#why did god create the world islam

[unsolicited-opinions]

Bro no one hates jews for ethnicity, news are hated for faith.

If you are an atheist "jew", no one gives a shit about you.

Stop pretending to be a victim and trying to appropriate antisemitic struggles.

I'll address these point by point.

Jewish readers, please share your thoughts!

You wrote: "No one hates Jews for ethnicity, [J]ews are hated for faith."

"Hitler...defined the Jews as a race and not a religious community, characterized the effect of a Jewish presence as a “race-tuberculosis of the peoples,” and identified the initial goal of a German government to be discriminatory legislation against Jews."

[Source]

More here

As David Baddiel put it, "I'm an atheist, but that would get me no free passes out of Auschwitz."

The Jews are a people. Judaism is the traditional religion of that people. A Jew who does not engage with that religion does not cease to be a Jew by Jewish definitions OR by antisemitic definitions.

You wrote: "If you are an atheist Jew, nobody gives a shit about you."

First, see above.

Second, you're incorrectly assuming that a Jewish atheist is not engaged with Judaism.

Here's the thing:

Judaism isn't necessarily theistic.

Let's set aside the explicitly non-theistic movement of Humanistic Judaism for a moment (huge topic for another time) and just talk briefly about theism in Judaism.

Most kinds of Judaism, while certainly encouraging faith, do not require it. There are no thought crimes in Judaism, no crucibles of faith, and no requirements that one announce or perform proof of belief for witnesses. Those things are often parts of Christianity and Islam, but in Judaism...not so much.

In Jewish thought, it is not what you believe about metaphysics which lifts you up, ennobles you, improves you, or makes the world a better place. In Judaism, you pursue those things by how you behave.

Sola fide is a Christian concept which Judaism does not share. Judaism is a profoundly existential religion with ethics which are overwhelmingly humanist.

I was raised in Reform and Conservative congregations...and non-theistic/atheistic/humanistic views were very common there.

When I was studying to become Bar Mitzvah, our congregation's Rabbi made crystal clear to me that there was no contradiction between my identity as a Jew and my inability to swallow the idea of an anthropomorphic, sapient, interventionist God who cared at all about petitionary prayer. He felt that wrestling with God was a very Jewish thing to do. He introduced me to Maimonides' apophatic theology. Decades later, I'm still grateful.

Many Jews pray, I believe, not to be heard by God, but so they can hear their own hearts and minds. This is why kavanah is important and why I disliked (and still dislike) prayer-by-rote and rituals performed for the sake of ritual. It's more mindfulness meditation than petitionary prayer.

There's a famous Hasidic story, recorded by philosopher Martin Buber in his "Tales of the Hasidim," about how Judaism views atheism:

The Master teaches that God created everything the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.

One clever student asks "What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?"

The Master responds "God created atheists teach us the most important lesson of them all- the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in Goda at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right."

"This means," the Master continued "that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say 'I pray that God will help you.' Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say 'I will help you."

You wrote: "Stop pretending to be a victim and trying to appropriate antisemtic struggles."

I invite other Jews to advise if I have appropriated anything which is not mine.

Your opinion, though? Your view, as a non-Jew, about what is or isn't Jewish? On what is or is not mine in my heritage? Your claim, framed by your obvious and absolute ignorance of my life, my family's history, Jewish history, Jewish theology, and Jewish philosophy, that I have not experienced antisemitism and am "appropriating?"

I don't have a single fuck to give about any of that, and neither does any other Jew

Still, thank you for the writing prompt. It helps to crystalize my own thinking and provides an opportunity to educate.

[loneberry]

Ibn ʿArabi on water and divine lowness

Commentary on Ibn ʿArabi's The Bezels of Wisdom

I guess I just love this because I've been thinking about the directionality of the divine lately, feeling a bit of an aversion to the privileging of the heavenward direction above all else—which I associate with hierarchy, ascension, Plotinus. I've been thinking against Simone Weil's conception of grace as that which enables ascent against the force of gravity, a hoisting upward, which is often a kind of turning away from the created world, a disavowal of earthy existence. What can I say. I love the earth. I'll keep on loving the earth. I want to think with the low, the mineral, with water, which always finds the lowest point. Water is that which supports life from beneath.

How did I find my way to Islamic mysticism? In the Abrahamic traditions, it really does offer the most affirming view of creation. We're all the breath of God.

What would it mean to find God below?

If you let a rope fall down, it will fall on God.

As I wrote in my review of the experimental film Last Things by Deborah Stratman:

Why not found a religion based on fear and respect of the mineral kingdom? Death is not ascent but descent, a return to our mineral form, as Mallo and Cixous know. 

From Agustín Fernández Mallo's The Book of All Loves: “The fact that teeth and bones are all that remains of us after death is proof that our ultimate identity is mineral. We do not ascend, we are not on some track towards that which the ancients formulated as spiritual; on the contrary, we sink down into the most durable physical matter. A kind of periodic table of elements is what we are; more of the earth even than earth itself.”

From Hélène Cixous’s Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing: “There is passage through the animal state, then through the vegetal state, and so we move away from humankind; from the vegetal we descend into the earth, by the stem, by the root, until we reach what doesn’t concern us, although it exists and inscribes itself, which is of the mineral order, although it doesn’t hold together since we are aiming toward disassembly, toward decomposition.”

*

Ibn ‘Arabī, speaking of divine intention, writes in the Futūhāt:

"It is like water. Its station is that it descends or flows on the earth."

[fivepercentgodsandearths]

ADDICTION…

In The Name Of Allah,

Lord Of All The Worlds…

“N.G.E. On Addiction…”

In accord to the way of life (Islam) that I live each and every day, in every way possible, I open this degree of supreme understanding with and in none other than, Peace! Know and understand (In that order...) that addiction is neither a Nation of God(s) or Earth(s) word, nor a creation from the Supreme, rather Devil(!). With that in mind, it MUST be clear that the Doer of Evil (Devil) is the creator of such, and creates such to make he or her vulnerable to the will of Devil. For the devil was put here and allow to be here, for a reason. And as he, as well as her, lives out that reason ( Devil’s, regardless to gender, Do Evil!!!), So MUST(!) we ( The Devil’s maker…) Before I manifest another thought, let’s define the word addiction:

Addiction: The state of being enslaved to a habit, practice or something that is psychological or physical habit forming. Some examples of some common addictions are drugs, alcohol, gambling, food, sex, shopping, etc.… to name a few. Addiction can and has manifest itself in many forms and fashion, for I just named a few, but it stops not there. Which doesn’t necessarily make the addictive’s bad, nor the addict a no-good person. Just be careful/mindful, for until you become a slave to such, and have severe complications ceasing or controlling such, or such is controlling you! That normal thing can, just in matter of moments become an ADDICTION. Which reminds me of a type of people (10%) who strive to control or enslave a people or people. What better way, or a way to implement such than addiction.

Addiction is definitely not true and living created, nor nothing for the true and living to destroy. Addiction can be a confirming factor or verifying point of true and living from the false and dead. Which brings to mind another truth revealing from back in the days (Physical Law…), which revealed, “When you get this knowledge you don’t just change, rather you rapidly change! Or you not one of us.” Hmmmmmmm?

