What's wrong with "cherry picking?"

[Deidre]

Alhamdulilah iam convinced that islam is the path towards Allah swt after looking into Abrahamic religions. Personaly, i dont like blind following, ''my family is muslim so i should also stay muslim''. I cant explain, but the heart told me islam is the truth, when remembering Allah swt, thinking about the creation and about the hereafter, there is this feeling in heart which cant be described.

But this feeling could also be felt by jew, christian or hindu for their own religions

I wish I could give you 10 likes for this post. Beautiful. Thank you for answering from your heart.

 

[sun rise]

Alhamdulilah iam convinced that islam is the path towards Allah swt after looking into Abrahamic religions. Personaly, i dont like blind following, ''my family is muslim so i should also stay muslim''. I cant explain, but the heart told me islam is the truth, when remembering Allah swt, thinking about the creation and about the hereafter, there is this feeling in heart which cant be described.

But this feeling could also be felt by jew, christian or hindu for their own religions

That makes perfect sense to me. It's important to follow your highest understanding of the truth - what speaks to the deepest part of your being - in your heart.

 

[Aupmanyav]

"We know from his life that he treated his wives good and with love.

Mariyah the Copt who was one of the prophet’s wives’ maids. Muhammad slept with her without any ceremony, which caused uproar among his wives and finally was settled by Divine intervention. This story is recorded in an authenticated Hadith and is reported by Omar.

This Hadith is describing the reason for the revelation of verse 66: 4 of the Qur'an. The verse says:

“If ye two turn in repentance to Him, your hearts are indeed so inclined; But if ye back up each other against him, truly Allah is his Protector, and Gabriel, and (every) righteous one among those who believe,- and furthermore, the angels - will back (him) up.”
Qur'an 66:4"
Mariyah the Sex Slave of the Holy Prophet - WikiIslam

 

[Aupmanyav]

@Servant_of_the_One would you say that, if he'd arrived today, Muhammad would have said that it was never permissible to beat your wife (something which probably wouldn't have been accepted at the time)?

Qur'an is not Mohammad's word, he just spoke the 'word of Allah' as brought to him by Jibrael. He was not literate, but I think, very wise.
List of Muhammad's Wives and Concubines - WikiIslam

 

[Thief]

Alhamdulilah iam convinced that islam is the path towards Allah swt after looking into Abrahamic religions. Personaly, i dont like blind following, ''my family is muslim so i should also stay muslim''. I cant explain, but the heart told me islam is the truth, when remembering Allah swt, thinking about the creation and about the hereafter, there is this feeling in heart which cant be described.

But this feeling could also be felt by jew, christian or hindu for their own religions

ooops......first you say you don't approve blind following....then...
You can't explain that your heart tells you the truth.

The mind should be in the lead.
Place your reasoning as your guide.
The unbridled heart is fickle.

 

[Acintya_Ash]

What are your thoughts?

I believe there's nothing wrong with cherry picking as long as you're in tune with the core/essence. When you've understood the essence, you can derive your own path considering the necessary elements from different religions.
To surrender in love to God and be an instrument of God’s love in this world; that is the spirit, that is the essence of religion and spirituality.

 

[Thief]

I believe there's nothing wrong with cherry picking as long as you're in tune with the core/essence. When you've understood the essence, you can derive your own path considering the necessary elements from different religions.
To surrender in love to God and be an instrument of God’s love in this world; that is the spirit, that is the essence of religion and spirituality.

Does this include dogmatic belief?.....ritual and ceremony?

 

[Acintya_Ash]

Does this include dogmatic belief?.....ritual and ceremony?

I believe Rituals and Dogmatic beliefs come second, Doing our prescribed duties with a renounced state of mind (without aspiration for fruits, as a service to God) is Primary. Coupling it with Rituals is always better.

 

[Thief]

I believe Rituals and Dogmatic beliefs come second, Doing our prescribed duties with a renounced state of mind (without aspiration for fruits, as a service to God) is Primary. Coupling it with Rituals is always better.

I am not so sure.
Believing I can invoke God by a gesture of my hand?

Yet, the gesture of touch does mean something.
I simply don't believe is ritual or recital.

If I need the Spirit in what I do....I take my thought to Him as I do so.

 

[Acintya_Ash]

Believing I can invoke God by a gesture of my hand?

Rituals bring peace of mind and strengthen our Devotion to God. Try regulating it, you'll realize the difference

 

[Servant_of_the_One1]

I am not so sure.
Believing I can invoke God by a gesture of my hand?

