Lately it has become almost trending to claim: "I don't believe in a personal God. I believe in some supreme force that created the universe, but it didn't send any prophets or books."

So convenient, isn't it? Yeah, the mystery of existence is solved – there is a God. But any reason for creation?

A deist doesn't answer this question. He rather claim: if you are a good person, why does it matter that you believe in a religion? Some agnostics would agree too.

At first, it sounds very logical indeed – no wonder why so many choose this view. However, here also lies the question that makes the difference: what is good?

Adam probably thought: I know what is good for me. Hitler probably also thought he knows what is good for the humanity. Army of terrorists destroying lives of "non-believers" probably also believe it is good for the world.

The world is so separated by the idea of good – something that is supposed to unite the humanity.

... It is as if we desperately need a guidance. It is as if we are being tested by the One who sent it. It is as if the meaning of the existence, which is so full of suffering, can be justified only by a God that has planned a time to stop it and reward each creature with what he has accumulated.

But how would one know for sure? Why the guidance has to be Quran, not many of the books that some charlatans have wrote?

There is a great answer: Quran doesn't speak to a doubtful mind; it speaks directly to the Witness. Thus, each and everyone knows exactly what it says, but prefers to dismiss it by saying:

"This is no more than the word of a man." (74:25)

Now, this is not an attempt to start a debate. This is but a reminder. We are not speaking to your rational mind, we are just throwing a seed in your heart.

Then whoever wills will remember it. And they will not remember except that God wills. He is worthy of fear and adequate for forgiveness. (74:55-56)

Listen to sounds. Some things cannot be said using words.

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When we say 'praying' we sometimes think of a ritual action (and in a way some ritual aspects of it are very beneficial), but calling it 'talking to God' can actually be a more insightful way to describe it.

We stand before God and talk. 'What would I talk about?' sounds like a clearer question than 'how do I pray?'

Why would anyone ask someone else how to talk to God? However, people ask how to pray all the time.

See the little difference: when talking we know what we are doing – sharing thoughts, feelings. Traditional Muslim prayer forced in Arabic is more like repeating spells – most of practitioners don't understand what they are saying which is not an allowed practice (see 4:43).

Again and again, this is extremely important for any improvements in Muslim community to switch from repeating spells and showing off to an actual understanding of Thyself.

When we talk we say aloud what we feel. Do we feel grateful? Or maybe irritated, desperate? Do we feel pain or fear of loss? What was the last time when we actually shared an emotion in a prayer?

No need to talk in our heads; it is better to talk aloud. Talk to the One who understands. Then, it happens that whatever we may say we feel like we reach speechlessness at one point, so we tend to bow and prostrate.

We said everything, we know we are heard. We feel grateful, so we bow and prostrate. No one is making us do it, we do it because we feel it.

Also important: we do it towards the House of God. As a preparation we wash ourselves so we feel alive, especially after a sleep. To touch water purifies us and reminds us that every living being is created out of water and consists of water. Just to touch it makes us alive, more present.

We are also recommended to pray with those who pray. It is okay that sometimes we go and pray in a Sunni or Shia mosque. Some people greet the angels on their shoulders, some repeat several rakats – we can do it too while we are there. That is not a problem. We don't create separation; instead, we try to notice the best of everyone's effort and intention.

Compassion, gratitude, innocence are a universal language – nothing to do with "Arabic Islam". Islam/submission is a universal religion of surrender of the ego – it is not connected to Quran only or Middle East.

Yet, Quran alone is one of the finest ways to understand a religion, grow in love of God. It would greatly benefit us to be a little cunning. Not to scare away all other religions and sects by revealing ourselves right away. Instead, being a friend for those who are open; healing and preparing them for a rebellious freedom of no other authority but One God.

Remember, no community ever succeeds without taking time to connect with God.

But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil. (19:59)

Hope you benefit these little shared insights and reminder.

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I saw a pigeon with a wound on the of the back of its head. A crow was pecking on the wound, while pigeon was trying to jump away. I tried to catch the pigeon to help but then gave up too quickly. It started raining and I said to myself: "well, I can't help him really and this is life."

As I sat on my bike and rode away I felt extreme tension on my throat – not something that I have ever experienced. My whole body started shaking and tears started flowing. It is as if my whole being was resisting my decision.

I returned and managed to help the pigeon, but the initial pain of resistance to leaving was so strong that I have almost lost my voice and my body felt beaten.

Was it a test by The Compassionate? It was a great reminder whom I really serve.
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Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. (Parables, 12:10)

God is Merciful, there is no way that He tolerates any kind of cruelty or lack of compassion to innocent creatures.

So I would suggest not eating dairy, meat or egg products if they are not coming from organic, free-range, or any other humane sources.

Unfortunately, most of animal industries treat them purely like a source of income, not creatures that are able to suffer and fear. One should be aware of those who treat them badly – they are surely the servants of the devil and nothing good ever comes from him.

Also one should be aware of the companies that contribute to global warming, pollution. These little actions hugely affect not only the planet but one's own soul and well-being.

With love, in peace.

