11
   

True Religion

 
 
HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Wed 30 Oct, 2019 11:13 am
@fresco,
Quote:
the only way to socially promote your particular religion versus others is to appeal to its relative social advantages, and that of course is an uphill struggle.


It is an uphill task for sure but if thats what you want to see as evidence of true religion then I can try to provide evidence from that point of view. I briefly touched upon the concept of interest based financial system and its social impacts on society on local level as well as on international level in one of my post in this thread, see link below to read:

https://able2know.org/topic/534961-7#post-6917436
HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Wed 30 Oct, 2019 12:06 pm
@vikorr,
Quote:
You argued that justice was the strongest proof of an afterlife - I viewed that as the weakest argument you had. You appear to have started with an end point in mind, again (That justice must exist). The end point appears to be tied to your belief in God (more specifically, that God must be just). So your 'logic' only supports the end point, rather than looking at what is, and coming to a conclusion.


This is not based on supposition. Its human nature to seek for justice. If you truly believe that people who do good will have same end as those who oppress others when they have power, then that is against human nature and against our own consciousness.
fresco
 
  1  
Wed 30 Oct, 2019 12:50 pm
@HabibUrrehman,
Interesting that most of the muslims I know in the UK ignore Islamic banks.
And clearly Islamic countries have failed to distribute their oil wealth across their population, in addition to having more serious 'human rites' issues.
It is not difficult to speculate on the causes of the diaspora of which you are part.
izzythepush
 
  1  
Wed 30 Oct, 2019 02:25 pm
@fresco,
fresco wrote:

It is not difficult to speculate on the causes of the diaspora of which you are part.



Western greed. Rampant capitalism which placed the mineral resources of a whole region in the hands of a few corrupt aristos, signed and sealed with the ******* petrodollar.

fresco
 
  1  
Thu 31 Oct, 2019 01:58 am
@izzythepush,
Laughing
What was that bit about 'blunt instruments' ! Wink


izzythepush
 
  2  
Thu 31 Oct, 2019 02:10 am
@fresco,
Just paying you back in your own coin.
0 Replies
 
HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Thu 31 Oct, 2019 10:44 am
@fresco,
Did you read my post on interest and do you agree that interest based finance system is a curse on any society and a crime against humanity?

Quote:
Interesting that most of the Muslims I know in the UK ignore Islamic banks.


Muslims living West normally use checking accounts with no interest. I am a Muslim and I don't deal with interest, PERIOD.
Anyone who deals with interest and calls him/herself a Muslim is not a Muslim. Quran says:

Quote:
O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of interest, if you should be believers.
And if you do not, then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal - [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged. [Quran 2:278-279]


If you think every Muslims practices the religion then thats a wrong assumption. Many Muslims are just born Muslims and they have never opened Quran to read and reflect on it.

Quote:
And clearly Islamic countries have failed to distribute their oil wealth across their population, in addition to having more serious 'human rites' issues.
It is not difficult to speculate on the causes of the diaspora of which you are part.


I am not sure what it has to do with the finance system we are discussing. One other assumption here you made is that all Muslims countries have oil. Muslims in the middle East only make up 15-20% of Muslim population and not every Muslim country in the ME is rich with oil. Anyways, this just seems to be a desperate attempt to change the topic.

All we need to see if the Islamic finance system is a good solution and is it successful? During the 2008 GFC, not a single Islamic bank anywhere needed to be bailed out by tax payers money. The success of Islamic finance system has forced Western banks to look into Islamic finance system. There are banks in the West who now provide 0% interest and Islamic finance system is even taught in the West now because they see it as future for solution to their problems. You can look at this video below (approximately 20 minutes long) to find more details:

https://youtu.be/ryPD9RyKU_A

Video below is presentation given by a non-Muslim in South Australian University. It compares the failure of interest based system to the success of Islamic finance system. I though it will be more beneficial for you since the presentation is not given by a Muslim and you can't call this a biased view.

