hi abang. how are you? sorry been away a bit. I thought I would get freer, but instead I am getting busier. Looks like my time to talk cock sing song will not be much for the forseeable future. I hope to be more free next year. Please excuse me if I cannot log in regularly for our discussions.
During this time, I've had a chance to think some further thoughts. Please allow me to share them with you.
Before I start as always is my usual request. That you not consider my position as something against god. Your relationship with god is for you and him alone. No one else. Not for any other human to interfere with. Certainly not me. But I feel certainly not for anyone else either.
Remember you mention that Islam has no contradictions? I've come across a few and would like to share them with you for your opinion.
1) Mohammed and Allah vs Islam
This is perhaps the most jarring contradiction. We have some documentary evidence of Mohammed's life and his deeds. Remember the Consititution of Medina? I've run across a few other works that are for sure by him in my spare time in the last few months. I can't read too much in 1 go.
One of them is the Ashtiname of Mohammed. One thing struck me. Mohammed is always trying to achieve peace. Always. I don't know about all his other life or whatnot, but in official documents everything he does is to try to achieve some kind of peace between squabbling or contentious people. For him Assalamu aleikum is truly his way of life in his official dealings. Not just talk. A lot of people say it and next minute turn around and want to fight and scold people or go to war. One thing I see over and over again is that he extends his hand in peace and mercy whenever he has a choice with how to deal with others. Especially when he deals with foreigners.
Adding to this it has been mentioned to me that Allah is all merciful and all forgiving. I cannot know because I myself have no evidence, but if like Allah, Mohammed is his prophet, then he is a good example and the principles match. All merciful and all forgiving. As far as I can tell.
But when we refer to Islam, I fail to see mercy and forgiveness. I instead see punishment and revenge. Not love and mercy, but fear, punishment and control. I lack the capacity to source it all, but I'm informed by actions of sharia law and the story of orang panggang. It is story of fierce punishment. Not a story of mercy. Whether justifiable or not, it doesn't seem to follow the principles of mercy and forgiveness. Here is the #1 contradiction.
2) Idolatry
A point that has occurred to me is that I've heard idolatry was specifically forbidden by Mohammed. But Islam like it's two predecessor religions featuring Abraham is full of idolatry. Please allow me to give you an example. The most obvious one is qibla. Why on earth does a being that is so powerful to transcend our perception need a certain direction of facing when doing certain tasks? That makes no sense at all. Why in the world would the house of god be a cube? Again, I find religions very disrespectful of god if god truly exists. Why pray so many times a day? None of this makes sense for a creator to demand. But it makes sense for a ruler on earth to demand to ensure control of his people.
3) Perfection in an auto-narrative.
I really struggle to see a link between Mohammed and Islam. I see Islam using Mohammed's name again and again and examples of his life again and again. But after that it teaches some things that totally oppose what he did. Or Muslim followers do exactly the opposite of what Mohammed would do. From my perception, it seems that Islam is using Mohammed just like how Christianity uses Jesus. This is not perfect my friend. It is a travesty. It is perfectly written, but it is quite far from perfectly in line with Mohammed's principles.
These above are some thoughts. But if anything the punchline I've come to is this. If you wish to find God, please do so. He is your creator. Why should someone else tell you how to behave? They are no different from you in ignorance or wisdom. Certainly not the Jews who established the foundations of Islam. There are many things that Islam can teach you right. But there are also things within that can teach you wrong.
I've heard that Islam considers Jesus a prophet just like Mohammed. I can see that. They both embodied peace and mercy. If anything is done with peace and mercy, I believe it will be correct. Otherwise it's a mistake. And if you live your life like either and bring peace and mercy unto others, it is my belief that you have come closer to god. Kneeling and scraping to architecture in Arabia so many times a day is not coming closer to god.
Peace be upon you abang.