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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Why Muslims prefer calling 'Allah' instead of God..!

The Muslims prefer calling the Supreme Creator, Allah, instead of by the English word God. The Arabic word, ‘Allah’, is pure and unique, unlike the English word ‘God’, which can be played around with.

If you add ‘s’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Gods’, that is the plural of God. Allah is one and singular, there is no plural of Allah. If you add ‘dess’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Goddess’ that is a female God. There is nothing like male Allah or female Allah. Allah has no gender. If you add the word ‘father’ to ‘God’ it becomes ‘God-father. God-father means someone who is a guardian. There is no word like ‘Allah-Abba’ or ‘Allah-father’. If you add the word ‘mother’ to ‘God’, it becomes ‘God-mother. There is nothing like ‘Allah-Ammi’, or ‘Allah-mother’ in Islam. Allah is a unique word. If you prefix tin before the word God, it becomes tin-God i.e., fake God. Allah is a unique word, which does not conjure up any mental picture nor can it be played around with. Therefore the Muslims prefer using the Arabic word ‘Allah’ for the Almighty.

Allah knows best..!
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[An article written by Zakir Naik]

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Sunday, July 4, 2010

So..Which is the right way..?

After analyzing all the major religions, we can understand that all scriptures has so many similarities, and the most common is oneness of God. So now the question is "which is the right way". Before coming to the subject, i would like to share some comments i got personally from the visitors as well as my friends. Some people are telling me why i am spending my time for a blog like this ? there is no God exists, its all man made theories, and it will only make enmity among people. First of all, as i already written in my first post, this blog is not to hurt anybodies feelings but to find the truth. 

Coming back to the subject, i think the right way has to answer all such questions regarding the existence of God, why there are so many religions, why this religion is the right way, how can it proves scientifically and logically it is correct etc. So as i said the best way to understand a religion is to look at the scriptures of that religion. If we analyze these scriptures of all major religion we can see so many errors both scientifically and logically even though it is claiming as God's words. But God never make mistakes, he knows everything better than anybody. So we cant say a scripture having errors is God's words. So our next step is to find the correct word of God without having a single error. And believe me if we search, we'll definitely find one way, which leads us to God. Will mention that in my next post with details if god allows me. May God bless us to find the right way and give a peaceful life.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Oneness of God in Major Religious Scriptures


So now we know what are the major religions in the world. If you want to understand this religions, the best way is to check what the religious scriptures are saying about that religion. You may be wondered after reading the title of this post :) even i felt the same after understanding the these religious scriptures. There are so many similarities between these religious scriptures and the most common is "oneness of God". Lets analyze what the major religious scripture are saying about the topic;

Judaism:
Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. Jewish Bible is the scripture of Judaism. It contains 39 books. The first five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) is called Torah. It is in Hebrew language. Lets check what Judaism is saying about the oneness of God through its scriptures.

It has written in the book of Deuteronomy Ch. No.6, V. No.4

Hebrew : " Shama Israelu Adonai ila  Hayno Adna Ikhad "
English :  " Hear, oh Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord "

In the book of Isaiah Ch. No.43, V. No.11
" I, even I, am the Lord and besides me there is no Savior "

In the book Isaiah Ch. No. 45, V. No. 5
" I am Lord, and there is no one else, I am God and there is none like me "

In the book of Exodus Ch. V. No. 3 to 5
"Thou shall have no other gods besides me, Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord, the God, is a jealous God."

In the book of Deuteronomy Ch. No. 5, V. No. 7 to 9
"Thou shall have no other gods besides me. Thou shall not make thee any graven image, of any likeness, of anything that is the heavens above, that is in the earth beneath, and in the water beneath the earth. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them for I the Lord, the God am a jealous God."

There are several other verses in Jewish scriptures which say "God is one". It is not necessary to mention all here because Judaism is a strict monotheistic religion .


Christianity
Christianity is a religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament of Bible.  It claims to have nearly 1.2 billion adherents all over the world. The holy Bible is the sacred scripture of the Christians. They are believing that Bible is the word of God. Lets check what Bible is saying about the oneness of God.

"For there is no God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"
(1 Timothy 2:5)

"I ascend  unto my father and your father; and to my God and your God"
(Gospel of john 20:17)

"Why callest thou me good ? There is none good but one, that is God."
(Gospel of Mathew 19:17)

"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."

