Wow! Thank you for your thoughtful, wise words. Listening as a believer in Christ, I kept thinking, " surely we serve the same God." So much of what you said resonates with the God I sense, when he draws near. One thing you said, when we call upon God, "he is closer than our jugular vein." Powerfull words. Again, Thank you.,(reply>), Allah is indeed close: <br><br>Since We have sent you a messenger from among yourselves—reciting to you Our revelations, purifying you, teaching you the Book and wisdom, and teaching you what you never knew—<br><br>-Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 151<br><br>remember Me; I will remember you. And thank Me, and never be ungrateful.<br><br>-Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 152<br><br>O believers! Seek comfort in patience and prayer. Allah is truly with those who are patient.<br><br>-Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 153<br><br>When My servants ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about Me: I am truly near. I respond to one’s prayer when they call upon Me. So let them respond ˹with obedience˺ to Me and believe in Me, perhaps they will be guided ˹to the Right Way˺.<br><br>-Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 186,(reply>), Indeed my friend…may Allah keep us on the straight path,(reply>), @Andrew Gilreath and not only physical things,,the way he forgave the people/enemies of Mecca when he conquered it...the way he took advice from friends when needed,,the way he turned to GOD in difficult situations,,the way he use to dislike backbiting n refraim from it and many other good habbits,,the way he use to treat his wives etc,(reply>), @Andrew Gilreath in islam, we believe these 4 are the major holy books sent by GOD to these prophets.<br>Taurah was revealed to Moses (PBUH); Psalms to David (PBUH); Bible to Jesus Christ (PBUH). and The Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). <br><br>Its part of our main faith.if we don't believe in above 4, then we are not muslims...though we also believe that the 1st three got corrupted by people for their own desires and not present in original form now..but we believe that those were the words of GOD when 1st revealed to above prophets and people of those times.<br><br>And come to your point now that you read a verse of holy book and suddenly a new deeper meaning is revealed to you is also true when i read quran..<br>I will further attach it to another factor,,the more pious you are,,the less sins you do,,the more commands of GOD you fulfill,,it purifies your heart and if such a person reads quran and think over its verses, then such a person will get more and more deep level of understanding of quran...as compared to a person whose heart is blackened by sins and is not looking to repent even...<br><br>In islam we have rules and routines that we follow,,they r instructed to us by GOD in Quran,,,but we perform them in exactly same way as prophet use to perform them,,we copy paste him,,,like in Quran we r ordered to offer 5 times pray,,but how it should be prayed is not mentioned,,our prophet use to offer prayer in a certain way,,so we pray just like him as he used to do...<br>So the more we follow GOD'S commandments in the way our prophet use to perform,this is ultimate for us.. this is what GOD want us to live our whole lives...<br>That's y i suggested to you that read our prophets life in a well reputed book,,and this following goes beyond your imagination,,like he use to eat by right hand,,infact he use to do all good deeds by right hand,,and all bad things like washing your body parts in bathroom etc from left hand,,so we all muslims do the same...we enter right foot in the mosque and left foot when we leave mosque,,same is with entering or leaving our houses..<br>The way he use to drink water...he use to sit and drink and not in standing position,,in three breaths and not one breath,,<br><br>So in this way ,GOD preserved our religion,,i think he knew that a time is coming that definition of women will be changed and gay marriages will be allowed and even walking naked in streets will be accepted by courts...so he asked us to do things just as he taught his last prophet and stick to that till ends of time...<br>Our prophet life is extremely well documented...i know more habbits of my prophet than my own dad who still lives with me :),(reply>), @@safyaniqbal2  I have downloaded two books about Muhammad which were available through my local library.  Unfortunately,  the one you suggested was not available.  I must admit, my knowledge of the Muslim faith is very limited. I'm sure it's very biased because my ignorance means that I only understand it through the scope of American media. I, like many others, am often sickened by the rhetoric I hear on the news and strive to see the world through an impartial lens. However,  to say that I'm not at all biased would also be foolish. Hopefully,  learning for myself will help. Furthermore,  I believe that God's truths can not be understood without him revealing them to you. While one should seek the truth and read the scripture, I have seen and felt a distinct difference from when I am learning scriptures by reading them versus when the spirit of God writes a truth in my heart. Have you read something,  perhaps for the 100th time and all of the sudden, it leaps off the page and takes on a whole new meaning? It feels similar to an epiphany except you know it was a gift and not an achievement of your own intellect?  If you can empathize with this, it has to raise the question, are we praying to the same God? Truely, isn't the name we call God almost always determined by our parents or geography?