Another truth, long ago revealed that comes to mind is Elijah Muhammads answer to W.D. Fard’s inquiry (98…38. Then, why did God make devil?).

Elijah replied, “To show forth and prove his powers that he is all wise and righteous. That he could make a devil, which is weak and wicked, give him the power to rule the Earth for 6,000 years. Then destroy the devil on one day without falling victim to the devil’s civilization. Otherwise, to show and prove that Allah is God - Always has been and always will be.”

Always keep in mind in order for the rich slave makers/blood-suckers, a.k.a. Devils remain rich is through the keeping the people slaves, by keeping the slaves enslaved, as well blind/illiterate to self. In doing so, they can and would be able to master them, use them as tools, and get richer as well stay rich. Addictions is one of the many ways such is perpetuated, along with endless diabolical attempts. Trust me, the Devil knows there are those who have not and will not be addicts (Which is who they truly will…). He as well her who will either overcome addiction, or just never allow addictions any powers over one(s) self. To the true and living, chosen and few, such is a choice. Which is supported in the knowing and understanding, the mental and physical powers of a Real devil (92… 32. Tell us, the mental and physical powers of a real devil?). In straight forward understanding, regardless to whom or what, they (Devil) are and always will be nothing to compare with the original people. Even with all the evil doings, the devil will be no more than the devil he or she is. The devil knows what I am manifesting is true and real, which is why the subjections and availability of addictive are made so available, plentiful and easily accessible.

Always keep in mind, ever, ever forget, there are always the reason why it’s MIND over matter, and not matter over mind! For when one is ready to put the matter (addictions?) where it belongs, then with your mind you will put the MIND over and not under matter. Look at it like this, for like the devil, addiction is nothing more than a test, also known as STRUGGLE. As an Elder ( Bashir Hameed… ) once enlighten me, “Struggle is nothing more than a test you go through in life, and eventually overcome.“ A test is nothing more than an act or process of determining a means, quality or presence of something or someone. In the case of ALLAH, addiction doesn’t necessary disqualify you for in the physical plane we are still human, and the physical is a reflection of the mental plane, not the mental plane(!). Though, the mental plane is forever present, which is why and how the devil as well as their made projects are essentially expired! We, the true and living, are the chosen and few, which is why the devil and their products are powerless in the World, Allah is forever and always present!

In my conclusion, Addictions in any form or fashion has no (!) claim, say or residences in the true and living life! The devil was made by God, and Devil made addiction s and things of such! So, just like the devil is living on expired time, so is that, and those addictions. Keep in mind, in our lessons (98…38. Then, why did God make devil?) Elijah, made reference to …one day…” in regards to destroying the devil, without falling victim the devil’s civilization. Well know the common usage to one day is 24 hours, which is like I said is common. But in my understanding, be it one day, one hour, one year, etc.… etc.… at one point/some point its bye-bye addiction… Bye-bye creator of addiction (Devil!). Which is contingent and made possible upon that decision. One’s decision to no more, just as one’s decision to more, more and more. So much in life is, and would not be, because we haven’t decided, or decided. Despite what others may have said, think or feel, it is as easy as that. Addiction today, application today. Addiction no tomorrow.

*Note: Like PRISON, Addiction is a decision, Not a LIFE Sentence… (Unless, you want it to be?)

Made Manifest By: Application Latik Seymou Allah(15,101)

**Note: Any Add On, Criticisms, disagreements. Etc.…(?) Feel free to contact me (Application Latik Seymou Allah 4042715011 ), for I loves to build( Builders Build! ) and WELCOME ALL Builds.

Proper Education Always Corrects Errors( PEACE!!! )

[samwisethewitch]

Let's Talk About Religious Appropriation and Christianity

In my previous post, I talked about why religious appropriation matters and why it genuinely impacts pagan communities when culturally Christian authors take our gods out of context. Now I wanna talk about why it doesn't go the other way.

Religious appropriation is when someone from a dominant religious group misuses symbols or practices from a marginalized religion. (Reminder: marginalized means an identity or group is treated as insignificant or pushed to the periphery.) There is an element of power imbalance to appropriation.

In the United States, where I live, Christianity is the dominant religious group. Even Americans who are not practicing Christians themselves are culturally Christian -- they were raised in a culture where Christianity is assumed to be the default. In other parts of the world, the dominant religion may be another faith like Buddhism, Islam, or something else. I will be talking about Christianity in this post because that's my experience, but just remember that this isn't about theology so much as social influence.

Someone living in a culturally Christian society might use Christian symbols or elements in their art for a lot of different reasons. It might be a sincere expression of faith because the artist is a Christian (see: C.S. Lewis). The artist might use Christian symbols because they are widely known and will be easily recognized by their audience (see: It's a Wonderful Life). The artist might use Christian symbols outside of their original context or in a subversion of that context to create comedy (see: Dogma by Kevin Smith) or horror (see: Rosemary's Baby). And finally, they might use those symbols as a critique or satire of organized Christianity (see: Children of the Corn).

In any of those cases, it's highly unlikely that the depiction in this media property is going to overshadow actual Christian practices. Christianity is one of the most widely practiced religions in the world. There are over 2 billion Christians globally. 63% of Americans identify as Christians. (And that number is at an all time low! In older generations, it's higher!) And because of the built-in hierarchy of Christianity, there are designated spokespeople who can speak up to set the record straight.

For a real life example of this, let's think about The Da Vinci Code. For those who don't know, The Da Vinci Code is a thriller novel written by Dan Brown. A major plot point in the story is the reveal that Jesus Christ had sex and fathered children with Mary Magdalene, which is considered a heresy by most Christians. The Catholic Church specifically had a huge negative reaction to Dan Brown writing about them spending 2,000+ years intentionally covering up the fact that Jesus fucked.

And The Da Vinci Code had a HUGE impact on pop culture. The book has sold over 80 million copies in 44 languages. The movie stars huge actors like Tom Hanks and Sir Ian McKellan and was the second-highest grossing film of 2006. The massive protests drew even more media attention. This story was a very big deal for a couple of years.

And yet, most people in America and other culturally Christian countries still know that, in Christian lore, Jesus died without marrying or fathering children. Even people who have read The Da Vinci Code or seen the movie can usually recognize that the whole Mary Magdalene thing is fiction. Even if someone did come away thinking Jesus getting it on with Mary Magdalene was historical fact, they're likely to encounter other media at some point that will depict Jesus as unmarried.

More people do not believe Jesus fucked because of The Da Vinci Code. It has not significantly changed popular perceptions of Christianity, or even of Catholicism. This is because Christianity, and specifically the Catholic Church, are huge institutions with both the power and the platform to set the record straight.

Marginalized religions do not have that kind of power or platform, which is why religious appropriation is a much bigger deal for us. In general, you can't appropriate something from a dominant cultural group.

[dreaming-in-4d]

How the titular Vivzie-verse unintentionally shows why we need God.

--

If you watch the opening of episode 1 of Hazbin Hotel on Amazon, God appears to be missing in action. Humans are instead created by the angels and Lucifer is cast down for his "new ideas".

No one in heaven or on Earth have any guiding body to keep everything from falling to corruption(1). This might also be another contributing factor to why Hell is so over-crowded(2).

