’t have known what to do with coins except maybe flatten them out and make jewelry out of them.

But if one believes the Book of Mormon and holds it as a true and accurate history of ancient America then coins did exist.

The chapter heading to Alma chapter eleven states: Nephite coinage set forth…and verse four states: Now these are the names of the different pieces of their gold, and of their silver, according to their value. This is followed by a long list of alien names and measurements.

Even though it is rather clear that this chapter is about coins Daniel Petterson, Mormon apologists, asserts that the Book of Mormon never mentions the world coin.

Peterson states in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 5:55, “It is, alas, quite true that there is no evidence whatsoever for the existence of Book of Mormon coins. Not even in the Book of Mormon itself. The text of the Book of Mormon never mentions the word ‘coin’ or any variant of it. The reference to ‘Nephite Coinage’ in the chapter heading to Alma 11 is not part of the original text and is mistaken. Alma 11 is almost certain talking about standardized weights of metal- a historical step toward coinage, but not yet the real thing.”

Wow.

There are a lot of issues with this statement.

Let’s take a look.

The Book of Mormon may not actually use the word coin but you can look it up in the Index in the back of the book and you are referred to chapter eleven in Alma. Secondly, the chapter heading of Alma eleven was coined by James Talmage, a former apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Author James P Harris noted of Talmage that he was “customarily meticulous, making sure there were no errors or omissions.” (The Essential James E. Talmage pp 29) Beyond this Peterson’s statement is rather presumptuous. The chapter heading has read the same way since 1920 and the Book of Mormon is printed under the authority of the First Presidency of the Church. If there really was an issue with using the word ‘coinage’ wouldn’t the First Presidency have changed it rather than leave it for the past ninety years?

Call me crazy.

Secondly, for Peterson to say that “the text of the Book of Mormon never mentions the word ‘coin’ or any variant of it’ is a gross inaccuracy. Remember just a little bit ago that I said verse four of chapter eleven states: Now these are the names of the different pieces of their gold…? Guess what: piece in Joseph Smith’s day meant coin.

According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary copyright 1960 and based on older editions copyright 1916 ‘piece’ in its sixth definition is defined as: A piece of money; a coin; as, pieces of silver. We can go back further than that and look at Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language and read in definition eight: A coin; as a piece of eight.

So to counter Peterson’s statement: Yes there is a variant of the word coin found in the Book of Mormon text.

The last thing that is wrong with Peterson’s statement is the last sentence: Alma 11 is almost certainly talking about standardized weights of metal…

What Dan Peterson is trying to do is persuade the reader into believing that archeologists can’t find coins because the Nephites didn’t use coins but used weights and measures that can’t be found. Thing is, however, hunks of metal would be needed to determine the actual weight of something. We could still find those. I mean we have Roman coins for God sakes why not a hunk of metal?

Apologize again, Peterson.

Literally, I could go on and on about the scientific problems facing the Book of Mormon. I could talk about the zoology of the Book of Mormon being completely wrong, the discussion of plant life in the Book of Mormon being completely wrong, the topic of metallurgy being completely wrong…etc etc etc The simple fact of the matter is that the Book of Mormon is just COMPLETELY wrong. What is bothersome is that despite the evidence against the Book of Mormon people still believe it.

At some point I have to feel sorry for people that they have such a desire to believe that they are willing to believe anything. But on the other hand, when a people continually choose to believe something despite the evidence that has been presented, I question their intelligence.

When I reverted to Islam, I did not pray to know whether or not Islam was true or to know whether or not the Quran was true. I reverted because of the facts and scientific evidence in the Quran. I’ll get into that later, but my point is that intelligence is as much a part of faith as love is to a marriage. Allah does not ask us to have blind faith. He has given us the ability to KNOW: to know spiritually, to know emotionally and to know scientifically. We aren’t not meant to have a blind faith- just think of the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. The second Peter took his eyes of Jesus (or his faith if you will) he began to sink.

Just think about it.

How Salman Al Farsi Came To Islam

عمر ابن مظهر — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:15:19 +0000

How Salman Al Farsi Came To Islam It was narrated that Ibn Abbas said: Salman al-Farsi told me his s

Hilarious Conversion Story

عمر ابن مظهر — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:45:15 +0000

Hilarious Conversion Story

On Modesty

sakina08 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:06:13 +0000

I wrote this a while back, around the time when I was in the process of converting to Islam. I thought this might serve as a nice segue into my upcoming story of my journey to begin covering my hair.

Well, I’ve been thinking (and reading) a lot about modesty these days, and I’m concerned with all the criticism that Muslim women receive over their desire to cover themselves. I decided to take a look at what other religions have to say about this subject, and with very little effort I found that the concept of Islamic modesty is nothing new. In fact, in Jewish tradition (from the Tanukh I think, but I’m looking for an exact citation), Abraham’s wife Sarai never left the home without completely covering herself – including her face! Jewish women are also supposed to cover their hair (you can see that today in more traditional Jewish communities) and wear modest clothing. With regard to Christianity, let’s remember that Jesus said he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Fulfill doesn’t mean change, the last time I checked. Further, Paul himself even states that a woman should at least cover her hair in church in I Cor. 11:

“Every woman who prays or prophecies with her head uncovered dishonors her head – it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head… The woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.”

So first of all, according to Paul, a woman with an uncovered head is dishonoring herself. Secondly, he commands that any woman who isn’t covering should have her hair cut off. Wow! That’s pretty extreme, and certainly not backed up by Old Testament law. Nor does Islam have any punishment for a woman who doesn’t cover, by the way. It’s simply her decision. Further, Paul states that a woman should have a sign of authority on her head. Meaning what? She’s inferior to what authority? God? No – to men. We can ascertain that because Paul didn’t tell men that they have any sign of authority over them; he singled out women. So, covering the hair in Christianity is done due to the authority of men, while covering the hair in Islam is due to the authority of God. That’s a pretty big difference.

Either way, modesty is not an Islamic fabrication, nor is it a symbol of oppression. Just ask any Muslim woman here in the West, and she’ll inform you that she happily chooses to cover herself. Further, a woman’s beauty is a valuable gift and treasure that shouldn’t be given away to the general public for free! I’ve heard it said many times by Muslim women that by being modest and covering their sexuality, they raise themselves to equal playing grounds and are therefore taken much more seriously as a person, and valued for their minds instead of their bodies. How liberating!

