How to be a good Muslim?
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But, Socrates, what IS a moral life?
Socrates? confused
Per Wikipedia the definition of morality from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behavior" is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are "good" (or right) and those that are "bad" (or wrong).
I just basically summarized the core message in he Koran believe that this life is not it and that there is a life hereafter where you have to stand account to how you have lived your life. So strive to attain righteousness and do good things. Refer to the Koran for further elaboration of what is good and what is bad.
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And be a good person. Never forget that. It is as important as the Faith in God and Judgment Day.
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What is the definition of a Muslim?
Am I a Muslim? No, but
"strive to live a righteous life. Be a good person and do good deeds living a moral, ethical life being mindful that this life is finite and you will have to take responsibility and accountability to your deeds/actions"
"Do good deeds"
"be a good person"
"treat other people in the same manner as you would like to be treated"these are my ambitions too. So all that separates believers and non-believers is 2 kilos of faith and the belief that there is evidence for the existence of one god. Not so much.
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What is the definition of a Muslim?
Am I a Muslim? No, but
"strive to live a righteous life. Be a good person and do good deeds living a moral, ethical life being mindful that this life is finite and you will have to take responsibility and accountability to your deeds/actions"
"Do good deeds"
"be a good person"
"treat other people in the same manner as you would like to be treated"these are my ambitions too. So all that separates believers and non-believers is 2 kilos of faith and the belief that there is evidence for the existence of one god. Not so much.
Believe doesn't matter..
As they say "Talk is cheap" and "You need to walk the talk" which is far more difficult..Salam / Peace
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Believe doesn't matter.. As they say "Talk is cheap" and "You need to walk the talk" which is far more difficult..
Monotheism, belief in ALLAH (the One God), is the first and most important foundational concept in islam.
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Say, "O mankind, I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of ALLAH, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth there is no deity but HE it is HE that giveth both life and death. So believe in ALLAH and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet, who believeth in ALLAH and HIS words follow him that (so) ye may be guided."
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Peace,
Why be a good person if one does not believe in God? If you are not accountable for anything there is no point in being good, is it? And you do not believe in a life after death, so why not just live your life and hoard money and live in luxury? Why not be a
manipulative person who uses cheating and cynical means to obtain great wealth if you have nothing to be accountable for?If it was not for God, why not just cheat in life and gain a good rank in society where everyone sees you because life is short and why not utilize this life to max?
Why care about others when they anyway are going away after death. It seems so illogical and irrational to be a good person if you do not believe in God as it does not fundamentally benefit you in any way.
I may upset people if I was serious with this post, but it was all rhetorical. I just mean that you can feel perfectly well exploiting others and being selfish in a manipulative way and people will still love you and you can live the life of your dreams. It is not rational to have any moral limitations as you will not be held accountable for them after you die (according to atheists).
I mean, why do some people travel to Africa to sacrifice their lives to help poor people and remain atheists. Is that not wasting your life because there is not a reward for it and wastes your valuable few years you spend here on Earth.
When one indulges in philosophies like this it is not particularly irrational to believe in God either, because it is on the same level of rationality. Believing is reasonable and adds a purpose to life, it becomes rational to be a good person and it is no longer against logic to do good deeds. There are questions in either way of thinking. Why believe? Why not believe?
There are questions both if you claim evolution is just a coincidence or if you believe in a divinely controlled evolution. Science is quite a limited tool to explain the deeper philosophical background to the existence of the universe. You cannot use science to prove a God was involved in creation or not because obviously there is nothing to relate to. On the other hand, theists cannot prove God either since they have nothing in terms of evidence to relate to except the existence of the world itself.
Belief in God all comes down to your logic and how you draw the conclusion of how the world as we know it exists. If you draw the conclusion that all was just creating itself, then it is your logic, but I deem it illogical and have done that for over a decade. I rule out self-creation completely as illogical. For me it is too many questions that arise from this thinking and big ones too. How can something like rock and substances know how to assemble into physical bodies which have a logical function?
Cells on Earth need mostly the right conditions to survive and how was that possible before there even was a planet with an atmosphere?
Questions like this caused me to believe and not hocus pocus from religious scholars or allegorical stories from ancient books. I had never read Quran when I begun thinking about this and it is not like I believed the story about creation in the Bible.
Before I even got an interest in religious books I drew the conclusion some intelligence lies behind the creation of the universe, and I was not strictly monotheist at the time and barely theist either for that part. I believed in an intelligence like the one who controls like the Force in StarWars, an energy in the universe. God is not far from this fantasy though however real. You can refer to God as the ultimate Force in the galaxies, He will not be offended.
Well, do I rule out science because of my belief?
No, I do not. There is no reason to do it because most of the time it just verifies what I believe in. Knowledge about how things work is just useful to get closer to the ultimate intelligence in the universe. All phenomena, laws of physics, etc, are wonders and I attribute them to a superior creator.
Was the Quran important for my path towards God?
