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Cont’d from page 2
The basic theme of all religions has always been the same: There is only one God, and we should worship Him alone. In the New Testament, under the subtitle of “The Greatest Commandment,” we read:
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.’ (Mark 12:28-29 New International Version)
Worshipping God alone is also the theme of the Quran, the Final Testament. It is emphasized in many verses. There is no ambiguity about it.
He is the Living;
there is no god except He.
You shall worship Him alone,
devoting your religion
absolutely to Him alone.
Praise be to GOD,
Lord of the universe.
(40:65)
Thus if we live a Godcentric life by making God a priority, we reap the benefits, not only in the Hereafter, but in this life as well. We don’t have to neglect this life to achieve our goal of pleasing God; we just need to be conscious of what our real priority is in all aspects of our lives. Then trust in God and act on it.
“Use the provisions bestowed upon you by GOD to seek the abode of the Hereafter, without neglecting your share in this world. Be charitable, as GOD has been charitable towards you. Do not keep on corrupting the earth. GOD does not love the corruptors.” (28:77)
Living a Godcentric life may not seem practical and may sound difficult in this materialistic world, but God promises to make it easy for those who make the “tough choice.”
…. Anyone who reverences GOD, He makes everything easy for him. (65:4)
All we need to do is try and do our best; then leave the rest to God…
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Hello,
My name is K. I overflowed with emotion when I found your pages, which broke me down into uncontrollable tears of joy and some complex feelings. Let me introduce myself.
I started reading the a translation of the Koran (Quran) by Yusuf (?can't remember surname?) when I was 19 years old and was SO surprised to find that it's teachings were very far from the stereotype of what I had grown up to know was Islam -but was perhaps rather Muhammadism?
As soon as I was aware (of the truth in the Quran), I sought out the Islamic Society in University to ask them about what I had discovered. I told them that to me the Koran (Quran) seemed inspired; they then asked if I believed in one God, and I replied “Of course I did because I was a Christian.” They told me that in fact by these two criteria that I believed in, I was also qualified to be a Muslim.
Though I was not sure about this, they invited me to sit with them as they prayed their Friday prayer and then join their discussion afterwards. After their prayers, imagine my surprise when I learned that there was somebody there today who had just accepted Islam how appropriate. Imagine how much more surprised I was, when I learned that the person they spoke of was me! I was invited to repeat the shahada (declaration of faith) though perhaps it would have been impossible to refuse. This was followed by cheers and about a hundred handshakes.
I had been a composer in my spare time and was studying music at the university. A few hard line Muslims took me under their wing and advised me to change my subject. I, however, had always believed that music could be developed into a scientifically prescribable therapy and started to go through my most difficult time. I tried my best to do what was expected, but felt myself being pulled further and further away from the understanding that I had of the meanings in the Koran.
I remembered reading a line in the Koran that stated something to the effect of the message being sent to smash the hadiths and as much as I tried to remember where this was I could not find it when I needed it as a defense against those trying to pump me full of their ideas. I was introduced to so much literature, and even given a new "translation" of the Koran which had all of the hadiths inserted alongside the 'unclear lines' of the Koran for clarification of the meanings. Suddenly all the spiritual allegory I had seen was replaced with literal and forced explanations.
Eventually I managed to escape the eye of my overseers who nearly managed to cause an irrevocable rift between myself and my family. But in my heart I still wanted to be a Muslim in the way I had first understood it. I moved to Korea to be united to my Baptist bride.
I met some Iranians who were seeking refuge in Korea and we talked about Islam and found that we had the same idea that the Koran was all that was necessary for Muslims but that unfortunately very few Muslims actually know what is written in the Koran. There is one Mosque in Korea, and I built up enough courage to go but was introduced to an American Muslim who wanted to remind me that the fundamentals were all important. I was basically scared off the path.
I so much wanted to establish with the sane Muslims there—a peaceful non imposing mosque where we could help each other study the Koran (Quran) and even spread the true Quranic version of Islam to the Korean community which is currently being overtaken by thousands of strange sects of "Christianity."
I am now in Poland where I have been working on trying to find out the reasons why the themes which appear in Genesis can be used as literal explanations for the construction of certain Chinese ideograms by putting together a chronology of Central Eurasian migration.
Cont’d on page 4