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arniegang wrote:ok another silly question i'm affraid

Why isnt Moses considered or given less importance in relation to the other prophets, as it was God that spoke and handed him the ten commandments?.

Why are Abraham and his sons Isaac and Ishmael not considered prophets?

Linda_Stuiv wrote:You're actually asking Sniper about religion ?

In Islam (Because I'm sure you know it all about Christianity) All prophets are of the same status. However, there are 5 prophets which are placed a bit higher because of the exceptional suffering/turmoil/pivotal historical significance they represent:

Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jesus, and Mohammed.

Mohammed is given the privilege of "pardoning" people on Judgment Day, and since he is considered (by Muslim) to be the last prophet with the complete message, then he is usually described as "The Sir of Prophets".

There are messengers and prophets. Quran mentions 25 prophets/messengers. It is stated in Hadith (What The prophet Mohammed said or did) that God sent thousands of prophets that weren't mentioned in Quran (for lack of relevance I suppose).

Messengers are those prophets that had "Holy Books" revealed to them. Prophets received divine revelation, but no Book. The terms are usually used interchangeably.

Ishmael, Moses and the whole lot are considered prophets/messengers and are all respected/revered in the Islamic system.

Any other questions?

lochness wrote:Arnie thank you for asking (and let me tell you something and I quote "The only stupid question is the unasked question?" and Shaf thank you for the magnificantly informative explanations, I have followed with rapt attention.

It is wonderful to follow a conversation that gives simple, unbiased, honest answers.

Once again thank you both.

"Islam is a religion of total religious freedom."

shafique wrote:Arnie,

Haj takes place on fixed days of the Islamic calendar - which happens to follow a lunar cycle (the month in which fasting occurs is called Ramadhan and the month in which Haj takes place is called Dhul Haj).

Therefore, like Ramadhan, the days on which Haj takes place varies each year (moving 11 days back in the solar calendar).

Haj, by definition, is a series of rituals which take place on specific days of Haj. A large part of the significance of the pilgrimage is the shared experience of all pilgrims performing the rituals together - a sea of humanity gathering for the sole purpose of obeying the commandments of God and testifying to their submission to His commandments.

All dress in the same clothes and do the same actions - there is no rank or favour and it emphasises one's humanity and solidarity with others. I have not done Haj, but those who have say it is a life changing event (if it is done with the right intentions and one chooses to live a more pious life after).

I'm reminded of Malcolm X's accounts of Haj and how after it he renounced the racist views of the Nation of Islam because he found white, black, asian etc muslims all performing Haj together.

Muslims can go to Mecca at any time and peform the rites of Haj - but outside of the Haj days this is called the lesser pilgrimage (Umrah). I have had the priviledge of performing this. This can be done in under an hour - as not all the rites of haj need to be done. The full haj takes place over a number of days.

Anyway, I'm rambling again - the short answer to your question is that Haj takes place on specific days of the year by definition and visiting Mecca etc on other days of the year does not constitute the Haj pilgrimage.

(Think of Glastonbury outside of the days of the annual festival... not a great analogy, but the difference is the number of people...)

Cheers,
Shafique