UI – Part 138 – Do You Trust the Quran? The Bible?  Your Government?

Does the Quran Adequately Address Real Life Issues?

What is taught by the imams, ulema and mullahs in Mosques takes the written words of the Quran and interprets them for the audience.  They also include words spoken or written after Muhammad’s death by Companions and scholars, men who have provided their own opinions on matters they consider relative.  Added also is commentary of their own.  Do the people of the Mosque, the ulema and community leaders, as well as the attendees live by the words and directives spoken?  Are the directives the only way of life?  Is there any degree of flexibility?  Has the modern world, changing times and global developments had an impact?  Is change permitted?  Do the ulema faithfully interpret Allah’s word, develop a passage in context, and apply it accurately to real life?  What happens when in the same mosque, in the actions and practical advice provided in the personal administration of the Quran, an entirely different mindset holds sway.

There remain Muslims who allow reason to be used in considering the words of the Quran.  Most schools of thought orient their thinking to the most fundamental, the strictest and most limited interpretation, the literal, allowing for no change, for no doubt, that what is, is the Will of Allah.  Reason is not permitted.  In the madrassas boys are asked to chant words of hatred towards Infidels.  The Salafi’s insist upon Sharia Law in its most vile form, as viewed in today’s world, be applied universally.

Secular ideas  

Are secular concepts applied in an attempt to address issues of the soul?  When independent thought is applied to Islamic Law where hands are cut off, adulterers stoned, arenas are established so locals can witness floggings, hangings and stoning, where acid is cast upon family members or loved ones who disagree, where beheading is condoned on the infidel, and where honor killing is a right of the parent and siblings, is the soul stimulated to say STOP. When these acts are seen as barbaric, as they are, is there a revision in thinking towards human rights for all, equality considerations?  Or is the governance of people, a striving for unity of religion, civil law and government, constrained in the past history of a culture born in the 7^th Century?

The Bible

The Bible is an invaluable resource.  It is used to comfort, console, direct, and lead one closer to the Lord.  Indeed through the Word a Relationship can develop.  You can actually have a relationship with God.  It is through the Word that knowing Him is possible.  Doubts arise and if explored using the Word, with an open mind and open heart, the answers will be revealed.  The Holy Spirit is our daily reminder. The Holy Spirit guarantees what God has provided and lives in the heart and soul of all who believe.  You may deny God, having once believed, but that tug on your heart, your soul, may be telling you the truth, the error of your ways.  It will be a beacon that can help you return to the pathway He has provided.   You may have strayed from the Lord, but if you know him at all, He will be a constant thorn in your side telling you what you may not want to hear.   We fight God’s caveats and encouragement each day, but if we give-in to his commands our life changes, our day improves, our outlook brightens.

Two Worlds

It is difficult living in His world and this world contemporaneously, but what is the alternative.  We are blessed to live in a Country (America) founded on Judeo-Christian principles.  It is a disappointment that they are being eroded – by evil forces one could argue.  Upholding the Constitution and the Original Intent of the Founding Fathers (not all Christians) you can discover an America that was ignited by the Word to become productive, prosperous and moral.  Secular we must be, but guided by the right principles we must strive to remain.  Combining the two is cause for conflict.  That we must deal with in prayer.  The government is wrong when public places are considered off-limits to religious practices.  The Constitution said the Government could not establish a religion, but it was never to prevent the free exercise thereof – to include public places, even by public officials expressing their own feelings and beliefs.  It was and is the American way.

We are straying.

Grace and Peace,