u/Electrical_Thinker

I was born into a North Indian Hindu Brahmin family and spent many years exploring different religions in search of God. I studied Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and religious history. After several years of studying Christianity, I was baptized Catholic, but over time I became unconvinced by certain doctrines such as the Trinity, saint veneration, Marian devotion, purgatory, and some aspects of church authority.

Watching debates between Adnan Rashid and James White and other Christians was eye opening for me.

Today I would describe myself as a Unitarian Christian. I believe in one supreme God and see Jesus as a teacher, Messiah, and guide, but I do not currently accept the Trinity.

Because of this, I have been looking more seriously at Islam. The strict monotheism of Islam is attractive to me, but I still have many questions that I hope Muslims here can help me understand.

Some of my biggest questions are:

1. Why should I convert to Islam rather than remain a Unitarian Christian who worships the God of Abraham?
2. Muslims believe that the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel were originally revealed by God. If that is the case, why did Muslims stop following the Torah and Psalms? As someone who loves the Old Testament, especially Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Proverbs, and the prophetic books, I struggle with the idea of setting them aside.
3. How do Muslims understand the differences between the Torah and the Quran regarding figures such as Ishmael and Isaac? When there appear to be contradictions, how do you determine which account is correct?
4. How does sin, repentance, and forgiveness work in Islam? Is sincere repentance enough, or are there additional requirements?
5. What must a person do to enter Paradise according to Islam?
6. What is Paradise actually like? Is it primarily spiritual, physical, or both?
7. Will I be reunited with my wife and children in Paradise if we are all saved?
8. What happens to our ancestors? Will we know them in Paradise?
9. My parents are Hindus and have been good, moral people all their lives. How does Islam view the fate of non-Muslims who sincerely followed the religion they were raised in and never became convinced by Islam?
10. Finally, what convinced you personally that Islam is true?
11. Can I still Read Torah and Psalms and some Gospels if I become a Muslim?

I am asking these questions respectfully and in good faith. I am not looking for arguments or debates. I am genuinely interested in understanding why Muslims believe Islam is the final and correct revelation from God, and what would justify conversion from my current Unitarian Christian position.

Thank you for reading.

Hindu Brahmin with sacred thread, followed Vedic +Hindu faith for couple of years, Christian/Catholic for last 4 years and now Unitarian.

I was born into a North Indian Hindu Brahmin family and spent many years exploring different religions in search of God. I studied Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and religious history. After several years of studying Christianity, I was baptized Catholic, but over time I became unconvinced by certain doctrines such as the Trinity, saint veneration, Marian devotion, purgatory, and some aspects of church authority.

Watching debates between Adnan Rashid and James White and other Christians was eye opening for me.

Today I would describe myself as a Unitarian Christian. I believe in one supreme God and see Jesus as a teacher, Messiah, and guide, but I do not currently accept the Trinity.

Because of this, I have been looking more seriously at Islam. The strict monotheism of Islam is attractive to me, but I still have many questions that I hope Muslims here can help me understand.

Some of my biggest questions are:

1. Why should I convert to Islam rather than remain a Unitarian Christian who worships the God of Abraham?
2. Muslims believe that the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel were originally revealed by God. If that is the case, why did Muslims stop following the Torah and Psalms? As someone who loves the Old Testament, especially Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Proverbs, and the prophetic books, I struggle with the idea of setting them aside.
3. How do Muslims understand the differences between the Torah and the Quran regarding figures such as Ishmael and Isaac? When there appear to be contradictions, how do you determine which account is correct?
4. How does sin, repentance, and forgiveness work in Islam? Is sincere repentance enough, or are there additional requirements?
5. What must a person do to enter Paradise according to Islam?
6. What is Paradise actually like? Is it primarily spiritual, physical, or both?
7. Will I be reunited with my wife and children in Paradise if we are all saved?
8. What happens to our ancestors? Will we know them in Paradise?
9. My parents are Hindus and have been good, moral people all their lives. How does Islam view the fate of non-Muslims who sincerely followed the religion they were raised in and never became convinced by Islam?
10. Finally, what convinced you personally that Islam is true?
11. Can I still Read Torah and Psalms and some Gospels if I become a Muslim?

I am asking these questions respectfully and in good faith. I am not looking for arguments or debates. I am genuinely interested in understanding why Muslims believe Islam is the final and correct revelation from God, and what would justify conversion from my current Unitarian Christian position.

Thank you for reading.

Hindu Brahmin with sacred thread, followed Vedic +Hindu faith for couple of years, Christian/Catholic for last 4 years and now Unitarian.

I wanted to share my story because I've spent years searching for God across different religions and traditions, and I'm curious whether anyone else has experienced something similar.

I was born into a North Indian Hindu Brahmin family and grew up with Hindu beliefs and practices. I was especially drawn to Shiva, but I also had respect for Vedic deities such as Indra, Agni, and Usha. As I got older, I began studying religion more deeply, including the Rigveda and other sacred texts and I was aware of the non Idol worship, Indra supremacy and changes of Deities between Vedas and Puranas so I had doubts about Hinduism.

During a difficult period of my life, I started questioning many things I had previously believed. One night, while sincerely asking God for guidance, I had a dream. I saw a Star of David, a cross, and a crescent moon in that order. I then heard the words:

"Follow the right path."

