Islam Brief

George: You have certainly posted a nice sampling of quotes drawn from diverse Islamic sources. For Westerners, and North Americans, the key things to remember about Islam are the following:
(a) It is NOT an Arab religion for Arab peoples. There are 1.5 billion followers of Islam on this planet. That is roughly one in five people in the world who call themselves "Muslim." Indonesia is the largest "Muslim" nation on the planet with 175 million people. The United States of America has between 6-8 million Muslims, of which over 6000 of them are serving in the Armed Forces.
(b) Islam is NOT a monolithic faith. Besides the Five Pillars of Islam, and the basic belief in the Qur'an, and the prophethood of Muhammad, Muslims appear to disagree on everything else. The Prophet's intention was to have NO formal clergy or institution (like the Church/Vatican) in Islam. The Muslim develops his own inner spiritual life with Allah (a pre-Islamic Arabic word for God and used by Arab-Christians and in the Arabic Bible). It is this room for interpretation that allowed a 1000 years of Muslim civilization and empire which hailed many scientific discoveries and contributions to Western civilization. Muslims see no contradiction between Science and the Qur'an: it is this attitude that allowed many of the great Greek texts to be translated in Arabic and were thus preserved at a time when Europe considered such books to be "heretical" to the Church and society.
(c) PBS has a great DVD series on Islam called" Empire of Faith: Islam" (3 hours) and has a companion volume available with it which I highly recommend.
(d) I am in the process of developing a PowerPoint presentaton on Islam and it will feature a segement on "Islamophobia" that seems to grip our culture perpetuated in TV shows. etc.

Respectfully,

Pat

Bridging Islam: Some Great Islamic Sayings

You are most welcome here, Pat. I have changed the title of
this web log from Bible-Urantia Book Bridges and edited the
description in order to accomodate your highly valued vision,
experience, and zeal.


Here is a selection of some of the Islamic sayings I found
that may help to cast this religion in a more benevolent and
hope-filled light. I feel they contain much in common
with the truth and love presented in The Urantia Book,
and, with further development, may serve as one of the bridges
between our revelation and the Islamic scriptures. Input from Pat
and interested team mates is just what is needed. So I invite
you all to chime in on this one in order to create some
much-needed harmony.

Take firm hold, all of you,
On the rope of God.
Do not break up into divisions.
Be mindful of the grace of God to you,
How you were formerly enemies,
And He united your hearts
In mutual bonds, so that by His grace,
You became brothers. Qur’an 3:103, ISLAM

The lamps are different,
But the light is the same:
It comes from beyond. Rumi, ISLAM

The creation
Is as God’s family;
For its sustenance is from Him:
Therefore the most beloved unto God
Is the person who does good
To God’s family. Hadith, ISLAM

Do you love your Creator?
Love your fellow beings first. Hadith, ISLAM

The Eternal Wisdom
Made all things in love.
On love they all depend,
To love all turn.
The Earth, the heavens,
The sun, the moon, the stars,
The center of their orbit find
In love. Attar, ISLAM

Blessed is the man
Who has drunk of the cup of His love
And tasted the joy of communion
With God Most Glorious
And has approached Him
With delight in his love for Him. Abu Sa‘id, ISLAM

Do not say that,
If people do good to us,
We will do good to them;
And if people oppress us,
We will oppress them;
But determine that,
If people do you good,
You will do good to them;
And if they oppress you,
You will not oppress them. Hadith, ISLAM

Thus said the Lord,
“Verily those who are patient
In adversity and Forgive wrongs,
Are doers of excellence.” Hadith, ISLAM

There is no man
Who is wounded and pardons
The giver of the wound
But God will exalt his dignity
And diminish his faults. Hadith, ISLAM

Charity is a duty
Unto every Muslim.
He who has not
The means thereto,
Let him do a good act or
Abstain from an evil one.
That is his charity. Hadith, ISLAM

Hi George, I am here!

George Z: Thanks for the invite! I am here, and I plan on posting about Islam, if that is okay? Pat