The world of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss is full of inconsistencies as many a video essay will tell you. No one knows how to enforce the rules because no one, not even angels, know what those rules are.

Hazbin has been renewed for a second season and it got me thinking about where the angels come from. Who made them? Did they just will themselves into existence?

Vivzie has stated that she grew up Presbyterian(3). We do see a church in the the I.M.P. commercial in Helluva Boss's original pilot. But how does that work if God is absent from this universe(4)?

In conclusion, without a perfect God, both life and beyond are a tangled mess of what an individual deems right or wrong. Maybe God will finally show his face in a future season but who knows? It might be a reach.

--

(1) this is not to insinuate that actual religious groups are above corruption. The only reason Protestantism exists was because of Catholic corruption during Luther's time.

(2) It's not really Hell that's overcrowded, it's the Pride ring. I don't think we've been told why sinners can't visit other rings; correct me if I'm wrong.

(3) if it isn't Catholic or Orthodox, it's Protestant. Vivzie does show a bit of Catholic imagery with the "bishop" that is tasked to marry Moxxie off. As a Catholic myself, this is so bleh.

(4) Without God the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam don't exist.

[apilgrimpassingby]

Actually enslaving people is wrong because it’s a fucked up thing to do, and for centuries Christian’s didn’t get the memo on that one so realizing it’s a fucked up and horrible thing to do doesn’t come from ‘Christian ethics’

Also your blog is a complete eyesore

Slavery is f*cked up? That would have been news to the Greco-Roman world, many African societies throughout history, the Chinese well into the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire and most other Muslim societies, India in many periods of its history, the Norse, many Native American peoples and quite a few people today.

Slavery is so abhorrent to us that we don't realise that the correct question isn't "why does a given society have slavery"? Having slavery is the default for societies. Rather, we should ask why we don't have it.

Christianity, in large part.

Gregory of Nyssa, 4th century bishop and theologian, was the first known person to propose the abolition of slavery. While the other Church Fathers saw that as a pipe dream due to how pervasive it was, they almost all thought that slavery was a symptom of a fallen world and would disappear in the New Creation (and it largely did in the Byzantine Empire, the heartland of eastern Christianity). Whereas to the Greeks and Romans it was just an inherent and indisputable fact of life.

Over in the West, the Norse slave trade was primarily opposed by Christian clergy, and mainly on the religious grounds that it was immoral to treat fellow Christians like this (keep in mind that in their ideal world, everyone would be Christian). When slavery was revived by the Spanish, it was consistently opposed by a Dominican friar, Bartolomé de las Casas, using arguments based on the image of God and the works of Thomas Aquinas. When the Spanish crown agreed to a debate on slavery between him and fellow clergyman Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, Casas stuck to his arguments from the Christian tradition and Sepúlveda primarily argued from Aristotle.

With the transatlantic slave trade most people are familiar with, the opposition primarily came from Quakers and Evangelicals using arguments based on the image of God in all people. And they eventually succeeded, and Britain hence used its naval muscle to suppress slavery in the colonies and coerce the Ottomans into abolishing it; the sense this created of an Islamic institution being uprooted by foreign infidels led to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism (as such, it's hardly surprising that Islamic State have reinstituted it).

Whenever I have not provided a link, it came from one of the following three books, chiefly the first of them - Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by Tom Holland (the classicist, not the actor), A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages by Martyn Whittock and The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele.

I agree my blog could probably do with more of a visual component. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Creation: Part 2

Why did God Create the Universe?

When analyzing this issue, some facts must be kept in mind. While we perceive things from a human perspective, God does not. While we act out of necessity or desire, God does not. In other words, we cannot ascribe human attributes and motivations to God.

Who is distressed by the universe’s creation? Who does not desire to enjoy its benefits or seek happiness? Very few people express real sorrow at being in this world. Some have killed themselves, but their numbers are very small. The overwhelming majority of people are glad to be alive, to be here, and to be human. Who complains of being cared for by his or her parents, or of being nourished by that love during childhood? Who complains of being a young person, during which time the exhilaration of life is felt in the very bones? Which mature adult complains of having a family, children, and leading a harmonious life with them? How can we hope to measure the happiness of Muslims who, even as they are cultivating the seed for the next world, are ensuring success in this world? They are discovering the keys to the gates of ultimate happiness, and so are content and feel no distress.

The universe, which has been ornamented with every sort of art, is like an endless parade or exhibition designed to attract us and make us reflect. Its extraordinary diversity and magnificent adornment, the sheer abundance, and the flow of events present a certain reality to our senses and minds. This reality indicates the existence of an agent who brings it into being. Through the reality of His words and deeds, we come to know the Doer, and so His Names. Through these Names, we try to know His Attributes. Through the channels and prayers opened to our hearts, we strive to know Him in Himself. This raising up of our being is inspired across a wide domain of reality—things, events, the vast realm of humanity’s stewardship, as well as the relation or connection between us and the universe and the realm of God’s Names and Attributes.

But why did God create all of this? Consider the following: Great sculptors can produce, from the hardest stone or wood, life-like statues that express the most delicate feelings. But we cannot know these sculptors as sculptors unless their abilities are revealed. We can come to know or deduce their abilities from the statues or the process used to produce them. Every potentiality wishes to reveal the reality hidden within itself, to demonstrate what it knows by assuming an outward form. Seeds strive to sprout, sperms strive to join the egg in the womb, and floating bubbles strive to reach the ground like drops of water.

The urge to show our potentialities, and thus to be seen and known by others, is an expression of weakness or defect, as all beings and their wishes are merely shadows of the original essence. However, the Creator has no defect or weakness. Remember that no single or composite manifestation of the essence is similar to the actual essence.

All artistry in the universe informs us of God’s Names. Each Name, displayed by what has been created, illuminates our way and guides us to the knowledge of the Creator’s Attributes. They stimulate and awaken our hearts by His signs and messages carried to our senses.

The Creator wills to introduce Himself to us clearly and thoroughly. He wills to show His Splendor through the variety and beauty of creation; His Will and Might through the universe’s magnificent order and harmony; His Mercy, Compassion, and Grace through His bestowal of everything upon us, including our most secret wishes and desires. And He has many more Names and Attributes through which He wills to make Himself known.

In other words, He creates and places things in this world to manifest His Might and Will. By passing all things through the prism of the intellect and understanding of conscious beings, He arouses their wonder, admiration, and appreciation. Great artists manifest their talents through works of art; the Owner of the universe created it simply to manifest the Might and Omnipotence of His Creativity.

[about-rock]

Ville Valo - religions and beliefs - atheism, christianity, satanism

Why would anybody care about some rockstar’s religion? Therefore there’s Ville Valo. Used so many symbols and did so many references to it. That’s why I think it’s a topic to talk about- it might get interesting.

He wasn’t growing in a religious family, in a religious country, so to these days it’s not the topic of his life.

,,Even at school I studied ethics instead of religion.”

,,I wasn't baptized when I was born. My parents thought that if I wanted to believe, started believing, or wanted to be a part of a church, religion, or movement, I could make that choice for myself. “

Satanist stuff

But just at the beginning of HIM he used so many symbols, devil’s symbols such as 666 and the name of the band.

Ville has been always assuring us, that these are only symbols that he used more for fun and reference and because of his big fan of Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.