Well, it was, but I did well until I first read it in 2009. I see the discovery as a blessing from the Creator, a gift for my own discoveries. It is a useful guide, but I mainly follow the moral parts of it and try not to fixate myself with it. It strengthened my Faith and I see it as a sign of God, but the book is old and difficult to understand (even for Arabic speakers) and thus I take some rules lightly and I rather use my rationality and belief that God keeps me guided. Quran is good, but you can receive the Message directly from God if you are open. He will inspire the righteous.
Okay. Enough talk for tonight. Hope it helped someone. Sorry for the beginning which was a bit provocative. I used it rhetorically, so while it was upsetting I was by no means serious about it. It was reflecting upon logical ways to see life and existence from the rational (and cynical) viewpoint of the optimal atheist who believe they will have nothing to be accountable for upon death. It was slightly sarcastic and I apologize if someone was offended.
God bless you
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Peace,
But if you do it to satisfy yourself, you do it for a reward. The reward is the feeling of satisfaction. But why are you feeling satisfied? Because your community rewards such behavior?
You can be rewarded for the before-mentioned corrupt ways too.
Evil ways make you feel bad? Oh well, it does not matter for your natural selection to pity others, survival of the fittest, then you have to be less bleedy.
It is not logical out of an evolutionary perspective to be weak. Better to run your race and secure the future for your offspring. Selfishness is more beneficial here.
Of course, human evolution needs coworkers (slaves), so you have to care for them (a little). But keep to yourself because it is the survival of the fittest. Hoard money and exploit every opportunity so that your family and you are most powerful.
God bless you
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Peace everyone,
I guess one question may be if certain moral behaviours are perceived as standing in the way of some form of success or advancement in this life then can those who only believe in this life, and nothing else, reject these behaviours if it doesn't suit them? After all, if you only live once, there is a lot that is being said and implied in that phrase, and that seems to be a mantra for some people.
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Being a believer, I also care about justice towards myself and others. No one gets away with anything. There is accountability to our actions. This is a core, fundamental belief - this life is not all and that there is a life hereafter where justice will be meted out.
So what separates a believer from non-believers is not just believing in the existence of God.
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Peace,
But if you do it to satisfy yourself, you do it for a reward. The reward is the feeling of satisfaction. But why are you feeling satisfied? Because your community rewards such behavior?
You are right. I did not express myself properly, sorry. I shouldn't write something so late....
Yes, what I meant to say was an external reward. The human brain is wired for satisfaction and gratification, so you can get this externally or internally. I don't care much for community acceptance and normative compliance.Long example
I remember, when living in Austria, driving along through a city on our way home and seeing a man, dragging a suitcase behind him on the side of the road. As it was raining I remarked to my wife that this man seemed totally lost. I stopped the car, turned around and then pulled up next to him and asked if we could help him. It turned out he was from Spain, didn?t speak any German and could ? as neither one of us speaks any Spanish ? only communicate in broken English. He had been given a nearby station as the place closest to his hotel, which was still some 10 km away. So I got the number from his reservation confirmation and called the hotel to send a car for him as we only had a two-seater with no luggage space. I described where he could be found and then we went our way. I remember like it was yesterday how this total stranger was so relieved and so grateful that he thanked us with the words god must must have sent you via his angels.Could I picture an angel sending me, the atheist, to help this man? If yes, then why hadn?t this angel summoned one of the many cars in front of us and not let the guy walking in the rain for so long? Why didn?t this angel organise someone who spoke Spanish? Why didn?t this totally incompetent angel find someone with a different car who could have simply driven this poor guy to his hotel instead of all this complicated routine of my having to first call the hotel and then having a car come and fetch him?
Nobody saw this, nobody knows about this. It is not that I did this for a reason but just to help.
You can be rewarded for the before-mentioned corrupt ways too.
Evil ways make you feel bad? Oh well, it does not matter for your natural selection to pity others, survival of the fittest, then you have to be less bleedy.
It is not logical out of an evolutionary perspective to be weak. Better to run your race and secure the future for your offspring. Selfishness is more beneficial here.
Of course, human evolution needs coworkers (slaves), so you have to care for them (a little). But keep to yourself because it is the survival of the fittest. Hoard money and exploit every opportunity so that your family and you are most powerful.
God bless you
Theoretically you are right, of course. Yet I have empathy and compassion. I reckon it is beneficial for the community as a whole, so I do not see an advantage in being selfish.
Maybe that is why I transfer information to others instead of exploiting them ) -
Atheists seem to possess an air of arrogance. A good muslim is someone who is not arrogant.
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Peace justamuslim,
I would say there are humble atheists too. You cannot say all atheists are arrogant people. Many muslims are arrogant as well, even those who call themselves Quran alone or God alone, or Quranist.
God bless you
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One who has a prayerful need in his heart to always possess Salam is a Muslim. There is nothing bad about it at all; and thereafter there is nothing left with you as to what you could do after putting your trust in Him. All good comes from Him; and all bad comes from you. The more humble and the more patient you are, the better would be your 'peace' i.e., salam.
