To not want to be a Muslim

[Lostagain]

Ok so I am a Muslim, have 2 dd and married dh is a convert to Islam....
Anyway from a young age I have had a strong pull towards Christianity or aspects of it. I don't believe Jesus is the son of god, but do believe he will return again etc.
Is it a cultural thing? I was born and brought up in the uk, went to a cofe school for a few years then we went to a inner city which was full of Asians- I am Asian but it was horrible, I hated it. Despite this I still sang on the school choir, certain people were horrified at the time, but my mum supported me. In my teens i went a bit religion mad and started wearing a headscarf etc- didn't last long,
i love Christmas and Easter, I sing hymms when I'm washing up i've been to a few church's in my time, funerals weddings etc and to be honest it's so peaceful there.
I have been to mosques it was ok,actually I couldn't wait to get out of there....Maybe it's a language barrier
I haven't spoken to anyone about this as it is such a big thing -changed my name on mn but sometimes I just don't want to be a Muslim. I want to bring up my children with faith and I struggle to explain the Muslim faith.

I'm sure there is the odd sentence in the above which makes sense :)

i am not saying stoning is not from other religions, when i said from Islam i meant it is a part of Islam,not originated from Islam, I dont presume to know the history of it.
and since I am not a hadith rejector, I believe the hadith to be part of Islam

Anyway, why do we need laws on this Earth? To show us how to live our lives in a way pleasing to God. Why do we need punishments? as Muslims we are concerned with not only our own selves but with society as a whole.

i love this thread so much i might use it with my pupils.

mauwmauw, thank you for your clarification on apostasy and shariah law.

I also don't understand all this punishment on earth by other people, stonings, burning alive
human beings get over-excited, too caught up, too dogmatic.

from both aspects of faith, we live in a world that is different from the world that the books come from, however the principles still apply to this day, there is no compromise, surley god should be the one who punishes/rewards/forgives me?

true, but many people, including me, take too much on themselves and judge others. that can lead them into taking actions which it is not their right to take.

like mauwmauw, i teach in a state school with mainly Muslim pupils. i have seen cheering for 9/11 (for example), and bitter rejection of it, too. i have many times heard and read simple, humble preaching from young people brought up in Islam, expressing what they believe and how they feel about various things, which has impressed me deeply. i believe that if you look again into Islam, as you intend, you will find what you are looking for.

Lots of churches run Alpha courses or similar which introduce you to the basics of the Christian faith- maybe you would benefit from attending something like that. But why don't you arrange a meeting with someone who you respect in the muslim community and discuss your feelings- it seems as if you don't feel integrated and an outsider in your own community because of the language barrier. Is their not any provision to study the Koran(excuse spelling) in English.
Christian churches vary greatly from parish to parish depending on who the religious leader is, how family friendly the committees are , what type of music is used,musicians available etc. Maybe you are unlucky with your particular mosque? Don't rush into anything, the more you explore you will become sure of where your heart lies and where you feel you are supported and then you will hopefully not need to do anything dramatic.

I kind of think there is a way to not follow a specific religion. Just to say 'I believe in a higher being, I believe in a moral life', but not to label yourself. We are already labelled enough in society, ŵhy not just 'be'?

ZhenThereWereTwo which had nothing to do with the post, please don't act like you did not know what you where doing

OP - surely if you didn't understand what you were saying when you prayed, wouldn't an inquisitive mind want to explore what you are saying? I know when I got to about 14-16 years old I became very interested in reading English translations of the Quran to understand and alot of the verses I read really made sense to me and made me.

If you think people slept all day back in the 15th century whilst fasting, then you're massively mistaken!! There was no free running water, no electricity - everything was done manually! They had to work 100 times harder than we do today to get their food in the evening! Think making your own flour by beating the wheat all day and then baking bread in the evening. I'm suprised you don't have the common sense to even think that.

I'm sorry but your last post smells a bit fishy and I'm not sure if you're trolling.

nailak

I suppose the treatment of adultary is where Christianity is radically different.

