The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

[Dumuzi]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Today's Post: The 11th of Ramadan

My last posts have been filled with information, so I thought we'd take a break today, and I'd just post something fun instead.

So this next video is for you ladies, and all the women out there.

It's called "Happy Wife Happy Life". And if you ever marry a Muslim man, make sure to save this and use it against him. Enjoy!

And a bonus video just for Heka! An Australian man converts to Islam, I thought it was funny, and his accent made me think of you! He does mention the other man from the previous video. So I guess today's post was brought to you by Australia.

[Heka]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Yes, about 90% of Muslims are Sunni, but it's not an issue of elected vs decedent. No matter what method is used to choose the next leader, Sunnis believe it could be anyone, while Shi'a believe it has to be someone from the bloodline of Muhammad.

I'm a bit confused, Shi'a believe that person is from the bloodline *because* they are chosen? or they must be of the blood line to be chosen?

Haha. I just thought it's something interesting and different to post is all. An agnostic Jewish woman speaking about the Qur'an! Don't let it demotivate you!

Reading the Qur'an is a long way down the track anyway, but I will do it! One day! I swear! haha

Today's Post: The 11th of Ramadan

My last posts have been filled with information, so I thought we'd take a break today, and I'd just post something fun instead.

So this next video is for you ladies, and all the women out there.

It's called "Happy Wife Happy Life". And if you ever marry a Muslim man, make sure to save this and use it against him. Enjoy!

So this comes from a hadith? This hadith thing interests me. Can you elaborate on this particular hadith please?

Also, could you elaborate about the (swt) etc after Allah and Muhammad? I know it's something to do with reference and respect, but could you clarify?

Ta!

And a bonus video just for Heka! An Australian man converts to Islam, I thought it was funny, and his accent made me think of you! He does mention the other man from the previous video. So I guess today's post was brought to you by Australia.

haha saw this and thought 14 min!

But I still watched it!


Masya Allah is a common phrase in Islamic Indonesia too

What does Subhanallah mean?

I was raised same way as this guy

Muslims tend to say things differently, like Islam and Allah. It's like a different accent. But only Muslims say them like that (in my experience).

Such a cool story though.

Haha Ramadhan Muslims!



Don't mind me, just writing comments as it plays :P

Also, on behalf of Australia, no worries!

[thalassa]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

I know this is your thread, D...but I thought I'd toss this up here. A few years ago, there was a TLC show, All American Muslim, that is really interesting--they followed 5 families in Dearborn, MI--there are only 8 episodes. Especially in Western countries, I think a lot of people have a really monolithic idea of what it means to be Muslim, but its pretty diverse, in the same way that how people choose to be Christian or Pagan or whatever is diverse. The eight episodes are available on Youtube.

[thalassa]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Episodes 4-6

[thalassa]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Episodes 7&8

[Malflick]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Thanks for linking that show Thalassa! I watched the first episode, and it was pretty eye opening . I'll watch the rest when I have time.

- - - Updated - - -

And I hope that any women who marry Muslim men take full advantage of that video D XD! I certainly like the idea that a man is only as good as he treats his wife... Its something I will definitely try to live up to in a hopeful future !

[Dumuzi]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

I'm a bit confused, Shi'a believe that person is from the bloodline *because* they are chosen? or they must be of the blood line to be chosen?

They must be from the bloodline to be chosen as a leader.

So this comes from a hadith? This hadith thing interests me. Can you elaborate on this particular hadith please?

Sure, what exactly do you want to know?

Also, could you elaborate about the (swt) etc after Allah and Muhammad? I know it's something to do with reference and respect, but could you clarify?

After Allah he says Subhanahu wa ta'ala, which roughly means 'glorified and exalted is he'.

After Muhammad he says sallallahu alayhi wasallam, which roughly means 'The blessing and peace of God be upon him'.

What does Subhanallah mean?

Glory be to god or Exalted be god.

Muslims tend to say things differently, like Islam and Allah. It's like a different accent. But only Muslims say them like that (in my experience).

