if Al Quran says one thing and your inner compass says another...
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If you accept the quran itself then you obviously can do nothing other than follow it, otherwise that would be going against your previous inner compass.
3030, our qiblah? ;D
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that is quite interesting question D Thinking about the time when I had my first contact with islam, I had this a lot.. Usually when I have feeling about something that other people seem to be doing wrong, I just follow my feeling. That's the reason I decided to becoma a muslim - because it feels right. Even some places in the quran that seem to say something that does not give the right feeling, it comes out later, that it was just the result of my poor understanding of that passage..
I think if your inner compass has a clash with the quran, the best thing to do is just pray from your heart a better understanding and ask God to make it easy for you.. If you trust God the matter will be solved. Just some patience!
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Peace Wakas,
Al Quran. The inner compass can be swayed.
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O you who believe, stand with justice as witnesses to God, even if against yourselves, or the parents or the relatives. Even if he be rich or poor, God is more worthy of them, so do not follow your desires from being just. And if you twist or turn away, then God is Expert over what you do.
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Say ?The bad and the good are not equal, even if the abundance of the bad pleases you.? So be aware of God, O you who have understanding, that you may succeed.
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Warfare has been decreed for you while you hate it; and perhaps you may hate something while it is good for you, and perhaps you may love something while it is bad for you; God knows while you do not know.
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Peace all,
The ayat posted by Zenje make it pretty clear that we can be fooled by our own thoughts of what is right and wrong. But the question in my mind is does thought, pleasure, hate, etc. represent the inner compass?
IMO, these are concepts conditioned into our behavior by our environments. Thus, the quranic advice should be pure and capable of slicing through the conditioning and reaching our core. There have been many times in my own life when I just didn't feel like doing something, yet a deeper sense insisted that I do it. And then when I followed through - I was grateful for not listening to my own thoughts but instead following my deeper intuition.
So, "inner compass", to me, is easy to discuss but difficult to quantify as a tangible resource. Sometimes it is a flow of subtle energy felt over years. Other times it's like an alarm. In either case, I've yet to be in a position of contradiction between my "inner compass" and what I understand of the qur'an.
Peace,
Tay -
Peace,
Great discussion, clarified some stuff for me as well.
Thus, the quranic advice should be pure and capable of slicing through the conditioning and reaching our core.
Exactly! In times of ambivalence, there is something steady there through the layers if we but listen. Could it be that oneself and one's inner compass are two different things?
In either case, I've yet to be in a position of contradiction between my "inner compass" and what I understand of the qur'an.
I agree.
In that case, the inner compass should not 'contradict' Al quran, no?
Support and buffer perhaps? and thus 583
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Peace Zein, Nadia, all,
In that case, the inner compass should not 'contradict' Al quran, no?
Perhaps it's semantics, but to say "should not contradict Al-quran" is, imo, placing the cart before the horse. How do we accept guidance as divine? Is it the words and the majority opinion of those we trust or is it trial and error and putting into practice that which we revere as divine guidance?
For me, it's the latter with a sprinkle of the former. Trusting my family and those I love is what introduced me to the qur'an, however, it was (and is) my inner compass which confirms the divinity of the text. I feel the built-in consequences of our actions and thoughts are what confirm or deny the path we're on. It is a matter of the proper perspective from which we look at these consequences..."be aware of God, O you who have understanding, that you may succeed".
Could it be that oneself and one's inner compass are two different things?
I'm a firm believer that yes, they are different but intertwined - ie, mind and soul.
One is the wordly product/vehicle of it's environment while the other is the direct channel to God.4135 ..."do not follow your desires from being just". <---indicates to me a recognition of a part of us that can "view" the other part that would want to follow it's desires.
Peace,
Tay -
I'm a firm believer that yes, they are different but intertwined - ie, mind and soul.
One is the wordly product/vehicle of it's environment while the other is the direct channel to God.
4135 ..."do not follow your desires from being just". <---indicates to me a recognition of a part of us that can "view" the other part that would want to follow it's desires.Excellent, that clears it up for me further .
Peace!
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If you accept the quran itself then you obviously can do nothing other than follow it, otherwise that would be going against your previous inner compass.
3030, our qiblah? ;D
Follow the inner compass and twist the meanings of the Quran accordingly ??