,,Our song ‘Your Sweet 666’ is more of a tribute to Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden’s ‘The Number of The Beast’ than to something actually evil.”

,,I’m immensely proud of the Heartagram. People having tattoos of it... it’s amazing. It’s not a symbol - it’s a movement. I love religious symbolism..”

Also name of the band (his infernal majesty) wasn’t taken directly from Antony Lavey books but from one of his favorite song back then- as he said in interview from nowadays, telling he is not sure still about origin of the name.

Clearly he’s not, more than 8 years ago he said:

The name Him came from Helsinki ice-hockey maniacs and it was our protest to Haile Selassie's rastafarian religion, he used to be called His Imperial Majesty..but nowadays because of Linde's hair, we actually might be supporting him.

After all it seems that name of the band has nothing with devil worship or something like that- it was more like playing fun with it- back then in 90s Sweden, Finland and Norwegia were the most black metal satanic bands in the world. It’s pretty obvious it got some influence at that time on Ville, that’s why he used some symbol with with but never seriously and as he said: all this stuff what satanist made was stupid for him[about burning churches].

“But I’ve always been laughing that, maybe it makes all the sense in the world for Fins to create metal – the headbanging keeps us warm. You know, it gets terribly cold in the winter. So it makes all the sense in the world that that would be the reason. That’s also probably why the Norwegians burned the churches. It’s nothing to do with Satanism, but they were cold.”

Ville could not be a satanist: he’s song is never about devil and he hates posture of satanist,here a simple example:

,,I hate Nazis”

(Which is typical for devil’s followers)

Topic about Ville being satanist we can close up by his own words:

,,Record companies are devil worshippers - not us.”

and,

,,I don’t believe in Satan or Satanism or the Christian dogma or Islamic or whatever.”

So he is an atheist?-not exactly.

Atheist?Christian?

He never said that he don’t believe in God, such as he said he that he don’t believe in satan.

Ville don’t believe in Christian dogma, but it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t believe in God. It’s also seems that he is more anti-religious traditions more than a whole point of it.

"I am not anti-religion, I am anti-assholes and, unfortunately, in the religious realm, there are a lot of assholes."

There are many proves in press that he got quite big experience with Christianity.

from 2010:

“I read the Bible every day,” he says, grinning impishly as he switches the light on in his bathroom to reveal he’s wallpapered it with pages ripped from a King James edition.

Some days,” he says, giggling, “I read it twice.”

from 2010, also about wallpaper in toilet:

"But you've never read [the bible]?"

"I read it every time I take a shit"

Well, is it profanation, approach to the Christian religion some kind of joke? Probably the same as with Satanism, Christianity is not important to him- he do some fun with it only. Also, I think that this ,,wallpaper” kind of think was

more like a ,,drunk Ville” idea who don’t give a shit, now, I’m pretty sure, he wouldn’t do that. But about today’s Ville will be later.

But on the other side:

,,My maxim to the young people is: "Don't kill"”

Just like from Bible, maybe he really read it and liked some of it. Clearly not everything, that’s why he does not represent as a Christian.

,,I believe in God for the sake of orphan kids”

I wonder, rather it was sarcasm or more like his another thing he actually agree in religions.

,,My idea of heaven is a bit unusual...”

Does that prove Ville believes in an afterlife( from the Christian religion)?It seems like that for sure.

Oh, here’s another about Heaven:

,,But we all like sleeping, chess, the Adam's Family, we prefer night to day, Halloween to Christmas, weddings to funerals, X-Files to Friends, Abba to the Cure and Heaven to Hell because we all want to go there”

It's very hard for me to deduce in what realities Ville lives because he believes in Christian heaven and hell, but he doesn't bring himself to the most important holiday for Christians-ok, I said it too bluntly and to be honest after this statement you can expect not 100% sincerity.

Another thing that can’t be unsaid: Jesus and Ville. Ville quite often talk about him, really.

,,I’ve crossed oceans of wine” is probably one of not many(or only one) song by HIM which there’s something about Christianity.

,, We're so Christlike”~ I’ve crossed oceans of wine

In my interpretation, he used the motif of Jesus here as a sacrifice up to death. This motif fits very well with his concept of music - death and love. Maybe that’s why he used to wear Jesus on t-shirts and belts, crusader? Probably yes, it’s not like he believes in it, he just like more his story.

"Ozzy is after all an icon to me in the same way as Jesus, Motörhead’s Lemmy”

Here’s perfect proof, 666 and Jesus just an icon, symbol for his art.

What today’s Ville Valo on all of this religious stuff?The Answer

,,I believe in friendship, life, love, music, food, but I don't have any religion that I follow.”

,,[..]still didn't find what I'm looking for.”

For me it seems he is more like a person who believes in what he sees, sometimes he believes in Heaven, sometimes not, sometimes in God, sometimes not- for sure never in Satan since he has always used to be an opposite of it. What I could say as a…Christian- Ville mixes up in himself everything what he think is right- sometimes from Bible, sometimes,more often, from live experiences.

,, I think life is all about good manners. You should open up doors for ladies and you should say ‘thank you.’ You should not swear and you should not spit. That’s what my parents told me and that’s what I’m trying to do. It’s brought me this far.”

Ville just does what he thinks is moral and good, you can see it from the man he is now - it's probably the type of person who thinks that this is the most important thing in life and the settlement after death, if it exists at all, will decide.

Ville never grew up in family, with any beliefs like most Finns, so it's no wonder he doesn’t attach much importance to it like the rest of Europe, and treat it more as a culture.

[learning-islam-together]

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim (In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate)

(بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم)

…………….. do not make them runaway (from Islam) ~ Imam Bukhari 69.

From our July 2020 archives.

SAHIH BUKHARI HADITH NO. 69

Chapter 3 from THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE :~

Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet ‎(ﷺ) said, Facilitate things to people (concerning religious matters), and do not make it hard for them and give them good tidings and do not make them run away (from Islam).

Islam is simple, don’t make it complicated.

God intends for you ease.

The religion Islam is easy, beautiful and simply perfect. Why make things hard? The Qur’an reads: “Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.” (Qur’an, 2:185)

This verse explains that Islam is easy to follow and rather encourages us to create ease in religion. Unfortunately some Muslims, including some reverts, are under the misconception that the more stringent they are in following religion, the more pious they become. This is totally in contradiction to what our religion teaches us. The misconception is a result of lack of understanding of religion and at times drives some people away from religion, mainly because of the way it is presented to them.

Some people have aimed at causing religion to deviate from its essence, preventing religion from being practiced by attempting to add on many difficult practices and superstitions to it. Such practices have sadly resulted in people deviating from Islam. However from the information set forth in the verses in the Qur’an and the replete stories and Hadiths by the Prophet (peace be upon him), we can ascertain that it is easy for sincere Muslims to be good Muslims.

Some groups of people in attempting to distinguish the reality of Islam ~ the genuine beauty, simplicity and practicality have tried a simple forum of reasoning but only have managed to get themselves labelled as deviants and sects, sadly.

Here at LEARNING ISLAM we try our utmost to keep it uncomplicated and easy as Prophet Muhammad ‎(ﷺ) did per his valued Sunnah. Sometimes a trapezoidal act but Alhumdulillah we seem to have been blessed and we are enamored to pass this blessing of dawah to each and everyone of you.