I need to make a post about how to pronounce things, and about what type of things Muslims say! Actually I do have a video for that

Don't mind me, just writing comments as it plays :P

I noticed! And I loved reading your commentary

[Dumuzi]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Today I want to hit two birds with one stone. I will talk a bit about early Muslim history, but also I want to mention the relationship between Christianity and Islam. I will mainly talk about the Migration to Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

In Muslim history there are two main migrations. The one I'll talk about now, and the one Muslims made from Mecca to Madinah. Actually, that's how the calender Muslims use today started. They call it After Hijrah (Migration).

In the first three years, after Muhammad received revelation, the calling of people to Islam was mostly done in private. The message wasn't given in public at the time. Although there have been many exceptions, most of the people that accepted Islam were among the poor, the needy and the slaves of the city of Mecca.

When it became public, after those initial three years, persecution against the Muslims, by the chiefs of the tribes of Mecca reached a new height. Many of them were tortured and even killed. The primary target of this kind of oppression was of course the poor and the slaves. Many Arab Pagans didn’t like the idea of a religion that made them equal to their slaves. Muhammad realized Mecca was becoming a dangerous place for Muslims, especially those that had no protection. He had his uncle as his protector (a Pagan by the way). So he decided to tell some of them to migrate to Abyssinia, especially those who had no effective protection. Abyssinia at the time was ruled by a Christian King. Muhammad said about him:
"If you go to the land of Abyssinia, there's a king there under which no one if oppressed. A land of truthfulness. Until God leads you to a way out of your difficulty."

The Migration to Ethiopia happened in two phases about two years apart (613 and 615 AD). The second time there were about 100 Muslims lead by Ja’far ibn Abu Talib. When the chiefs of Mecca found out about this, they sent a group of them after them, lead by a close friend of the Ehtiopian King. Their goal was for the King to return those runaways back to them.

I'll post a scene from the movie The Message, you’ll get a general idea of what went on there from it.

Here's what Ja'far ibn Abu Talib said, a translation of the full text that the movie referred to. I bring it up because it gives a full summary of what Islam is all about:

"O King, we were a people in a state of ignorance, worshiping idols and eating the flesh of dead animals, committing all sorts of shameful deeds, breaking the ties of kinship, treating our neighbors badly and the strong among us ate the weak.

"We remained in this state until God sent us a Messenger, one of our own people whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness and integrity were well-known to us.
"He called us to worship God alone and to renounce the stones and the idols which we and our ancestors used to worship besides God.

"He commanded us to speak the truth, to honour our promises, to be kind to our relations, to be helpful to our neighbors, to cease all forbidden arts, to abstain from bloodshed, to avoid obscenities and false witness, not to appropriate an orphan's property nor slander chaste women.

"He ordered us to worship God alone and not to associate anything with Him, to uphold Prayer, to give Charity (Zakat) and to fast.

"So we believed in him and what he brought to us from God. So we worshiped God alone, not associating anything with him. And we follow him in what he has asked us to do and we keep away from what he forbade us from doing.

"Thereupon, our people attacked us, tortured us and visited the severest punishment on us to make us renounce our religion and take us back to the old immorality and the worship of idols.

"They opposed us, made life intolerable for us and obstructed us from observing our religion. So we left for your country, choosing you before anyone else, desiring your protection and hoping to live in justice and in peace in your midst, oh King."

And for those that enjoy the Qur'an being recited, here are parts of the Ayat from the Qur'an that Ja'far recited to the King. They come from a Surah titled Mary. They say the King started crying after hearing those words, and promised never to surrender the Muslims to anyone ever again.

The video is just 5 minutes long, and you get to learn about another miracle of Jesus, that’s not mentioned in the Bible.

In the end I thought I’d share this important part of Muslim history to show that if it wasn’t for the protection of a Christian King, many Muslims, and perhaps Islam itself, would have been in great risk. This is Christian King did something that we all can learn from.

I wanted to show texts that deal with how Muslims should deal with Christians, but I already made this post too long, so I’ll share them with you later on.