Jesus prevented a woman being stoned to death for adultary. He told the crowd ?Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.? He then told the woman to go and sin no more.

www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8&version=NIV

Christians believe that Jesus took the punishment on the cross for our sins, so that stoning anyone is completely unnecessary.

i dont get it, we are not accountable for our sins as Jesus as died for them already? So we dont need to be punished, as long as we believe Jesus as is God then we are guaranteed heaven?

the jehovas witnesses did explain it to me, but it didnt quite stick.

what was the Christian punishment for adultery out of interest. I mean, during the dark ages/medieval sort of times when the Inquisition, burning and wotnot were all the rage. It must have gone on (long winter evenings in dark peasant shacks n all)

thats the bit that made me unable to be a Christian nailak. I think everyone is responisble for teir own actions and will face God on judgement Day about it. Its why the Quran tells people to do good and that good deeds are vital.

OP, unfortunately I too thought your last post smelt a bit troll-like fishy. But on the off-chance you're genuine, why not post this in religion/beliefs?

I don't see how YABU/YANBU?

Rainy day

I am writing what I think and have had these thoughts for years, but never discussed them with anyone, I'm sorry if you find this all so fishy but there you have it.

I did question a little when I was 16, started to go to Islamic study classes, wore a headscarf, have a translation of the Quran in English but at that age and forgive me for being a little thick I didn't fully understand it, it's written in old English, which at that time was hard to make clear. I have no Quran in this house, but yor comments are interesting maybe this is the reason I choose not to have Muslim friends, because it's difficult for you to understand my pov.

Alpha course run in sept this year from the local church, so may enquire more

Facej I may ask mn to post in religion forum, thanks

I'm curious about OP's husband converting to Islam to marry her.

Did he get circumcised when he converted?

Surely believe in what you want to believe in as its up to you isn't it.
Im not religious as that is my choice & my belief but you have your beliefs which are your own.
Wouldn't say yabu or yanbu but you obviously are not a muslim as you don't believe in the religion itself

Lostagain, good luck to you then. Hope you find what you're looking for.

(Sorry for thinking you were a troll, it's just you sometimes sound like you're stealth taking the piss out of both Christianity and Islam)...

Cote, wouldn't that be a bitch? Convert to marry someone of a different religion, get your bits 'done' only to find your partner's converting to another religion altogether...

My DH would go NUTS..

my friend is married to a convert, he is not circumcised, i know because her and her dad had a bit of a bun fight about it

A friend of my father converted to Judeism to marry his love. Then she called it off. 'The cruelest cut' my dad used to say.

Christianity dors not day people are bot responsible for théir sins. Clearly you have little understanding of the bible. People are beginning to Shit stir Guatemala like me saying islam requires people to commit terrorism.

Lostagain, I don't have any answers for you but I certainly recognise the place you are in and know many people who have asked the same questions.

I'm still looking for an answer if I'm honest, I know that I have faith and i place my relationship with god as one of the most valued relationships I will ever know. Yet for some reason I feel like it 'should' be a betrayal whenever a part of another religion makes sense to me and touches a part of my spiritual self that my born religion doesn't.

I have come to the conclusion that being part of the culture of one religion, yet embracing spirituality where I am lucky enough to encounter it isn't impossible and certainly isn't fraudulent, structured religion doesn't know it all - scholars from all flavours are in constant debate. Your relationship with god is never at an end and is constantly growing, part of that is debating internally with the rights and wrongs of the life you encounter.

I think what I'm trying to get at is that you know in your heart what actions you take and whether they are spiritual or not, reconciling the culture you chose to practice your faith in will always take some compromise.

Reallytired, In Islam we don't believe that Jesus peace be upon him will come to earth to judge the living and the dead, he will return as he left a man, and will fight and vanquish the anti-christ, then the gog and magog, he will rule and die we believe him to be a man sent by God as his messenger.

We believe in the holy spirit being the Angel Gabriel.

Lostagain, to be honest, nobody can tell you what to believe it's up to you to do the research and decide, the Yusuf Ali translation of the Quran is pretty accessable and not in medieval English.

I do pray five times a day I understand what I pray tho and my prayers are usually pertinent to what I am asking for.

It's really up to you, and I would give it good long think and research before making any big decisions, but thats me.

Damn i hate touch phones, what i was retint to day is à few posters you know who you are, arrange attempting to Shit stir due to the OP not agreeing with them.

Thunderbird, can I just say as a lurker observer that you are coming across as the most aggressive on this thread... Wind your neck in!

Laughed out loud at the circumcision queries... it is something recommended (sunnah) but not obligatory (farz) in Islam so perhaps OP's DH doesn't have to worry about that aspect(!).