In this life we are tested and according to the morals and faith we show in this world and God determines where our real life will be lived, that being Hell or Heaven. The test is quite easy; God wishes for us to simply to live the life that brings happiness and peace in this world within the tenets of Islam. in short to live our life in moderation.

Don’t go to extremes dearest sisters & brothers 🙏

[questionsonislam]

What is Worship and Why Are the People Held Responsible For It?

The meaning of worship is that a servant performs his duties such as offering glorification, exaltation, and praise to Almighty God in the way He orders. Giving thought to the fact that he is nurtured with the endless bounties and gifts, man is in charge of doing his duty of proclaiming God is the greatest and offering thanks to Him. It is achieved only by means of worship. A worshipper arranges his all acts and behaviors such as eating and drinking, sitting and standing and so forth in accordance with the bounds of God Almighty. He leads his life as the servant of Allah. This servitude makes him reach the rank of real humanity and dignity. After all, the main goal of the creation is to attain this honor. Indeed God Almighty says in the exalted Quran I have only created Jinn and men, that they may serve Me. (Az-Záriyát: 56). In another verse in the Quran, He says:

O ye people! Worship your Guardian Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may become righteous; Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith Fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth). (Al-Baqarah:21-22).

God Almighty created the heaven adorned with the sun and stars, the earth decked out with seas and lands in the best form. He placed senses each of which is more valuable than the universe into the spirit of man. Just as he bestowed on him an eye capable of seeing all beauties, a tongue which is able to take pleasures from all the tastes of the food, so too did He gift him a mind being competent to turn those delights tasted by those senses into knowledge and understanding. And He donated man a conscience that can appreciate not only the bounties filtered from the universe to help him but also physical and spiritual presents placed into his body.

Man can make out through the mind granted to him that he has not been created merely for this world and that he cannot be without any purpose or duty.

He fathoms trough his conscience that he must declare thanks and glorification to his Sustainer. He performs his worship only for Allah. He never attributes any partners to his Lord.

He feels affection solely towards Allah with his heart,; he loves all the creatures worthy of love for the sake of Him.

Even if he were not held responsible for the worship, his mind, heart and conscience would command him to offer worship and obedience to Allah. It is because only worship can gratify those senses.

It is quite obvious that God Almighty, who needs nothing, has no need of our worship. On the contrary, it is we who need to worship.

What will be our response in the Day of Judgment that willingly or unwillingly we will go through when Almighty God asks us Oh my servants! I created you out of nothing. I directed all my bounties in the earth to you in order to meet your endless needs. I fulfilled your needs all the time. My compassion and mercy had always been upon you. Whom were you then together with? Whom did you, completely ignorant of me, offer your praises and thanks to though I was truly worthy of them? Do you think the spiritual torture caused by the humiliation and being ashamed will be greater than the torment of hell? It must be the severe sense of embarrassment that makes the unbeliever utter Woe unto me! Would that I were (mere) dust!"

Just as a man cannot lead his life without religion, so too can Islam not be without performing worship. Let us exemplify this truth with an analogy. Just fancy an Islamic village where azan (call to prayer) is not called. Nobody performs prayers -neither bairam nor Friday prayers nor daily prayers-. No member of that rural community performs fasting, nor gives zakat (alms), goes to Makkah for hajj (pilgrimage). They do not read the Quran, nobody minds about what is haram (forbidden) and what is halal (licit); nobody knows what is obligation and what is incumbent. Nobody brings to his mind to proclaim praises and thanks in return to the never-ending bounties of the Allah.

Do those members of that village not enter a path absolutely contrary to commands of the Quran and the lifestyles of our Prophet (upon whom be peace), his companions, the saints and purified scholars, leading scholars and interpreters of Islamic law and mujaddids (revivers).

As a matter of fact, Islam is not a system based on only theory and conscience only. In many verses of the Revealed Quran, just following the word faith the phrase good deed is used and it is stressed out that good deed is a result of belief.

The reason of sending prophets is to teach the pillars of faith and essentials of Islam to people. That is to say, it is to teach people fully the fundamentals of faith, primarily belief in Allah, and to teach them thoroughly the duties of worship which will enable faith to reach into perfection. Only by means of these glorifications can faith of man become mature. The value of a servant in the presence of Allah depends on the sensibility he displays in his servitude to Him.

[your-mom-friend]

I hope that you’re really not upset with my question, since I’m a Muslim as well, and I genuinely wanted to know what got you into this state, and I’ve been including you in my prayers for the longest time now, especially since I’ve been following you for years.

You’re a kind soul, a caring one, and you’ve suffered a lot in your lifetime as had millions of other children, some that I know personally who endured this type of sexual trauma from priests. I know the anger you experience regarding the abuse, and unfortunately I know it too well that it’s engraved into my bones. But hear me out, won’t you? Give it a last chance this one Ramadan, forget the priest—may he burn in hell for his wrongdoings—and forget the extremists you’ve encountered, just for a while. I promise you that you’ll find all the answers you are looking for when you read the Quran of your own volition, your own will, in your own time, instead of it being forced upon you and down your throat and just being taught the words without explanation. Remember that you are never alone in the struggle, never. The Prophet himself has survived countless hardships, and so many of the Companions—both female and male—have endured the worst torture from their parents and their siblings and their families just for declaring that they are now Muslims—their stories are there for us for a reason, and they’re one of the things that changed my entire worldview. And remember with me, that in Islam, in its core, that we are beings created for Heaven, Jannah, not for eternal existence in Dunya that we cannot survive without suffering, and that this entire world is but a passage and a test, and soon enough it’ll be over once and for all, and your patience and forgiveness and kindness will all be rewarded adequately, and you’d watch those who have wronged you burn in hell for eternity. He, the priest, might be dead now, but he’s being tormented in his grave for what he did, and he’ll be questioned about it on the day of judgement, so fear not, this world is but a temporary stop that we’ll all soon get out of.

I know that at first glance you might think that I’m just trying to coax you back into religion without knowing what I’m speaking of, just like so many have tried to do before, but I’m someone who almost became a complete atheist until two and a half years ago for the same reasons. And there must be a reason why there’s hundreds of thousands of converts to Islam over the past five months, right? So I’m reaching out to you out of love and respect, and that you’ll always be dear to my heart 🤍

Ramadan Mubarak to u, Rem <33

Ramadan Mubarak to you too, darling. I hope you’re able to fulfil all your fasts and that your prayers are answered.

But respectfully, I’m not going to be approaching Islam again. I’ve met no extremists, and if there is a hell then that guy is absolutely there. I carry no doubts over this.

But it seems you didn’t read my last answer. My decision to leave Islam ultimately has little to do with trauma, and more to do with the fact that I don’t believe in a perfect god. I don’t believe in a divine plan. I don’t believe in the core concept of Allah

I’m not looking for answers, I’m happy with my current spiritual outlook. I do good for this world no matter how small and I see it reflected back at me in a million tiny ways, and I can live with that.

I understand how you feel. You as a Muslim have likely grown up hearing that non-Muslims go to hell, that apostasy is one of the greatest crimes there is. To be a Kafir is to guarantee your place in hell, and you genuinely care for me and don’t want me to face that. It’s terrifying to imagine that people you know to be good could go to hell just because they were too prideful to accept Allah into their lives.