That dream stayed with me for years.

Because I was already exploring different faiths, I began studying Christianity seriously. I spent four years learning about the faith before eventually receiving Catholic baptism. During that time I was deeply committed to Christianity and sincerely believed I had found the truth.

However, after baptism I gradually began questioning some Catholic teachings. Confession no longer felt spiritually meaningful to me. I struggled with doctrines such as the Trinity(especially because we also had trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva all being part of "one truth"), biblical inerrancy, confessions, sacraments, types of sins like Pokémon types, pergetory, Marian worship, saints worship, statues and idols everywhere, and certain aspects of church authority, it's polytheism to the core, almost like second Hinduism with Biblical/Pagan Greeco-Roman flavours.

I also learned more about biblical textual criticism and discovered that some passages, such as the story of the woman caught in adultery, are believed by many scholars to be later additions. This raised questions for me about how Scripture should be understood and interpreted.

At the same time, I never completely lost my connection to my Hindu roots, once I worshipped God of Abraham for a years, I didn't believe in Pagan deities.

I had several dreams that remained meaningful to me in the past, I also had a dream involving Jesus. He appeared with olive skin, long dark hair, a beard, and intense light coming from his eyes. He seemed angry and gave two commandments:

1. Worship only God.
2. Treat everyone as brothers.

That dream had a profound impact on me.

Over the years I studied Christianity, Vedism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and religious history. I found myself agreeing with different aspects of each tradition.

Today I would describe myself as a Unitarian Christian.

I believe in one supreme God. I admire and follow Jesus, but I am not convinced by the doctrine of the Trinity. I pray directly to God and seek a personal relationship with Him. I still respect my Hindu heritage and many of the spiritual traditions I grew up with, but my focus is increasingly on the worship of the one God. I prefer to wear Sacred thread because Catholic church allowed us, but I see it as a promise to God, I still prefer to light lamp and sticks instead of praying just in front of Idols etc, if we can have European paganism incorporated into Jewish theology, I believe we can also worship God in our own way without such deep pagan influences.

My current belief is that truth matters more than labels. I would rather honestly seek God than force myself into a religious identity that no longer reflects what I actually believe.

Has anyone else here gone through a journey that crossed multiple religions before arriving somewhere unexpected?

I was thinking about buying one book on ottomans as well but I prefer something easy to read and also some focus on anthropology/cultural religious developments and interactions with Balkan, Byzantine subjects and Europeans as whole.

Please recommend books that are falling into this criteria if possible, I can buy maximum of two books.

Thank you.

I was thinking about buying one book on ottomans as well but I prefer something easy to read and also some focus on anthropology/cultural religious developments and interactions with Balkan, Byzantine subjects and Europeans as whole.

Please recommend books that are falling into this criteria if possible, I can buy maximum of two books.

Thank you.

I had extremely big cystic acne, black heads and white heads for most of my life since I started my teenage years, after trying everything I said screw it and started low low dose of isotretinoin 10 mg and took it for yeas and I had almost 0 acne issues for years, I did not even have purge.

I stopped taking it due to other health reasons and after long break and start of getting same kind of acnes again this time with hyperpigmentation and dark spots because why not I waved white flag and started tretinoin therapy and at first it was normal but now almost 7/8 weeks in I noticed that I am breaking out with similar kind of acne.

Is my skin purging or I am having bad reaction? I noticed here that people say you purge for at least 12 weeks normally and if you have cystic acne you can purge for upto 6 months. I don't know what to do honestly as I also have isotretinoin pills due to my prescription and I was advised to wait for month of two if my conditions wont change then I should start taking it back but the side effects are scary and I desperately want my skin to adopt to tretinoin.

My routine:
AM:

1. Cleanser
2. Moisturizer
3. 15% Azelaic acid cream on dark spots and acne areas
4. 50+ SPF for acne prone and oily skin

PM:

1. Cleanser
2. 0.025 Tret gel with 1% Clindamycin
3. Moisturizer

Hi everyone,

I’m dealing with a frustrating situation and could really use some input.

My skin was basically perfect while I was on a very low dose of isotretinoin. After stopping, my acne came back. This time it’s a mix of cystic acne, whiteheads, blackheads, and now post-acne hyperpigmentation as well.

My dermatologist prescribed 0.025% tretinoin at night, and honestly the results have been great overall. The problem is during the day.

My SPF is quite drying(but it's what I need), so if I don’t use a moisturizer underneath, my skin gets flaky and visibly peels. But when I do use even a very lightweight moisturizer, I start getting tiny pimples and whiteheads that stick around for days. If I extract them, they leave dark spots, which just adds to the hyperpigmentation issue.

So I’m considering adding azelaic acid (around 10% or lower) in the morning. I’ve tried 20% before and it caused burning and peeling, so I’m hoping a lower strength might help with both acne prevention and dark spots without irritating my skin.

Current routine:

AM:

Cleanser

Very lightweight moisturizer

Oil-control SPF 50+

PM:

Cleanser

0.025% tretinoin

Moisturizer

Has anyone dealt with something similar?

Would adding azelaic acid in the morning help or just make things worse?

Appreciate any advice or experience you can share.