Balance is restored in my universe....

First off, I have to thank NoorTheNinjabi (cute name!) for giving me that link to the guidance prayer.

Second, I think God gave me the answer to my dilemma WAY faster than I could have anticipated. I said that prayer yesterday afternoon, and last night, I went to the book store (just browsing their comparative religion section, seeing what they had).

This is what I found: Jesus and Muhammad: Profound Differences and Surprising Similarities by Mark Gabriel.

http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Muhammad-Differences-Surprising-Similarities/dp/1591852919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253391164&sr=1-1

The major note on this is that it was written, not as a comparison of Christianity and Islam, but as a scholarly look at the lives and teachings of the respective founders. Basically, he separated the leaders from the followers.

The author: Dr. Gabriel also related his experience growing up as a Muslim (he had the Qur'an memorized by age 12, graduated #2 in a class of 6,000 from Al-Azhar University at 18, and began teaching and leading prayers at the local mosque as an Imam. All along, he got in trouble with his teachers for asking questions about Islam. At 35, he was tortured for 15 days by the Egyptian "secret police" who had been told by the university staff that he had renounced Islam and converted to Christianity. After being released, he quit going to the mosque and turned his back on Islam (in secret). He read the Bible, which had been given to him by a pharmacist, and after reading the Gospels and Acts, he converted to Christianity. He secretly attended church for a year, but was forced to leave Egypt after blurting out the truth to his father, who immediately tried to kill him. He has two PhD's, one in Islamic History, but I forget what the other was. : )

Anyway, I read his book cover-to-cover, and it answered every question and niggling doubt in my mind.

I think that this was God's answer for me (and He sure knows I don't need any more stress in my life right now).

Islam 101 continued...

Hi, gals. I read your comments and I am very appreciative of them.

Yes, I am taking my time and being very deliberate in my studying. I'm going to write down the questions I come up with and pose the Islamic ones to the sisters at the masjid, and the Christianity-related ones to a local church.

The one thing that I have found odd is that I keep hearing "the Bible has been altered/corrupted/changed". My question is this: if the Bible has been corrupted, why did God instruct Mohammed/the people to ask the people who had read the Scripture before (meaning the Bible) if they misunderstood something in the Qu'ran?

Surat Yunus 10:94 --
YUSUFALI: If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee: the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt.
PICKTHAL: And if thou (Muhammad) art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the Scripture (that was) before thee. Verily the Truth from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of the waverers.
SHAKIR: But if you are in doubt as to what We have revealed to you, ask those who read the Book before you; certainly the truth has come to you from your Lord, therefore you should not be of the disputers.

These are three different translations of the Qu'ran. I doubt that God would instruct people to follow the truth of a "corrupted" Bible.

Second: All the different "versions" of the Bible aren't versions. Like the Qu'ran, they're different translations. Unless I totally miss my guess, we still have the original books of the Bible, so the translations are likely being done from the original, not from translations of translations of translations of the original. I don't know how the Catholic Bible or the Book of Mormon or any of that fit into this subject (or if these are the "versions" that the sisters have referred to), since I've never read them.

Third: Why would Mohammed edit the Qu'ran, if it were whole and true? From what I've read, Mohammed revised/edited the Qu'ran every year, not just adding things, but taking things out. This leads to my next question.

Fourth: Why would God supposedly give a commandment (for lack of a better word), but then take it back a little later? I'm forgetting the examples I read of this, but I'll make a note in the future if I find it again.

Fifth: Muslims claim that the Bible says nothing about Jesus being the Son of God, and that Jesus Himself never claimed it. If not, then what about the baptism of Jesus, where a dove flew from the heavens and God said "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."?

I know I've left out some things, but I'll continue with this when I remember. This is what I get for not writing things down. : )

I am trying very hard to be objective in my study, but most of my questions are Islam-related, since I have been a part of Christianity my whole life and have more knowledge and background on it.