But understand, this fear is a contributing factor to why I’ll never go back. How can I believe that Allah is Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim when he will send good people to hell just for not believing in him? By this logic I could do all the good in the world, I could give sadqah every day for the rest of my life, dedicate myself to housing the homeless, and still I’d go to hell because I did these things in the name of helping people and not in the name of Allah

I’m so happy you’re able to find peace within Islam, and I truly, genuinely hope this Ramadan goes well for you. I have wonderfully fond memories of Ramadan, from the energy to the iftars and of Eid, truly, Ramadan Kareem, my friend, and thank you for keeping me in your prayers. May Allah bless you with all that is good for you, Inshallah

But please respect that I will continue to live my life the way I see fit.

Jazakhallah Khair

[ashadowofburnedoutstardust]

Alright, slightly titled tin hat time:

So I've kept watching Ancient Aliens, and while I personally disagree with the concept of actual aliens interfering with human history I will give kudos to the ancient astronaut theorists for their dedication to historical research to work on their theories

I've gotten to the Akhenaten episode, which is a name I've heard before from my childhood when I went through my Egyptologist phase

For those who don't know Akhenaten is the father of Tutankhamen. Neither Akhenaten nor Tutankhamen are on the official list of kings on the walls in the temples because of a curious thing that Akhenaten did during his reign.

He was the first in recent human history to create a monotheistic religion where they only worship one God. It's believed that the current monotheistic religions we know today (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) are descended from this point in time and possibly this small religion born in ancient Egypt

'Atenism" was composed of the worship of the sun God Ra. Akhenaten declared it to be the one true God and moved his court out into the middle of nowhere based on the image of the sun setting into a niche in the mountains which was similar to the symbol used to represent the Sun God.

He basically set up and built a new palace in the Middle of the desert and started a hippie sun worshipping commune

Unfortunately this didn't sit well with the priests of the temples and upon his death Akhenaten was wiped from Egyptian history, as was his son Tutankhamen, which is why neither of them appear in temple records.

When Tutankhamen assumed the throne he was used by those in charge to re-establish the old Gods, being a child at the time I highly doubt he had much say over that but I do wonder if his early death and his half sisters (his wife) many miscarriages contributed to someone actually doing away with him; not to mention due to incest he much like his father had physical disfigurements. I also wonder that if as an adult he tried to re-establish the religion his father created and that was the real reason for his early death

Akhenatens Father was named Rameses, and his brother who should have assumed the throne after Akhenatens death was named Thutmose.

Thutmose disappears from Egyptian history after this point.....which leads me to a curious theory that has been proposed by some historians

You may notice the similarities between the name Thutmose and Moses, and there may be a good reason for it

The archeological timeline for this period of monotheism and it's ending, along with the disappearance of the Kings brother coincides with the proposed timeline for the 'Israelites' fleeing Egypt

Does this book/movie sound familiar to anyone? Albeit with some Disneyfication to some of the details it is thought that Moses was in fact Thutmose, the brother of Akhenaten who led what few followers he still had out of Egypt and this Monotheism migrated out into the wider world and thus what three of the worlds major religions were descended from

It's also interesting that the Temple mount where the legendary Temple of King Solomon that is a sacred site to all of these religions actually had an already existing temple on the site prior to it being built

I do wonder if in fact the original temple may have been built by the first group to depart from Egypt with their Monotheistic sun worshipping religion as the similarities between the rays of Ra with the Ankh symbol and the imagery in the other Monotheistic religions does not escape me.

The other thing that helps further the theory is an item that was found in Tutankhamens tombs, an object that has a very similar physical description to the Ark of the covenant (which has a pretty important standing in the history of Monotheistic religions) that did not appear in other tombs....

Also curses were pretty big in Egypt....

[papirouge]

As a christian with friends in palestine right now, I’m fuming that the deranged demonic scrotes of hamas literally ruined all the public support palestine had in a matter of moments. Parading dead naked women around, spitting on their bodies and calling for war. Meanwhile back in palestine the few remaining christians are going to be double attacked and forgotten. Christians had a hard time already since hamas is a radical muslim group funded by Iran to create scrote paradise in the ways of islam. And they were supported by most muslims. Now electricity will be cut, water cut off, this is a nightmare.

- basing support of the Palestinian struggle depending on the action of a terrorist group was already a bad idea🫠 those "I'm a leftist Jewish who always defended Palestine but I don't have a crumb of compassion left for Palestinian today" posts belong to that category. It's interesting how they will expect support from people because "they are not their [Zionist far right racial supremacist] government".... and then turn around and remove their alleged support of the Palestinians over the actions of...Hamas (who seemingly didn't get democratically elected since years). I mean, which one is it?

- I'm genuinely confused at people discovering what.....war is. Raped women, dead bodies paraded around, torture.... Do you think such barbaric behavior are exclusive to the Hamas? Do you think that some war are immune to this barbary? Hamas is just stupid enough to do it in the open (war on image). US troops were caught torturing and taking pics of prisoner at Abu Grahib (but at least those photos weren't supposed to be passed around for the whole world to see...) how any of what's happening different? Because it's a (dead) woman? Because the killers are Arab/Muslim? all the people who are bringing up this story really need to ask themselves why *this* story picked up their indignation but other war crimes didn't. Why they either turned a blind eye or openly support(ed) wars where the same thing did happen... or is that because there was no camera to film so to them it doesn't happen? One cannot live with such cognitive dissonance for that long. There's no "clean" war. War turns ANYONE into animals.. not only brown skin Muslims.

The same flock of hypocrites who supported war in Ukraine are now clutching their pearls at insurrectional violence... As if "some" wars didn't have civilians casualties, women or children raped, dead bodies brutalized... And they are calling for "Israel to defend itself" as if the very same thing they accuse Hamas of doing won't be done by Tsahal (but not before a camera, which apparently makes a difference somehow)....

One thing about me is that I've always been consistent with my stance about violence. I've been called delusional for calling Christians to not engage with weapons/guns self defense, or for saying that WWII allies were demonic for wiping out the German city of Dresden just because Germany was the "bad guy". Some week ago I made a post calling out people defending the atomic bomb on Japanese civilians because they were the "bad guys"....

There's no "good guy" in war, and anyone calling for war (or ✨self defense✨) is already morally corrupt. Souls are precious. God doesn't want us to waste any away playing satan's playbook.

- the support of Christian Palestinian was already pretty nonexistent anyway, but it's definitely going to get worse. I can't help but roll my eyes at Israelis mad at Westerners defending Palestinians that it's easy for us to make shitty posts out of the comfort of our house without having a leg in this conflict" and she was ironically right because yeah, that's precisely BECAUSE we have this comfort we can speak for those who can't. We don't have only 3 hours of electricity a day. We have free wifi, the coverage, the time. Palestinians -that Israelis can't accuse of not having a leg in this conflict- actually ASK us to be a "sounding board" for their cause... Such post is an admission of failure. It's just some good ol' gaslighting because they know they're losing more and more support from the world.