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Peace Wakas,
The question doesn't make sense to me. How can avoid following one's inner compass? When it points toward the Quran, one follows the Quran. When it doesn't, one don't. I don't think it's possible to bypass or circumvent one's own self. Do you?
Nadeem
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peace all,
The question
if Al Quran says one thing and your inner compass says another... what do you do?
Sorry to be short and slightly vague, but sometimes its necessary.
Is the "inner compass" always right? If so, how come there are evil people? Or people responding in very different ways to similar situations?
If I am righteous and always remember God, I'll follow the quraan, otherwise I'll follow my inner compass. That's why "rememberance of God is greater" even than salaat.
The inner compass, in my understanding, is a natural instinct. Natural instincts are not always right.
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Follow the inner compass and twist the meanings of the Quran accordingly ??
If that's what you wish to do, you will be judged accordfingly...
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Is the "inner compass" always right? If so, how come there are evil people? Or people responding in very different ways to similar situations?
If I am righteous and always remember God, I'll follow the quraan, otherwise I'll follow my inner compass. That's why "rememberance of God is greater" even than salaat.
The inner compass, in my understanding, is a natural instinct. Natural instincts are not always right.
peace all,
inner compass as I feel, is somewhere really deep inside, like natural instinct. I came to islam by following that. Without it I wouldn't be a muslim. And I believe everybody has that and it is kind of giving us a sense to what is right what wrong. At least my inner compass and the Quran are saying the same thing.About evil people they also have it and they feel it when they do something wrong. It's just that they prefer to ignore this. Even if they tell you that they believe what they do is right, deep inside they know that they don't...
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The question doesn't make sense to me. How can avoid following one's inner compass? When it points toward the Quran, one follows the Quran. When it doesn't, one don't. I don't think it's possible to bypass or circumvent one's own self. Do you?
Nadeem
Peace nadeem, if this was not possible, it would mean that we are not able to correct our bad habits or behaviour...then, what use of us being here?
Wakas, great question indeed. But no time to go into depth about it now.
Just an idea, we are all sinners, sometimes we manage do be stronger that the "devil" in us, sometimes we're not strong enough (yet?). Main thing imo is not to hurt others willingly, not to be hypocritical about what we do. Another verse urges us to be truthful in the course of justice, even for ourselves and relatives - and this justice is imo not the legal system only... Peace lk -
The question doesn't make sense to me. How can avoid following one's inner compass? When it points toward the Quran, one follows the Quran. When it doesn't, one don't. I don't think it's possible to bypass or circumvent one's own self. Do you?
Keep in mind people like George Bush, Hitler, Stalin etc... also followed their 'inner compass'. Point being, It can be corrupted.
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There seems to be some diversity as to what constitutes one's inner compass.
I'll take my own definition to be what I would do if I followed my best estimation of what I should morally do. That is, to follow my moral instincts, as against, if there were such case, my perception of what I may read in a given circumstance in the Quran.
My own experience is that such cases are not frequent if they exist. What exist are situations where you don't know which or how to evaluate the ingredients of the situation so that you can assimilate it to a concrete ruling or situation given in the Quran. That is, there are more than one or many aspects to weight and each aspect has its own indication which may preclude the indication for another aspect. And that is the most common situation. It is really rare that you have to choose between A and B. So in fact you do have to follow your inner compass. Only if you have the time you may have to look or you may want to look and examine and try to forecast what the result of your actions will be, provided always that in fact you want the best moral outcome.
One of the ayas mentioned here as to not wanting what you want yourself but what you are ordered, as I understand it, may be dealing not so much with choosing this or that, as with accepting God's will when it is tough on you and you did not expect it or welcomed it, that is, accepting what God wants to happen to you, even if you don't like it, even you do not feel capable of living with it, or of overcoming the odds. May be in those cases your inner (or rather inmmediate) compass would be to run away, but you cannot run away of what is, of what actually happens, so in fact you SUBMIT, and accept what you cannot change, so that even if you cannot change it, you can accept it, acknowledge it and thank God for it as a most precious gift and ask God to give you strength and wisdom to learn form that experience that you don't want to go through what He has determined that you should learn, and TRUST and thank God always and constantly because He has provided mot perfectly for you.
Adn I agree with Tarikh. Try our best and not be crippled by too much brooding over things which may be ... well... too theoretical perhaps.
Salaam
