A Compilation Of Dialogues

009 Dialog Between Mary And Ahzar

Estimated reading: 0 minutes 1460 views

Hello, thank you for visiting Huda TV. How may I help you?
Azhar

Hello.
Mary

Hi Mary.. warm welcome
Here we chat about Islam basics
Azhar

I need to know when Islam talks about fighting what is this ?
What does it mean ?
Why is killing ok ?
Mary

Sure. The only times Islam talks about fighting is in self defense and only after all the attempts at peace have been exhausted *AND* the enemy attacks you first
Azhar

Killing anyone innocent in Islam is completely forbidden
And even when we are fighting… Islam tell us if our enemy asks forgiveness then forgiven them
Azhar

but I read that Muhammad was fighting
And that he was acting like an army chief
And this confused me a lot
Mary

True – prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) did fight and was indeed chief of the army. However he made sure that strict rules were followed and only commanded to fight when the points I made above were true
Azhar

Take an example…
When the Muslims won and entered Makkah after a long time, the enemies were forgiven – except some who had been traitors or on both sides
Azhar

I see
I am Christian
Orthodox Christian
Mary

Nice to chat with you Mary
Azhar

🙂 All my life I hated Muslims
Mary

Are you in Athens? I visited it many years ago.
Azhar

Mainly because I was told to
Mary

I can imagine many people do not like Muslims
Azhar

Yes in Athens .
How did you guess ?
Mary

Yes – there is a lot of resentment to Muslims. My system gives me an idea of your approximate location 🙂
Azhar

🙂 The issue is that I was always close to God
And always away from my church
Mary

I was in Athens in the days of those riots around 2009?
Azhar

Yes yes 🙂
I remember the time !
Mary

I hope things are better now !
Azhar

Hope you enjoyed your stay
Mary

Yes – it was great
Azhar

This are a lot better . At least we do not burn our city 🙂
Mary

Hahaha.
Good.
Azhar

🙂
Mary

SO back to you…
As you were saying.
Azhar

I was away from my church.
Mary

How come you were away from the churche?
Azhar

I though that the priests were not that holy
Mary

OK – LOL I guess there are similar ones in any religion
Azhar

And everytime I needed them I didn’t think their consulting brought me close to God
Mary

I can understand that
Azhar

I also was not sure that Jesus was Son of God
Mary

Wow – really?
Azhar

Yes.
I thought that they made it such so that people would believe easier
Mary

As you know we love Jesus as a noble prophet of God but don’t believe he was God in human form or Son of God
Azhar

But this did not make my faith smaller
Mary

I got you
Azhar

So I still believed in God.
And God assists me in my life.
Mary

SO you continued to investigate and research?
Azhar

Even if I had difficult years he assisted me
Mary

It seems he guided you here – so that’s good 🙂
Azhar

The truth is that I don’t remember an era that I was without troubles .
So some time ago
I met a boy
Mary

SOmetimes we need challenges in life to bring us closer to God
Azhar

A Muslim boy
Mary

ok
Azhar

And I started reading about Islam
He didn’t make me
Mary

I did it to assist him through a hardship he had.
And as he went more into the hardship I was reading more
Mary

Wow – that’s amazing
Azhar

If one day we were together I knew I would have to convert
So I was thinking about it as being Christian but raising my children as Muslims
Mary

Very interesting
Azhar

So in a way doing both
Mary

And still the same?
Azhar

And everything was going really bad with him
So his hardship made us away
Or me
Mary

ok
Azhar

I am not sure.
And I kept reading
Watching videos
Mary

please go on
Azhar

I though that through that I could find a way to ease his pain
So one day I saw a video and I heard the word partners
Mary

And in the beginning I said to myself
What are they saying ?
Why is this bad ?
Mary

ok…. by the way.. your English is great!
Azhar

thank you 🙂
Mary

And then I understood that in every and each pray I was making
I was praying to Jesus and not to God
And I have never realized that .
Never
Mary

Awesome you realised
Azhar

So I said I have to start saying God
Then I read that sex before marriage is not allowed .
So I said why ?
Mary

Yes true
Azhar

Everybody is doing it
This is a very old idea
That it is not allowed
Mary

And one night during a pray
I realized that I have never felt secure with a man
Mary

That I was using sex to seduce
And to be loved .
Did not work by the way 🙂
Not for me …
Mary

ok
Azhar

So I started reading the Quran
And it was so much easier than I expected .
I could read it for hours and not understood that the time had passed
Mary

That’s great
Azhar

And I cried .
And sometimes I felt it was written for me .
And then I started research for my religion
Not really research
Mary