I think I'm the onlt Christian on Tumblr consistently talking about the fate of Palestinians/Arab Christians and how they're always forgotten by Western Christians. But I don't. Christian Palestinian are stuck between both Muslim and Jewish religious supremacist, and while Western Christians will rightfully call out Muslim fanatism, they will never have the courage to speak up against Zionism. And I'm so angry for that.

If anyone has money, please donate to Friends of the Holy Land, a Palestinian Christian charity 🙏🏾

I've been following and occasionally donating to them and they're legit. I also recommend subscribing to their newsletter which provide information about their initiatives 🤍✝️🩵

[lightdancer1]

Wrapped up the next book:

This book covers the history of the Empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai from an emphasis at both decolonization and an emphasis on a changing, not static African world and from the simple recognition that the written history of this part of the world is overwhelmingly an Islamic one and one written by peoples who had millennia-ancient Arab prejudices against the Zanj (aka Black) peoples of the Bilad al-Sudan. In the writings of the Islamic consensus the Bilad Al-Sudan was a realm of monsters and subhumans without a history, infidels who worshiped fell gods in sinister rites involving cannibalism, human sacrifices, and the pounding of drums in darkling woods. If this sounds like it could have been written by Lovecraft there's a reason for that.

This is not European racism, as the mark of descent is from the status of the father, not the mother, and because it's not rooted in science or pseudoscience, but in the concept of Allah/God the most merciful marking peoples by skin color in a category of superiority for the white people (aka Arabs and let this stand in turn as a commentary on later European white supremacy, a religious Islamic version of it already existed and Arabs and to a lesser degree some Amazigh were 'white' and therefore innately blessed with rationality, control of sexual impulses, and all the other things they said the Black people, the Sudani, did not have).

Now why does all this matter? Because under Ghana, Mali, and Songhai West Africa underwent a transformation from an ancient region of urbanized areas led by sacred kings and religions that worshiped many gods to the monotheistic Jihad-societies of Ghana and Songhai, with Mali in between and marking the point where the Islamic world went from the kind of syrupy condescension used for modern African states to actually taking African Muslims seriously.

Equally crucially this shaped the medieval Sahelian Ruling class's self-perception. It downplayed Blackness and demonized it in line with the tradition of Islamic history, it created the same artificial bullshit whereby European nobilities were somehow descended from Trojans or Roman Emperors with Yemeni and the Al-Qays tribes of Arabs. It also shaped the specific dynamic of West African Islam, that of Ghana (and the founder of the Songhai Empire, Sunni Ali), a heavily syncretic version but also that of Mali and Songhai at their height cosmopolitan and with a global ambition that shaped the Islamic world at its own heights.

In short, too, the African states that arose were not ancient traditional concepts, they were new creations charged with the self-serving mission of Jihad at the expense of pagans, and the fallen old empires were neatly redefined as pagan to suit their new successors, to boot. Their impact on the ethnogenesis and self-perception of Sahelian West Africa was very real and this book notes that the Griot traditions match up fairly closely with the Islamic written tradition and as such the dismissal of oral histories is, in actual fact, bullshit.

This book also notes that both the novelty and the scale of expansion created its own problems and its own weaknesses, and that the endemic inability of Islamic states to solve the succession problem in a way to simultaneously satisfy political and religious elites created major weaknesses and civil wars, with the endemic civil warfare prior to the Battle of Tondibi contributing at least as much to the final fall of the Songhai Empire as Tondibi itself did.

9/10.

[iseutijae]

entry #1, 22nd september 2023.

Allah's guidance feels beautiful. there may be a period of life where you don't feel anything after committing sins. you're starting to worry as you fear you are in Istidraj. you brush it off trying to get rid of the feeling but it feels heavy, pretending you don't feel that way or you don't know you're feeling that way.

recently, i watched a Malay drama named Nur. beautiful story despite of course— the soap opera, dramatic elements are included in it. Nur talks about how the alley people, prostitutes, society, the common misconception of Islam.

"Allah benci kita, masyarakat benci kita, orang-orang alim mana mungkin suka dekat kita." was along the lines of what one of the characters said, meaning "Allah hates us, society hates us, and the pious will of course dislike us too."

the main character of the story is Nur, the daughter, the granddaughter of prostitutes. who was a believer of and is interested in islam. her mother forbade her from practicing islam, because in her whole life of working as a prostitute, she never got out or have her prayers answered, or so she thinks. she even forbade Nur to read, listen or consume any Islamic materials, contents inside her house because she disliked it, she was angry with god— nauthubillahiminzalik . Nur secretly prays in alleys— beside the road since she's prohibited to in her house, secretly took on a dishwashing job at a nearby restaurant to make ends meet instead of selling her body without telling her mother. she went to a mosque but was chased out by mosque committee members.

learning about islam, of course Nur had her own curiosities, especially with her point of view. but her origin being the allies, she only dared to write her questions on a piece of paper, passed it to a random child in the mosque to give to the ustaz who was giving the morning lecture. the ustaz was ustaz Adam, who was curious with why she refused to ask the question herself. he soon caught her writing a question on a piece of paper, but she ran and left behind the incomplete question paper before he could approach her.

her question was "kenapa Allah lahirkan golongan-golongan lorong hanya untuk dihantar ke neraka, dan dilahiran golongan-golongan orang yang baik untuk dihantar ke syurga? dimanakah adanya Allah, kalau ujian yang dihadapi manusia itu tidak sama beratnya?" which means "why did Allah create the 'sinners' just to be sent to hell, and the pious to heaven? where is He, if the test given to humanity is not equally heavy?"

ustaz Adam's response was that life is never fair.

the 29th of the holy names of Allah— The Asma'ul Husna, Al-Adl. The Embodiment of Justice and Fairness.

Allah created those who are born disabled, those who are poor, living alongside those who are physically perfect and complete, and with those who are rich. but like it or not, they still need to live, even though the fortunate ones don't have to struggle as much whilst.

In our eyes, is that fair?

there are people born as Muslim, and others born and raised with other religions. everyone feels that the world is unfair. but as long as we try to seek His fairness in human standards, we will never see it. we will never see how beautiful it is.

"Jadi, kat mana keredhaan Allah tu?" "So, where is Allah's fairness?" asked Nur.

Sabr. Acceptance. The sixth pillar of Imaan (Faith), acceptance of Qada' and Qadr.

as long as you continue to view your destiny in the eyes of imperfect human standards, you will never find the beauty of Allah's fairness. May you stumble upon difficulties in your life, if obstacles happens to knock you down, there is always the floor to sujood.

Allah loves us. Even if his servants are hit with Istidraj, he is always listening. Make du'a, and he will decide the best path for you. us servants plan, and the All-knowing executes it.

Quran, 3:160

إِن يَنصُرْكُمُ اللَّهُ فَلَا غَالِبَ لَكُمْ وَإِن يَخْذُلْكُمْ فَمَن ذَا الَّذِي يَنصُرُكُم مِّن بَعْدِهِ وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

If Allah assists you, then there is none that can overcome you, and if He forsakes you, who is there then that can assist you after Him? And on Allah should the believers rely (ie. do tawakkul).

from inreflectionofthequran.wordpress.com

continuing from the initial thought behind this post, if you feel similarly, seek those who are well-versed in Islam and surround yourself with those who love and believe in Islam as much as you are, or you want to be. we will all sin as humans, and we should repent to Allah every time. He is the the most gracious and merciful, slowly take your time to change, pray to Allah, seek him, and seek patience. and yes, i recommend everyone to watch Nur. (though it may not be everybody's cup of tea, the message is beautiful, undeniably.)

