Being a Muslim myself (albeit not a particularly religious one ), I really need to answer some of these questions.
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When Islam was in its early stages, and the pagans of Mecca were opposing him, they asked him how they could be sure he was not making things up. The next few revelations after that contained phrases that were unheard of in Arabia. When he was asked what they meant, he simply replied "I do not know. I am merely relaying what Allah has told me. Only He knows the true meaning."
Furthermore, in Arabic, all the verses are written in a very poetic form. Nearly all the sentences in any one verse ends in the same rhythm. This is something that would be nearly impossible for Muhammad to accomplish, considering he lacked the ability to read or write.
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The reason the Sunnis and Shiites clash is because as far as I know, Shiitism believes that Muhammad's cousin, Ali bin Abu Talib, was meant to become the messenger of Allah, rather than Muhammad himself. You can imagine the uproar that caused in the day. It'd be like a bunch of Christians saying that Ben-Hur should have been the prophet of Christianity rather than well, Christ. Also, the Five Pillars of Islam, the tasks which every Muslim must accomplish regardless of what sect they belong to, includes praying at 5 designated times a day. As Shiites only pray 3 times a day, most other Muslims consider them to be (for lack of a better word) deviants of sorts.
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I personally believe that a true Muslim must follow the spirit of the Quranic verses and think about why certain instructions and restrictions were made in the book. For example, Muslim men are not allowed to wear gold on any part of their body. Can we wear platinum, though? I should think not. Following the Quran literally is what's causing this mess in Islam.
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To answer someone's question a few pages ago, no, you do not get any amount of virgins when you kill an 'infidel'. All the suicide bombers who spread nothing but Islamophobia aren't getting their own personal harem in the afterlife. They're getting scorched by jet-black flames and being tortured in ways that would make Hitler jealous. There's a scripture in the Quran that quite specifically says when you kill yourself in any manner, you're considered 'murtad'; left Islam. And since you can't repent once you're dead, all the so-called 'martyrs' are really just screwing themselves over on an epic scale.
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That's all for now, because I'm too lazy to type anymore paragraphs. If you have questions, just tell me.
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When Islam was in its early stages, and the pagans of Mecca were opposing him, they asked him how they could be sure he was not making things up. The next few revelations after that contained phrases that were unheard of in Arabia. When he was asked what they meant, he simply replied "I do not know. I am merely relaying what Allah has told me. Only He knows the true meaning."
Furthermore, in Arabic, all the verses are written in a very poetic form. Nearly all the sentences in any one verse ends in the same rhythm. This is something that would be nearly impossible for Muhammad to accomplish, considering he lacked the ability to read or write.
--
The reason the Sunnis and Shiites clash is because as far as I know, Shiitism believes that Muhammad's cousin, Ali bin Abu Talib, was meant to become the messenger of Allah, rather than Muhammad himself. You can imagine the uproar that caused in the day. It'd be like a bunch of Christians saying that Ben-Hur should have been the prophet of Christianity rather than well, Christ. Also, the Five Pillars of Islam, the tasks which every Muslim must accomplish regardless of what sect they belong to, includes praying at 5 designated times a day. As Shiites only pray 3 times a day, most other Muslims consider them to be (for lack of a better word) deviants of sorts.
--
I personally believe that a true Muslim must follow the spirit of the Quranic verses and think about why certain instructions and restrictions were made in the book. For example, Muslim men are not allowed to wear gold on any part of their body. Can we wear platinum, though? I should think not. Following the Quran literally is what's causing this mess in Islam.
--
To answer someone's question a few pages ago, no, you do not get any amount of virgins when you kill an 'infidel'. All the suicide bombers who spread nothing but Islamophobia aren't getting their own personal harem in the afterlife. They're getting scorched by jet-black flames and being tortured in ways that would make Hitler jealous. There's a scripture in the Quran that quite specifically says when you kill yourself in any manner, you're considered 'murtad'; left Islam. And since you can't repent once you're dead, all the so-called 'martyrs' are really just screwing themselves over on an epic scale.
--
That's all for now, because I'm too lazy to type anymore paragraphs. If you have questions, just tell me.