And by the way, just to be fair – Islam teaches modesty for both men and women. Men should dress modestly as well – it’s not a one-sided ideology, something that anti-modesty protesters conveniently overlook.

Additionally, people in general have been modest up until very recently. It wasn’t even until the 60s that people began showing more skin and abandoning modesty. Running around half-naked is an innovation that honestly hasn’t fixed the gender gap in terms of equality in salary or employment (to date are still receiving only 75% of the pay men receive for the same work, with the same level of education and experience), even in the ‘liberated’ United States. Women still get the short end of the stick, and are now viewed as cheap sexual objects, even degraded to the level of selling everything from cars to toothpaste. Look what ‘respect’ and ‘value’ exposing ourselves has bought us.

You can check out this youtube video for a nice visual montage of modesty throughout religions and throughout history.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wAiRvS_BwmI&feature=related

My Conversion Story

sakina08 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:49:31 +0000

I’ve been asked on several occasions to share my story of how I came to Islam, and each time I struggle with exactly how to tell it, what to include, and where to start. There are so many things that have influenced me and taken me toward Islam that it would be impossible to mention all of them. So, I’ll try to give you the basic version of it here without it being too long and overwhelming.

Some background

I grew up in a conservative Christian home with two happily married parents – my dad worked and my mom stayed at home with my brothers and I to home school us through the large part of my K-12 experience. We were dual-enrolled much of the time, meaning we would go in to public school for sports and music (and art sometimes), so we still had the opportunity to interact with other kids. We belonged to the Pentacostal side of Christianity (although I never really understood the whole speaking in tongues thing; it was all a little weird and fake to me), and moved our way over to Southern Baptist when I was in high school. I began attending a Christian church (yes, this is actually the name of another denomination of Christianity) in college, and felt pretty happy with the emphasis on reason and intellect rather than solely emotions.

Questions

One of my main goals when I first started college was to become a missionary to other countries, but very quickly hit a pretty big roadblock when I began to get involved with international ministries on campus and developing friendships with people from other countries. I just could not fathom how a fair and just God could send all these people, and all their ancestors, straight to hell for not believing in Jesus (as). One day they die, and they find themselves in a horrible place for simply not believing in someone they’d never heard of? This bothered me immensely, and I realized that I needed to find the answer to this question before I set off to another country to try to convince people to believe in my religion when I wasn’t even entirely sure of it myself.

Time progressed and while in graduate school, I developed a friendship with a girl who graduated from seminary, who was studying in the same graduate program as I. We began discussing the concept of the deity of Jesus, and neither of us could find any logical explanation for it, nor could we find any concrete support for it Biblically. She herself, having gone through Bible school, had given up and became agnostic (along with several other of her classmates!). I resigned myself to the fact that perhaps these questions could never be solved – I would continue to believe in God and follow Christianity because it was the best religion out there. And as many Christians say, I’d rather be wrong and believe in God than be wrong and not believe in God! In my mind, Christianity was the only viable religion through which I could believe in God.

An encounter with Islam

Upon graduating from graduate school, I began teaching at a university language program. I walked in to class and immediately saw that the majority of my class was Arab. I had never really met an Arab before and knew nothing about their culture or religion. I was surprised to find that they were very social, outgoing, polite, and well-mannered. From what I had seen on TV, I thought they would all be angry and suspicious of me! I decided I needed to learn more about my students, so I began to read online about the culture and religion. One of the first things I learned that shocked me immensely was the fact that Islam considers itself an extension of the monotheistic religions of Judaism and Christianity, and accepts all the prophets, including Jesus, culminating in Prophet Muhammad (saws). I was surprised that Muslims were so closely tied to Christians religiously, as I had thought they worshiped Prophet Muhammad like Christians worshipped Jesus.

Since the majority of my students were very friendly, I decided to ask them some questions about their religion. Some had no idea; others were more knowledgeable. One in particular (who wasn’t a student, but a friend of a student) began to even debate with me about Christianity, which always left me shocked and infuriated because I had always considered myself to be very knowledgeable about my faith, yet I couldn’t give him one logical answer that didn’t involve Christian jargon or concepts that had no alternate explanation. I tried to get him to discuss some of the issues I had with Islam, but he easily explained those in such a logical fashion that I was left stuttering and had nothing else to say since he made perfect sense.

Getting Serious

Finally, I decided to take matters seriously and began pouring over a huge Bible concordance, along with a hefty book entitled “Hard Sayings of the Bible,” written by renowned Biblical scholars. I thought surely if I understand the difficult aspects of Christianity, I could convince him that my faith was right, and he might even convert!

So I began my journey. Some of the issues were explainable, such as the differences in numbers and dates and even names among the Old Testament books – a scribe made a simple error. That doesn’t mean the meaning is compromised though… did it? But as I read, the issues grew more numerous, the contradictions more obvious, and the inconsistency of the portrayal of God more difficult to ignore. As a fairly educated individual, if I read something like this for a class, in no way would I pass over any of this without ripping it apart for numerous logical inconsistencies and a lack to prove conclusions with solid evidence. Finally, I reached the breaking point when I came to the explanation of when God told the Israelites to destroy the occupants of the land of Canaan – to kill every man, woman, and child – everything that breathes. The explanation? God knew these children would grow up to be evil so He wanted them to be killed too. Wait. I thought children weren’t responsible for their sins until they reached a certain age. And more important, how could God create innocent life with the knowledge that He would order their destruction without giving them a chance to know the truth and choose their path on their own? Where was their free will? They wer punished for being born in the wrong land? How was that their fault?

I wept as I read the explanation. So cold, so callous… yet more than that, is this the God I serve? An unmerciful, unjust, unfair God? Is it? I laid awake in bed that night, crying and pleading with God to make it right somehow. Help me to understand. After some time, I slowly began to realize that I had two choices if I wanted to continue to believe in God – which I absolutely did. 1. The Bible is correct and God is an unjust and unmerciful God, or 2. The Bible is incorrect and God may actually be just and merciful. With all the other blatant inconsistencies in the Bible, along with my earlier doubts about the deity of Jesus, I chose option 2.

