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From: paydarfa@cs.unc.edu (Yousef Paydarfar)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: some questions...
Message-ID: <1991May24.151002.12135@wpi.WPI.EDU>
Date: 24 May 91 15:10:02 GMT
References: <1991May22.121307.2906@wpi.WPI.EDU>
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In article <1991May22.121307.2906@wpi.WPI.EDU> moorthy@hctdemo.leis.bellcore.com (Velu Sembugamoorthy) writes:

I dont claim to be any kind of authority on Islam, however I will try to
answer your questions as best I can.  I strongly encourage the other
brothers/sisters on the net to correct me if I have said something incorrect:
>
>	Suppose somebody commits a lot of sins and Allah doest not forgive 
>him/her.  That person is doomed forever  and sent to hell? Does Quron say so 
>directly?  

In Islam, you can be forgiven for your sins if you sincerely ask for 
repentence.  Allah will forgive you for your sins as long as you do not 
commit the same sin later on.  Also, before commiting a sin you can say to 
yourself "I'm going to commit such and such a sin, and then ask God to 
forgive me." 
 
>	One of the persons who was kind enough to reply to my earlier posting
>said that Allah created Muslims. I read from earlier postings that Muslim is 
>one who believes in Allah and accepts Mohammed as his only prophet. If that 
>is so:
>	   
>		A child just born to Muslim parents has no knowledge, as far 
>		as I know, of the prophet. So naturally the child does neither
>		believe nor
>		disbelieve in the prophet. Is the child a muslim?  Does the 
>		child 
>		become a Muslim only after he/she learns  Quron?
>	
>		If Allah has created Muslims and Allah is the only one who 
>		creates, then who created non-muslims?  
>	
>		Is there an entity called Satan according to Islam?
>		If so, who created her/him? Is Satan a person? 
>
>		Who created the ancestors of Muslims who preceded the prophet?
>		Clearly they did not know the prophet? Or did they?	
>
>		Is the above definition of Muslim directly written in Quron?


From what I understand, everyone is born a Muslim.  Islam means "submission to
the will of God" and Muslims are people who submit.  It is only later in 
life that a person may or may not choose to submit to God.  For example,
Adam and Eve were both Muslims along with all of the other prophets (Moses,
Jesus, etc).

About Satan:  Satan is the same entity in Islam as in Christianity.  In the
Quran, the story behind Satans origins is described (I dont know the exact
location of hand).  Satan was one of the angels.  When God created Adam 
God told all of His angels to prostrate before Adam.  Satan replied that
he would not because he was made of fire and Adam was only made of mud.  God
then banished Satan from heaven.
>
>/moorthy
>	

yousef

PS:  again, if any of the knowledgeable brothers/sisters on the net 
have found anything I said incorrect, please correct me!