https://youtu.be/P_cVuLpD_rs
fresco
 
  1  
Thu 31 Oct, 2019 02:44 pm
@HabibUrrehman,
No and no.
Scanning the literature on Islamic banking I see that it is not without its Islamic critics, and like any human organization, it has not been free from corruption and accusation of exploiting the gullible.
I suggest you to turn your attentions at putting your own house in order before trying to convince others. Praising Islamic attitudes to money does not sit well when the pilgrims road to Mecca is lined with child beggars.



fresco
 
  1  
Thu 31 Oct, 2019 03:38 pm
@HabibUrrehman,
Having now listened to the Australian clip, I note that the other monotheistic religions also argue against speculative capitalism but only in an advisory capacity. The question is therefore whether authoritarian theocracy is better than libertarian democracy for humanity the long run. My answer to that is to look the physical conflict that has been fuelled by authoritative theism, rather than its potential parochial economic benefits.
Ever heard of the saying 'At least Mussolini got the trains to run on time ' ?
HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Thu 31 Oct, 2019 04:42 pm
@fresco,
Quote:
I suggest you to turn your attentions at putting your own house in order before trying to convince others. Praising Islamic attitudes to money does not sit well when the pilgrims road to Mecca is lined with child beggars.


Most of those are refugees from never ending wars in the ME not the result of Islamic finance system.

Speaking of which have a look at links below which shows homeless people in each of USA and UK. There are more than 3.2 million homeless people in Uk and more 6.5 million homeless people in USA. One major factor is the financial crisis. You can close your eyes and pretend not to see the problem.
0 Replies
 
HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Thu 31 Oct, 2019 04:56 pm
@fresco,
What you failed to see that the Divine law has never changed. This was my argument in the very first post that Islam is not a new religion. This was the religion revealed to all Prophets. When one reads OT, we see interest was not allowed.
Quote:
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 English Standard Version (ESV) 19 “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.


Jews changed this law to show interest is allowed for gentiles but not to Jews. Christians eventually throw away the law because Jesus died for their sins anyways and they don't need any law to follow. Allah corrected and revived the same law again in the Quran. For Muslims it is a Divine law because we know we are weak and we have our limitations. Our creator knows everything and He knows what is best for us.

If you disagree then you only have to go back to my original post on interest where I mentioned some of the ways interest based financial system has impacted the humanity or listen to the 20 minutes video I mentioned before. I have copy/pasted the link again for you:

https://youtu.be/ryPD9RyKU_A

By the way thanks for listening to the other video. It was approximately 40 minutes long and I appreciate that you took time to listen to that.
vikorr
 
  1  
Thu 31 Oct, 2019 05:47 pm
@HabibUrrehman,
Quote:
This is not based on supposition. Its human nature to seek for justice. If you truly believe that people who do good will have same end as those who oppress others when they have power, then that is against human nature and against our own consciousness.
Are we talking about God, or humans here? And are we talking about justice, or revenge? These questions come down to 'What is the difference between God and Man" and 'what is justice'?

The second part is 'how can justice be applied to a dead person?'

------------------------

Is justice only about punishment? It can't be as that is the definition of revenge - unless you believe revenge is only when the wronged party exacts punishment, and not a system. But that would seriously be playing semantics. The end result would just be punishment for the sake of punishment.

Does justice have no redemptive qualities whatsoever? If so, that's hard to apply to a dead person. Redemption means a change in the status of the persons life from the moment of redemption. That can't happen if there is no ability for a change in status.

Does it have no corrective qualities whatsoever? If it has corrective qualities - how on earth does that apply to a dead person? If they can't go to heaven to live a correct life, then how can it be corrective?

Can justice be never ending torment - no. This would be plain evil. You can't be a hypocrite and say 'If A torments B forever than that is just' but if B torments C forever then that is evil. The principles of justice go in all directions.

Then there is the type of punishments available, which exist pretty much at the extreme ends of punishments - because as punishment go, you cannot do any of the following to a dead person, even raised from the dead into an afterlife:
- fine them
- take away property
- remove them from loved ones (jails do this a percentage), because their loved ones are already gone from them
- take away their life, etc.
What is left? Forms of torture? Many will not meet the requirements for heaven. Justice doesn't dictate torture for the 'just missed the boat' peoples.

