Greetings!
For me, because the Baha'i Faith has the social laws and teachings for THIS Day, not for some other millenia ago!
(And the idea of becoming Muslim never even entered into this decision: I progressed directly from Christianity into the Baha'i Faith.)
Though clearly, many did indeed study the Qur'an before they decided to become Baha'i because they were already Muslim!
Regards,
Bruce
this is what I was trying to clarify, how could you have entered the Baha'i faith, and by doing so accepted Islam and the holy Qur'an as a Revelation from Allah(swt), even while you did not know anything about the Qur'an or Islam? it would make more sense if one were to study the Qur'an, study the Injil, and study the Tawrat, and then study the Baha'i texts and understand it to mean what you do now, after already realizing that the previous revelations were Messages from God i ntheir ORIGINAL states.
now as for me reverting to Christianity after having been a Muslim, that would be different from a Baha'i accepting Islam after having been a Baha'i, because the holy Qur'an's message is contradictory to the current Bible's message, and this is becasue the Bible as we know it today, and the Christ(pbuh) that is portrayed today by the church, is completely contradictory to both the Quranic and Baha'i understanding of Christ and of the Bible too, to my knowledge. Christianity teaches that Christ alone is mankind's savior, even while the Tawrat taught that no man can redeem another man, or give to God a ransom for him, yet Christianity teaches that the man, the prophet, Messiah son of Mary, is the sole savior of mankind, and that our redemption does not come from our deeds, or our faith in God, but from our acceptance of the am nand teh prophet Isa, son of Mary, and the event, that supposedly was him having been crucified and clearign he sins of humanity ,even though this entire theory is in contradiction ot the holy Qur'an and the Torah. so in Christianity, we are not responsible for our own deeds, unlike what you have told me the Baha'i faith teaches, which is also exactly what Allah revealed in the Qur'an, beign that we are al lresponsible for our own individual deeds,and that "No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another" - to quote the Qur'an.
so me becoming a Christian after having been a Muslim would be to convert from belief to disbelief, and thats without mentioning the Christian sects which have strayed from monotheism and worshipped numerous singular "gods" or such a "god".
while Islam, in its entirey, and its sole message, to warn mankind and to clarify everything that has ever been revealed, is that we are all responsible for our own deeds, and that Isa upon him be peace was indeed a messenger of Allah, to inform the Jews, and that he is nothing more than a messenger of Allah, and a righteous man, to inform the Christians, and that our "Ilah is one Ilah", not 'The third of three", and that we all must pray, repent, and be merciful to mankind, so that God will be merciful towards us, give charity so that no one goes hungry, and if we are able to have 4 wives, and are able to fairly treat them all ,the nwe are allowed to, btu if we are not able nor capable, then we are not. the prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam was married to one woman , in his first marriage he stayed married to one woman until she died, for many years, so that gives us a good example of how we should marry if we ar eto follow the prophet's example.
what I am trying to say is, Islam is the only religion, which is basically 'perfect', whic henjoins everythign good, and forbids everythign evil, which teaches and warns us to believe in one God, that there is no God but Him, and that to Him we all must surrender ourselves copmpletely as slaves, and that we must pray, to Him, repent, to him, doo good, FOR hIM,AND BE MERCIFUL for HIM, TO FREE SLAVES, FOR hIM, TO BE EQUITABLE TOWARDS EVERYONE, FOR hIM, and by carrying out these obligations, we would reach salvation and Allah will make our path to Paradise easy.
so it is not the same to convert from Belief to disbelief, and to convert from belief to belief, it is not even a conversion in that sense, like you said, it is basically the same religion, but Islam and Christianity are not the same religion, and Islam and Judaism are not the same religion, and the Baha'i faith and Judaism adn Christianity are not the same or similar.
but Islam and the Baha'i faith seem to be indentical in their roads to salvation. I see soem of you say you did study the holy Qur'an prior t oaccepting the Baha'i faith, and that maeks soem sense to me, although it matters why you studied it and for what reason. I am not one to say you are wrong or that I am right, I know and believe only waht the prophet and Allah have ordaiend for me, and what I am sayign is, this, in its significant parts, is teh same exact path of Godliness, that the Baha'i faith professes, which is what it seems to me.
that is teh difference between me becoming a Christian and you becoming a Muslim. if you acknowledge that "There is no god but The God(Allah SWT, and Muhammad(SAW) is His messenger" and you worship Allah, and the pray, and are dutiful to your parents, do not harm your neighbor, and you say what is good or keep quiet, then you may well be a Muslim, because tahts basically what a Muslim is, a slave of Allah, of God.
like one of my Muslim brothers or sisters pointed out earlier, all those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and do good, and forbid evil, shall have their reward with their Lord, Allah. and from the look of it many Baha'is do these things, which is why I say the Baha'i faith and Islam are nearly indentical in their significant parts.
so if a Baha'i were to convert to Islam, it almost be as if he had stayed the same and not 'converted' at all.
I do respect the Baha'i faith and the Baha'is whho follow it that I have met so far.
as for violence in the holy Qur'an, when you were studying it you did not know or understand the context in which the "violence" was taking place. the prophet Muhammad 9saw) was only defendign hiimself and his faith, even after having been persecuted for years, havign his followers slaughters, his followers raped, and after having people attemtp to murder him, when the prophet marched back into the holy city of Mekkah from Medinah, with 10,000 Muslims, believing men, and conquered the land, he did this, almost, without any bloodshed whatsoever,m, the people hwo had persecuted and ridiculed him and his followers nad killed soem and attempted to kill him, when the yasked him what would be done with them, after having conquered teh city, the holy prophet replied that all the previous injustices committed against him and his people, were under his feet, ie, forgiven. show me a conquest that was done i nthis way by any other man or prophet, this is the definitio nof mercy, and no blood was spileld besides a very few, maybe 3 or 4 deserving people, none others were killed, and the lawls of teh pagans were abolished, and Islam was installed, peacefully.
what followed was Allah's promise beign fulfilled, and Islam having been carried a vast part of teh world, if this was not a grant of victory from God, I dont know what is.
this was just t opoint out tha the Qur'an was just orders, revelations to the prophet by God, and we are to understand the Revelation in its context and apply it today. imagine if mankind would have applied the teaachings of Islam tothe westen world, slavery would have been abolished ages ago, murders, genocides, persecution ansd oppression would have been abolished and forbidden ages ago. ther would be minimum to no diseases like aids and hepatitis.the world today would be at complete peace under righteous laws.
but yes, thank you all, for the respect and kindness that you have all showed in answerign and explaining the answers to my questions, ma yAllah bless us all and strengthen our faiths. esselamu aleykum warahmatullah.