From darkness to light

Even though I had decided the Bible could not be God’s word, I still felt very unsettled and uprooted from everything I had based my entire life around. I recall telling my Muslim friend once that he was so lucky to have such a solid, logical base to support his beliefs. I felt I had nothing. I felt so empty. I believed in God but I knew nothing else. It became a very dark time for me; I slept little and my mind was always occupied with reading more about the Bible and trying to educate myself as much as possible – I wanted to be really sure. I delved into the issues surrounding the compilation of the New Testament (politics, power, and control!), and the coffin lid was officially nailed shut when I learned with a shock that Paul’s version of Christianity was copied and pasted directly from the prominent religion of Tarsus at that time - the religion of Mithra! That was when I decided I was no longer a Christian. I had joined the ranks of my seminary friend.

Around this time, my Muslim friend randomly brought me a Quran with commentary. I had asked him for one several months earlier, but he hadn’t seemed too interested and had apparently forgotten. But, by God’s perfect timing, he suddenly remembered and brought it me – just as I had lost all hope in my own religion. I remember when he gave it to me; I was excited to finally get the real truth on Islam, from Islamic scholars themselves – but I also wondered if I had time to get into all the inconsistencies of yet another religion. If Christianity was this exhausting and the explanations obscure and based primarily on conjecture and not fact or evidence, I imagined other religions would be much worse.

That night, as I got into bed to read before sleeping, I looked between the Bible concordance and the Quran, trying to decide which one to read. I opted for the Quran, thinking I needed a change. I opened it, and began reading the first chapter, the Fatiha. From the very first line, the very first sentence, the very first verse, I felt the strength of the words. The power of the words. The pure, simple logic. It was as if the Author were speaking directly to me, to someone who has the same doubts and questions as I had. The commentary also went into great detail about many of the issues I had been dealing with in Christianity, and even brought up a few I hadn’t even thought of yet! I couldn’t put it down, and found myself reading far longer than I had planned.

That night, for the first night in months, I slept all the way through the night, without waking fitfully, without feeling fearful (I had been feeling so afraid at night that I had started leaving the light on… I had actually been seeing lights and strange movements in my room which scared the living crap out of me). That night I needed no light. I slept with the Quran and my Bible next to me.

And so I continued reading, and learning. I visited websites (such as al-islam.org), and tried to learn what Muslim scholars had to say about the religion. It made so much sense. I also greatly admired the honorable and respectful treatment women were given, all the rights and great care afforded to their protection. It was so refreshing to the point that when I saw my female Muslim students in class, I would have tears in my eyes because I was so awed at how they respected themselves, and how the men around them respected them. In all honesty, I was convinced that Islam was the right path from that very first night. But, I wanted to be sure. I could still barely even think the word “Islam” without a negative reaction, so I wanted to explore everything before making a final decision. And, after about a month more of reading, listening to lectures, asking questions, and praying, I made my decision.

The decision

I wanted to tell my Muslim friend about my decision, since he, after all, was the impetus for all of this. He began a debate with me about something in Christianity, and didn’t even notice when I agreed with him. He finally stopped and thought I was being sarcastic, and seemed unsure of continuing. I tried my best to convince him I agreed with him, but he still seemed dubious. I finally went further and told him that well…. actually I’m not a Christian anymore…. it just doesn’t make sense to me. He was dumbfounded. And I continued, “and I’m about 85-90% convinced that Islam is the right path.” He was in even more shock, and certainly didn’t believe me immediately. He began asking me a lot of questions to determine my sincerity, which I found interesting since Christians would simply start rejoicing and start pushing them to get baptized – no questions asked!

Finally, in May 2008, I said my shahada. My conversion was not like what many Christians say they experience – upon accepting Jesus as God and Savior, they always say they feel overwhelming joy and happiness – a great rush of emotion. When I realized fully that Islam was the right path, I didn’t feel a huge rush of emotions. Instead, I felt clean. I felt pure. I felt that the turmoil inside was finally quiet and at rest. I felt that my logic and belief in God were finally in accordance with one another – both supported the other. I felt so relieved. In fact, I felt like I had come home.

The beginning of a new story

My story doesn’t end there of course; I still had much to learn, and many challenges and trials ahead of me, which I hope to share here as well. I’ll save it for a new post though since I fear this one is far too long! I hope no one is asleep yet.

Indagación Revert

jorgemrodrig — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:03:23 +0000

View this document on Scribd

"Revert" & "Teleconversation"

Dan P. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:05:24 +0000

I refer to our teleconversation on (a certain topic). Please allow us five working days, and we will revert to you then.

Looks familiar? Well, revert and teleconversation are two of the most common words used in business e-mail and letters. We’ve been using them ever so often that we’ve somehow accepted them as standard Business English. Are they, really?

Well, let’s look at “revert” first. We use it in place of “respond”, “reply”, and “come back (to you)”. But what is the true definition of it?

A check with the popular online dictionary, www.dictionary.com, reveals that revert means to return to a former habit, belief, condition etc. It also means to go back in thought or discussion. Macmillan Dictionary defines it as to return to a previous state or way of behaving, often one that is not good. It can also mean to start talking about something that you were talking about earlier.

As you can see, there is no indication or definition that relates “revert” to what we intentionally want to express; to respond or reply.

The word teleconversation does not exists in neither dictionary.com nor the Macmillan Dictionary Online. Indeed, there is no such word, not even tele-conversation (hyphenated).

In conclusion, it is always good to use standard English rather than words that may be wrongly used, or worse, non-existent. In the example above, perhaps it could be paraphrased as “I refer to our earlier discussion on (the topic). Please allow us five working days, and we will respond to you then”.

From "Terry" to "Mustafa"

ibnepakistan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:32:12 +0000

Terry Holdbrooks arrived at Guantánamo detention camp in the summer of 2003 as a godless 19-year-old with a love of drinking, hard rock music and tattoos. By the time he left Cuba the following year, he had alienated his army colleagues, won the respect of the detainees and, most astonishingly, converted to Islam in a midnight ceremony in the presence of one of the detainees, who had become his mentor.

When I meet Holdbrooks, now 26 and named Mustafa Abdullah, he is wearing a black Muslim cap, a thick beard and long-sleeved traditional robes that almost obscure the tattoo on his right arm that reads “by demons be driven”.

