I'm a practising Muslim, ask me anything...

[tt9]

For context, I am late 30s female practising Muslim medical professional and have been practising for most of my adult life (to varying degrees).

Feel like a lot of people have questions that they don't ask as they fear causing offence. also there are some commonly held beliefs regarding muslims/Islam that are urban myths... so ask away. no question too offensive

@Zanatdy I didn't think you were implying that at all :-) no need to apologise. just wanted to make the general point re animal kindness. xx

anything that causes intoxication and/or harms the body is prohibited as per the Qur'an and Prophetic practice. alcohol, laughing gas, mdma, cannabis etc etc all fall into this category. some Muslims say smoking is also forbidden but there is a difference of opinion on this. tobacco is definitely makruh (which means disliked by God). obviously if something is taken for medical purposes eg. medical cannabis of morphine for pain relief or alcohol for disinfection, then allowed without restriction as life is paramount.

Thanks @tt9 💐

What are Muslims view on terminations? Are they classed as Haram or are they acceptable in any circumstances?

Also, do Muslim father's accompanying their wife's in labour? Or are they not allowed?

we believe that life starts when the soul enters the body which is when we believe the heart starts to beat so fairly early on (before most women realise they are pregnant). After that terminations are not permitted except if the mother's life is at risk. the mother's life is always priority even upto the point of delivery. the morning after pill is permitted. contraception is also permitted. however, Muslims are encouraged to have children. nothing to prevent the father being there for labour. most Muslim couples I come across in the delivery suite have the father present. I guess in certain cultures men are not traditionally as involved during birth. but that has no link to islamic practice.

How do you feel about slavery? Given that it's permitted in the Quran? Would you say the rape of female prisoners is acceptable too (it's allowed).

Do you ever think there are things that were allowed that are just wrong and immoral? How do justify it to yourself?

But if you believe in all knowing and powerful god the concept of free will does not then exist. Seems like a total cop out to basically say people have a choice to be evil or good when they are created and you believe god says they know what will happen. Why does he/she/it create them that way in the first place? Logically it makes no sense.

Also why did Allah create disease? What does that say about the nature of that god?

we believe that life starts when the soul enters the body which is when we believe the heart starts to beat so fairly early on (before most women realise they are pregnant). After that terminations are not permitted except if the mother's life is at risk. the mother's life is always priority even upto the point of delivery. the morning after pill is permitted. contraception is also permitted. however, Muslims are encouraged to have children. nothing to prevent the father being there for labour. most Muslim couples I come across in the delivery suite have the father present. I guess in certain cultures men are not traditionally as involved during birth. but that has no link to islamic practice.

@tt9 - How about pain relief/drugs in labour? Are Muslims allowed them?

anything and everything in terms of pain relief/interventions allowed. to be honest medical intervention for any human/animal as needed is permitted and encouraged. Muslims are encouraged to accept medical treatment. additionally pursuing medicine as a profession is known as 'fard e kifya' which means it is obligatory for any community to ensure some of their members train as medical professionals.

@WhatWhereWho so two different concepts here free will and predestination. the Creator of the universes, by definition must exist outside of time so all things are known to Him. and He knows we will do evil, but He is All Powerful, so he can create a being that chooses. the fact that He knows what we will choose, doesn't mean we don't have a valid choice.

He has created Light and darkness He has created diseases and their cure. Forgive me if I am wrong, but you are asking these questions with the assumption that our present physical experience is all there is and our existence is limited to our physical bodies? and if you do so, it all seems very awful that is true.

I personally have been suffering from a very severe autoimmune condition for over a decade that has caused me to have kidney failure among other issues. have I struggled, yes. but I feel like this has been part of my journey and made me who I am. but that becomes a matter of perspective.

finally the Being who creates all of this world around us, including human beings - do we really expect to fully understand His intentions and motivations? and if we really want to learn about Him or ask if He exists, perhaps we start by asking open ended questions and really being ready to understand. if we start the journey with anger (which I sense slightly from your questions, I apologise if I am wrong or offend you by mentioning this), then we will only find darkness. maybe you have had some personal experiences that are giving rise to these feelings? I don't want to assume or offend...

