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Title: Introducing Myself Post by: Crock on March 17, 2012, 01:27:52 pm Salam to everyone,
Just wanted to introduce myself. Not really ready to be a member because I haven't visited enough posts to see how all the rules of the forum work out. I need to understand the boundaries of this forum first and whether I can conform to them. But just wanted to let you know I'm interested. I see that a person's ideology is important for being accepted as a member here, so my ideology is: I grew up in a Pakistani Sunni, moderate to liberal (depending on the topic), family. But the Sunni label was nothing too important in my family. The Muslim label was far more important. My family and I moved to the U.S. when I was seven. At some point in sixth or seventh grade I stopped seeing my self as anything other than just plain Muslim. Around that point my dad started questioning many of the "Hadiths" that he grew up hearing about and reading. And that introduced me the idea that Hadiths are less reliable than the Quran. A lot less reliable. And how most of the Hadith preach culture not Allah's message. At some point in high school, due to my interaction with other Muslims, I started seeing how Traditional Islam isolates us from other people. And also from our own people. This did not fit well with me at all. It just sounded like it contradicted everything I thought Islam was about. All along this timeframe, I was also struggling with the idea that all the things I like and am interested in are commonly believed to be haram. I love art, music, movies, comic books. And as I was becoming one of the best writers in my school and developing a film career and a comic book career with my friends, I had to constantly hide this or deal with the negative attitudes from my parents about these interest. Eventually it became too much to deal with and I gave up trying to pursue these things and gave into my parents. Which backfired when I reached college and started teaching myself Islam. And though my research didn't immediatley lead to casting aside the Hadiths, it eventually led to it. And now I've probably been a Quran Only believer for about a decade. And it wasn't till last year that I found out there were others like me, when I discovered a few YouTube videos by Quranists. And that has allowed me to further develope my views...and that's what brought me to this site. I was just searching for what the Quran says about suicide and came across a post on this site. And I liked what I saw. Mostly. I'm just not sure about the exclusivity of this site. I understand what you are trying to accomplish with all the rules. But like I said about my interactions with Muslims in my high school, I am very much against isolating people. Places like this need to exist, with the rules you have implemented. I'm just not sure if I can participate in it as a member. Title: Re: Introducing Myself Post by: Zainab_M on March 17, 2012, 08:20:46 pm Dear Crock ..
As-salaam Alaikum and peace. Many thanks for the detailed introduction. We appreciate it much. As this is basically a read-only forum, you needn't worry about your compatibility as a member. If Allah wills, you could accomplish just as much as a guest reader. What's important is one's inner thoughts and reflections, their sincerity and depth. Based on this, Allah considers us worthy of His guidance and subsequently our level of awakening increases with the passage of time. Interactions are generally productive but can often be purposeless too .. sometimes even counter-productive. It depends upon one's intent, approach and the quality of discourse one engages in during the interaction. The reason this is a read-only board is NOT for the purpose of isolating it. Although being a Quran-alone follower is the original path of the Islamic Faith as taught to us by our beloved Prophet (s) at the behest of Allah Almighty, most "Muslims" at present don't look at it that way. It's also important to mention that many circles of modernists are misusing the expression "Quran alone follower." Just as the Hadithists have been introducing unwarranted annexations in the name of "Sunnah," many (though not all) so-called Quran aloners are discreetly adhering to the same strategy by grossly misinterpreting various verses of the Noble Quran they personally cannot cope with for reasons of their own. Then again, there's the usual belligerence from hardline non-Muslims who refuse to accept that Hadith is not a part of Islam because Hadith gives them the ammunition to lambast Islam. Considering all of this, we've had more than a few unpleasant experiences in the past with members signing up at random, putting up heaps of outrageous posts and mucking up the atmosphere and face of our forum. Muslim Villa is not running a popularity contest with other online boards. We don't believe in promoting ourselves by counting the number of members or interactions we have . We are only concerned with posting quality materials which we recognize as the Truth and in conformity with the Quran and exposing what we clearly see as interpolations. Those genuinely interested in learning by exploring and reflecting would achieve a lot more by reading useful stuff rather than purposeless interactions. It also takes up a lot of our time and becomes a source of distraction to constantly take care of pushy & opinionated members and clean up their trash they keep spewing across our boards. Just as MV is not interested in being popular, our intention is not to preach our researched findings either. Guidance comes only from Allah, The Almighty, depending on the efforts a person makes to reach out to Him. Our job here is only to put on the table what we surely recognize as the Truth. The world has the right to know the Truth. Needless to say, it's upto every reader to accept or reject it. The Final Questioning will be before Allah. Thank you again for talking to us. We hope you will be a regular visitor here. If you don't feel ready to join that's not a problem. If you have any questions in future pertaining to any of our posts, feel free to use our guestbook. Allah bless. Title: Re: Introducing Myself Post by: MuslimanMahlon on March 22, 2012, 10:47:34 pm At some point in high school, due to my interaction with other Muslims, I started seeing how Traditional Islam isolates us from other people. And also from our own people. This did not fit well with me at all. It just sounded like it contradicted everything I thought Islam was about. Ah, I found this out quickly in my first months of reverting. It don't matter on the perspective of which we came to this- You being born Muslim, and me reverting- It's just saddening to know we can't connect with those that WE SHOULD connect with. And wa'alaykum asalaam by the way. Welcome here. Accept what you please and reject what you please. That's all I have to throw in, because Zeynab summed it up excellently. Title: Re: Introducing Myself Post by: Heba E. Husseyn on March 24, 2012, 01:12:12 am Sister Zeynab, Brother Aram .. Thumbsup Thumbsup :) |