Has anyone on this site read the Koran (Quran?). What was the main takeaway you got from it? I know it is probably difficult to capsulize it here, but 2 or 3 points, if you can.
(Watching Sam Harris on Youtube talking about Islam)
Well, to be honest, I can't say I read the Quran. I own one and I started reading, but stranded immediately.
I read:
In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.
The fact that a book starts with "Everything written in this book is true and is a guide for those who are willing to go the right way" and (just like you also find in the Bible) "those who believe in the unseen" and "who believe in what is revealed to you (in or based on this book) without any doubt", etc. will enter the afterlife.
That ended it already for me. A book what starts with "What you read is true and you are not allowed do doubt it" is really something that always have been against my natural core. The reward of the afterlife, which is the biggest in all religions is like a ice crystal. It looks beautiful, but actually is nothing. I never trust someone that tells me a story proclaiming that is the truth. Not even when he pays me a handsome reward. I am a lawyer and I know that every truth is based on a point of view and of the perception of what is observed. And also that one's memory is selective. So never tell me you speak the truth without proof.
I surely believe things that are the truth, but they can only be "my truth". When I explain and proof, it can become another's truth too. When I'm convincing it might be accepted even without proof. But never take my word for granted, because I'm just some Calimero, small in a big world with a lot of people around me.
I have. It is, as expected, definitely one of the Abrahamic religions. It and Judaism share many tenets which of course Christianity then pilfered.
@sarahjustme That doesn't take into account Ishmael, the son of Abraham, who is regarded as a prophet and ancestor of Muhammad.