The Signs all Around Us - Some Verses from the Quran

***Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who understand***

‘My Lord! I am amazed at how one who knows You can place his hope in someone else and ask the help of someone else.’

"And among His Signs is this, that He created you (Adam) from dust, and then [Hawwa' (Eve) from Adam's rib, and then his offspring from the semen, and], -behold you are human beings scattered!" (Surah Ar-Rum, 20)

"And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect." (Surah Ar-Rum, 21)

"And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. Verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." (Surah Ar-Rum, 22)

"And among His Signs is the sleep that you take by night and by day, and your seeking of His Bounty. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who listen." (Surah Ar-Rum 23)

"And among His Signs is that He shows you the lightning, by way of fear and hope, and He sends down water (rain) from the sky, and therewith revives the earth after its death. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who understand." (Surah Ar-Rum 24)

"And among His Signs is that the heaven and the earth stand by His Command, then afterwards when He will call you by single call, behold, you will come out from the earth (i.e from your graves for reckoning and recompense)." (Surah Ar-Rum, 25)

"To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. All are obedient to Him" Surah Ar-Rum

"(He is) the Lord of the two easts (places of sunrise during early summer and early winter) and the Lord of the two wests (places of sunset during early summer and early winter)." ( Surah Ar Rahman, ayah 17)

"Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you deny?" (Surah Ar Rahman, ayah 18)

"He has let loose the two seas (the salt water and the sweet) meeting together." ( Surah Ar-Rahman, ayah 19)

"Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress." ( Surah Ar- Rahman, ayah 20)

"Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you deny?" (Surah Ar Rahman, ayah 21)

"Out of them both come out pearl and coral." ( Surah Ar- Rahman, ayah 22)

"And His are the ships going and coming in the seas, like mountains." ( Surah Ar-Rahman, 23)

"Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you deny?" (Surah Ar Rahman, ayah 24)

"Whatsoever is on it (the earth) will perish." ( Surah Ar Rahman, ayah 25)

"And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will abide forever." ( Surah Ar Rahman, ayah 26)

"Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you deny?" (Surah Ar Rahman, ayah 27)

What is a Muslim, Anyway?

Oops, I forgot about this place completely. But I'm back, and InshaAllah (God willing), I'll keep blogging regularly from now on. Between the first post and this one, many months have passed. I hope I've become a bit more wiser since that first post?

Anyway, I wanted to start this blog off with the basics - it's so strange that not many people in contemporary society really understand what a Muslim is, or what it means to be one. I mean, I know exactly what a Hindu, a Christian, a Jew, or an Atheist believes in - I know their different traditions and how their religion (or lack of) affects their daily life. But when it comes down to the Islamic religion, people are suddenly ignorant and clueless.

First off, when someone says that they believe in God, what does it mean? When someone says they worship God, what does it mean? Why are we here anyway? Why are you, right now, looking at your computer screen, living your life day to day? Is there a point in all this? Is it just so you can have a good time - get up in the morning, go to work or school, finish your worldly duties and squeeze in some time for fun, and then fall asleep - is that all there is to life? As a human being, do you have any obligations to any 'higher authority'?

A Muslim believes that the most basic fundamental starting point in religion is to strongly believe in:

(a) the Oneness of God
(b) the Attributes of God

and to,

(c) worship that one God and God alone.

It might seem like a straightforward statement, and people might say this is what all religions of the world believe in. No, that's incorrect - This is the basis of only Islam. And if you take out even one of option (a), (b), or (c) from above, it turns into any of the numerous religions flooding the planet today. A person may believe in (a) and (b), but when it comes to (c), then they go ahead and start worshipping the human prophets who were sent to them (the Trinity concept), or worship gods and idols and deities. If God is One, why are they directing their worship elsewhere? And then there are those who worship graves and believe that the dead can help them. Hello? Those people are dead! Can you help someone perform a miracle right now? How on earth do you expect to do something like that when you're already *dead*? And then people believe that amulets or charms hold special powers and can help them. People look up at the sky and makes wishes on stars. How is any of this possible? If a person starts worshipping any other living or non-living thing, anything at all other than God, than they are in essence, committing what we call Shirk or Disbelief.

A muslim believes that God is the only One with power, and the only One who can help us. Since God created everything around us - ourselves, plants and animals and the oceans and mountains and everything on land, the stars and planets and everything else in the Universe, does it make sense to worship something that was created? Why not direct your worship to the Creator instead, who actually is the only One who can answer your prayer?

This is not the full definition of a muslim yet, but I'll cover more in my next post.

The First Post

Welcome to my blog. I've wanted to get a blog for a while now, because I love to think, and I love to write - sometimes, I have so many thoughts in my mind that I need to write them down to keep them organized. Well, this blog is basically for my own benefit, but if others can benefit from it, then it can only be a good thing.

So who am I? I'm a female muslim living in the West. "Oh no, what am I reading? I need to get out of here," you're thinking. But wait - please stay. The world has been filled with negativity and misconceptions concerning us. This blog is just a collection of my musings about all that, and more. Maybe someone might stumble onto this blog one day, and just maybe I can influence that person to think otherwise. Of course, I could've blogged about a whole myriad of other topics, but then what use would it be? I guess at some time or other, we all have big dreams of doing something, no matter how small, for the world. And this is my tiny attempt to contribute. Too ambitious? Nobody cares? Well, let's see what happens.