(Gospel of John 5:30)
 
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know."
(The Bible, Acts 2:22)

"And Jesus answered him, 'It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve' "
(Gospel of Luke 4:8) 

"Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan ! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve"
(Gospel of Mathew 4:10)


Islam
Islam is a strict monotheistic religion having more than one billion followers in the world. Muslims believe in Holy Qur'an as the word of God. There are many verses in Qur'an which says the oneness of God. So i am only quoting the 112th chapter from the Qur'an( "Surah Ikhlas")

"Say: He is Allah, The One and Only.
"Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
"He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him."
(Surah ikhlas Ch. 112, V. 1-4])
 
There are many other verses also in the holy Qur'an which says "God is one", like, Ch. 2, V. 225 , Ch. 24, V. 35, Ch. 59, V. 22-24 etc.
 
 
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of South Asia. It is the world's third largest religion after Christianity and Islam, approximately one billion adherents. In Hinduism the religious scriptures are divided in to "The Shrutis" and "The Smritis". The Shrutis are considered to be God's words and they are more sacred than the Smritis. The Shrutis are further divided in to two types, "The Vedas" (which means knowledge par excellence or sacred wisdom) and "The Upanishads" (it is called, Knowledge, which removes ignorance.). Basically there are four Vedas, The rigved, The Yajurved, The Samaved and The Atharvaved. The vedas are most authentic and more sacred in all scriptures of Hinduism. There are more than 200 upanishads, but the Indian tradition put the figure 108. Smritis are less sacred than the Shrutis, and they have been written by Rishies and the human beings. There are various types Smritis, The Puranas , The Epics (The Mahabharat and The Ramayan), The Bhagavad Gita (Bhagavad Gita is a part of Mahabharata, 18 chapters from the Bheeshm Parv. Ch 25 to Ch. 42), The Manusmriti etc. Lets analyse what these Hindu scriptures are saying about the topic.

Chandogya Upanishad Ch. 6, Sec. 2, V. 1
Sanskrit : "Ekam edivitiyam"
English : "He is one and only without a second"

Shvetashvatara Upanishad Ch. 6, V. 9
Sanskrit : "Na casya kasij janita na chadhipah"
English : "Of him there are neither parents nor Lord"

Shvetashvatara Upanishad Ch. 4, V. 19
Sanskrit : "Na tasya pratima asti"
English : "Of him, there is no pratima or likeness"

Shvetashvatara Upanishad Ch. 4, V. 20
Sanskrit : "Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canaiam. Hrda hrdistham manasa ya enam, evam vidur amrtas te bhavanti"
English : "His form is not to be seen, no one sees Him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know Him as abiding in the heart become immortal"

Bhagavad Gita Ch. 7, V. 20
"Those whose  intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own nature"

Bhagavad Gita Ch. 10, V. 3
"He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginning-less, as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds..."

Yajurveda Ch. 32, V. 3
Sanskrit : "Na tasya pratima asti"
English : "Of him, there is no pratima or likeness"

Rigveda Book No. 1, Hymn No. 164, V. 46
Sanskrit : "Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti"
English : "Truth is one, God is one, sages call Him by various names"

Rigveda Book No. 8, Hymn No. 1, V. 1
Sanskrit : "Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata"
English : "Do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One, Praise Him alone"

And the Brahma Sutra of Hindu Vedanta is:
Sanskrit : "Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"
English : "There is only one God, not the second, not at all, not at all, not in the least bit"


Sikhism
Sikhism is a non-semitic, Aryan, non-Vedic religion founded by Guru Nanak at the end of the 15th century. It is a religion of 10 Gurus, the first Guru being Guru Nanak, and the 10th and the last being Guru Gobind Singh. The sacred book of sikhism is sri Guru Granth also called Adi Granth Sahib. Sikhism enjoins on its followers strict monotheism. It believes in only One Supreme God who is, in the unmanifest form called "Ek omkara". The best definition that we can give regarding the concept of God in Sikhism is quoting the "Mul Mantra" - the fundamental creed of Sikhism, which occurs at the beginning of Guru Granth Sahib.

