Islam is complete. Are we complete Muslims too?

[Asad]

I was surfing and a comment on another website triggered a couple thoughts in my mind.

Allah told Muhammad (PBUH) that he had completed the religion Islam. Basically, every Muslim has a direct link with Allah and we, as Muslims, don't need any saints or priests to interceded on our behalf. As Muslims, we can ask directly from Allah what ever we want.

Now, why exactly do the Maulvi hazraat think that they are authorized or capable in any way to act as an intermediary between individual Muslims and Allah? An Imam has a very specific purpose but why do we even let them overstep that purpose and let them have so much power over us? Why is this phenomena so socially and culturally ingrained in us? Perhaps it is weak belief in Islam itself which causes us to not believe that our own prayers reach Allah as much as the prayers from some Maulana in the mosque?

Datta darbar in Lahore is a reason for people with weak beliefs to come and further weaken their beliefs. Personally, I wouldn't even twitch if they razed Datta Darbar to the ground.

The mistreatment of women in countries in the subcontinent is well known. Islam is often used as an excuse by Muslims who commit heinous crimes in the name of honor. Exactly which honor is it that one gets by killing one's own brother/sister? We conveniently forget religion when we want to. For all accounts and purposes, I can state that Islam is merely a tool for many people in Pakistan. Use it, throw it and then use it again whenever the need arises. Have we ever thought why this attitude is so prevalent here?

When will we get it through our thick skulls that being a Muslim by birth gives us no special leverage against newly converted Muslims who have actually studied the religion and know what they are talking about?

/rant

This is mostly a semi-rhetorical rant. Ignore or comment/discuss as you like.

[Saad Anas]

Perhaps it is weak belief in Islam itself which causes us to not believe that our own prayers reach Allah as much as the prayers from some Maulana in the mosque?

prayers? u mena duas or namaz.

Btw its better to offer ur parayers behind Imam(its easy too)

[Asad]

Originally Posted by Saad Anas

prayers? u mena duas or namaz.

Btw its better to offer ur parayers behind Imam(its easy too)

Yes, one asks dua after prayer of some sort.

And yes, it is better to pray in jamaat. It does takes longer however....

[AzeemBhai]

The most distubing thing i noted about mullas is that they dont want to let u understand Quran by urself they are of view that understanding Quran on own will lead to derailment of faith thats the main Problem IMO

[Asad]

Originally Posted by AzeemBhai

The most distubing thing i noted about mullas is that they dont want to let u understand Quran by urself they are of view that understanding Quran on own will lead to derailment of faith thats the main Problem IMO

I agree with the point you have raised.

[Mubeen Ahmed]

Lack of knowledge leads to weak faith.
Our knowledge of Islam is related to Tasks we consider as "Farz". The rest is left to Mullah and Imams. My personal experience is that they know shit about Islam. They have propagated that if you need to learn Islam, you have to go through them as Quran is not meant for common man. To, many questions i raised in front of Local Mullah/Imam, i never found a complete satisfactory answer.

[Asad]

Very true.

But there is also the problem that Muslim children today are told to emphasize more on scientific subjects than actual Islam. There is only a single subject, Islamiat, related to Islam in education and even that is not comprehensive.. There should be a balance between both.

[AzeemBhai]

Harun Yahya ROx i hope their books be included in our syllabus

[kashif99048]

yeah!! asad is right ..................we emphasize getting more marks in matric or FSC rather then to go for nazra...or Hifz-e-Quran

[Asad]

I emphasize equal stress on both; Islamic education as well as worldly education. You cannot survive without either of them.

Hifz-e-Quran is practically useless unless one actually understands what one is memorizing. Parroting Quranic ayats won't help you understand what Islam says. If memorizing Quran without understanding it was the only objective, you might as well memorize your science text books. This is one of the reasons I am against extra marks for hafiz-e-Quran in F.Sc.

Read and learn Quran with understanding, not without it.