Hi!
I am not quite sure why I came to this page. I guess I just want to talk. I am a Kurdish girl, I live in Europe. I am 20 something. I was kind of religious as a child, I had a relative who encouraged me to learn to pray and wear the hijab. Though I never wore the hijab I wanted to wear it and I read the Quran and I fasted and prayed when I fasted. My family is not religious AT ALL! In fact my relatives make fun of muslims and Islam a lot, even though everybody is muslim but nobody cares because that´s what we kurds do, we make fun of our religion, it´s not that important to us. A few years ago I started to feel that the religion I was more or less following was not me. I don´t believe in it. I found my closest friend wearing an abaya which she totally detested a few years before and I saw little children wearing long skirts and hijabs more often. I read about Islam again and I read things that christians say about their religion and their God. I was craving love from God, not punishment. Even though there are lots of nice things in the Quran that are beautiful and nice, there are also other things that I don´t agree with. I started reading the Bible about two months ago maybe and I feel at peace for the first time in a very long time.
I am not sure why I´m posting this...I might eventually delete it. But I want to know if I´m crazy or not. I love Jesus and I have no one I can tell....
Congratulations. It was pretty amazing when I felt this myself.
As a person who follows the message of the Gospel as well as the Qur'an I would say that you don't have to choose one over the other, you can choose both. I choose both and I see that both share the same basic message—love. I believe the Qur'an does not 'rule out' the Gospel as many Muslims claim but rather enhances it. I see the Gospel as a message on how I should
approach life and my time, and I see the Qur'an as a message of how I should
spend life and my time. I should fill my heart with love and spend my time in prayer.
The one thing I would advise strongly against is giving up what good the Qur'an has to offer. I believe Muhammad was a man who was inspired by Christ and lived by Christian values (he felt the same thing as you), but he sought to clarify and enhance certain aspects of the religion. For example, the Qur'an stresses the importance of established prayer—praying daily (salat). This is evident throughout the Qur'an and something the Gospels lack. There's also strong emphasis on fasting.
Check this out:
The Basmala (which Muhammad encourage people to recite before any action) is certainly founded upon Christian values,
"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate" (AR–RAḤMAN, AR–RAḤIM)
The Qur'an frequently refers to this mercy/compassion/love with the word RAḤMA
RAḤMA is also used within the Aramaic New Testament
Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful (RAḤMA), for they will be shown mercy (RAḤMA).
John 21:15–17
Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love (RAḤMA) me more than these do?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love (RAḤMA) you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love (RAḤMA) me?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love (RAḤMA) you.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love (RAḤMA) me?” Peter was distressed that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love (RAḤMA) me?” and said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love (RAḤMA) you.” Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep."
One can get a true sense of the word RAḤMA by comparing these two verses. The relationship between Peter and Jesus reveals that RAḤMA and its relation to the word for 'womb' RAḤAM has a deeper meaning then just mercy, as in pity. It is more like the bond a mother has with her child. The Qur'an uses this word for the defining characteristic of God and it urges people to show RAḤMA as God has shown it to them. My point with this is that you should consider taking that feeling of Christ with you into Islam as I did because both are worthy of attention, they each deal with different areas of life.