Holdbrooks grew up in Arizona, the only son of junkie parents who split up when he was seven years old. He was raised by his ex-hippie grandparents. Tired of being poor, determined not to follow in his parents’ footsteps and keen to see the world, Holdbrooks signed up for the military. He was stationed with the 253rd Military Police Company, mostly doing administrative support work, when he was told he was to be deployed to Guantánamo.

During a two-week training course, the new guards took it in turns to act as detainees, and were also taken to Ground Zero. “We were not taught anything about Islam,” he says. “We were shown videos of 11 September and all we kept being told was that the detainees were the worst of the worst – they were Bin Laden’s drivers, Bin Laden’s cooks, and these people will kill you the first chance they get.”

Holdbrooks skims over the words, as if he is quoting from his forthcoming memoir, Traitor? “I was questioning things from day one,” he says. “The first thing I saw was a kid who is all of 16 who had never seen the ocean, didn’t know the world was round. I am sitting there thinking, what can he possibly know about the war on terror, what could he possibly know?”

Holdbrooks’ duties at Guantánamo including cleaning, collecting rubbish, walking up and down the block to ensure detainees weren’t passing anything between cells and ferrying them to and from interrogations. There were plenty of opportunities for communication. Holdbrooks’s friendliness towards the detainees – they called him “the nice guard” – earned him unwelcome attention from his fellow guards.

“I didn’t have a very high impression of my colleagues,” he says. Many of them were “ridiculous Budweiser-drinking, cornbread-fed, tobacco-chewing drunks, racists and bigots” who blindly followed orders, and within months he had stopped talking to them altogether. There were frequent physical altercations: “One time one of them said to me, ‘Hey, Holdbrooks, you know what we are going to do today? We are going to skull-fuck the Taliban out of you – you’re a sympathizer and we don’t like that.” That led to another fist fight.”

While the guards indulged in alcohol, porn and sports, Holdbrooks says he needed to learn how the detainees could endure abuse and still smile, while he was utterly miserable.

“I knew nothing about Islam prior to Guantánamo,” he says, “so this was a complete culture shock to me. I wanted to learn as much I could, so I started talking to the detainees about politics, ethics and morals, and about their lives and cultural differences – we would talk all the time.” What began as curiosity turned to disciplined study, with Holdbrooks spending at least an hour a day learning about Islam and talking in chatrooms online. Among those he talked to were the Tipton trio of British Muslims who featured in Michael Winterbottom’ s docudrama, The Road to Guantánamo; another was a man the other detainees referred to as the General – Moroccan-born Ahmed Errachidi, who had lived in Britain for 18 years, working as a chef, and spent five and a half years in Guantánamo accused of attending al-Qaida training camps. (He was later released and cleared of any wrongdoing.)

“We’d talk for hours and hours,” Holdbrooks says. “We’d talk about books, about music, about philosophy: we would stay up all night and talk about religion.”

Finally, six months into his time at Guantánamo, Holdbrooks was ready. On 29 December 2003, in the presence of Errachidi, he repeated the shahada, the statement of faith that is the sole requirement for converting to Islam: “There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet”. The Guantánamo guard was now a Muslim.

He stopped drinking and even gave up music, because his interpretation of Islam suggested that this, too, was unacceptable. “It was not easy praying five times a day without my colleagues finding out,” he says. “I told them I had to go the bathroom a lot.”

Converting to Islam made Holdbrooks even more unhappy about his work – he felt he was worse off than the detainees. “They were having a lot more fun than I was. The Tipton trio were always playing tricks on the guards and the interrogators. The detainees had a lot of freedom in their confinement: I had all the freedoms they didn’t have, but I was a slave to what the army wanted me to do.”

This claim sounds implausible, but Holdbrooks says he is referring to their freedom of thought: he was impressed by the independence he saw in the detainees, compared to his fellow guards. This still seems a rather self-pitying analysis, particularly when he goes on to describe how he had seen detainees being tortured. “It was my job to take prisoners to interrogations, so sometimes I would sit and watch,” he says. “I would see detainees who would be locked up for hours in horrible positions – for hours upon hours upon hours, in a room that might be 50 degrees or 60 degrees.

“There was one man who had defecated on himself and this ogre of an interrogator would douse water on him and then ask him if he was going to talk, and he would say he had nothing to talk about, and I remember thinking, what good is this going to accomplish? You cannot abuse and torture people and expect to get results that are accurate and credible.”

In the summer of 2004, Holdbrooks left Guantánamo and was later discharged from the army on the grounds of a “general personality disorder”. The alcohol problem that had plagued him before enlisting returned, and when his marriage dissolved, he sought solace in the old comforts of drinking, casual sex and music. “I was having nightmares about my time in Guantánamo,” he says, “and I spent the best part of three years just trying to drink Guantánamo out of my mind.”

Today, Holdbrooks is a practising Muslim again, but he does not seem to be at peace. There is a blankness in his gaze that hints at the scars his childhood and Guantánamo have left on him.

Why had this hard-living Arizona boy embraced Islam? The question needles me throughout our conversation. It is only when, towards the end, Holdbrooks reveals that his favorite words are “structure”, “order” and “discipline” that the pieces fall into place. Holdbrooks’s life had been a search for order: the regimentation of army life had appeared to offer structure, and when it let him down, he turned to religion.

Holdbrooks has more in common with his former colleagues than he realizes: their allegiance to the army is matched by his adherence to faith. “Islam is a very disciplined, regimented faith and it requires a great deal of effort and conviction,” he says. “I’ve had an unbelievable fascination with structure and order for as long as I can remember: structure, order and discipline – I just love them.”

Adapted from: The Guardian UK [Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/07/guantanamo-bay-islam#history-byline]

From "Terry" to "Mustafa"

solarpulse — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:29:02 +0000

While the guards indulged in alcohol, porn and sports, Holdbrooks says he needed to learn how the detainees could endure abuse and still smile, while he was utterly miserable.

“We’d talk for hours and hours,” Holdbrooks says. “We’d talk about books, about music, about philosophy: we would stay up all night and talk about religion.”

Today, Holdbrooks is a practising Muslim again, but he does not seem to be at peace. There is a blankness in his gaze that hints at the scars his childhood and Guantánamo have left on him.