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Devils and their friends are very cunning. The day before yesterday they were openly polytheists, yesterday they were Sunni, today they will pretend to follow Quran – whatever is a good camouflage, trending, they will be it.

Remember, the devils know that God is one, yet still they intentionally distort the right path.

And when they meet those who believe, they say, "We believe"; but when they are alone with their devils, they say, "Indeed, we are with you; we were only mockers." (2:14)

They may pretend to be friendly, true Muslims, wise and knowledgable, but their intentions are always to promote sins, distort the Scripture and create separation.

Don't be shocked: how can one not fear God? That is what being devil is all about. He knows the truth but he rebels against it. Without fear of God, there is nothing to stop him.

Majority of humans never use their intellect. They will read whatever anyone writes and follow it – they have already cheated in their hearts and were looking for an excuse.

Remember, again and again, "I didn't know", "I was mislead by someone" is not going to save anyone from the fire. Don't stop until you are in peace with the message, and surely, the message is always clear, simple and praises God.

This is just a reminder.

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In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

I want to share a beautiful reminder/meditation that I have been blessed with lately. It is simply remembering magic words – 'Pleasure of God'.

Why is it so significant?

But the greatest bliss is the Pleasure of God. That is the supreme success. (9:72)

Seeking the pleasure of God, making it the highest priority is the most intelligent, the most satisfying way of existence and this simple self-reminder to remember "it is all for pleasure of God" tunes one into the most beautiful frequency of existing.

'Pleasure of God' – just remembering it brings a blissful smile on one's face and peace in one's heart.

A chance for a fortune? A beautiful man or woman to be with? The most interesting activity? Nothing! One can chase all of that and get nothing but anxiety and dissatisfaction.

But if one sticks with the pleasure of God by the very mercy of God all that is really beautiful – the very best of all that could ever happen – starts happening to him. What gift.

One may use other types of meditation to be present here and now – watching the breath, body, listening to sounds – all good, but these are all tools, not realisation.

Remembering of pleasure of God is beyond a practice – it is the level of a higher creature that sees the truth: all good comes from serving God and in His pleasure we find our own greatest pleasure.

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In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

I want to share a beautiful reminder/meditation that I have been blessed with lately. It is simply remembering magic words – 'Pleasure of God'.

Why is it so significant?

But the greatest bliss is the Pleasure of God. That is the supreme success. (9:72)

Seeking the pleasure of God, making it the highest priority is the most intelligent, the most satisfying way of existence and this simple self-reminder to remember "it is all for pleasure of God" tunes one into the most beautiful frequency of existing.

'Pleasure of God' – just remembering it brings a blissful smile on one's face and peace in one's heart.

A chance for a fortune? A beautiful man or woman to be with? The most interesting activity? Nothing! One can chase all of that and get nothing but anxiety and dissatisfaction.

But if one sticks with the pleasure of God by the very mercy of God all that is really beautiful – the very best of all that could ever happen – starts happening to him. What gift.

One may use other types of meditation to be present here and now – watching the breath, body, listening to sounds – all good, but these are all tools, not realisation.

Remembering of pleasure of God is beyond a practice – it is the level of a higher creature that sees the truth: all good comes from serving God and in His pleasure we find our own greatest pleasure.

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All four madhabs agree that ones who commit zina should be stoned to death. Tho Quran describes a different punishment for adultery (100 lashes) and mentions stoning to death exclusively as a method of punishment used by polytheists (26:116, 36:18, 19:46, 44:20), madhabs don't care because the hadith about stoning for zina is sahih.

If a hadith is sahih and it contradicts Quran – then either hadith cannot be trusted or it has an authority to replace the word of God. Without sahih hadith the whole system of Sunni Islam collapses – so one needs to think of a good explanation.

Married vs. non-married

They say, Quran speaks of punishment for unmarried people having sex with each other; hadith – for married.

Now, this is absolutely rubbish, as zina is all about cheating on your partner and breaking one's heart, betraying one's trust. A regular sex between two non-committed people is not good either, but it is not punishable.

24:1-19 clearly speaks about a case where wives of Muslims were slandered by those who claimed they cheated on their husbands, thus it says about those who believe these slanders:

And those who accuse their wives but have no witness except themselves, the accuser must testify, swearing four times by God that he is telling the truth... (24:6)

If only the believing men and women had thought well of one another, when you heard this ˹rumour˺, and said, “This is clearly slander!” (24:12)

And 4:25 says it is only half of the punishment for married women among those with whom you had contractual rights that committed adultery compared to regular wives – would that be stoning them to half-death?

The Bible says so too

Quran mentions Bible as distorted by Christians and Jews – they hide pages or try to make that which is not in Bible as a part of it. More over, all Christian sects can't agree on how many books of Bible are authentic. What if those that mentioning killing/stoning are non-authentic or heavily redacted too?

Bible (Old Testament) has death penalties for almost anything – working on Sabbath, blasphemy, idolatry, rebelling against parents and etc.

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What stoning is basically – a mob of wild people losing their last bit of consciousness and attacking someone using rocks from the ground – absolutely barbaric and senseless act of cruelty and hatred. No chance God ever liked it.

