For
me I am the product of my mother and father, I am the result of my
environmental upbringing, I am the result of my experiences, I am the
solitude of my passage through this life.
For a Muslim the answer is very different. A Muslim in effect doesn't have a life outside his faith, his thoughts and his actions are controlled at all times by his religion, his essence is his religion !!
It begins with farz, obligation and ends with haram,what is forbidden.
It is a scale by which to live your life by and comes, not from within but from outside,from scripture. There are clear orders and permissions which provides the individual with direction and the Islamic community, with unity.
It encompasses and encloses this world and the other world completely.
It is an organising religion and therefore it's reach to the poor and disenfranchised is very strong.
To be a Muslim is in some ways akin to being in a club but a club with strict codes of practice. Belonging and sharing common goals is a strong incentive, especially if the rules are laid out for you five times a day at prayer. To be a Muslim is above history, it is a mode of being, an ideal which in some-ways creates within it a sense of being a super race in its mental construct. Perhaps in its "trans national" identity the Muslim feels the resentment any person, living under an occupying power, feels towards the occupier since his affinity is first and foremost to his faith which is often under attack !
For a Muslim the answer is very different. A Muslim in effect doesn't have a life outside his faith, his thoughts and his actions are controlled at all times by his religion, his essence is his religion !!
It begins with farz, obligation and ends with haram,what is forbidden.
It is a scale by which to live your life by and comes, not from within but from outside,from scripture. There are clear orders and permissions which provides the individual with direction and the Islamic community, with unity.
It encompasses and encloses this world and the other world completely.
It is an organising religion and therefore it's reach to the poor and disenfranchised is very strong.
To be a Muslim is in some ways akin to being in a club but a club with strict codes of practice. Belonging and sharing common goals is a strong incentive, especially if the rules are laid out for you five times a day at prayer. To be a Muslim is above history, it is a mode of being, an ideal which in some-ways creates within it a sense of being a super race in its mental construct. Perhaps in its "trans national" identity the Muslim feels the resentment any person, living under an occupying power, feels towards the occupier since his affinity is first and foremost to his faith which is often under attack !
No comments:
Post a Comment