I've just happened to stumble across this thread @tt9 and have to thank you, as a fellow Muslim, for putting in the effort to create this thread and provide such 'true to Islam' and honest replies. 💪🏻

so sorry totally missed your questions. I am obsessed with animals... anything fluffy and cuddly (or even scaly or feathery) ... and I'm besotted. have always had pets... cats, dogs, fish, bunnies, hamsters, Many many different types of birds (including a rescue baby owl), several monkeys and deer ... but I did grow up in Bangladesh. sadly no pets now as I'm immunosuppressed and too unwell to truly take good care of any animals.

from the islamic perspective humans have a duty to all animals and the environment. we are not allowed to hunt for sport and are accountable for any mistreatment of animals. there are many stories about the Prophet (pbuh) and his interaction with animals. my favourite is when he was sitting and a kitten fell asleep on his cloak. when he needed to get up, he cut his cloak with scissors so as to not wake the kitten.

@dottypencilcase thanks 😊

Interesting approach on your part. I am angry because I disagree with the ideas, rules and logic put forward? If I question the fairness and morality of other faiths, which I do, am I also 'starting my journey with anger?

@WhatWhereWho as I said in my answer I sensed anger in your tone and already apologised if I am wrong? there is absolutely no issue with asking questions/disagreeing. everyone has a right to their perspective/opinion. Once again, if I have mistaken your tone, I apologise.

perhaps the way I worded my response can be improved.

when asking questions about any person faith/atheism/agnostism, i guess the most important thing is intention. am i asking to understand that belief or am I asking to reinforce my point of view? also to understand what are my own personal perceptions that will colour how I respond to the answers. these are the questions I continually ask myself on my own spiritual journey. and whatever you ask me on here, I can only share with you my perspective.

and the first question to ask in regards to any faith (which you already asked me) is how does one know God exists? whether we take issue with certain parts of the world He has created is not relevant to answering that question. because if we accept that an All Powerful Being exists and has created us, we also have to accept that the world is as He wills it and it is not upto us to judge His actions as our very limited intellect is not capable of grasping all the complexities of existence. having said that, believers of all faiths believe that God will grant understanding to His Secrets to those that sincerely seek.

take from my answers what you will. I am bit judging you in any way and really sorry that my earlier responses came across in that way.

Best wishes

*not judging.

With any religion, why do humans have differences of perspectives, especially when there is interpretation of my god is correct god etc ?

Then why do people quote text passages as if it's true to the exact wording.

The context is languages evolve and there is not always a substitute word which can then alter the meaning of certain phrases and passages of any religious text.

Then overall considering all religious books are written my humans, interpreted by human's then re written etc so with that in mind, I could understand if it's the deity themselves that wrote the texts but as its all humans then why do we read the texts in a literal perspective as if to say my god is the only true path ?

It's like all religions across the world speak of the same or similar things just with the human perspective of x religion is correct etc.

Hopefully my post is respectful, and I usually ask these perspectives for any religion.

Hiya, Thank you so much for your question.. its a really important one. If its OK, I will answer it from the Islamic perspective faith only.

Muslims believe that human communities have been sent Prophets and Messengers throughout history. And many of them have brought scriptures. These include Adam (PBUH), Noah (PBUH), Abraham (PBUH), David (PBUH), Moses (PBUH), Jesus (PBUH) etc. etc. however all these scriptures were specific only to the community they were revealed to and were not preserved and do not exist in their original form today. However, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the last Prophet was the recipient of the Qur'an which applies to all humans for all time until the end of time. We believe the Qur'an is the directly revealed word of God and it was recorded as it was revealed and preserved in its original state.

I definitely take your point re language. certainly in the case of the Qur'an, many people are misguided by taking literal (mis)translations out of context. and humans love to find a religious excuse to lord it over others/do whatever they want.

I would really like to ask whatbis the difference between a Christian god and a Muslim god

Much appreciated for your perspective and analysis,

Overall humans are a puzzlement at times.

As far as I understand, modern Christians believe in the Trinity (which is a concept I am definitely not an expert on) and they believe Jesus is a manifestation of the Divine. it would be wrong to write any more as I am not knowledgeable on this and don't want to say something incorrect about another's faith.

Muslims believe in One God. Allah is the Arabic for God. We believe He is beyond and independent of time, space, gender or any other physical attributes. He has many names, there are 99 names which are known which Muslims meditate on and refer to in their prayers (didn't want to list them all here - you can Google if you are curious) - these include "The Truth", "The Merciful" etc

let me know if you want me to extrapolate on any points :-) x

@Hawkins0001 gotta agree with you there! they definitely have a knack for finding new ways of making things worse for other humans

Thanks for the reply. There is more I would like to say much unfortunately I cannot say to much on the platform as people may become offended by it. X

@jadey1991 if you have further questions, feel free to pm me. everyone should be able to ask questions without fear of causing offence

Do you think it is fair. that in the UK, muslims can use a financial dodge to avoid paying any stamp duty ?