xepherys

Why do people, especially Jewish people it seems, type G-d instead of God. Is it a "name in vein" issue? I'm just curious.

Willravel

Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better. Observant Jews avoid writing a Name of God on web sites like this one because there is a risk that someone else will print it out and deface it. To avoid writing the Name, Orthodox Jews (and sometimes other denominations) substitute letters or syllables, for example, writing "G-d" instead of "God." (from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...daism/g-d.html)

dlish

to the contrary, i'd like to make a few adjustments to your views highthief.

it is popular muslim belief that the word 'muslim' does not mean 'a follower of Muhammed'. in fact it refers to those that believed in the "oneness of God", God as a single entity and who was worshipped according to His laws brought down by His prophets. Thus with that classification, it can be said that Moses was a 'muslim', Abraham was a 'muslim' David was a 'muslim', Jesus was a 'muslim' etc in that sense, just as Muhammed was a 'muslim'.

the term 'muslim' has many meanings. it comes from the arabic word 'silm' or 'aslam' (from which the word 'islam' comes from) which basically means 'to submit or to give in to' among a miriad of other meanings.

as for Muhammed being polytheistic, there is no evidence to suggest that Muhammed worshipped idols or the religion of his people. Nor is there any evidence to say that he proclaimed any polytheistic beliefs.

in regards to 'Allah' being worshipped pre-Muhammed, the polytheists at the time of muhammad and prior believed that there was higher being called Allah, although they chose to worship idols. its worthy to note that the arabs also use the term "Elah' for God to mean God or Lord which would be very similar to the jewish term 'Elohim'?

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xepherys

willravel-

Thanks for the information.

alpha phi

To my knowledge, at the time of Abraham is
where the Hebrew people split in religion
with one son founding islam
and the other founding judaism
as we know the religions today
which is at the root of the dispute over jerusalem

dlishsguy you seem to have a better understanding
on this than me...I would love to hear
your understanding on this
Is this correct?

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martinguerre

romans killed him. crucifixation is a state execution, only orderable by the roman governor. pilate was recalled some years later for excessive brutality.

think about that. the Romans decided Pilate was too brutal. now tell me how responsible other parties might have been.

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highthief

We don't know much of Muhammed's early life other than he was orphaned and raised by his uncle and aunt I believe, so it is tough to say exactly what his beliefs were unti a bit later in life. However, his society as a whole was largely polytheistic with Allah being worshipped in some tribes as an important or chief god among several.

With respect to the term "Muslim" - In contemporary views, we recognize Muslims as adherents to Islam, which did not come into existence until the latter part of Muhammed's life, regardless of the etymology of the word.

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alpha phi

Much is known about Muhammad's early life

As far as polythesism, Arabic society had degenerated
into idol worship, and local god worship
The traditions of Abraham became
more of a secular fair, than a religous ceremony
This bothered Muhammad, much like christians
of today are bothered with secular christmas and easter.
He spent his later years teaching
speaking out against polythesism
Preaching monotheism...
a return to the old values as the new way
Not everyone accepted his teaching
in his time or ours.

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highthief

You just posted a quote showing A) big gaps in his early life with nothing after 10, and B) "All biographers state that the infant prophet sucked only one breast of his foster-mother, leaving the other for the sustenance of his foster-brother." - that's a little too specific, don't you think?

And you're right, not everyone accepted his teachings - he had to run from Mecca, take over Medinah, and come back and kick Mecca's ass in a military fashion before they accepted him.

The first biography of the Prophet does not appear until over 120 years after his death, by which point things are embellished a little, depending on who was doing the writing.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.

dlish

alphi phi..if your interested, here is a link with comparisons on the differences between the jewish/christian/islamic teachings about abraham.

http://i-cias.com/e.o/abraham.htm

but without getting into the long and colourful history of Abraham, his life, lineage etc, in short Abraham had two sons, one from Sarah who was his first wife, and the other from Hajar, and arab bondgirl whom he married.

it is from this split that we get the arabs and jews claiming decendancy from Abraham, (with muhammad claiming lineage to Abraham as well as Jesus according to st Matthew) and hence why they call each other 'cousins'.



you stated that there were no 'muslims' before muhammad. i was merely stating a fact that in contemporary muslim views..the views of 1.1 billion muslims, that they believe that all the prophets and their followers are muslim because they followed monotheism. This would encompass all the true followers of judaism and christianity.

with regards to his early life, there are some books on his biography, the best ive come across would be 'The Sealed Nectar'.


true that his early life is not clear and some sources are sketchy (the suckling one in alphi's link). but i am yet to read anywhere that he was a polytheist. True that his people were polytheists who believed in a higher god than the idols that they worshipped. the idols were intermediatries or a channel to god (similar to the use of idols and saints in todays churches.) and they had regular contact with christians and jews in the area. a verse in the Quran refers to the polytheists of the time..

“And if you (O Muhammad) ask them: ‘Who has created the heavens and the earth,’ they will certainly say: ‘Allah’” [Luqman 31:25]

__________________
An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay?
- Filthy

alpha phi

Thanks for the link dlishsguy.
That's an excellant encyclopedia

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