Wallahua'lam. may we all be a part of As-Sabireen. Allahumma Barik.

(apologies for any mistakes, please kindly point it out and teach me.)

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Rpg Anon: I've been a bit relatively moody lately and that's why I haven't done the class 77 Personas research lately. I still intend on doing it but still. Regardless, mod, if you have the time, what Personas do you imagine Makoto's class to have?

We already established Sayaka to have Miss Crane/The Crane Wife and Sakura to have Hercules but any thoughts you have of everyone else? Class 78 so far has the themes of their Personas not particularly being gods but more characters of popular stories and folklore.

P.s. if you want to give Kyoko Sherlock Holmes than you're gonna have to justify it cuz that's a bit too easy and direct.

//Hey, so I'm really sorry I got late to this. I'm sorry you've had some rough days and I apologize for not getting to this sooner.

//And then when I tried to do it last night, my internet provider went down right in the middle of it, so that pissed me off as you might imagine.

//It just took me a while to think about it, but I do think I've got some answers. Note that I'm not completely sure about all of them, I decided a lot of these based on the theme of, as you said, popular stories and characters from folklore.

//I'll try my best to explain each one.

Makoto - Antar: Antarah ibn Shaddad al-Absi, also known as Antar, was a pre-Islamic African-Arab knight and poet, famous for both his poetry and his adventurous life. I'm very wishy-washy on this one, but ultimately I focused on the fact that he started out as a slave before he became a knight, channeling his hopes and dreams to reach where he got to.

Sayaka - The Crane Wife: For reasons we have already established. However, I do wish it had a better, or more official name.

Junko - Nyarlathotep: A fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft. The character is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos, a shared universe. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem "Nyarlathotep", he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers. He is also the main antagonist of Persona 1 and 2, and was picked for reasons already established.

Hina - Maximus: Maximus Decimus Meridius was the commander of the Armies of the North and the Felix Legions under the Roman Empire. The greatest general of Rome during the 2nd century AD, he served loyally under Emperor Marcus Aurelius during his Twelve Year Campaign against the Germanic tribes at Vindobona in Germania. I picked this one because he's also the main character of the film Gladiator, a film about warrior sports, which fits Hina's sport related talent, her competitive nature, and her determination to see things through to the end. That said, this is by far the one I am the most unsure of, and wouldn't mind a second opinion.

Chihiro - Mulan: A legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as a man. While I do think there could be alternatives, I ultimate focused on the similarity between Mulan and Chihiro's stories, where they disguise themselves as the opposite gender. Mulan does so to protect others while Chihiro did to protect himself, but ultimate came into his own to embrace his identity.

Sakura - Hercules: For reasons established. The strongest man in history serving as the Persona of the strongest woman in the world.

Toko - Maleficent: In PToH Toko obviously has Barrow, but that's more to fit with Komaru and them being a duo. In an alternative world, this Persona is based on a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film, Sleeping Beauty (1959). She is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" who, after not being invited to a christening, curses the infant Princess Aurora to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun sets on Aurora's sixteenth birthday. However, more recent iterations of her character, such as her 2014 standalone movie puts the character into a much different light, revealing that she was once a kind-hearted fairy, who is deceived by the love of her life, Stefan; Aurora's father, and she places a curse on her in order to exact revenge. This is similar to how Toko spent a lot of her young childhood being kicked down, manipulated, hurt and betrayed by everyone, which led to the birth of her vengeful and psychotic alter ego, Genocide Jack.

Celeste - Jeanne d'Arc: A patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Claiming to be acting under divine guidance, she became a military leader who transcended gender roles and gained recognition as a savior of France. Celeste (at least in the dub) poses as a French girl for the majority of her time in the game, and has a very similar empowaring, intellectual, yet also spiteful nature to Jeanne d'Arc.

Hifumi - Māui: A great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Tales of Māui's exploits and adventures are told throughout most of Polynesia; they can be traced back as far west as islands off New Guinea. Some exploits common to most Polynesian traditions are stealing fire for humans from the underworld, fishing up islands with his magical hook, and capturing the Sun to lengthen the days. He's the kind of hero and righteous person Hifumi aspires to be, though the demigod is also a trickster, which can hint to how he can be sinister when he needs to be. Honestly not totally sure about this one either though, I'm just spitting.

Kyoko - Robin Hood: No, I didn't go for Sherlock, as obvious as it is. A famous English outlaw usually associated with the motto "Steal from the rich, give to the poor". According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. Robin Hood is also the initial Persona of Goro Akechi from Persona 5, who is also a detective. Though Robin Hood is a fake Persona used to mask Akechi's true sinister nature, Kyoko has no such sinister nature, and her sense of justice and nature of finding the truth and exposing the corruption, despair and lies, is genuine, and this Persona makes sense. Plus, I kind of really want to see a female version of Persona's Robin Hood, since I love it's design.

Mondo - Leonidas: a king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythical demigod Heracles. Leonidas entered myth as a hero and the leader of the 300 Spartans. The 300 Spartans and their successes served as my main reason to give this to Mondo, as they're a very similar concept to the Crazy Diamond Biker Gang that he leads.

Taka - Odysseus: In Greek and Roman mythology Odysseus is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. He was also the original creator of the infamous Trojan Horse. I picked this because it relates to Taka's desire to be a leader, a public figure, a hero, and someone people can depend on.

Byakuya - Arthur: Legendary British warlord/king said to have united the Britons against the Germanic invaders, with the support of the Knights of Camelot. He is also the protagonist of a folk tale where he pulls a sword from a stone, which decides his fate to be the newest English king. This is primarily why I picked this, as whether it was through fate or effort, Byakuya views himself as a chosen one, and that he earned the right to stand above everybody.

Leon - Siegfried: The legendary dragon-slaying hero in Nibelungenlied from German mythology. Both characters share the trait of being heroic figures who have accomplished greatness, but died as a result of their own misgivings as opposed to in battle or elsewhere better. Honestly, this one is a stretch though, so I wouldn't mind a second opinion.

Mukuro - Yog-Sothoth: A fictional cosmic entity and Outer God created by H. P. Lovecraft. He, like Nyarlathotep, Junko's Persona, is a core part of the Cthulhu Mythos (which Lovecraft would refer to facetiously as "Yog-Sothothery"). Born of the Nameless Mist, he is the progenitor of Cthulhu, Hastur the Unspeakable, and the ancestor of the Voormi. Though not siblings, both Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth are offsprings of Azathoth, creating a familial connection between Junko and Mukuro's Persona's, but still having Junko be the more superior of the two.

Hiro - Twm Siôn Cati: a figure in Welsh folklore, known for being robber and trickster, nicknamed the Welsh Wizard. The character has many tall tales, and the Welsh Wizard title is in reference to both Hiro's scamming money-grubbing nature, his susceptibility to fall for traps and misadventures, and his talent of a fortune teller, which is mystical in it's own way.

//Again, a lot of these need work, I'm really unsure about most of them, but I am equally as proud of some of them.

-Mod