Which Islam? The Islam that sanctions the likes of al-Qaeda and ISIS and allows for the slaughter of captives, the selling of captives into slavery, the killing of any non-Muslims for any attempts to share their faith with Muslims, the levying of harsh taxes against non-Muslims, the treatment of non-Muslims like second- and third-class citizens and depriving them of basic freedoms and human rights, the barbaric attacking of women as if they were worse than animals, the slow stripping away of the heritage and culture of non-Muslims within Muslim lands, the utilizing of 7th-century punishments and legal codes? I would utterly destroy this Islam from the face of the earth if I ever got the chance.
The Islam that preaches freedom of religion, social justice, love and compassion for others, non-aggression, defense of the poor and downtrodden against oppressors, showing mercy to those who surrender in battle and treating them well and with honor, protecting women if their husbands accuse them of rape without witnesses, paying money to free slaves and help those in debt, allowing non-Muslims to keep their churches, temples, statues, bells and processions and practice their religion without interference, giving charity to the poor, advancing the fields of medicine, science and mathematics, advocating reason and open dialogue with all? I would like this Islam a lot. It's a shame it seems much rarer these days, ever since the Crusades 800 years ago. If my spiritual path starts taking me away from Orthodox Christianity, I might even consider joining this Islam.
Let me start with that Islam is a complete system of life and is taken as a whole. Which of these two versions you think Islam is? Which one is the Quraan supported version? Which one is the one that Allah, the All Merciful wants us to follow?
I've been doing research, and it seems that different schools of Islam seem to have different interpretations regarding Allah's predestination and its relationship to our free will. Do certain schools of Islam believe that we can freely choose to follow Allah or not, without Him forcing us into one position or the other, or having preordained us to do so? Do certain schools teach that we are able to change our minds regarding whether to follow Allah at any time? Is it a universal opinion in Islam that Allah forces us to choose Him or not to choose Him, and that He creates us so that we are fated to commit either sins or righteous acts, and that we are powerless to change what Allah has fated us to do? I remember reading some verses from the Qur'an that very strongly imply this idea. Could you explain some of the more notable of these verses, and provide verses which suggest that we have free will, and that Allah does not force us into one action or another?
Well this is the most complex question one would ask.
Allah knows everything that a person would do because He is the one who created us. He knows who will obey and who will not. He knows who will open the door and who will close the door. However this is not to be confused to the person's ability to choose, but still God knows what you will choose.
It is like when you offer your child to choose between going to the cinema or going to the beach. You know what he will choose because he's your child and that is how well you know him. So we know how our children thinks, and we only gave birth to them. Allah is our Creator and He knows us better we know ourselves.
Here are some verses as you requested
6:104 There has come to you enlightenment from your Lord. So whoever will see does so for [the benefit of] his soul, and whoever is blind [does harm] against it. And [say], "I am not a guardian over you."
2:286 Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity.
It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."
13:11 For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah .
Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.
17:
Whoever should desire the immediate - We hasten for him from it what We will to whom We intend. Then We have made for him Hell, which he will [enter to] burn, censured and banished.
18
But whoever desires the Hereafter and exerts the effort due to it while he is a believer - it is those whose effort is ever appreciated [by Allah ].
19
To each [category] We extend - to these and to those - from the gift of your Lord. And never has the gift of your Lord been restricted.
To explain it in another way, I would say it is similar to the concept of the Karma. Whoever does good will get good and whoever does bad will have bad things. Even if you were not able to do what you intended to to because of how things went, you will still get your reward for your intentions.
41:46 Whoever does righteousness - it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it. And your Lord is not ever unjust to [His] servants.
2:256
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
18:29 And say, "The truth is from your Lord,
so whoever wills - let him believe;
and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds [their] faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place.
Are there still Mu'tazili Muslims today?
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Well believe me one I say I don't pay attention to labels and I don't really know who are they and what they stand for.
EDIT: One more question: Are there any verses in the Qur'an that state that Allah loves us?
Well I don't recall a verse a particular verse in the Quraan that states that, nor I recall that there is a verse that says that God hates us, but there are many verses talking about rewards. Would you rewards someone of you don't love him?
Two hadith I recall and they are stuck in my memory are:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "If Allah loves a person, He calls Gabriel saying, 'Allah loves so and-so; O Gabriel! Love him.' Gabriel would love him and make an announcement amongst the inhabitants of the Heaven. 'Allah loves so-and-so, therefore you should love him also,' and so all the inhabitants of the Heaven would love him, and then he is granted the pleasure of the people on the earth."
"My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him.
"When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks.
"Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him."
Because the Qur'an is wrong. The Qur'an wrongly explains the Christian dogma of the Trinity, and it wrongly asserts that the Jews believe that Ezra is the Son of God (they don't).
Can you point these to me in the Quraan?
Also, the fact that many Muslims attempt to prove Islam from the Christian Bible is laughable at best. Just stick with the Qur'an and call the Gospel corrupted in the places where it talks about Jesus being God.
I don't find it laughable because through out the bible, you can see contradictions of teachings and I think that is what majority tries to prove when they follow that approach.
Anyways If you have time I wish you would watch as much as possible from these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYMKQKSV0bY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H69MCV8Qp6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wog7LUBgyo4
