Why Muslims "rant"?

God is ONE. Muslims are monotheists. Allah is the Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to Him. Muhammad(pbuh) is the Messenger of Allah. Jesus(pbuh) is also a Messenger of Allah, just like Adam(pbuh), Moses(pbuh) or Mohammed(pbuh). Islam is the only TRUE religion. Islam is the FASTEST GROWING religion in the world. Whew!

- Show quoted text -

And, then they go on with their another favorite lines - Litmus test for theology, or the core message of Islam. Here's the snip

*. Surah Ikhlas is the Touchstone of Theology.

Any person or candidate who is called God cannot be accepted as the true God without verifying him with the touchstone. The touchstone of theology, that is study of God, is Surah Ikhlas chapter 112 of the Holy Qur'an which says:

"Say, 'He is Allah, The One and Only; Allah, The Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not Nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.''' [Al-Qur'an 112:14]

*. Any candidate who passes the Acid test can be called God.

Any candidate who claims to be God and fits in this four line definition, passes the Acid test, is entitled to be called God and worshipped as God.

Suppose a lunatic says that Muhammad (pbuh) is God, (God forbid). Let's put him to the test of Surah Ikhlas.

i. "Qul hu allah hu ahad" - Say He is Allah, The One and Only;

Is Muhammad (pbuh) one and only? No! he was not the only messenger. There were many other messengers.

ii. "Allah hus Samad" - Allah, The Eternal, Absolute;

We know that Muhammad (pbuh) had to undergo many hardships. Though he was the mightiest messenger of God, he died at the age of 63 and was buried in Madeenah.

iii. "Lam ya lid wa lam yulad" - He begetteth not Nor is He begotten;

We know that he was born in Makkah and his parents were Abdullah and Aaminah. He even had several children e.g. Fatimah, Ibrahim (may Allah be pleased with them), etc.


iv. "Wa lam ya kullahu kufuwan ahad" - And there is none like unto Him.

Though all the Muslims love and revere the Prophet (pbuh) and are supposed to follow each and every of his commandments, yet you will not find a single Muslim in the whole world, who in his senses will ever say that Muhammad (pbuh) is God. The Islamic Creed is, "La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasoolullah", which means that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh) is the messenger of Allah. This is repeated five times a day during the call for prayer, so that the Muslims are reminded daily that although they respect and obey him, he is only a Messenger and servant of God, and not God Himself.


*. Verify the Gods you worship.

Now that we have explained to you how to use the touchstone of theology it is the duty of everyone to verify with this touchstone, whether the gods that they worship are true or false.



Whew! Whew! Whew!

Endless ranting by Muslims on this would have really gotten on your nerves, eh.

Do *only* Muslims rant?
Not really. Christians, Buddhists, and others also rant a lot. In fact, i would rate Christians above Muslims. The adherents of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam - always keeps claiming that their religion is th fastest growing. Muslims send a few statistics, so do Christians. Hare Krishna Movement is also one of these kind.

Why do the Muslims rant so much?
Ans is simple - as a Muslim it's mandatory for them to convey the message of Uniqueness and Oneness of God. If a person has means and knowledge - it is obligatory for them Muslims to give the message.

Do they rant always?
Well, this questions depends on the questions being asked. They do try to give message about Islam in whatever way is possible.

Point to be noted - they just don't stand in the corner and call people with pamphlets. They don't talk to people over radio/TV/traffic signals. They don't bribe them with money, food, shelter, magic, etc and fool them into coming into the religion. They

Sometimes, it starts with silly questions like -
Why do Muslims abuse non-Muslims by calling them 'Kafirs'?
How can Islam be called the religion of peace when it was spread by the sword?
Why are most of the Muslims fundamentalists and terrorists?
Why does Islam degrade women by keeping them behind the veil?

After ranting so much about the "Muslim rant", let me put forth what according to me is "right".

What's wrong?
What's wrong if a Muslim, or a Christian, or a Hindu(Read as Hare Krishna folks) want to *advertise* their religion? You don't have to really buy all the products that are advertised on TV/RADIO/Magazines/Newspapers/Hoardings/etc. What the hell is wrong if they want to advertise what they think is "right"?

Are they "converting" or "conveying"?

Do not consider them to be forcing something on you. They are just trying to convey a message. How could they force? I could give the analogy of this to a "message passing" module. Some module keeps passing messages, and it has to do it obligatorily. You could handle the message or simply ignore it.

Isn't he trying to be your friend?
If a Muslim friend of yours doesn't tell you about Islam, he isn't your *true* friend, as he is hiding from you what he thinks is best. Essentially, he is trying to *convey a message*, which he thinks is best for him.
ex:-

If you feel that the ice-cream/coffee/apartment

/deal/*/whatever is good, won't you wanna tell about it to your friend? Would you mind if he rants? It's one of the "child-like" behaviors exhibited them.

Are they gonna stop anytime?
I am really skeptical about this. If you know that it's mandatory for them to convey the message of their religions, do you think they would? So, happy listening to them (Muslims, Christians, and others).

Why don't you rant too?

I really fail to understand why religion should be kept a private affair. I also fail to understand why a few groups keep their religion as if it's some secret (ex: Jews, Hindus, Parsis). Why don't they also rant? Not fun, eh. When you could take endless ranting of advertisers, newsreaders, marketing folks, why do you tend to take this differently. Weigh this on the same scale. I think "ranting" is a fundamental right of every marketing fella. So, "take and give" or "give and take". It's that simple.
ex:
Whenever a Christian comes to convey a message, I feel good. I listen to whatever they have to say (read as "rant"), I take their pamphlets, booklets, etc. I assure them that I will read (I have read almost everything that they have given me so far), and then, I rant. I give them booklets, etc. I request them to read the booklets.

Why don't you read about 'em?
It seems really cool when you know whatever the advertiser is telling you. He would be shocked, surprised, and he would also admire you for the knowledge. Treat Muslim/Christian/other missionaries as some advertisers, listen to their business. Remember this business is pretty serious.
ex:-
An advertiser wants to sell TV. You learn about the TV he wants to sell. Ask him questions; get clarifications (Remember the one liner - Ask a question and you're a fool for three minutes; do not ask a question and you're a fool for the rest of your life). Tell him what you know about it.

Moral:
Chill madi, listen madi. Muslims are trying to tell what they "seem" to be best. Don't mind their endless ranting.

Wanna do more reading?

Who is Allah?
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/tawheed/conceptofgod.html
How should we call people to Islam?
http://www.islamqa.com/index.php?ref=12376&ln=eng
A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam
http://www.islam-guide.com/
FAQs
http://www.islamqa.com/index.php?ln=eng
http://www.irf.net/irf/faqonislam/index.htm

Happy reading! Happy listening! And, happy conveying!