Questions were coming to my mind
Questions based on things I had read some time ago.
And I just know remembered to search for the answer
Mary

This is just amazing.. please continue
Azhar

And I found out that my religion is based on politics
And that people I worshiped
Chose the books inside my bible
Mary

I didn’t get that bit
Azhar

There are supposed to be more people that wrote about Jesus
As Thomas
Mary

oh yes..
Azhar

Or Maria Magdalene
And they chose not to put them in the Bible
Mary

Gospel according to x, y or z person
Azhar

Yes
Mary

So in the beginning I said I am Muslim
I always were just didn’t know it
Mary

I understand
Azhar

But know as I read
I get so tired, so confused
My mind is thinking why would God write a book and send it down?
Mary

If he is so powerful why does he care ?
Why do I feel so tired ?
Mary

It’s a valid point
Azhar

I feel that I am losing my faith .
Why would the God of love
Want to punish us?
How can he be so cruel ?
Mary

ok
Azhar

If a bad person was next to me I would try to change his mind
Not burn him forever.
So I think I am losing my faith
Mary

Sure – I know what you mean
Azhar

I say to myself that I will never make it to heaven of l this is true
So why bother ?
Mary

And I keep crying.
And I always think about that
Mary

OK. And you came here to discuss this?
Azhar

yes
Mary

Cool
Azhar

My religion seems to be fake.
I believed in a lie.
I don’t know what is true what is wrong
Mary

When you say ‘your religion’ which one are you referring to?
Azhar

christian
Mary

Ah ok
Azhar

I am doomed
Mary

Either I believe in a fake religion or God is a lie or I will never make it in a Christian society
All the roads
I don’t see the light …
Mary

OK. And what happened to the reading of the Qu’ran etc – do you still read it?
Azhar

And I am so tired.
Yes I still read it
Mary

I can not stop.
And I am tired
Mary

And what happens when you read it?
Azhar

I keep thinking
I can not stop reading it
Mary

Surely there is a sign there??
Azhar

What do you mean ?
Because I can not stop ?
Mary

I mean if something is bad – why would you keep reading? Obviously its something good – a good message inside… and that’s why you can’t stop;
Azhar

I am afraid when I am reading
Or ideas that God is not real
That this is a nice fairytale
And then
Mary

Or because you feel scared that you are doomed?
Azhar

I read some verses that “kill me”
Yes I am scared because nothing can save me .
And I cry.
Mary

OK.. in this case I have good news for you!
Azhar

Now I am crying
Mary

Please don’t. There is light and its close by.
Azhar

Allah is willing to forgive ALL sins even shirk if we repent sincerely and we do it while we are alive.
Shirk – taking of partners alongside God
Azhar

But I am thinking that he doesn’t exist
Mary

Ah I see
Azhar

And that I should better watch Tv
And I wake up tired
Mary

OK.. and this relates back to why would God be cruel to send people to hell fire?
Azhar

Yes
Mary

I got you now
OK. There is a way to look at this differently
Azhar

How ?
Mary

As you know God can do whatever he wants….
So he can put people in hell fire for a few mins, hours or days – even years and then take them out. Right?
Azhar

Yes
Mary

SO this is a possibility. Just like a parent can tell a child off and maybe even slap them – but still loves them
Azhar

But the Quran says he doesn’t love unbelievers.
That he will set on Fire the ones who had partners
Mary

Right. Now imagine. If someone denies the messages and the guidance that God sends then God owes them no favour. Have you heard about Jehovah’s witnesses?
Azhar

No . Or maybe I have wi
and we call him differently
Mary

OK so it’s a Christian sect. And what they believe is there is no hell.
However the sinners do not get to see God
Azhar

Now in in the Qur’an – the Quran even itself says that it gives descriptions of hell and heaven that people might understand with their limited human imaginations
Azhar

So for example… hell might not have fire in it. It could be simply you are not able to see the face of God.
No -one knows right?
Azhar

But it says you will have fire
And fire will eat your skin
And then you will have new skin for the fire to burn
Mary

Doesn;t it also say rivers of milk and pleasant gardens etc?
Azhar

I will never be perfect.
Yes
Mary

Well we have those on earth already right?
Or we could have
Azhar

Yes
Mary

So you see – as I think of it its like this:
Heaven/Paradise is a place we would want to stay in forever
Hell is a place we would not want to even be in for a second
And just think of it like this
Azhar

NOw imagine… if you gave your child a sweet one day.
And then the child loved it and he kept asking for it again and again but you didn;t give it to him. For that child – hell is not having a sweet right?
Azhar

