Einstein and the "God" of Spinoza

When Albert Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the recurring question that students asked him most was: "Do you believe in God?"

> thread And Einstein always answered: "I believe in Spinoza's god, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a god who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind."

When someone says they want to protect the sanctity of Islam, they don't mean protecting the Divine (God) because it is absurd to think of a mortal human being standing in defence of the Almighty.

thread > In fact, it is blasphemous to think of God as a weak Being in need of His creatures' protection.
What is meant truly when someone says they want to protect the sanctity of Islam is this: 'I want to protect my understanding of Islam'.

In Islam, is a husband allowed to beat his wife?

𝘋𝘪 𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮, 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘶𝘬𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘢? 4:34 …And as for those women whose ill-will you have reason to fear, admonish them [first]; then leave them alone in bed; then beat them… (Muhammad Asad)

The reason I believe
1) the Qur'an is true is that it describes what people we see around do, in real-time, to a high degree of accuracy.
2) traditional Islam is not in the Qur'an.

This thread is a witness: God: Here's a book of guidance for *anyone* who wants to live a righteous life (2:2)
Muslims: This is OUR book, and you "non-Muslims" have no right to interpret it. Can't even touch it, actually, if it's in Arabic.
(what about non-Muslim Arabs, how do they read?)

The average Malay Muslim has been told so often that he is incapable of understanding the Qur'an on his own, that he is utterly dependent on someone else's interpretation to the point that the interpretation is now akin to the word of God Himself.

thread> As a result, these man-made interpretations cannot be questioned, and a different understanding of the verses cannot be comprehended or processed.
To be fair, there is no real basis for comparison, because he thinks he will not be able to understand a pure translation.

It's hard to defend your faith against detractors because there are so many similarities between the Taliban / ISIS and traditional Islam
Quran ✅
Sunnah & Hadith ✅
Ijma' (consensus) ✅
Qiyas (analogy) ✅

Even the attestation of faith is the same ✅

thread > In Shafi'i-centric Malaysia, there is even some amount of support for the Taliban.

So how can you glibly say "They are not Islam" to non-Muslims?

Are you even allowed to declare others who call themselves Muslims "non-Muslims"?

Are you one of those Muslims who get upset and defensive when non-Muslims and atheists accuse Muslims of being obsessed with sex?

Let's consider the translation of the Qur'an - 78:31-33 is a good example in this case.

thread > 78:31
إِنَّ
indeed
لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
for the righteous
مَفَازًا
success

78:32
حَدَائِقَ
Gardens
وَأَعْنَابًا
grapevines

78:33
وَكَوَاعِبَ
And splendid companions
أَتْرَابًا
well-matched,

78:34
وَكَأْسًا
and a cup
دِهَاقًا
full.

What is wrong with traditional Qur'an translations?

Here's the Arabic: وَكَوَاعِبَ أَتْرَابًا (78:33)
Phrases: وَكَوَاعِبَ (And splendid companions), أَتْرَابًا ( well-matched)

Translation: And full-breasted [companions] of equal age 🤦🏻‍♂️

qurano.com/en/78-an-naba/… Is God not fair to women?

Actually, there is no specification of gender in the preceding verses at all - in fact, God mentions "For those who were mindful", meaning any and all genders get companions

Let's read from 78:31...

We're never going to solve Islamic banking without going back to first principles and defining riba properly according to the Qur'an.

God has allowed trade and forbidden usury… (2:275)

So what is usury? Watch the video!

#IslamicBanking

And afterwards, we will find that conventional banking, with the policies that are reasonably good and equitable, is already Islamic, without needing specific labels.
And there is no need to compel people to use it either because the right way is clear from error.

So there's this huge flood one day, and an entire town looks like it's going to be swallowed up by the waters. And the Police and Rescue Agencies are running all over the place trying to get people to safety. So they send the rescue boat over to this house where a guy's sitting on the roof with the water lapping around his ankles and they say "Come on, quickly, there isn't much time"
To which he says "Nah, it's ok, God will provide"

Practical Solution from the Qur'an for the Palestinian.

