American's view on Islam

[sarahaziz 0]

I married a Christian man without his conversion. It is done; we did so in Lebanon, and it is done more often in the west. It's not openly discussed (dirty laundry!), but it is done.

As for marrying more than one wife, practices involved with that have little to do with Islam and more with local tradition. Temporary marriage is done in Shia Islam, and forbidden in Sunni Islam, although some are trying to make urfi/misyar acceptable in Sunni Islam. It was denied by the Prophet.

This is exactly what my husband told me.

To the OP, what religion are you and your fiance?

Im Christian and my husbands Muslim

[sarahaziz 0]

I don't understand what the overall question of this thread is?

Somebody say christian,hindu,buddist, etc.. Marrying with a muslim how do they feel about the differences in beliefs concerning kids in the future, no vows being present when they sign the papers for marriage or marriage ceremony, you can read the bottom of the first post . We're just discussing views here nothing personal to anybody I wanted to say that again.

Oh yeah and this is the general response I got from muslims - I talk to sunnis and about 3 shias. That's where I got the urge to present this for open discussion on what other people thought about it.

[Nutty 2]

It's one muslim man's view of religion and marriage...

Islam is different around the world as is Christianity. Don't forget also, that culture often plays as important a role in marriage as religion. Sometimes, culture trumps religion in matter of marriage.

[SaadBell 0]

My family and husband all believe in this so called God. I don’t believe, would love to believe, but my thoughts keep messing with the faith thing. A thoughtful person who thinks about God cannot help but notice the amazing contradictions. They are everywhere you look.

Here is one very simple example. On the day Moses comes down from Mount Sinai with the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, he discovers that the Israelites have created a golden calf. To punish the people, Moses gathers a group of men and takes the following action in the book of Exodus, Chapter 32:

Then he [Moses] said to them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.' " The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

So... one minute we have God carving into stone, "Thou shalt not kill." Then the next minute we have God telling each man to strap a sword to his side and lay waste to thousands. Wouldn't you expect the almighty ruler of the universe to be slightly more consistent than this? 3,000 dead people is a lot of commandment breaking. Obviously that is a total contradiction. Things like this make me crazy, and so many other contradictions.

Also so many wars over religion, what a shame. For the message of this God was love, yet billions are slaughter because of this God of Love.

[monnik 0]

Ganja... God is love... it's very sad that it's hard for us to see that in the world today.

Re: The example of God's commands to kill

God's mercy & compassion are much greater than any punishment or wrath that He has or will ever decree. Please understand that God takes more pleasure in loving his children than in punishing them. Nevertheless, there are punishments and judgements that He has to make... even if our minds can't justify it. His compassion is extended to "a thousand generations", while the extent of his moral outrage is only to the immediate household ("to the third generation").In biblical history surrounding Israel, the amount of killing ( read: intervention) is tiny compared to what might have been expected and the biblical record is filled with cries of innocent people asking "why don't you do something about these malicious oppressors, God?!"

"Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’" Ex 33.11

But don't take my word for it..... (hey, was that from Reading Rainbow ????? )

[Sofiyya 1,687]

my husband is muslim, i am christian. it works for us.

if my husband wants another wife, he knows im gone. God created one man and one woman and thats the way He wanted it. He is not wishy washy and change his mind later. end of story.

which "he" are you referring to as not being "wishy washy" or "changing his mind later?" i'm unaware of any biblical injunction prohibiting polygamous marriage. it's practiced by christians throughout africa and in a few places in asia.

True, its not only Muslims who take multiple wives. However, there are Muslim countries that restrict or prohibit polygamy.

[HLM 1]

hey everyone....hope all is going well with all of u...

1- Muslim Man whether married or not if he is good in life and abides by Allahs rules he does get the maidens either way.

2- Muslim Man can not marry the short marraige or the misyar marraige.... just as virtual wife said.

3- Muslim man can marry any woman but she has to have either muslim chritian or jewish.

4- Muslim woman has to marry only a muslim man.... becoz Islam cares about spreading the religion and in Islam the kids are by nature born muslims like their fathers.

i know lots of u will disagree and im really sorry im not here to offend anyone im just saying the facts how it is... i love u all without even knowing you and i wish u all the best in the world.. but thats how the religion is.

love n peace

[Sofiyya 1,687]

4- Muslim woman has to marry only a muslim man.... becoz Islam cares about spreading the religion and in Islam the kids are by nature born muslims like their fathers.

i know lots of u will disagree and im really sorry im not here to offend anyone im just saying the facts how it is... i love u all without even knowing you and i wish u all the best in the world.. but thats how the religion is.

Disagree? You betcha. Children are not born Muslim because their fathers are Muslim anymore than children are born any other faith because their fathers are some other faith. If this is how it really works, then faith would be genetic, and no one would convert to or from any faith. Barack Obama would be Muslim because of his Muslim father, but he is Christian, like his mother.

My 5 kids are all Muslim, but they had a Christian father. My uncle was Muslim, only one of his four children stayed Muslim. Studies show that children are most likely to be Muslim if their mother is Muslim. The early scholars knew that the mother has more influence over the children than the father. The mahabs ruled it mukrah for a Muslim man to marry a non-Muslim woman in the west because he cannot guarantee his children's path to Islam. This is a truth ignored by Muslim men so eager to control who Muslim women marry.

Islam teaches that Allah decides who He will lead and who will be mislead. No man decides if his children will follow Islam; such statements reflect the male ego, not the faith.

[monnik 0]

The early scholars knew that the mother has more influence over the children than the father.

I feel like this is true... I also think this could one of the reasons a Muslim man may bring up the idea of his non-Muslim wife considering becoming a Muslim... he sees it as making rearing the children easier and more fluid.... Usually interfaith marriages are perceived to be harder than they really are....each side has to deal with their own faith and be strong in it... and to give their children a positive and beautiful experience from each religion so that they can choose their path... that's all... it's not that difficult...

btw, if it is reprehensible to marry a non-Muslim woman because the man cannot guarantee his children's paths to Islam, then wouldn't that mean that the continuance and spreading of religion is the goal ?? I couldn't tell, VW, if you were disagreeing with her whole bolded statement , or just the part about the religion following the father.... the part about spreading religion seems to be consistent...

[Jenn! 918]

I agree that the mother in most circumstances has more influence than the father when it comes to religion. I will do my best to raise muslim children in the future, but as a non-muslim, realistically speaking most of the burden of religious education will necessarily fall on him.

[Jen C 2008 0]

Do Muslims ever convert and become Christians?

[Zee Bee 61]

Do Muslims ever convert and become Christians?

Yes.

[Jen C 2008 0]

Wow- i wonder how there family takes this? interesting

[sara..... 371]

I think it depends on the country.....in some country's u could die for that but that has nothing to do with Islam it has to do with culture and deep rooted beliefs

[sarahaziz 0]

I was watching a christian channel about Arabs converting to christianity and This one man from Lebanon his mother tried to kill him and kicked him out of the house until he would return to Islam. She told his 2 cousins to pretend to ask for help from the guy and they pushed him off a 3rd Mall floor all the way to the bottom and he's handicapped now but he still thanks God he's alive. I'm guessing she was an islam extremist or something.