Reddit reviews The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an in Today's English

I bought this one. It's good.

>I've said the prayer accepting Mohammed (peace be upon him) as my prophet, and Allah as the one true god.

Saying and believing in this makes you a Muslim whether you left or converted/reverted.

>On charity. I help a LOT of homeless dogs, I give to animal charities, and I very often find homeless puppies and take them in, get them to the vet, and find them homes.

This is indeed a charity now how big or small is a better question for a scholar or someone much more knowledgeable.


>My wife is not Muslim but she is a person of the book. She was not a virgin when we married. How is my marriage to her affected?

Depending on which scholar you follow some will say it's okay as long as she's a person of the book others will say no. Ultimately it's better for her to become Muslim but Allah guides who he will. Inshallah you are both guided and things become easier for both of you.

>Is swearing Ok? I swear a lot, it's a hard habit to break. Also is vaping, and listening to metal Ok?

We are created imperfect so as long as you repent and try to break your habit inshallah it'll be okay. Personally I'm a huge fan of music and even more of certain groups like halestorm, 5 finger death punch and in this moment among others but the same concept applies. I try to take breaks from music but i end up going back. Not saying you should go hogwild but understand your limits and try to set goals to improve.

>Can anyone give me some kind of guidelines on how to be a good Muslim and follower of the prophet (peace be upon him)? I honestly feel somewhat lost. I'm reading the trilogy books but I digest books badly, so I'd like some kind of bullet points.

Start with the basics learn how to pray now and start reading the Quran. Personally I recommend The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an in Today's English . Next I recommend trying to fast even if a few hours a day until you can do a whole day. Attend Friday prayers and get to know those around you usually you'll find someone to befriend because of the large diversity. I'll try to answer more when I get home inshallah.

If you're accusing someone of committing adultery, yes. You have to have complete confidence that your testimony is absolutely correct. You are, afterall, accusing someone of committing one of the worst sins and crimes they can commit, which even if the accused are innocent of, can ruin their life, reputation and business; which in turn could harm their family and friends’ reputation as well. There can be no place for doubt and you need to know exactly in what order every act was committed. If you cannot recall it, you have no obligation to testify.

You're not accusing someone of theft or rape. Adultery is different. Especially if they're doing it in public. It's not as simple as 2 people getting aroused, making out and then getting caught and stopping. And then 4 people or more see them re-dressing themselves and walking/running away. We would logically conclude they were having sex and got caught but in this case in Islam, we need to make excuses for them unless we know that they did the crime 100% and with the intention to cause civil unrest. Them being caught and re-dressing themselves without the act being carried out would not satisfy the requirements of the Hudud punishment. The act of adultery has to be committed and everyone has to see it.

To clarify, 4 independent witnesses have to see their genitalia and the act of penetration, in addition to describing other intimate events that took place. In what world do 4 independent witnesses see people having sex and keep watching, including staring at their privates? If it’s done in private and you see 2 people having sex (eg. through a window), you would conclude they were married and look away. Not report it to the police and accuse them of committing adultery.

This law is in place so people know the seriousness of the crime and that it is not a petty issue. Sin should not be allowed to become commonplace like it has become today. This law exists in Islam by giving Muslims perspective on how serious the sin/crime is and how serious the punishment in the afterlife is if they do not repent. And regardless of whether it is done in public or private, the person is not immediately condemned to hell. They have the chance to repent. But for the Muslims in society today, they need to know how serious of a matter the sin is. That is the basis of Hadd punishments. Deterrence.

Non-Muslims committing adultery in private would not be ruled under this law as that would be a private act and they would be ruled under the law of their choosing (depending on what their faith is). If they had no faith, there would be no punishment. I say this again to emphasise that it is referring to public sex. Non-Muslims talk about this law out of ignorance and describe it as if the intent is to police what everyone is doing in their beds and in an Islamic country, people are being killed on every corner. This is not true at all.

The purpose of the law is not to go around flogging and killing everyone. It's to first let the Muslims know how serious the sin is and second to let them know how serious it is to make an accusation like that against someone if the accused is innocent. Otherwise, people would go around making accusations against their enemies, which cannot be tolerated. And thus, for those who would be interested in exploiting the law like this, there needs to be a deterrent against them. If corrupt people knew their slanders could get them punished, they would not make such an accusation against the innocent. Just look at how excited everyone is today to accuse potentially innocent celebrities of committing immoral sex acts (even though liberals say there is nothing wrong with it, they still make a fuss about it). Such slanders can ruin lives and even lead people to commit suicide.

By the way, based upon one interpretation, the death by stoning punishment applies to those who are married and commit adultery in public. Those who are not married, and have not been married, get flogged according to Qur’an 24:2 (flogging cannot cause bleeding or scarring – it’s not the kind of ISIS flogging that you think where someone is on the brink of death and covered in blood). The death penalty ruling is not derived from the Qur’an, but from hadith. There are other interpretations that that ruling regarding the death penalty is based upon Mosaic/Jewish law, not Islamic law, as Jews came to the Prophet SAW and said 2 people were accused of committing adultery. So, he referred to Jewish law out of respect for their faith to decide their punishment (non-Muslims have this right), which turned out to be death by stoning. The Qur’an does not say this and the only punishment that is outlined is flogging. Thus, they say death by stoning is not a part of Islamic law, but Jewish law.

Paraphrased: ‘Those that argue the punishment is flogging would argue that the Prophet SAW after 24:2 was revealed, avoided death by stoning for adultery as that ruling was derived from Mosaic law, which is considered corrupted by Muslims and abrogated by the Qur’an’. The previous sentence is from the book (reinterpreted in my own words based upon a very long paraphraph): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meaning-Holy-Quran-Todays-English-ebook/dp/B003XREATO/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?keywords=The+Meaning+of+the+Holy+Qur%27an+in+Today%27s+English+extended&qid=1554955673&s=digital-text&sr=1-2-fkmr0 The book is not arguing in favour of this interpretation or ruling, so there is no bias. Rather, the author is presenting that there is a different opinion and was a different opinion during the time of the Sahabah.

If it is not obvious, this ‘4 independent witnesses’ requirement only applies in the case of adultery. Which by the standards for prosecution has to be done in public. I mean in a really public place where everyone can see everything you’re doing clearly and will not forget the order in which you’re doing it. Which nobody would do anyways. Regardless of how strict and impossible the requirements for prosecution are, Muslims would turn away from and run away from this sin if they knew how severe the punishment was. Thus, the purpose of Hadd punishments.

The Meaning of the Holy Quran in Today's English is a great translation and tafsir that has a lot of explanation behind important verses and explains a lot of misconceptions in footnotes.