The conflict that began after WW2 has not shown any signs of ending towards peace, but only continuous sufferings by both parties.

thread > Unfortunately, it is the Palestinians who are receiving the biggest blow in this conflict while Israel continues to dominate through its systematic aggression and expansion activities.

God says “Do good and I will reward you. Every deed, even as small as a mustard seed will be counted. I am the best accountant, trust me.”

Muslims do not trust God.

thread > They trust those they have appointed associates of God, who tell them doing this gets you so many points, doing that gets you so many points... and if you'd do this on a certain day, night, or month, you get so many extra points.

Present-day Muslims who do not study history think that Quranists are a new movement.

However, the 𝘔𝘶'𝘵𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 (in the 8th century) and 𝘈𝘩𝘭 𝘢𝘭-𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘢̄𝘮 before them, were opponents of Imam Al-Shafi‘i ...

thread > ...and his principle that the final authority of Islam was the hadith of Muhammad, so that even the Qur'an was "to be interpreted in the light of [the hadith], and not vice versa."

My New Year Message

Zaid Ibrahim (5 Jan 2020)

Malays say they are falling behind other ethnic groups in many fields. They seem to think that it is all because the non-Malays are in control of the economy and the country. The solutions offered to them by their political and religious leaders are the same; they were told that they must unite and that they must follow the real teachings of their religion. It is the same advice given to them all these years since independence.

In the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s, we were closer towards developing a Malaysian identity. Much like what Singapore has successfully done.

Singaporeans (even the Chinese) are Singaporeans first. Then in the late 70s, we were inflicted with the "religious" creep.

We also had the "ketuanan" creep.

In between, we had the "language" creeps.

Now after 40 years of all this creep, we are becoming a creepy nation. Full of creeps.

I want to talk about irrational behaviour.

Recently, I raised the issue of child marriage amongst Muslims, and I asked this "scientist" how old he believed Aisha was when she was married to Prophet Muhammad. He said "9". We "know" this because it is mentioned in the hadith that the marriage was when she was 6, but the consummation took place when she was 9.

Then I said I do not believe that because ...

Yes to freedom. If it were me, I'd say Samuel Paty is a martyr of freedom.

Imam Chalgoumi has been for very long years now the voice of respect and tolerance, always standing up for republic laws and values.

Einstein and the God of Spinoza

When Albert Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the recurring question that students asked him most was: "Do you believe in God?"

And Einstein always answered: "I believe in the God of Spinoza". Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher and considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy, along with Descartes.

Would You Permit Me?

A Poem by Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998)

In a country where thinkers are assassinated,
and writers are considered infidels and books are burnt,
in societies that refuse the other,
and force silence on mouths and thoughts forbidden, and to question is a sin,
I must beg your pardon, would you permit me?

Would you permit me to bring up my children as I want,
and not to dictate on me your whims and orders?
Would you permit me to teach my children that the religion is first to God,

Hilariously ridiculous 😂🤣

Muslims, if you are being told this, please challenge the person telling it to you - even common sense tells you that following anything blindly is stupid, and Islam does not teach you to be stupid. Not to mention contradicting the Qur'an in 2:171 (The likeness of such blind followers is that of a herd of sheep which hear the shepherd’s call, but hear in it nothing more than a sound and a shout. Deaf, dumb, blind, for they do not use their reason), ...

The Qur'an tells us in a specific verse to use the Qur'an alone.

17:46 - We place shields around their minds, to prevent them from understanding it, and deafness in their ears. And when you preach your Lord, using the Qur'an alone, they run away in aversion. Traditional Translation

17:46 - And We have placed coverings on their hearts and a heaviness in their ears lest they understand it, and when you mention your Lord alone in the Qur'an they turn their backs in aversion.