And then is there not a story in the bible where a bad person - who had been bad his whole life - comes to God for forgiveness just before he dies, and God forgives him and allows him into heaven?

If so, then the difference between God's view is a moment in time involving a change of heart. Which could happen immediately in an afterlife. Where then does;
- the first (change of heart just before you die) leave the implied 'just punishment', or
-the second (didn't change your heard just before you died, but did upon being resurrected & seeing your life laid out for you) leave the implied 'just punishment'?

---------------

The point of the above is not about whether one religion is right regarding justice or another religion is correct, nor whether one religion has answers to specific points, or another religion has such answers.

The point is your claim in the quote at the top of this post. It's simplistic. There's no thought given to how the concept of 'justice' is quite a human construct, nor how all our concepts of how it should work relates to living beings. There is nothing to say God views justice in exactly the same way as humans. There is nothing to truly say that 'justice' must apply to the dead. There is nothing to say that justice can even be applied in a just manner to the dead. It appears to me to be more a form of desire for revenge, rather than justice. This is purely your own point of view. Even if held by others - it is still purely a point of view.

fresco
 
  1  
Fri 1 Nov, 2019 01:16 am
@HabibUrrehman,
Quote:
What you failed to see that the Divine law has never changed.

No . What you have been conditioned NOT TO SEE , following Vikkor's comment above, is that there is only man-made law, the interpretation of which is contextual. Your conditioning is maintained by your magical word practices (5 times a day ?).
Your interpretation of your medieval 'holy writ' is no more valid than that of anybody else. It's what works for you and that 'you' has been forged in a particular social context...that of muslim trying to rationalise his modus vivendi in the modern Western world.
Finally, the argument that Western nations have their own inequality problems is irrelevant to the fact that Islamic nations have their own. The onus remains with those who claim 'superiority'.
I'll say this for you though, you have made a better effort to 'debate' than any other muslim that has appeared on this forum for the last dozen years. It's a pity your reading has been confined to cherry picking.

HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Fri 1 Nov, 2019 10:00 am
@fresco,
Quote:
I'll say this for you though, you have made a better effort to 'debate' than any other muslim that has appeared on this forum for the last dozen years. It's a pity your reading has been confined to cherry picking.


You asked me to talk about social issues and I started talking about those. It is a pity that you still think that's cherry picking?

Quote:
Finally, the argument that Western nations have their own inequality problems is irrelevant to the fact that Islamic nations have their own. The onus remains with those who claim 'superiority'.


Clearly Islamic finance system has been success. This was the whole point in that 40 minute presentation you watched yesterday. The problem is that you don't want to acknowledge that.
HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Fri 1 Nov, 2019 10:48 am
@vikorr,
Quote:
Are we talking about God, or humans here? And are we talking about justice, or revenge? These questions come down to 'What is the difference between God and Man" and 'what is justice'?


Obviously we are talking about God and our relationship to God.
You agree that we all have consciousness that tells us what is good and what is bad. Who wired that consciousness in human beings and why? I believe it is God who has wired that safety system within us.
Same consciousness push us to seek justice and happiness in this life.
Same consciousness pushes us to search for God or higher being who has control over us.
Why we need to seek happiness and justice when we can't find them in the world?
Similarly suppose if we remain healthy, stop aging and have all the resources to enjoy the world would anyone be willing to die? Desire to remain healthy and live longer is also part of human nature. Can we get that in this world? No.
We can't get true justice, happiness and eternal life in this world. If we can't then why do we desire for it?
The answer to all this is that there has to be a life after death. Our consciousness knows it, if you are in denial then your consciousness has been corrupted. Do some soul searching and hopefully that will help.

Let me go back to the topic of Justice. How do you rationalize that a war criminal like Hitler has similar end like you? If you think this is fair, then my friend you believe in the law of Jungle where might is always right. There is no need for morality because in the end everyone is going to die and be dust. It makes absolute no sense to me. If your consciousness think its fair then please explain that to me how is that fair?

Quote:
The second part is 'how can justice be applied to a dead person?'

