An appetizer eh Mr Banks?
Let's go straight to the first course shall we? I think I have already given you the appetizers
Okay.. so you are the type of Muslim who believes and lives by the Quran, but doesn't pay too much attention to the Hadiths or other traditions. Some of the things you have said in your last few posts....
1. I just call myself "Muslim".
2. There was a time when I didn't believe in ANY religion because of the amount of hipocracy and falsehood I've seen among the people of ALL religions..including Muslims. But I stopped observing the people and started reading the DOCTRINE and that's what helped me make up my mind on which religion I would choose.
3. We were NEVER supposed to make Islam a tradition but to more so use it as a GUIDE to keep us in check in reaching higher heights.
(by the way I did appreciate the honesty in your answers.. showed me you are indeed searching for truth, and yes, I did understand your comments and will address some of them later, but I liked the analogies with the cook book.. very clever).
Okay.. now having said all that, just where does Allah fit into all this? You see, for me as a Christian, God would have had first place in all of this discussion, and then I would have replaced Muslim for Christian. But, my search of the Bible would still have left me with God alone, regardless of what the rest of the Church might or might not have looked like. I would still have stayed a believer in God. I'm rational enough to know, that human nature often interferes with true faith
Islam means "surrender" and it always surprises me, that Muslims don't seem to hear the Christian talk of "God" in the singular. When I speak of God, I think of the One Creator God. I worship Him, I live my life seeking to obey Him in all things. Yes, God to me, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but I in no way think of them as three separate gods.. but simply as One God, my Creator and the one I love and worship, and the one I'm surrendered too.
Now.. I've told you who God is to me, that I talk to Him, not just at set prayer times, but all day. I live my life in constant acknowledgement of His presence with me. I not only believe in Him, I know Him in my daily experience.
I admire your clinging to the Qur'an now as the Truth.. but tell me please.. can your holding onto the Qu'ran, give you the same personal experience of God, that my knowledge of the Bible and my faith and relationship with God gives to me? and please remember, I'm not just talking of a few days, weeks or months, I'm talking over thirty years of intimate fellowship with the God who I know loves me, as much as I love Him?
( I warned you this was first course.. there is more to come).