It took me a long time to recognize, but I am certain of it:
It is not possible to CHOOSE to believe or to not believe.
For anyone.
We can only DISCOVER what we do or do not believe.
That's part of why it is called your FAITH.
When you believe something because someone has proved it to you logically, that is not FAITH.
Our host says well, that he knows his faith in his heart. That is exactly what I mean.
In a way, then, the answer to the title question is, for the individual believer, yes. They MUST believe, because they do.
Not because someone tells them to.
This is why it is pointless for a government to try to FORCE people to say they believe. That does not cause faith, it only insures that none of the people of the country, can ever have FAITH that their neighbors actually have faith.
there is also a concept of divine intervention or coincidence. as a believer, I view it as divine intervention.
example: your boss asks you to work over when your normal routine is to leave and be at certain places. but the time your boss asks you to work, one of these places gets robbed and someone is shot.
now, is that coincidence or God intervening for you?
I have personally had a few incidents like this that something happened and kept me from being somewhere. and then later on I learned something bad took place and I would have been there or possibly involved.
to me, this is God's divine intervention.
so, when I realized what this was, it was no longer believing in God via faith only. to me, this was hardcore fact there is a real God who is helping me while I was blindly believing He was real.
basically, I have so much proof now there is a real God it no longer is a matter of faith. where my faith now lies at, is at the point of expecting God to always intervene on my behalf
Mr iam_resurrected,
you have revealed God's faith. yea, as you said to God, it is believed. I am a Muslim and I believe in God as you tell me. /// there is a saying like this: God's mercy is like 100 pieces. One part is for this world / universe. With this one piece, the mother looks at the child, the sheep looks at the lamb, the trees give fruit, the cloud gives rain, the planets move in a certain plane. as. as. the remaining 99 parts are forgiving people in the other world. so he is very, very compassionate.
it is my honor to meet you, sir
I have several true friends who follow the Muslim way of life via the Qu'ran. and although I am a follower of Yahweh, I find it a true blessing in which my friends and myself believe. we have went back to point of father Abraham. and from the [Qu'ranfor - Hebrew Bible - Christian Bible] it is here we know of Abraham, and all of his sons Ishmael, Isaac, Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. and from those sons we are where we are now in the path of Abraham's faith and walk in God.
it really does amaze me how close the scriptures of the Qu'ran and Hebrew Bible relate. both emphasize and express Abraham's view of the true ONE GOD!! it may appear as 2 separate views from how the translations read. but in reality, they speak of the SAME GOD!!
and it is from this point of understanding, between my Muslim friends and myself, that we find our spiritual connection