------------------------

Is justice only about punishment? It can't be as that is the definition of revenge - unless you believe revenge is only when the wronged party exacts punishment, and not a system. But that would seriously be playing semantics. The end result would just be punishment for the sake of punishment.

Does justice have no redemptive qualities whatsoever? If so, that's hard to apply to a dead person. Redemption means a change in the status of the persons life from the moment of redemption. That can't happen if there is no ability for a change in status.

Does it have no corrective qualities whatsoever? If it has corrective qualities - how on earth does that apply to a dead person? If they can't go to heaven to live a correct life, then how can it be corrective?

Can justice be never ending torment - no. This would be plain evil. You can't be a hypocrite and say 'If A torments B forever than that is just' but if B torments C forever then that is evil. The principles of justice go in all directions.

Then there is the type of punishments available, which exist pretty much at the extreme ends of punishments - because as punishment go, you cannot do any of the following to a dead person, even raised from the dead into an afterlife:
- fine them
- take away property
- remove them from loved ones (jails do this a percentage), because their loved ones are already gone from them
- take away their life, etc.
What is left? Forms of torture? Many will not meet the requirements for heaven. Justice doesn't dictate torture for the 'just missed the boat' peoples.

And then is there not a story in the bible where a bad person - who had been bad his whole life - comes to God for forgiveness just before he dies, and God forgives him and allows him into heaven?

If so, then the difference between God's view is a moment in time involving a change of heart. Which could happen immediately in an afterlife. Where then does;
- the first (change of heart just before you die) leave the implied 'just punishment', or
-the second (didn't change your heard just before you died, but did upon being resurrected & seeing your life laid out for you) leave the implied 'just punishment'? ---------------


All of this relates to life after death which none of us have seen yet. If I rely on my own intellect then I have no answer to your questions because as a human being I have limitations and I can't say something for which I have no experience. This is part of unseen and knowledge of that only comes through revelation by God. That's one of the reason why we need revelation.

I can answer all the question based on my knowledge of Quran and hadiths but that's means nothing to you so there is no point.

Quote:
The point of the above is not about whether one religion is right regarding justice or another religion is correct, nor whether one religion has answers to specific points, or another religion has such answers.

The point is your claim in the quote at the top of this post. It's simplistic. There's no thought given to how the concept of 'justice' is quite a human construct, nor how all our concepts of how it should work relates to living beings. There is nothing to say God views justice in exactly the same way as humans. There is nothing to truly say that 'justice' must apply to the dead. There is nothing to say that justice can even be applied in a just manner to the dead. It appears to me to be more a form of desire for revenge, rather than justice. This is purely your own point of view. Even if held by others - it is still purely a point of view.


As you previously said once, if God exists and if day of judgement exists then by all means God shall judge us by His laws and rules. It all boils down to if you believe there is God? If you believe there should be life after death? If you do then next thing is to find that Divine guidance which gives us the knowledge of unseen. The knowledge of who God is, the knowledge of what happens after death and knowledge of what God likes and what God dislikes.

If you don't believe in God and if you don't believe in life after death then your consciousness has been corrupted just like someone who is evil and kills others has corrupted his consciousness. Start listening to your consciousness and you will see that believe in God and hereafter in built in our system just like the ability to dintingusih between right and wrong is built within our system.
fresco
 
  1  
Fri 1 Nov, 2019 01:48 pm
@HabibUrrehman,
The total Islamic banking turnover is a fraction of that of one Western bank, and it seems it an only attract customers by copying some aspects of the Western system like investment 'bonds'. Call that a 'success' if you like, if you want to ignore the criticisms of it by Islamic observers themselves.



vikorr
 
  1  
Fri 1 Nov, 2019 01:57 pm
@HabibUrrehman,
Quote:
Obviously we are talking about God and our relationship to God
The example you gave was of human concepts of justice, rather than Gods.

Also partly in answer to the quote below - Justice is found sometimes, and not at other times. Some peoples concept of justice is actually revenge, some people care enough about both sides of the story to what the offender to learn and never go down that path again. Others think it's sufficient compensation, while others think it's enough compensation to teach them a lesson in their lifes circumstances, while others want as much compensation as they can possibly get. That is to say - everyone is driven differently in relation to 'justice'.