It is mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib, volume. 1, Japuji, Verse-1
"There exists but one God, who is called the true the creator, free from fear and hate, immortal not begotten, self existent, great and compassionate"

Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is the ancient, pre-Islamic religion of Persia (modern Iran). It survives there in isolated areas but more prosperously in India, where the descendants of Zoroastrian Persian immigrants are known as Parsis, or Parsees. In India the religion is called Parsiism. Founded by the Iranian prophet and reformer Zoroaster in the 6th century BC, Zoroastrianism contains both monotheistic and dualistic features. Its concepts of one God, judgment, heaven and hell likely influenced the major Western religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is also known as the religion of fire worshippers and Magianism. Parsi Scriptures consist of Dasatir and Vesta or Zend-Avesta. Dasatir is further divided into two parts: Khurda Dasatir and Kalan Dasatir. Avesta is further divided into Khurda Avesta and Kalan Avesta also known as Zend or Maha-Zend.
God in Zoroastrianism is known as ‘Ahura Mazda’. ‘Ahura’ means ‘the Lord’ or 'The Master' and ‘Mazda’ means ‘the Wise’; hence ‘Ahura Mazda’ means ‘the Wise Lord’ or ‘the Wise God’. Ahura Mazda stands for God, in a strictly monotheistic sense. 

According to the Dasatir, Ahura Mazda has the following qualities:
He is One.
He is without an origin or end.
He has no father or mother, wife or son.
He is without a body or form.
Nothing resembles Him.
Neither the eye can behold Him, nor the power of thinking can conceive Him.
He is above all that you can imagine.
He is nearer to you than your own self.

According to the Avesta, the Gathas and the Yasna give various characteristics to Ahura Mazda such as:
Creator
Yasna 31:7 & 11, Yasna 44:7, Yasna 50:11, Yasna 51:7

Most Mighty – the Greatest
Yasna 33:11, Yasna 45:6

Beneficent – Hudai.
Yasna 33:11, Yasna 48:3

Bountiful Spenta

Yasna 43:4,5,7,9,11,13,15, Yasna 44:2, Yasna 45:5, Yasna 46:9, Yasna 48:3

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[References : The Bible, Torah, Qur' an, The Vedas, Principle Upanishad, Bhagavad Geeta, IRF, Zakir Naik, etc.]

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Major Religions in the World

First, lets understand what are the major religions in the world. One of the distinguishing features of our civilisation is the presence of a large number of religions and ethical systems. According to Oxford dictionary, Religion means, "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods, or a particular system of faith and worship".

Religions can be classified in to two types, Semitic religions and Non Semitic religions

Semitic Religion :
Semitic religions are originated among semites. The word  is derived form  "Shem", one of the three sons of  Prophet Noah (pbuh) in the Bible (Genesis 5.32, 6.10, 10.21), the noun form referring to a person is semite. Therefore, Semitic religions are originated among the Jews, Arabs, Assyrians, Phoenicians etc. The major Semitic religions are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These religions are also called as Abrahamic religions. All these religions are prophetic religions that believe in divine message or guidance sent through prophets of God.

Non Semitic Religion:
Non Semitic Religions are divide in to two types, Aryan and non Aryan religions.

Aryan Religions
Aryan religions are the religions that originated among Aryans, a powerful group of Indo-European speaking people that spread through Iran and Northern India in the first half of second millenium BC (2000 to 1500 BC)

The Aryan religions are further divided in to Vedic and non-Vedic religions. Hunduism or Brahminism is called as a Vedic religion. The non-Vedic religions are Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism etc. Almost all Aryan religions are non-Prophetic religions. (Zoroastrianism is an Aryan, non-Vedic religion which claims to be a prophetic religion).

Non Aryan Religions
The non Aryan religions have different origins. For example, Confucianism and Taoism are of Chinese origin while Shintoism is of Japanese origin. Many of these non Aryan religions do not have a concept of God.  We can referred these as ethical systems rather than calling it as religions.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Introduction

As a part of the younger generation in this age of science and technology, i was also enjoying (?) my life without knowing and caring much about God. But going forward i had so many questions in my mind and i got different different answers from the people around me. As millions i was also born in a religious family, who follow Islam, and i have studied the way of worshiping almighty from my parents and teachers in that religion. But i haven't studied it fully. So i have so many questions about God and religion, because everybody is telling their religion is correct and some people told me they are not belong to any religion but they worship God in their own ways. But I need a way which is correct and i have to be thankful to my creator. So i started studying all the concepts of God, especially in the major religions in the world, and i have found so many things which is so amazing and i thought it will be great if i can share my little knowledge with you people. I am dedicating my blog to those people who have lots questions in their mind about the concept of God and the correct way of life. I am not here to hurt any body's feelings, my intention is to share the truths which i have realized in my life and also want to check whether i am correct or not. So please forgive me if you feel that I hurt your feelings.