yes. i also think i've made my point more than enough. i respect your choice, even if in Islam regulation, penalty for a convert is death, is very hard to comprehend, but ignorant i am i will just take it with grain and salt, with "faith". thats it. only last simple question Armin, did you khatam (complete and understand reading all the Quran verses) before you convert? +1 to aethist/agnostic ally
Al-Kafirun (The Disbelievers)
Yes, I've done my best to understand and learn from arab scholars as much as possible because I, myself, cannot read or understand arabic. I know that you cannot begin to understand the qur'an unless you know arabic.
However, in my opinion, if Allah was all merciful he would've given us the qur'an with a universal language or the ability for anyone to understand. The biggest problem is the miracle lay in the language, not the book.
To truly comprehend the beauty of the qur'an you must be able to read and recite the qur'an.
I for one, was born with a health problem that I would rather not get into that will cut my life short, I don't see this as merciful. It has only brought pain to me, I don't see how a merciful God could make someone sick.
If he was truly merciful he would never make anyone sick, but rather teach us life lessons through our own personal trials, not something that would affect our families. If you believe it like it has been said, Allah would never punish the children for the transgression of the parents, so why have I been punished?
In the end I'm led to believe that I haven't been "punished" and "God" did not "make" me this way. It was merely a chance. It happens to millions and millions of people. It's no one's fault. I'm not completely debilitated. I can walk, talk, think, do almost everything I want to do. I'm happy with that and I'm always going forward with progress in my mind. I cannot progress if I feel like I have to dwell on my life all day.
You know what has taught me the most in this life? My father. He played chess with me everyday when I was little. He taught me math before I started 1st grade. He helped me put together my first bicycle and he bought me my first tool set. He was a Civil Engineer back in Europe and the one thing I will never forget is when we would play chess, he would never let me win, but I'd get frustrated and want to quit and he'd say "Never give up. Never ever give up. Fight to the last piece. The last pawn. Your king. You never know what can happen if you just give up."
This is the single most important piece of advice I've ever learned. Willpower. He told me if I try hard enough, never give up, and continue forward.. I can do it. Challenges are like walls. Find a way over it or around it, but don't let it stop you.
Wow, I've gone on a pretty bad tangent just now. Sorry about all that. The point I'm trying to make is, I don't give God any credit for my accomplishments because that would take away the meaning of all the work that I and my family have done.