Given the diversity of views on justice, and the human propensity to follow the pack (ie the common view that many will mouth) it should be no surprise at all if Gods view of 'justice' differs markedly to the human view of it.
Quote:
Let me go back to the topic of Justice. How do you rationalize that a war criminal like Hitler has similar end like you? If you think this is fair, then my friend you believe in the law of Jungle where might is always right. There is no need for morality because in the end everyone is going to die and be dust. It makes absolute no sense to me. If your consciousness think its fair then please explain that to me how is that fair?

As a continuation of the above, but also in answer to this - I personally wouldn't have said humans are driven to justice (though some are). I would have said that humans are driven to form societies, and also to protect their own and will turn to violent acts in order to do so (no issue in particular circumstances), and hate also drives many in the last circumstance to revenge. Some humans are driven to base acts (robbery, rape etc). 'Justice' is a concept to enable the first drive - to society, in the face of the other drives, which divide society. As societies become more organised it extends to punishing acts that diminish the wealth of the society (eg corruption), or go against the interests of the society (eg treason). Hence why I say 'justice' is a human concept / construct.

Quote:
Why we need to seek happiness and justice when we can't find them in the world
Happiness? Perhaps I have the advantage of having known what it means to be dirt poor and happy, and then seen people even poorer than me in 3rd world conditions and happy - and having my mother come from such place, understood why they are happy. I rather disagree with you regarding happiness.

Quote:
The answer to all this is that there has to be a life after death.
No, the answer to everything that proceeds this quote of yours is, more accurately 'The desire for life after death'.

Quote:
All of this relates to life after death which none of us have seen yet. If I rely on my own intellect then I have no answer to your questions because as a human being I have limitations and I can't say something for which I have no experience. This is part of unseen and knowledge of that only comes through revelation by God. That's one of the reason why we need revelation.

I can answer all the question based on my knowledge of Quran and hadiths but that's means nothing to you so there is no point.
I think you misunderstand me - regarding the italicised part of the quote. The religious beliefs of individuals that I most respect, are those they can articulate in a consistent manner. I don't mind if I disagree. The ability to be consistently rational, identify the discrepancies, and deal with them, is, to me, the mark of a person who is honest with themselves. I have ever found such people to be tolerant of others. And there is a great deal to respect about such character traits.
0 Replies
 
vikorr
 
  1  
Fri 1 Nov, 2019 02:07 pm
@HabibUrrehman,
Quote:
If you don't believe in God and if you don't believe in life after death then your consciousness has been corrupted just like someone who is evil and kills others has corrupted his consciousness. Start listening to your consciousness and you will see that believe in God and hereafter in built in our system just like the ability to dintingusih between right and wrong is built within our system.
This is just your opinion. The reason I went away from religion was due to my conscience. Since then:
- I don't turn a blind eye to discrepancies in my beliefs
- I have reduced my hypocrisy greatly (worded so because I don't claim to be perfect)
- I have identified principles that consistently work for me
- I live by those
- I have come to know who I am
- my understanding and acceptance of others has grown
- etc (these of course are still generalities)

This isn't to say that I am better than religious people. It is simply to point out the journey I have taken, that differs greatly to your belief (one I consider quite ugly) that people must be corrupted to stray from religion.
From my perspective, I look at the hypocrisy, the lack of questioning, the blind faith the the vast majority of religious people engage in, and the frequently accompanying intolerance, and think 'God surely can't have wanted this'.

It is difficult to argue that looking at this world for what it is, identifying consistent principles, constantly testing them, and living by them, is corrupt. The only way you could argue this, is by starting with an end conclusion first...

...which you consistently say you don't do, but consistently show yourself to do.

Do you realise how frustrating it is to talk to a person who claims dispassionate logic, not starting with an ending in mind...who's logic is from the perspective of the ending? The ending doesn't deal with the start - only the start deals with the start, and from the pattern that arises, conclusions can be drawn, and conclusions can be tested time and again for consistency. This is how one comes to 'knowledge'. Your version starts from the ending, and disagrees with the patterns (in the places I have pointed out).