Adapted from: The Guardian UK [Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/07/guantanamo-bay-islam#history-byline]

BABA ALI Telling His Story of Converting To ISLAM

shahmuzir — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:45:10 +0000

Muslim Convert Vlog #10: How did you convert to Islam? Why ISLAM?

New Muslim Cool - Mash'Allah Fantastic Film!

keniswaiting — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:01:04 +0000

Asalamu Alaikum.

Alhamdulillah this is a movie I recently saw on PBS channel 11.

This is a fantastic film, mash’Allah that documents the life a young Puerto Rican living in the continental US, who reverts to Islam.

Race, class, religion, and subhanAllah even US government repression all play a factor in this very entertaining and intriguing movie.

If for no other reason, this movie is interesting because non-Muslims get to take a peak into daily life of a Muslim family.

Mash’Allah I thought it was absolutely wonderful. Insh’Allah you can see it soon!

Check out the website: http://www.newmuslimcool.com/

Musings #3: Want to Hold onto Burning Coal?

danishalhyderabadee — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:49:12 +0000

6.
It has been reported to have said by the Messenger of Allah (salAllahu’alayhi wa sallam):

“Holding onto one’s religion in the time of corruption will be like holding on to hot coal”

[Couldnt find reference, reference is needed]

7.
Abuz Zubair:

This is nothing but the strength of the Salafiyya itself that it doesn’t fall with the death of its leaders. It carries on. At the time of Imam Ahmad, virtually the entire Muslim world was forced to believe in the nonsense that you (Ahl alKalam) believe in, the creation of the Quran. It is only a few who save the day. And we are glad to be amongst the few, glad to hold on to the burning coal.

[Source]

8.
Abuz Zubair:

As far as I see it, this is nothing but the strength of the Salafiyya itself that it doesn’t fall with the death of its leaders.

If someone drops the hot coal. Someone else will grab it.

9. A good piece of advice for new Muslims: Every new Muslim should be told this and every Muslim should be reminded of this over and over again. Becoming Muslim is the easy part, maintaining your Islam is like holding onto hot coals. When one decides to be Muslim or more specifically be a Muslim practicing his religion and holding onto the Sunnah, he has to understand that Allah might put him in a position where he might have to hold onto the ‘burning coals’. Sympathize with the Muslim youth that arent adequately prepared to handle High School/College life and Islam. Usually end up dropping the ‘hot coal’.

Things You Need to Know: Religious "Suffixes"

keniswaiting — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:55:13 +0000

Asalamu Alaikum!

Insh’Allah this should be a short and sweet post.

For everyone and anyone interested in either joining Islam, or at least getting a better understanding of it, insh’Allah this can be useful.

Names and language are very important in Islam.

Whenever any Muslim refers to Allah (SWT), they add a religious “suffix.” “Glorified The Most Holy” always follows any reference to Allah (SWT). The transliteration from Arabic is “Subhana Wata Aalah” (SWT).

Whenever any Muslim refers to The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), they also add a religious “suffix.” NOTE: Every blog post that I write usually includes “PBUH” after referring to The Prophet (PBUH).

“PBUH” stands for “Peace Be Upon Him.” Transliterated from Arabic, it is “Sallalahu Alayhee Wasalam” (SAW). NOTE: whereas I have usually used “PBUH” in the past, insh’Allah I will begin to use “SAW.” But in practice, either one works.

For new Muslims, its easier to practice in English, I think. Thats what I did.

But now, its time for me to move on to the more difficult Arabic usage.

Also, as you can probably tell, Muslims use these religous “suffixes” when speaking aloud, as well as when writing about Allah (SWT) or The Prophet (SAW).

Insh’Allah you have found this useful!

For no reason, mash’Allah other than that I find this pious man to be interesting, here is this:

Mash’Allah, what a wonderful beard and turban.

Muslim Movie Night: Empire of Faith

keniswaiting — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:37:15 +0000

Empire of Faith was a documentary film that I watched while I was still at the very beginning of my journey into Islam. In the same way that I advertise No god but God and Islam: A Short History as really useful literature for folks interested in Islam; this film is an incredible resource.

I haven’t seen the entire documentary in about a year, but as I recall it is broken into three parts. The 2nd part focuses on the expansion of the Islamic empire. What is most interesting about this period, is the way in which all of the writings, knowledge, and history of Europe (from Ancient Greece, to Alexander the Great, to Ancient Rome) were saved by the Islamic empires. Moreover, it was because the Muslims saved these histories, that they were able to be transmitted back to Europe in the first place!

That particular piece of information is so wonderful and interesting to know. Particularly in regards to the fact that so many racists and Islamophobes like to call Islam a barbaric religion with a barbaric history. Nothing could be further from the truth. And modern Europe might not even exist as it does, where it not for the Islamic empires.

Here is part one of the documentary Islam: Empire of Faith. Jazak Allah Khair for being narrated by Ben Kingsley, produced and directed by Robert Gardner. Also Jazak Allah Khair to Florimzeka for the youtube post!

José? Hasan? OR Hasan? José?

keniswaiting — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:36:29 +0000

As a reminder, this blog is written from my perspective as a Muslim revert. I am Latino and I was raised in a Catholic household on the Northside of Chicago, IL.

It is important to keep this in mind, because of my appearance. I am a Latino male. My complexion is a medium-dark brown. I have brown eyes and black hair. SO, when I wear my kufi (Muslim cap) and/or my kaffiyeh (Arab scarf), my Arab brothers immediately assume that I am also Arab.

People would pass me in a Muslim neighborhood, or at the masjid (mosque) and immediately speak to me in Arabic. Of course, I do not speak Arabic. Most of what I know I included in my previous blog about Islamic Vocabulary. What has happened is that, because of my appearance, many people assume that I am an Arab Muslim and that I must be completely acquainted with both Arabic and Islam/Islamic customs. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

This has led to some embarrassing and awkward moments where I have been completely unable to communicate with my immigrant Muslim Brothers because they have begun speaking to me completely in Arabic, and they don’t speak english (much less Spanish) so we become stuck at a conversational impasse.

This has also led to awkward moments where my fellow Muslim Brothers have chastised me for not knowing “what I should already know” (because they think I was raised as an Arab Muslim).

For example, one of my first times going to a masjid (mosque) I did my wudu (ablution) and then realized I needed to urinate. So, I went over to the men’s bathroom (I put on some slippers first!) where I only found toilets. I thought it was odd that there were no urinals, but I didn’t really think anything more of it besides that. I went on to urinate as I would at a urinal: I urinated while standing.