Right
Mary

So the Qur’an says it gives allegories and analogies. So do not take it literally. I mean it says we will sit back on green cushions. We can do that here on earth!
My point is this…
Azhar

I understand
Mary

We are each of us responsible for what we do for things that are in our control. We will be judged on those. And each will be doing it for himself. So just do the best you can and let others worry about their own salvation.
Azhar

Of course we should help others by conveying the message and guidance of God but if they want to block their ears then God might give them a slap or two or even something worse. What do we care when we have done the best we can for ourselves and to help them too?
Azhar

Why do I have so many bad thoughts ?
Why isn’t God assisting me ?
Mary

It may well be that God forgives those people in the end- who are we to resist?
Azhar

Why do I feel so tired ?
Mary

Mary… I think I can help you here. I have two recommendations – techniques you can use to reduce or eliminate these thoughts:
Azhar

A: Use the following method in your daily life outside prayers and for when you get a sexual urge, evil or distracting bad thought: Keep a teaspoon in the left or right pocket. Whenever you catch yourself thinking a negative thought, move it over to the other pocket. Do this without exception.
Azhar

Over time you will notice that you kick out the negative thought before it has a chance to be fully formulated in your mind. The first couple of days you will constantly have to move it back and forth between your pockets. After a month, sometimes less, it becomes a habit and you develop the reflex to dismiss negative thoughts, no sweat. If after a while they do creep back in, put the spoon back in your pocket and scoop them away.
Azhar

Over time you will notice that you kick out the negative thought before it has a chance to be fully formulated in your mind. The first couple of days you will constantly have to move it back and forth between your pockets. After a month, sometimes less, it becomes a habit and you develop the reflex to dismiss negative thoughts, no sweat. If after a while they do creep back in, put the spoon back in your pocket and scoop them away.
Azhar

B: This is like a virtual ‘spank’ to yourself when you get a sexual urge, put off prayer or anything else… put a rubber band around your wrist… whenever you get a lazy thought, pull the rubber band and release it… this will hurt your wrist a little. Over time you will stop doing the bad stuff because your brain associates bad stuff with the rubber band pain.
Azhar

The above tips very effective and known to work and can be used in other aspects of your life. They are cheap to implement but you will need to make an effort.
Try them. Nothing to lose!
Azhar

I will
I hope they will work
Mary

No harm in trying right? Cool. Now let’s discuss your beliefs a minute if that’s OK. No harm in trying right? Cool. Now let’s discuss your beliefs a minute if that’s OK.
Azhar

Ok
Mary

So you mentioned that you used to believe as muslims believe (except lately you had doubts) – is that correct?
Azhar

Yes . In a less conservative way of course
Mary

Right… OK
Azhar

Meaning I never thought that having sex is a bad thing
I thought that asking from God a good spouse is a sin
Mary

OK.. but when you read the Qur’an and realised it might be bad – what did you think and do?
(sex outside marriage)
Azhar

In the beginning I though it was crazy .
Stupid
Mary

Yes – I remember you mentioned it above
Azhar

That it had to do with the fact this was written in another age
Mary

But after thinking you accepted it?
Azhar

You see my boyfriend is very conservative
And sometimes he had difficulties touching me .
So I was wondering why
Mary

Yes I can imagine
Azhar

Want I good enough ?
He was saying this is out of respect
Mary

I though it was because he didn’t have enough girlfriends
So no I did not accept it
Mary

But one day , I was praying
And while on my pray
I just understood
Why I did it . How it felt .why he didn’t want to do it
Mary

OK great. Here’s something interesting related to the same thing that often happens…
Azhar

I just understood
Mary

Ok… I get you. Often what happens is a muslim guy is dating a non muslim lady and then muslim lady starts getting interested and then decides that the guy is not really a good practicing muslim… she converts to islam for God and then ends up splitting from him!
(lady gets interest in Islam)
Azhar

🙂 I can imagine
Mary

But he is good
He thinks now that I am the devil
Mary

OK cool. LOL re devil
Azhar

Or something like that.
But he is good
Mary

So look here is something else to think about
Regardless of what you believe we are here on the earth right now.
Now we can try to think of reasons why we are here
Azhar

But looking at the sophistication of the universe and our bodies and DNA etc. its almost impossible to think we just live and then die and there is nothing more to life than that – correct?
Azhar

Yes. Correct
Mary

So what is our purpose then – why are we here. In order to answer that question, we can try to think of a few reasons e.g. to make life better or our children or our descendants or make them stronger and more adaptable e.g. evolution.
Azhar

But its still no use to us when we are dead. Plus the fact that there is so much injustice in the world there must be some sort of universal justice or compensation. Right?
Azhar