And as I said - I will always believe the patterns observable in this world, and the patterns that arise, when shown to be consistent through constant testing...over theology. In my view, God gave us a conscience, kindness, compassion, empathy etc in order to be able to see what is right and wrong. I kept running into problems between this and religion. I will believe what God gave before before I believe the words of men who may, or may not have been sent from God, and mostly spoke as moved by God (in other words, their writing would still be subject to their interpretation and perspective of that 'movement').
HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Fri 1 Nov, 2019 03:43 pm
@fresco,
If any Islamic bank is keeping part of Western banking ideology which is based on interest then I don't call that Islamic finance system. Islamic solution to interest base financial system based on Quran and Sunnah. I had a post on that topic in this thread, link below for you to read.

https://able2know.org/topic/534961-7#post-6917482

To conclude, let's be honest and agree that interest based economic system is only to benefit those who are rich and is root cause of many problems we face. We are not trying to prove who is right and who is wrong here. It is an honest discussion for the benefit of anyone whose consciousness is still alive and can distinguish between right and wrong.

Other than this is there any other social issue you want me to discuss. I am asking because I don't want to cherry pick a topic and twist it to prove I am right. We can discuss more social issues one by one if you are interested.
HabibUrrehman
 
  1  
Fri 1 Nov, 2019 04:42 pm
@vikorr,
Quote:
And as I said - I will always believe the patterns observable in this world, and the patterns that arise, when shown to be consistent through constant testing...over theology. In my view, God gave us a conscience, kindness, compassion, empathy etc in order to be able to see what is right and wrong. I kept running into problems between this and religion. I will believe what God gave before I believe the words of men who may, or may not have been sent from God, and mostly spoke as moved by God (in other words, their writing would still be subject to their interpretation and perspective of that 'movement').


Since you mentioned the patterns let's look at the patterns around us and see if we can relate that to existence of life after death.

1. Have you seen how rain gives life to dead land? If God can send down rain to give life to a dead land, is it not possible for God to give life to dead people?

2. Is it easy for us to make something for the second time or the first time? Obviously it is easy to make something when we have already made one like it. Right? If God can create us the first time, why you think it is hard for Him to recreate you the second time?

3. Can fire ignite in the presence of water and moisture? The characteristic of water is that it is cold and moist, and is directly opposite to fire. Therefore, both being opposites, cannot mix with each other and come together. Hence, in accordance to this trend of thought, it will be totally impossible for fire to originate from a green tree which has moisture and water. Yet we see many green trees catch fire? One who produces for you fire out of the green tree, can bring life from dead ( the exact opposite just like water and fire).

4. Have you ever pondered upon the universe. How many galaxies are with in the universe and it is still constantly expanding. For certainly, a Being who has the ability to create such large and mighty galaxies and planets, can surely re-create human beings after they are dead, since the creation of humans from their rotten bones is not bigger and greater than the creation of the heavens and earth. As such, One who is not unable to create a creation much greater/bigger than human beings, cannot be unable to produce life in the bones (of humans) after these have become rotten and disintegrated.

God has given man, besides perceptual consciousness, rational, aesthetic and moral consciousness too. It is this consciousness that guides man regarding realities that cannot be verified through sensory data. That is why all the prophets of God, while calling people to believe in God and the life hereafter, appealed to the aesthetic, moral and rational sides of man.

The necessity of life after death is what the moral consciousness of man demands it. Actually, if there is no life after death, the very belief in God becomes irrelevant, or, even if one believes in God, that would be an unjust and indifferent God. He would have been a God who once created man, only to be unconcerned with his fate thereafter.

This is the very reason many people deny life after death because they also deny God. Denying God is denying the most obvious fact in our life, everything around us is a clear proof that there is a creator behind it as I have previously mentioned in my posts.
 

Related Topics

 
  1. Forums
  2. » True Religion
  3. » Page 9
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.03 seconds on 04/23/2024 at 03:54:00