I left the toilet and went over to the sink to wash my hands. As soon as I reached for the soap, I heard a brother greet me. We did the usual greeting and then he asked me “Brother, did you use the bathroom while standing up?” I told him, “Yeah, why?” At this, he looked very agitated and said “Brother, you forget the Sunnah [the path (of The Prophet, PBUH)]…your prayers are invalid.”

I was shocked and confused. First of all, I had only been to the masjid once or twice before, so I was still very nervous when I would go in. But on top of that, I had just been barked at by a Brother. Now, in his defense (sort of), he looked at me and assumed that I had been born and raised as an Arab Muslim, and therefore, I should have learned this lesson when I was a young child. But regardless, this left me shaken and uncomfortable. All I could think to say to him as he began to walk away from me after my scolding was a meek “I’m sorry.”

So be aware my Latino brothers who join Islam. People may very likely assume that you are an Arab Muslim, born and raised. They will assume that you speak Arabic and that you are completely well acquainted in Islamic customs (such as peeing while sitting down to avoid “splash-back”). You will get funny looks when you in fact do not know any of these things. But life is about embarrassing moments, making mistakes, and the jihad (struggle) to learn new things and improve
ourselves.
————

The opposite also occurs. The first situation I just described is of Arab Muslims thinking that I was also born Arab Muslim. The second situation is of Latinos thinking I was born Arab Muslim.

So when I see a Latino family and I hear them speak in Spanish, I like to speak in Spanish with them. They always give me a quizzical look at first. If they think to ask me where my family is from, things fall into place.
————

As a Latino revert, I have come to a point in my life where my fellow Latinos are shocked to hear my speak Spanish, and my Arab Muslim Brothers are shocked to learn I don’t speak Arabic. How hilarious and confusing.

Generally speaking, it seems that if you add a beard and a kufi (Muslim cap) to a Latino male, he quickly goes from looking like a José to a Hasan.

A touching story!He reverted to Islam and then died!

xeniagreekmuslimah — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:50:35 +0000

He reverted to Islam then died !

A man used to live in Saudi Arabia originally from India was a Siekh, and a Muslim Shaik ( Muhammad Farrag ) used to invite him a lot to Islam. He neither refused nor accepted the idea because of his family.

Then one day Allah opened his heart to Islam, he came to the shaik in his mosque to embrace Islam. The shaik was busy

flickr

with his students and some Du’ah (Muslim missioners who invite people to the worship of Allah).

Sheik Muhammad did not know that the man wanted to enter in Islam so he did not give him any attention and he left the mosque with his students.

The man, who wanted to enter in Allah’s religion, remained standing at the door of the mosque watching the shaik and his students riding their cars and moving away. On that sight he could not prevent himself from crying and burst into tears. While he was standing weeping at the door of the mosque, a young man who lived in the same quarter passed by him.

He asked him about the reason of his crying and the Indian replied that he wanted to be a Muslim.

The young man (May Allah rewards him the best) took him to his house. He made him perform abulution (wudoo) and say the two testimonies (No god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger). The Indian left after he said the testimony and it was about the dusk prayer (Al-Maghrib). Then he went to his room and suffered from a severe stomachache.

The young man came to shaik Muhammad and told him the whole story. The shaik repented what he had done though he was ignorant of the matter. He went to the Indian’s room, but his colleagues told him that he had died last night and he was then in the fridge of the Central Hospital. The shaik went with some Du’ah to the hospital to receive his corpse, but the hospital refused stating that the embassy had sent to his family in India and they would receive his corpse to be burnt there. The sheik objected saying that the man became a Muslim and there were witnesses on that, but still the hospital refused.

Sheik Muhammad went to Shaik Abd Al-Aziz Bin Baz (May Allah rest his soul and have mercy upon him) and told him the whole story. Shaik Abd Al-Aziz said that the Indian should not be given to his family as he became their brother in Islam; they should pray on his corpse and bury him there. He should not be given to the unbelievers. Sheik Abd Al-Aziz sent a copy of the subject to the emirate and requested an order to give the corpse to sheik Muhammad Farrag.

The emirate ordered the hospital to give the corpse to Shaik Muhammad and he received it. Some Du’ah washed the man and put him in his coffin. The funeral prayer coincided with Al-Goma’ah (the congregational prayer). Shaik Muhammad gave a wonderful oration on the one who embraced Islam then died without making one prostration to Allah. He stated in the first oration some similar examples from history, then he stated in the second one the story of the Indian man upon whom they would pray after Al-Goma’ah. The Muslims pray upon him, then they carried him upon their shoulders and they all went to the graveyard led by a lot of Du’ah and scholars.
It was a moving scene, May Allah accept (his deeds) and have mercy upon him.

On the Authority of ‘Abdullah bin Mus’ud (May Allah be pleased with him) who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the true and truly inspired said, “(The matter of Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother for forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write his (i.e. the new creature’s) deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). Then the soul is breathed into him. By Allah who is no God but Him, a man amongst you may do (good) deeds till there is only a cubit between him and paradise and then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of the (Hell) Fire so he enters it. And similarly a man amongst you may do (evil) deeds till there is only a cubit between him and the (Hell) Fire, and then what has been written for him decides his behavior, and he starts doing deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise so he enters it.” Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Source: Islamway

Things You'll Need to Learn: Islamic Vocabulary

keniswaiting — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:47:34 +0000

Growing up, I always heard my mom and dad say the following phrases:

“Dios Quiera” (“God-willing”)
“Dios no Quiera” (“May God not will this/that”)
“Vaya con Dios” (“Go with God”)
“Que Dios te bendiga” (“God bless you”)
“Gracias a Dios” (“Thanks be to God”)
“Adios” (“To God,” though it is in place of “bye”)

These were words and phrases that were frequently used in my home, and are still used to this day by my Catholic parents. They were so frequently used that it didn’t even occur to me that they were religious terms/phrases until I was much older and I really assessed what it was that my family and I were always saying as part of our daily lexicon.

These are blessings that my family and I would use constantly. Whether or not I was part of an organized religion didn’t affect whether or not these terms/phrases would come up when I would speak with my family in the home.

