Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai Politics Talk Philosophy and Religion Forums

Hi, everyone, this is rongson from shanghai, china. First of all, i want to make sure that Dubaiforum IS a forum, so i could come up with topics that i'm interested if that topic will NOT incur some controversies.

For a fairly long time, there are some questions puzling me. I'm just wondering why Islam only thrives in west asia since she was founded. I mean why Islam, also include other religions, reaches its climax in west asia. Is there any reason we could figure out except religious ones? for example, how about economical and geographical factors? and are rules of Islam churches the same in different countries over the world? If not, why this happens?

Last but not least, i have no intention of doubting the rightousness of Islam, I only have questions about that. Hopefully, any one who are interested in my topic will note this.

I wanted to help you but I am not specialist in such field . Moreover, the language can't help me that much . Could I recommend you Bora or Speedhump for an answer ?

catalyst wrote:I wanted to help you but I am not specialist in such field . Moreover, the language can't help me that much . Could I recommend you Bora or Speedhump for an answer ?

sure. but who are they? Are they Imam? or scholar?

rongson wrote:Hi, everyone, this is rongson from shanghai, china. First of all, i want to make sure that Dubaiforum IS a forum, so i could come up with topics that i'm interested if that topic will NOT incur some controversies.

Welcome - and it is a forum and contentious issues are discussed here all the time, and occasionally we have those who also just want to find out more information.

I'll try and answer your queries about Islam - and I'm sure others will also chip in with their views.

rongson wrote:For a fairly long time, there are some questions puzling me. I'm just wondering why Islam only thrives in west asia since she was founded.

Firstly, you need to define 'West Asia' - if it also includes the west of China, then this is a valid question - for Islam reached China very early on and there are vast numbers Muslims in Western China (the Uigurs, for example, are only one such group).

Islam quickly spanned the world from China to Europe. In many regions it followed military conquests, but in other places it was missionary activities of traders etc.

It was intriguing for me to discover that Islam was taken to some Far East countries by a famous Chinese Admiral - Zheng He - who commanded one of the greatest navies in history, and also happened to be a Muslim. He did not conquer territories but brought Islam to Malaysia and surrounding countries, IIRC. (If you come to Dubai there is good and informative display about his naval exploits in the Ibn Battuta mall in the China area - but strangely says little about his Islamic preaching.)

Islam reached the Americas relatively later, and this was just down to when Muslims travelled there and preached.

rongson wrote:I mean why Islam, also include other religions, reaches its climax in west asia. Is there any reason we could figure out except religious ones? for example, how about economical and geographical factors?

I'd say it is just geographical and logistical. Today there are Muslims in all continents and amongst all races - so it's not a religion that is bound by geography, language etc.

The most populous Muslim country is Indonesia, for example.

rongson wrote: and are rules of Islam churches the same in different countries over the world? If not, why this happens?

Firstly there are many, many different sects of Islam and differing practices. Some sects are very localised (eg Druze are now a closed community of Lebanese who don't resemble other Muslims in their beliefs now, and there are local sects in Turkey, the Balkans etc who maintain unique cultural interpretations of Islam - some sing and dance as part of worship etc.

Islam has certain core values and has sufficient flexibility to allow cultural differences in terms of dress, food etc. For example it is common in our mosques and religious gatherings to have African, Indian, European,Arab, East Asian Muslims all mingling - wearing different clothes (most notably among the women) and yet all worshipping and believing in the same version of Islam.

rongson wrote:Last but not least, i have no intention of doubting the rightousness of Islam, I only have questions about that. Hopefully, any one who are interested in my topic will note this.

Noted.

Cheers,
Shafique

shafique wrote:

rongson wrote:Hi, everyone, this is rongson from shanghai, china. First of all, i want to make sure that Dubaiforum IS a forum, so i could come up with topics that i'm interested if that topic will NOT incur some controversies.

Welcome - and it is a forum and contentious issues are discussed here all the time, and occasionally we have those who also just want to find out more information.

I'll try and answer your queries about Islam - and I'm sure others will also chip in with their views.

rongson wrote:For a fairly long time, there are some questions puzling me. I'm just wondering why Islam only thrives in west asia since she was founded.