[Malflick]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

That post makes me so happy 8D! We are brothers! Yay! I kind of like this Abrahamic faith club, we should get matching jackets or a secret handshake or something. I really liked both videos, btw.

Also, random question, but I that movie the message is about the founding of Islam right? How does it deal with Muhammad not being able to be shown on screen?

And the Qur'an is so pretty... I really like hearing it read out loud even though without captions I'd have no idea what was being said. And Jesus' first mircale was talking as a tiny baby and tellin' people he was a prophet ey ? Huh.

I'm glad that that Christian king was so understanding and took those Muslims in. It really really makes me wish we had more interfaith harmony these days. I mean, I know Muslim Americans have a hard time very often, even though they believe in the same God as me, and I know that many people of other religions, such as my often mentioned Pagan girlfriend who is why I am here have had to suffer for their beliefs

[Dumuzi]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

That post makes me so happy 8D! We are brothers! Yay! I kind of like this Abrahamic faith club, we should get matching jackets or a secret handshake or something. I really liked both videos, btw.

Let's unite. With your brains and my good looks, nothing can stop us!

Also, random question, but I that movie the message is about the founding of Islam right? How does it deal with Muhammad not being able to be shown on screen?

That's where creativity comes into play. Usually they just use certain camera angles, have someone narrate what Muhammad is saying or show a light or something.

And the Qur'an is so pretty... I really like hearing it read out loud even though without captions I'd have no idea what was being said. And Jesus' first mircale was talking as a tiny baby and tellin' people he was a prophet ey ? Huh.

Bingo! We believe god gave him that miracle to save his mother and proof her innocence.

I'm glad that that Christian king was so understanding and took those Muslims in. It really really makes me wish we had more interfaith harmony these days. I mean, I know Muslim Americans have a hard time very often, even though they believe in the same God as me, and I know that many people of other religions, such as my often mentioned Pagan girlfriend who is why I am here have had to suffer for their beliefs

You know, most Christians over there have treat Muslims very well. It's just not attractive news story it seems. I can't tell you how much I hear about news similar to that one:

Christian Church opens doors to Muslims

Lots of churches let Muslims pray because lots of times Muslims have a hard time finding a place to pray. So churches end up offering their empty spaces for them

[Dumuzi]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

The Messenger of Allah said: “There is truly no excellence for an Arab over a non-Arab; or for a non-Arab over an Arab; or for a white man over a black man; or for a black man over a white man; except through piety.”

This is a great video series of a guy who talks about one ayah of the Qur'an each day for the month of Ramadan. I really recommend you listen to any of the videos he makes, whether it's this little series or anything else. Really good scholar.

In this video he addresses the problem of racism: Qur'an Weekly, Ayah [30:22]

[Heka]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Your posts are such feel good posts. I've fallen behind, so I'm trying to catch up and don't have any burning questions. But they make me feel good, and I like feeling good


And I'm a bit sad I ain't Abrahamic, so I can join your brotherhood.


Also, I would love you to expand more on the language and pronunciation, when you get a chance The fact that it's so beautifully oral and nice is awesome.

[thalassa]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

I thought this was an interesting blog post, on Islamic feminism.

[Dumuzi]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Your posts are such feel good posts. I've fallen behind, so I'm trying to catch up and don't have any burning questions. But they make me feel good, and I like feeling good

I'm glad they make you feel good!

And I'm a bit sad I ain't Abrahamic, so I can join your brotherhood.

Jokes on you! Like I've mentioned before, you were already born a Muslim. So in reality you're already a member of the 'brotherhood', you just need to remember the secret handshake :P

Also, I would love you to expand more on the language and pronunciation, when you get a chance The fact that it's so beautifully oral and nice is awesome.

Hmm are you talking about the common phrases Muslims use or are you talking about something else?

[Heka]

Re: The Ramadan Thread (that's not really about Ramadan at all)

Generally common phrases and words, like Allah, qur'an, Assalamulaikum/Walaikumsalam, subhanalla etc (sp on all of those). They are all said in such an individual way. Someone can sound so Australian/American/etc then come out with something so Arabic. How?


Wait how am I born Muslim again? But sounds good! haha