Once I became Muslim, I realized that I would be using them EVEN MORE OFTEN than before.

————

Some folks say that “Islam is more than just religion, its a way of life.” Regardless of what you may think of that concept, you will definitely be hearing and/or saying a lot more blessings if/when you join Islam, insh’Allah.

In Islam, people are strongly encouraged to constantly invoke blessings in our everyday life. For example, before you eat or drink anything, you should say “Bismillah” (“in the name of Allah”). Before you step into a room, you should step in with your right foot first, and say “Bismillah.” Whenever you speak about something you are hoping for in the future, you should say “insh’Allah” (“God-willing”). For example, “Insh’Allah I will get to work on time today.” Or “I think I got accepted into Grad school, insh’Allah!”

The reason for this, is that just as the form of prayer in Islam is a physical reminder of your connection with Allah (SWT), blessings are a verbal reminder of your connection with Allah (SWT). Allah (SWT) in Islam is supposed to be thought of as the oneness of everything. So Allah (SWT) is everywhere and everything at all times. Invoking blessings from Allah (SWT) is another part of being conscious of Allah (SWT) and submitting ourselves to Allah (SWT)’s will.

————

The flip-side of blessings in Islam, would be the frequent use of cursing in our modern society.

Just about anywhere I go in Chicago, I hear folks cursing. “F— this,” “f— you,” “sh– head,” etc. etc. etc. is in every workplace, theatre, restaurant, etc. In Islam, cursing is strongly discouraged. It is the opposite of invoking blessings and pushes us further away from Allah (SWT).

I never thought about how much I cursed until I became Muslim. I can assure you that I used to have the mouth of a sailor. I would insert curse words into the most unnecessary sentences at the most inappropriate times. All I was really doing was creating/adding to an atmosphere of negativity, instead of creating/adding to an atmosphere of peace.

As a Muslim, it became my duty to train myself to not only cease to curse all the time, but to do the opposite. Like all other aspects of Islam, controlling your language is a part of controlling your body and mind. Greater control over your body and mind helps you become a better servant for Allah (SWT).

Certain Buddhist monks spend much time going through arduous physical training to fortify themselves and discipline themselves, to discipline themselves to focus mind, body, and soul on the infinite. In the same way, the “rules and regulations” of Islam provide the same disciplining for Muslims.

————

SO, what are some of the basic words and phrases for a beginners Islamic vocabulary?

Allahu Akbar – “Allah is Great”
Asalaam Alaikum – “Peace be upon you”
Wa Alaikum Asalaam – “And peace be upon you”
Alhamdulillah - “Thanks be to Allah”
Bismillah – “In the name of Allah”
MashAllah – “As Allah wills”
SubhanAllah – “Glory to Allah”
Jazak Allah Khair – “May Allah grant you goodness”

SO, how do you use these wonderful blessings?

WELL, here is a quick intro:

***”Allahu Akbar!” This is usually said in a louder tone. You hear this as the call to prayer (Azan or Athan) and you hear it when people are really getting pumped up about something wonderful. Someone will generally yell “Takbeer!” (“praise The Greatest”) and then you respond “Allahu Akbar!” For example, you’re at a protest in defense of Palestine, and suddenly someone yells “Takbeer!” The crowd should respond “Allahu Akbar!”

***”Asalaam Alaikum” is what you say to a fellow Muslim as an initial greeting, and even as a good bye. But greetings have a first and second part. “Asalaam Alaikum would be the first part. So if you see someone and greet them first, that is what you would say. If someone else greeted you first, you would respond with “Wa Alaikum Asalaam.” Make sense?

Example:
Person 1: Asalaam Alaikum!
Person 2: Wa Alaikum Asalaam!

These terms are also often used as a farewell. Some folks say “Masalama” as a goodbye instead.

***”Alhamdulillah” is what you say when something good happens. Or, for the more pious of folks, when anything happens. For example, “Alhamdulillah, I got a raise at my job!” Or, for the Brothers and Sisters that are a bit more pious, “Alhamdulillah, I am sitting on my couch.”

***”Bismillah” is what you say before you do something. As a new Muslim, this was one that I practiced saying the most often, because it is particularly applied to food and drink. So before you eat or drink anything (don’t be drinkin’ the booze!) you say “Bismillah.” I think this is the easiest for a new Muslim to practice, but that is just me.

***”MashAllah” is what you say before or after a compliment. It is a respectful way of giving praise to Allah for what Allah has given us. For example, “MashAllah you have a beautiful baby!” Or “MashAllah what a cool phone!” To forget to say “MashAllah” first is to be ungrateful of Allah (SWT).

***”SubhanAllah” is a little funny because you use it for good and bad things. So you can use it much like you would use “Alhamdulillah,” and as you might use “MashAllah” except that SubhanAllah is mainly used for negative issues. For example, “SubhanAllah, I just can’t seem to quit smoking.” Or “SubhanAllah I failed my test.”

Think of it as being a way of acknowledging that even the bad things in life are for a reason and for a purpose, as decided by Allah (SWT). It is respectful to take the good and the bad in life in a pious and grateful way to Allah (SWT).

***”Jazak Allah Khair” is what you say instead of simply saying thank you. In Islam, we do things not for each other, so much as for Allah (SWT). It just so happens that helping each other is what Allah (SWT) wants. For example, your friend drives you home after work, before you leave and say your “salams” you say “Jazak Allah Khair.” Or someone gives you a seat on a bus or train, you respond “Jazak Allah Khair.” Of course, feel free to keep these sorts of comments within the Muslim Ummah (community).

So when we do good things, the only thanks we should accept, is thanks to Allah (SWT), and the only thanks we should ever give is also to Allah (SWT). So when someone does you a favor, thank Allah (SWT) that Allah (SWT) will reward you and the person who did the good deed.

————

Alhamdulillah, we have hit the end of the basic and necessary words and phrases that any new or interested Muslim should know. As I mentioned at the very beginning, in my Catholic-Latino household, I heard my family say blessings in Spanish all the time. Saying them all the time again, but now in Arabic, has been interesting and wonderful.

And for anyone who is still beginning and practicing, it also definitely helps to practice in your native tongue. So, for example, if you were raised speaking english, walk around and use the english translation in your day to day activities. If you were raised speaking Spanish, use the Spanish translation in your day to day activities! Insh’Allah you will progressively begin to use blessings more often, you will use curses less often, and insh’Allah you will eventually even be using blessings often in Arabic!