Firstly, you need to define 'West Asia' - if it also includes the west of China, then this is a valid question - for Islam reached China very early on and there are vast numbers Muslims in Western China (the Uigurs, for example, are only one such group).

Islam quickly spanned the world from China to Europe. In many regions it followed military conquests, but in other places it was missionary activities of traders etc.

It was intriguing for me to discover that Islam was taken to some Far East countries by a famous Chinese Admiral - Zheng He - who commanded one of the greatest navies in history, and also happened to be a Muslim. He did not conquer territories but brought Islam to Malaysia and surrounding countries, IIRC. (If you come to Dubai there is good and informative display about his naval exploits in the Ibn Battuta mall in the China area - but strangely says little about his Islamic preaching.)

Islam reached the Americas relatively later, and this was just down to when Muslims travelled there and preached.

rongson wrote:I mean why Islam, also include other religions, reaches its climax in west asia. Is there any reason we could figure out except religious ones? for example, how about economical and geographical factors?

I'd say it is just geographical and logistical. Today there are Muslims in all continents and amongst all races - so it's not a religion that is bound by geography, language etc.

The most populous Muslim country is Indonesia, for example.

rongson wrote: and are rules of Islam churches the same in different countries over the world? If not, why this happens?

Firstly there are many, many different sects of Islam and differing practices. Some sects are very localised (eg Druze are now a closed community of Lebanese who don't resemble other Muslims in their beliefs now, and there are local sects in Turkey, the Balkans etc who maintain unique cultural interpretations of Islam - some sing and dance as part of worship etc.

Islam has certain core values and has sufficient flexibility to allow cultural differences in terms of dress, food etc. For example it is common in our mosques and religious gatherings to have African, Indian, European,Arab, East Asian Muslims all mingling - wearing different clothes (most notably among the women) and yet all worshipping and believing in the same version of Islam.

rongson wrote:Last but not least, i have no intention of doubting the rightousness of Islam, I only have questions about that. Hopefully, any one who are interested in my topic will note this.

Noted.

Cheers,
Shafique

Thank you so much for your detailed answer, my dear friend. and do you have any idea why those religious groups formed firstly in west asia, to be exact, middle east? if the oldest civilization would be an explaination, then how about china? chinese culture also have a fairly long history. i know this question should be brought up in an academic forum, but this is my first and only muslim forum currently. so, if you are kind enough to recommend one academic forum about Islam to me, i would appreciate. thank you for your reply again.

You are welcome.

First, let me point out that this is not a 'Muslim forum' per se - but one relating to Dubai and some of us here are Muslim. If anything, I think the practicing Muslims are in the minority here

However, I am more than happy to share my knowledge with you and suggest other sources of information.

You ask about why religions seem to all come from the Mid East or West.

While the Judaeo-Christian line of religions (including Islam) stem from the Mid East, Islam actually teaches that all peoples were sent messengers from God. Only their messages were limited in time and geography - and would all be superseded by the universal and final religion some time in the future. (I'm making no judgments here, just stating what Islam states - we believe that the Quran is God's literal word, and this is what the Quran states).

You ask specifically about China - well, taking the above information into perspective, I believe that Lao Tzu and Confucious, for examples, were both prophets of God who brought true religion to their people. Over time their messages have changed - this is normal when we look at the evolution of say Hinduism, Zorastrianism and even Buddhism over time - but from an Islamic perspective, there were messengers from God in China who taught true religions.

Now, it is true that the Judaeo-Christian line of prophets can be viewed as special - notably the line of prophets from Abraham - via Isaac and Ishmael. From a Biblical perspective - God promised Abraham to make both the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael into great nations.

From an Islamic perspective, Arabia was reserved for the final religion and final prophet - and Arabic was the language of the final testament. One region, people and language had to be, and this happened to be the case here. It is interesting to note the unique features of Arabic and the amazing facts about the Quran - not least that it is still a living language that is comprehesible to more people now than when the Quran was revealed (in contrast with all other contemporary languages).

Cheers,
Shafique

may Allah bless you Shafique

shafique wrote:You are welcome.

