Ok, here goes. I'll start with my beliefs and end with some questions for others.
I am a Muslim. We believe that there is only One God, that He has no partners. We cannot associate anyone to God. He is Supreme, the One Who created us all, created the heavens and the earth, and everything within. We believe God created mankind to serve and worship Him alone. The God we worship is the God of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammad, and all other Prophets.
We believe Adam was the first man, that God created him from clay, and then put life into him. Eve was the first woman, Adam's wife, and we are all the children, or say the offspring, of Adam and Eve.
We believe that God sent Prophets and Messengers to mankind, time after time, to give the people of this world His message, on how to live their lives, etc. Some of these Messengers were sent with guidelines, or books, for people to follow. The Prophets that received revelations, include David, Abraham, Moses, Jesus (we believe him to be a Prophet/Messenger of God.......not God's son), and lastly Mohammad, (peace be upon them all), who we believe to be the last Prophet sent to mankind with the completed and final Message from God. The Quran, which was the book revealed to Prophet Muhammad, was revealed to him, through Angel Gabriel, over a period of 23 years. The entire Quran was compiled during the Prophet's lifetime.
I'm going to say a bit on what believe about Jesus, because I figured perhaps the Christians here might be interested.
We believe Jesus was a Prophet, that his birth was a miracle. He was born to Mary, his mother who was a virgin. His birth was a miracle because he was born to a blessed woman, who no man had ever touched. We believe Jesus talked as a baby. We believe he was a Prophet of God, that He brought God's message to his people. We do not believe he was God's son, because it is against our faith to associate anyone with God.........we believe it kind of equates to comparing God to humans and animals, who mate and have offspring. God, in our faith, is much too supreme to have a son, a daughter, a wife, or anything. This is probably the *major* difference between Islam and Christianity. We believe Jesus was never crusified.........that the disbelievers plotted against him, and set a cross up to crusify him on, but God took Jesus up to heaven before they killed him, and replaced him with one of the disbelievers, who God made to *look* like Jesus, and that disbeliever (who was one of those plotting against Jesus) was crusified instead. We believe God took Jesus up with him, alive, that he is still alive, and that he will return to earth before the end of time. He will live on earth for 40 years, a time in which there will be peace throughout the land, and he will rule until his death (40 years later). A person cannot be a Muslim without believing in Jesus, and loving Jesus.
Ok, that's all about Jesus........though we do believe much more about him. I don't think I can go on forever!!!What else? We believe in the Day of Judgement, when God will Judge each and every human being for how they lived their lives in this world. Those who lived good lives according to God's teachings will be handed their book of deeds in their right hand. Those will be the people who will go to Heaven. Then there will be people who did wrong in their lives, never repented........never felt bad about their sins, etc. These people will be handed their book of deeds in their left hand, and they will be the people of Hell.
We believe the life in this world is temporary, and that the life to come will be for eternity. Those who will go to Heaven will be there forever, and those who will be unfortunate enough to go to Hell, will also, be there forever.
We believe that every child is born sin-free.........that no child carries the sins of their parents. We do not believe in *Original sin*. We believe Adam and his wife sinned by eating the fruit in Paradise which God forbade them to, but we do not believe every human carries that sin, or the sins of their parents, etc. Sins begin to *count* after a person hits puberty. If a child under the age of puberty dies, he/she, no matter what the faith/religion of his/her parents will go to Heaven. There is much more.......much much more, but I'm tired and this is all I could think of right now. Any questions are welcome.....though I may not know the answers to them all!
Ok, now my questions..........for Christians.
Do you really believe children are born sinful, and that they need Jesus to *save* them, otherwise they are destined to Hell? In other words.........do you believe anyone who is *not* a Christian is going to Hell?
What do you believe about Jesus? How much do your beliefs differ from our's?
Do you worship Jesus, or do you worship God? How do you differenciate God from Jesus?
What does Trinity mean? I have never quite understood it, and would like an explanation.
What does it mean to baptize a child? What do you do in this process, and what does it symbolize?
I guess I may have more questions with time, but that's all for now.
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