As a final treat, here are a few music videos from Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), as he helps introduce you to the Islamic vocabulary. His songs are simple, often geared towards children, and are REALLY help for folks like me that don’t speak Arabic. Insh’Allah you enjoy!

Yusuf Islam – Bismillah

“A” is for Allah

Jazak Allah Khair nurnihan1 and support peace for providing these videos via their youtube!

revert vs revert back

LA Clark — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:31:55 +0000

The meaning of “revert” is “to go back” so it is not necessary to say “revert back”.

Why I "Reverted" (its just like "converted," but Muslim)

keniswaiting — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:19:59 +0000

I was born in Chicago to a Latin American, Spanish-speaking, Catholic family.

My mother and father are from South and Central America.

I was an alter boy from the time I was 10 until I was 14 (more or less).

At the time I was very much into religion and the notion of monotheism.

As I got older, the church became less and less of a draw for me. In fact, it seemed like a hinderance. The hierarchy and formalities of the church seemed fake. The pope was terribly wealthy and European. Meanwhile, most Catholics were non-European and poor.

More and more this appeared to me to be a gimmick that was keeping lots of people poor and keeping a tiny group rich and glorified.

Falling out of organized religion, I found myself in a brief period of “atheism.”
But that didn’t really last. Whether or not I liked the Catholic church as an institution, I still felt an acknowledgement of a higher power. Specifically, I still acknowledged the ONE higher power in my life.

For many years I counted myself as an agnostic, and didn’t really think much else of organized religion. But I still agreed with the notion of one God. In part, because I had felt that I had experienced subtle miracles my entire life.

September 11th added a brief period in my life when I considered joining Islam.

This was NOT because I suddenly agreed with all of its ideas, in fact, I didn’t know anything about the religion. But what I DID know was that because of one day of horrible events, an entire section of humanity had been turned into political scapegoats. Suddenly the term “terrorist” became intensely racialized (at least, more so than ever before).

Out of a sense of solidarity with my oppressed Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters, I contemplated Islam. But it never went much farther than contemplation.

The real turning point for me would be meeting my wife.

This is more than simply saying “I love her so I will do it too,” although I would be lying if I said that there were not elements of that. But there was also a very real and very powerful moment of realization that we had met for several important reasons. One of those reasons is that we are mukabis (soulmates). The other reason is because all of my life I had sworn that mukabis COULD NOT EXIST.

By meeting my mukabi, my concept of the possible/impossible was shattered. All of my life had said that romantic ideas of “meeting your soulmate” were ridiculous. I had argued that soulmates could not exist, because inherent in the notion of soulmates was the possibility that it would be impossible to meet. If it were potentially impossible to meet a soulmate, then what good would it be to have soulmates in the first place? What if my soulmate was born half-way around the world, speaking a language I would never learn, living in a city I would never afford to visit? This was my arguement.

Allah (SWA) proved all of that wrong. Not only did I meet my soulmate, but my soulmate was in fact from half-way around the world. Moreover, she did speak a language (in fact, several languages) that I might never learn. And she did come from a city that I had never heard of, and would otherwise never think (or even afford) to visit.

On top of all of these things, and on top of falling in love immediately, she was Muslim. This was Allah (SWA)’s way of saying “its time to be Muslim.”

The impossible was possible, and I would make my shahadah in April of 2009.

The very first conversation we had? We talked about the Iranian Revolution of 1979; pros and cons. Did I mention we are both Muslim Socialists?

Funny story of australian convert to islam

b4uexit — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:39:24 +0000

” i went to a church they were all singing ,dancing ,when i asked about religion everybody gave their own opinions ……so goes on the quest of this guy .He is troubled specially as his parent shave separated and his dog has died.This leads him to question life.hear his funny story as he goes into a mosque and ……..

Repentance: Allowing God to Change Your Mind - Rick Warren Ministries 13 Sep 2009

lovejoypeace777 — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:06:00 +0000

Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot set to go east. If you decide to reverse and head west, you have two possible ways to change the boat’s direction.

One way is to grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the opposite direction from where the autopilot is programmed to go. By sheer willpower you could overcome the autopilot, but you would feel constant resistance. Your arms would eventually tire of the stress, you’d let go of the steering wheel, and the boat would instantly head back east, the way it was internally programmed.

This is what happens when you try to change you life with willpower: You say, “I’ll force myself to eat less . . . exercise more . . . quit being disorganized and late.”

Yes, willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you haven’t dealt with the root cause. The change doesn’t feel natural, so eventually you give up and quickly revert to your old patterns.

There is a better and easier way: Change your autopilot—the way you think. The Bible says, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Romans 12:2 NLT).

The New Testament calls this mental shift repentance, which in Greek literally means “to change your mind.” You repent whenever you change the way you think by adopting how God thinks—about yourself, sin, God, other people, life, your future, and everything else. You take on Christ’s outlook and perspective.

Nasheed Lyrics: Save her Tonight

muslimink — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:05:47 +0000

While performing Umrah, just before Ramadan 2009, I met a revert brother who kindly shared with us his reasons for reverting to Islam. I commented that he was blessed as revert Muslims generally tend to practice the religion better than us who are born into Islam and take it for granted. His reply was “you are the lucky ones. At least you can go home and say salaam to your family!”. And that made me realise how hard it must be for our revert brothers and sisters. Imagine looking at your loved ones every single day knowing that unless Allah gives them guidance and brings them to the light, they are doomed eternally.

Save Her Tonight

Intro

Ya Allah, must she burn

Will she never ever taste eternal delight

Chorus

It kills me inside coz I love her

And I’ve loved her from the very first sight

So send to her my lord a signal, a light

And save her tonight

Verse 1

She carried me lord

Through months of pain and sickness

Her bones and hair became brittle

To give my limbs and locks their thickness

Chorus

It kills me inside coz I love her

And I’ve loved her from the very first sight

So send to her my lord a signal, a light

And save her tonight

Verse 2

She nursed me lord

Through illness, disease and distress

She does not believe in you lord

But I cannot, just cannot love her any less

Chorus

It kills me inside coz I love her

And I’ve loved her from the very first sight

So send to her my lord a signal, a light

And save her tonight