Yet, the gesture of touch does mean something.
I simply don't believe is ritual or recital.

If I need the Spirit in what I do....I take my thought to Him as I do so.

The reason i said heart because heart shows people what is right. Anyways this is still called Belief. We believe for that reason.
Also others believe that their religions is truth. So the death will bring the good news or the bad news.

Every human is preparing for that, except atheists. Entering the death unprepared. People like them will wish in the grave and on judgement day that they could return to Earth so they become believers.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

To surrender in love to God and be an instrument of God’s love in this world; that is the spirit, that is the essence of religion and spirituality.

Not for a non-theist. I do agree though with the principle of finding the "essence", though that might not be straightforward.

 

[Kirran]

Qur'an is not Mohammad's word, he just spoke the 'word of Allah' as brought to him by Jibrael. He was not literate, but I think, very wise.
List of Muhammad's Wives and Concubines - WikiIslam

Yeah, but I just meant that perhaps the Qur'an was the perfect book for that particular time, espousing ideas as radically more compassionate as Allah knew would be accepted, but that if Allah had chosen a Prophet in different circumstances, where the people were more amenable to more radical ideas, it might have been different. Whether there could have been people more 'socially progressive' if the Qur'an hadn't been there in the first place is an unanswerable question.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I just meant that perhaps the Qur'an was the perfect book for that particular time, ..

So, that is the problem. What do we do with Bible and Qur'an now, books for a particular time and for particular people?

 

[Kirran]

Reinterpret, and I think it's wise also to look at what somebody preached in relation to the circumstances, and try to figure out what they might have preached in different circumstances. For example, Muhammad and the Qur'an encouraged equality, by advocating social forms more egalitarian than those existing previously. So carry that on, and try to make the present-day more egalitarian, rather than copy the social forms which were an improvement on pre-Islamic Arabia, but not necessarily on many societies in the modern day.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I agree, but I am afraid of the ulema and the jihadists.

 

[Kirran]

I agree, but I am afraid of the ulema and the jihadists.

Well we're not Muslims, so we can only offer an outsiders' perspective anyway.

I don't think fear really gets people anywhere, with a few very rare exceptions in extreme situations. Remain calm in a situation, and it both helps to keep your mind calm generally, and also to understand the situation. This is, of course, easier said than done.

 

[Windwalker]

Well, I guess if men were beating their wives with dry sticks, and Muhammad made them switch to green branches, it's still progress. But I think the compassion goes a bit further than that.

It's progress to a better, more effect tool to inflict punishment is what it is. A green stick will not shatter when you strike your female property (wife) with it, but will remain effectively stinging, strike after strike across her disobedient back. (How's that for a nice picture).

I think of John Calvin who ordered this religious heretic he disagreed with theologically be burned with green wood. The reason? Because green would takes longer to come to flame and burns much more slowly and at a lower heat. He wanted this man to suffer a more prolonged and tortuous death. Nice guy. So deeply in touch with God.

 

[Kirran]

It's progress to a better, more effect tool to inflict punishment is what it is. A green stick will not shatter when you strike your female property (wife) with it, but will remain effectively stinging, strike after strike across her disobedient back. (How's that for a nice picture).

I think of John Calvin who ordered this religious heretic he disagreed with theologically be burned with green wood. The reason? Because green would takes longer to come to flame and burns much more slowly and at a lower heat. He wanted this man to suffer a more prolonged and tortuous death. Nice guy. So deeply in touch with God.

To be honest, I was coming at it from a more symbolic angle, rather than looking at the practicalities of domestic abuse, although I can see where I was unclear.

Hmm. This being John Calvin of Calvinism fame? Maybe he was in touch with God, and the compassionate people are kidding themselves. Who knows?

 

[Deidre]

It's progress to a better, more effect tool to inflict punishment is what it is. A green stick will not shatter when you strike your female property (wife) with it, but will remain effectively stinging, strike after strike across her disobedient back. (How's that for a nice picture).

I think of John Calvin who ordered this religious heretic he disagreed with theologically be burned with green wood. The reason? Because green would takes longer to come to flame and burns much more slowly and at a lower heat. He wanted this man to suffer a more prolonged and tortuous death. Nice guy. So deeply in touch with God.

if someone can convince themselves that this is what a god would want and expect from his/her ''obedience''...that's beyond sad. not even sure of the word for such depravity.