Right
Mary

Good = now to examine the reason for our purpose we can invent our own reasons or go with those of an established religion. In order to find the right established religion we need to find out if the person who started it or told us about it is genuine.
Azhar

Sounds right
Mary

Also we need to look at the beliefs that those people brought. It should ideally be a good mix of spirituality and practicality.
Something you can apply in this world
Azhar

Most religions are purely spiritual (e.g. love your neighbour) without giving you practical guidance
Azhar

Yes I noticed Islam is not like that .
It gets to details.
It says even how to separate the fortune if somebody dies .
This is very surprising
Mary

Right… exactly. You always know where you stand – well in about 95% of cases.
Azhar

So what I want to ask you is this: If you believe in say 70%-80% of the Qur’an and what it says… what else comes close? And what percentage of that do you believe??
Azhar

It is not the Quran that I don’t believe .
I don’t like that Muhammad seems so important
He reminds me of how we have Jesus
Mary

OK. Cool. I can help you with this for sure. There is a great documentary on the life of Prophet Mohammed. It’s a neutral biography.
Azhar

Ok he was the last prophet . But he was a prophet , right ?
Mary

Its made by the BBC
Yes he was a prophet
Azhar

Which documentary ?
Mary

Here’s a link to the video on Youtube worth watching later – please save it….
BBC DOCUMENTARY ON PROPHET MOHAMMED
Azhar

Ok I will
Mary

Now once you see how he was and how he had nothing to gain materially from anyone coming to Islam you can appreciate the authenticity of his message – a good messengers should act and talk like a true messenger in order to be trusted right?
Azhar

Right .
But in Islam he is treated to be extremely important .
I don’t think that any of them
Mary

Of course because he was the final prophet. Here’s an example of his honesty…
Azhar

Any of the prophets was humble
Mary

All were. Prophet Mohammed told us Jesus Christ will come back before the end of time to help save the world and make it muslim!!
Azhar

Ok now that I remembered
Mary

Now imagine a fake prophet or person after recognition.. he would have said that he (Mohammed) will come back at the end of time
Azhar

How fair is that ?
Why Arabs have known the Quran
And Europeans haven’t ?
How fair is that ?
Mary

You mean why is Qur’an in Arabic?
Azhar

No It is an example
It is famous in Arabia for instance
But not in France
Mary

How fair is that for France ?
How can they know ?
How can I know ?
Just by luck
Mary

It could have easily been in any other lanuage and to any other people… then you would have been asking me why French people know the Qur’an and not Arabs!!! 🙂
Azhar

Hehehehe
Mary

God only knows!
Azhar

I meant that God did not make it in equal terms
Mary

It had to be in at least one human language for sure
Azhar

Yes sure
Mary

But nowadays we can translate it
So no problem
Azhar

But why Christians will go to hell ?
You know we have a saying
About religion in Christianity
Mary

It says
“Believe and do not investigate”
Mary

We believe people who followed the original message of Jesus which was to worship one and only one God will go to heaven
Azhar

They told me when I was very young and asked what is the difference between Holy spirit and God
Mary

But it says in the Quran Christians will go to hell
Mary

Actually it doesn’t say that exactly. It says those who do not believe in one and only one God and do not believe in the last day may go to hell
Azhar

There were people from the time of Jesus who knew nothing about prophet Mohammed that will go to heaven
Some call them Christians
Azhar

So the translation that I have is not good.
It puts the pagans in the same situation as Christians.
Ok ok I see
Mary

Yes – these are effectively atheists who do not believe in one and only one God
Azhar

We pray to Jesus
Mary

Yes – that is considered a big sin in Islam
Azhar

But you know this is how they thought us.
I never realized that before now.
Mary

Well we have been taught many things and beliefs we know are not true
Azhar

In Jesus and in the saints.
Does Islam has saints ?
Mary

Many Muslims have made saints out of good pious people but they’re not supposed to.
Azhar

So Mary.. its way past my prayer time.
I was wondering if we can resume in a while please if you have time? Or chat another day?
Azhar

Yes of course.
It is also late here
Mary

Thanks. Cool. Usually I’m available at this time. I’m sure we will be able to continue this great chat
Please try those techniques
Azhar

Yes 🙂 the spoon !
Mary

And watch that video
Azhar

Thank you for your assistance !
I will !
Mary

ANy spoon will be fine – someone asked me if it has to be plastic or metal!
Hahahaha
Azhar

Hehehehe
Mary

OK – I will head off now and wish you a pleasant evening. May God guide you and keep guiding you to the right path.
Azhar

Thank you 🙂
For everything
Mary

God bless you! Bye for now
Azhar

Bye !
Mary

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