Anyone who has ever stoned anyone to death will surely face eternal damnation – whether using a sahih hadith as an excuse or not.

And when they commit an immorality, they say, “We found our fathers doing it, and God has ordered us to do it.” Say, “Indeed, God does not order immorality. Do you say about God that which you do not know?” (7:28)

Humans can be homophobic – some for religious reasons, some for others.

Some people hate gays, but then many of these people can rape them too; some others can attack them violently without a provocation.

Some people dislike them, based on their religious books and/or personal views, and consider it a mental illness, temporary stage of their sexuality, perversion.

Now, orthodox Muslims are clear about it: we should kill homosexuals. It is surely not in Quran to kill anyone, unless as a deserved form of self-defence. Tho God did punish Lot's community – for homosexuality along with other crimes, but That is God – He punishes people that are getting close to being absolute menace to the world.

So, what is the middle path for Muslims to follow between killing gays and accepting them since there is no specific punishment for it in Quran?

Leaving them alone.

We don't have to do anything even with idol-worshippers – and these are the worst of the creatures. So, leave them. Homosexual behaviour is clearly stated as immorality (27:54-56) and God forbids immoralities (7:33). Yet, it is not up to us to punish drug addicts, self-harmers, gays, Atheists.

But why God dislikes gays

Homosexuality is a natural phenomenon in animals, but humans are meant to be different. The reason why not everything that is natural for animals is natural for humans is that we are being prepared for Heaven and are not supposed to act like animals. Animals can do many disgusting things that humans can't. For example, we can't kill a husband and children of a new partner like lions do.

Homosexuality in animals can also be a form of establishing dominance, mistaken identity, opportunism, lack of opposite sex.

These actions can seem good for those who follow lust and ego, but are absolutely unacceptable for creatures who were exposed to lust as the consequence of losing innocence:

So they both ate from the tree and then their nakedness was exposed to them, prompting them to cover themselves with leaves from Paradise. (20:121)

So, why a heterosexual behaviour is allowed then? Because it is absolutely needed for supporting population + exchanging polar energies (masculine and feminine) cause great benefit and richness in mental health. No lustful women-chasing is allowed either.

Yet, these are mere understandings of a mortal – the real reason is because it is God's vision for us – and surely He knows that which we don't. Why do we need fasting? We can count many benefits, but essentially it is always deeper and greater than our understanding too.

I have desires for men, what should I do?

As was said earlier, homosexuality is a natural phenomenon in all creatures, but it is not what we are supposed to choose. It happens that I see a woman and I feel attraction even tho I have a partner – then I simply lower my gaze. It is a choice. In fact, most of men either had or sometimes having any kind of feelings – but it becomes a problem only if one follows the desire.

Desires can pass through us. As an ex-addict I was struggling with the desire to try drugs again and again – but I chose not to.

No one is 100% gay or straight – we all contain all the sins, all the desires – it is always what we choose to follow.

You may like heroin if you try – 1000 times more than you like gay sex – yet you don't have to become a junkie.

Are Quranic verses actually misinterpreted or mistranslated

Now, tho those verses that condemn homosexual behaviour are very clear and Quran is a clear book, some try to make it look like it doesn't really condemn it by misusing logic and grammar. Here is the main claim:

Lot's community was destroyed for other crimes.

Surely, they were criminals and were doing many other things that was immoral, but one sin doesn't cancel the other one. 27:54-56 clearly state that they commit immorality, then it becomes more specific: "Do you approach lustfully/desire-fully men instead of women?" Then it proceeds to claiming: "Rather/bal, you are transgressors" and finalise it by saying that they didn't have an answer to that.

'Bal' that is also used in this verse has two functions: canceling and transitioning. Those who claim that it cancels the statement before it say that God actually meant this: "Is that you only approach lustfully men over women? Nay, you are transgressors." So, it is very innocent to approach men lustfully instead of women, they say, it is just that they are just transgressors.

This is a very strange way to deny a claim of innocence. It is like saying: "Is that you only worship Bal instead of Me? Nay, you are transgressors."

Neither grammatically, nor logically, nor context-wise this makes any sense. Surely, ones who choose desire over Truth will always make unbelievable claims and use sophistics to advocate it.

All verses 7:80-81, 26:165, 27:55, 29:28-29 on this topic clearly shows that there is a lust/desire of men that prefer men over women – but somehow, they say, this is just an innocent remark by God that doesn't really condemn homosexual behaviour.

Note that there is not a single verse honouring gay unions which is an issue: homophobia has always been a thing – both in the past and in the present. Why God is silent on gay rights? If homosexual behaviour is normal, why there is not a single verse of comfort for them?

Surely, those who have made up their mind are not interested in questioning, neither Quran is needed to change anyone's mind. It is here to witness against people and that those who trust it would remind themselves the Truth by reading it.

Gay or straight, beware of lust and stay humble, and don't be among these:

Do you expect them to be true to you, though a group of them would hear the word of God then knowingly corrupt it after understanding it? (2:75)

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