First, let me point out that this is not a 'Muslim forum' per se - but one relating to Dubai and some of us here are Muslim. If anything, I think the practicing Muslims are in the minority here

However, I am more than happy to share my knowledge with you and suggest other sources of information.

You ask about why religions seem to all come from the Mid East or West.

While the Judaeo-Christian line of religions (including Islam) stem from the Mid East, Islam actually teaches that all peoples were sent messengers from God. Only their messages were limited in time and geography - and would all be superseded by the universal and final religion some time in the future. (I'm making no judgments here, just stating what Islam states - we believe that the Quran is God's literal word, and this is what the Quran states).

You ask specifically about China - well, taking the above information into perspective, I believe that Lao Tzu and Confucious, for examples, were both prophets of God who brought true religion to their people. Over time their messages have changed - this is normal when we look at the evolution of say Hinduism, Zorastrianism and even Buddhism over time - but from an Islamic perspective, there were messengers from God in China who taught true religions.

Now, it is true that the Judaeo-Christian line of prophets can be viewed as special - notably the line of prophets from Abraham - via Isaac and Ishmael. From a Biblical perspective - God promised Abraham to make both the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael into great nations.

From an Islamic perspective, Arabia was reserved for the final religion and final prophet - and Arabic was the language of the final testament. One region, people and language had to be, and this happened to be the case here. It is interesting to note the unique features of Arabic and the amazing facts about the Quran - not least that it is still a living language that is comprehesible to more people now than when the Quran was revealed (in contrast with all other contemporary languages).

Cheers,
Shafique

mm, in this way does it mean that Islamic people believe in fate? what do they think of things that happening to them? And what do they think of those unfair phenomenon in the world?

ronson - interesting question about what Islam teaches about fate.

In a nutshell, Islam does say that God knows what will happen - but God is not bound by time (so 'later' is not a concept for God). We are certainly bound up by events, but also have choice and what will happen to us will be influenced by our choices.

If there is a punishment ordained if we continue down a certain path, it can be averted by prayer we are taught - eg the example of the people of Nineveh (sp?) - Jonah's people - who repented, prayed fervently and were spared the punishment of God.

So we do believe that will happen is known to God and will happen because He allows it - but it is not 'set in stone' as such because we have choice in the matter. The mind-bending concept that God already knows what choices we make is what sometimes muddy's the water in respect of pre-destination vs choice.

It's been discussed before - if you do a search you should be able to find some of the posts.

Cheers,
Shafique

shafique wrote:ronson - interesting question about what Islam teaches about fate.

In a nutshell, Islam does say that God knows what will happen - but God is not bound by time (so 'later' is not a concept for God). We are certainly bound up by events, but also have choice and what will happen to us will be influenced by our choices.

If there is a punishment ordained if we continue down a certain path, it can be averted by prayer we are taught - eg the example of the people of Nineveh (sp?) - Jonah's people - who repented, prayed fervently and were spared the punishment of God.

So we do believe that will happen is known to God and will happen because He allows it - but it is not 'set in stone' as such because we have choice in the matter. The mind-bending concept that God already knows what choices we make is what sometimes muddy's the water in respect of pre-destination vs choice.

It's been discussed before - if you do a search you should be able to find some of the posts.

Cheers,
Shafique

Dear Mr Shafique,

Sorry for my late appreciation. Thank you so much for your detailed explaination about Islam. we people living in the world should find sth we think that are upright to live for. Sometimes, we judge things and others' behavior from our moral understanding, i dont know whether they belong to religion or not. But i do believe that there is supernatural power in the world. Maybe in some terms, it is called Superstitious; but i do think that is beyond, above and holier than that. That is religion, we human being could not go against that power. If we do turn away from this power, I'm afraid, we will be punished sooner or later. Maybe some of us will say, ok, that's ok, things you are thinking about is radiculous. But, i do believe that. It's just a matter of time. So, sometimes, we human should respect sth, i mean sth that we are "afraid of". Thank you again, Mr Shafique. May Allah bless you. My friend.

You are welcome.

I applaud your sentiments and agree 100%.

Cheers,
Shafique