Reason for Islam

[Leo Gura]

If you are familiar with Jed McKenna's work, what he is describing is precisely Jihad.

His work has this unique feel to it, because he really emphasizes the Jihad part A LOT.

It's too radical for most people, but those who like it, love it.

[sgn]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

God will actually make you far happier than having 72 virgins.

Damn. That's some motivation right there.

[mohdanas]

On 3/10/2018 at 5:45 PM, Joseph Maynor said:

Nice!  Islam started by solving a set of problems that the people of that place and time needed to solve.  I look at Islam almost like Confucianism.  It's an all-in-one cultural system for civilization.  Everything is contained within Islam -- from law to government to social rules to marriage to spirituality, etc.  Islam is a great one-sized-fits all system that creates a kind of basis for stable civilization to happen.  All those tribes in Arabia were not unified before Muhammad.  Islam unified the entire Arabian Peninsula and then some after that.  Islam didn't really get influenced too much by Western Philosophy, so it kinda developed on its own.  That's what makes it fascinating to study as a system.  In contrast, Christianity was right at the center of Western Philosophy, so Christian Theology is like a philosophy in its own right.  Islamic theology is much less philosophical, although you do have a certain brand of Islamic Theology that does get philosophical, it just has a different flavor from Western Philosophy.  So, a lot of people don't know how to classify Islam -- is it an eastern or western phenomenon?  I would argue that it's neither.  It straddles both east and west.  Islam is a very fascinating cultural system that solves a lot of problems that come up in human life.  It's a civilization system in a way.  I'm not a Muslim myself, nor am I endorsing Islam.  I look at Islam more as a philosopher looks at any system, religious or secular.  

 

On 3/10/2018 at 6:11 PM, Joseph Maynor said:

I think social cohesion requires relinquishing freedom.  Think about it.  This is one of the sources of culture mucking people up.  Every time order is prioritized in a society, individual freedom goes bye bye.  Look at Confucianism.  You have to act a certain way if you live in Confucian China.  You don't just get to do whatever you want to.  But that brings a kind of order and harmony to society.  Very agricultural values, right?  This would contrast sharply with the more independent nomadic hunter/gatherer values.  Hunter-gatherers have all the freedom, but no security, no stability.  So, there's an interesting dynamic going on where freedom is inversely-proportionate to security.  The more more group security you want, the less freedom individuals can have.  The more freedom individuals have, the less security the group gets.  Just thinking out loud here.  Group thinking is the death-knell of individualism.  If you go to China you can really see this issue play itself out in high-relief.  You can start to see the advantages and disadvantages of the Individualism vs. Collectivism debate. 

Islam is an interesting solution to the Individualism vs. Collectivism problem.  Yeah -- you're an individual in Islam who stands on your own merit, but you're judged by God's Law, which all Muslims are compelled to adhere to.  Islam believes that it knows something about God's Law.  So, that's where you get the reduction of individualism.  You can't just do what you want and be a Muslim.  There's certain rules you gotta follow.  And that creates the one-mind, or the collectivism, leading to -- unity, security, safety, order, harmony, shared values, civilization, etc.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individualism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectivism

Love the clarity you offer through your writing,  I am often unable to effectively communicate my thoughts and undersatanding through right usage of words and example but you totally nail it. 

[mohdanas]

On 3/10/2018 at 6:34 PM, Monkey-man said:

@Joseph Maynor even prophet probably wasn't free from influence of emotions and thoughts OR it was part of his god-given historical mission, maybe without waging wars it would never spread.

Also, Quran wasn't written by Muhammad. He only verbally revealed what he received, he didn't write anything.

We have to understand that in 600s there's no way to tell people not to make wars. NOWAY. No one would listen to that anyway even if God tells you so. Times were harsh, you either fight with neighbours or die, there was no geography class, people had no 'we all humans' mentality, different nationalities were literally considered as aliens to each other, they had zero info about each other, there's only fear arises when you dunno someone to such great extent. So scripture was written to suit people of those times without chances of being rejected by them.

Exactly, all hail business and trade that has been major dominating activity that led to building travel routes and making people overcome the fear of each other, otherwise like you said people that do not belong to your group are nothing but like wild wolf, dangerous.

@Leo Gura

Thank you for the insight, you really connected some dots there. 

Edited March 11, 2018 by mohdanas

[RunningWater]

The word Jihad comes from the root Juhd which means effort, so Jihad means : to put maximum effort. Arabic is a complexe language, There is another word for fighting, But Jihad is more accurate because it implies transcending ones weaknesses

In Islam there are two types of Jihad, Al jihad al akbar which means The greater Jihad, and then Al jihad al asghar which means the little or the "lesser" Jihad, The first greater one is Called Jihad al nafs which means literally : Fighting the ego. Here is a quote by a great Muslim scholar called Al Ghazali : 

“Declare your jihad on thirteen enemies you cannot see -egoism, arrogance, conceit, selfishness, greed, lust, intolerance, anger, lying, cheating, gossiping and slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be read to fight the enemy you can see.”

As i said earlier in the hierarchy of value, The lesser jihad is only to defend yourself from the enemy. But the real deal is when the enemy is your own self.   

[AstralProjection]

You can check out the videos at this article too.

Convicted terrorist calmed by cagefighting

https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/22/world/europe/uk-caging-terror-mansha/index.html

 

[RunningWater]

23 minutes ago, AstralProjection said:

You can check out the videos at this article too.

Convicted terrorist calmed by cagefighting

https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/22/world/europe/uk-caging-terror-mansha/index.html

 

Great story! This shows how blind the fundamentalists are. A great way to channel masculin energy too 

[Leo Gura]

4 hours ago, RunningWater said:

Muslim scholar called Al Ghazali : 

“Declare your jihad on thirteen enemies you cannot see -egoism, arrogance, conceit, selfishness, greed, lust, intolerance, anger, lying, cheating, gossiping and slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be read to fight the enemy you can see.”

As i said earlier in the hierarchy of value, The lesser jihad is only to defend yourself from the enemy. But the real deal is when the enemy is your own self.

Good stuff