Does that Make Me an Extremist? My Definition of Religious

Asalamu aliakuam wa rahmat Allah wa barkatoo and Hellooo!

We're on day 49 :)

Anyways, we're living in a time when many people don't want to be 'considered religious', and that's mainly because many people confuse 'what being religoius means'. I thought I would...come to the rescue and offer my definition (which is completely based on Islamic texts/traditions).

 

Being religious means being gentle to your parents, treating your neighbors good, having a connection with the Supreme Creator, the Compassionate and the Just.

Being religious means understanding your purpose on this Earth is to worship the One who created you, created the stars, the universe, the Earth.

Being religious means being peaceful, it means honoring your promises, it means treating people like brothers and sisters, it means not harming yourself or harming others, it means calling your friends with names that they like, not talking about people behind their back .

Being religious means trusting in Allah. It means loving Allah and taking Him as a Protector, and a Victor: He will bring you victory.

Being religious does not mean acting better than those who are not as knowledgable as you in religion (in terms of rules, etc.). Allah hates those who brag. Being religious does not mean judging people: you never know. Who ever you judge and deem as stupid and worthless, might be loved by Allah.

Being religoius does'nt mean 'knowing theoretical rules of religion and the hadiths' but going around bragging , acting superior to everyone, turning your back on others. That would be irreligious!

Being religious means fighting a war with Shaitan everyday against temptation. It means fighting ignorance and the dark.

Being religious means following these two ayas:"Allah commands you to do justice, kindness and give charity to relatives and forbids you from all acts of lewdness, evil, and rebellion." "(Men and women of Allah) Control their anger, and forgive people; Allah likes righteous people."

Being religious means giving charity; caressing the head of an orphan, forgiving people, and not accusing people of things they have not committed. It is not lying, it is saying the truth, it is not being racist. A white is not better than a black, and a Arab is not better than a foreigner and a foreigner is not better than an Arab except in taqwa (piety).

 

Being religious is striving to live the way Allah has ordained. It's repenting when making a mistake. It's giving the da'awa kindly and correcting mistakes gently. It's turning to Allah always, and always...
 
 
:)

P.S. If you're wondering what jihad is, you can see anonymous's question in the Islam 101 post and my answer :)

I Have Reason to Believe

Asalamu aliakuam wa rahmat Allah wa barkatoo and HellOoo!

Recently a friend's blog was rudely 'interrupted' by an atheist. I personally have no problems with atheism and with any other belief/religion-

 Say, "O disbelievers, (1) I
do not worship what you worship. (2)  
Nor are you worshippers of what I worship. (3) 
Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship. (4)  
Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship. (5)
 For you is your religion, and for me is my religion." (The Qur'an)

But to interrupt a friend's blog rudely.....Now that is not acceptable! Not to me! What I found very 'silly' as well was the whole  "It's scientifically embarrassing to believe in God".

I for one...I have reason to believe...

[This an article I wrote and published in the website Muslimas Oasis, for those who think it sounds familiar and are worried that I'm 'plagiarizing', lol.]

I Have Reason to Believe

“That’s what I said,” she said.
“No, you said, B, like boot. Notice what I am saying: P, pa, park.
“Ba-rk,” she replied a little defensively.
“No, no, no, no. Look at me. Park…”

They call it blind perception . A seemingly oxymoronish name, the term refers to the strange, almost “blind” perception learners/speakers of a foreign language may experience when hearing sounds, rhythms, intonations, etc. considered ‘meaning distinguishable’ in the foreign language but not in the speaker’s native language. Sounds complicated? It really isn’t. If we take the beginning “story’ as an example, we notice that the the first girl insisted that was she saying the same thing as her English teacher was saying (yes, I am taking these two characters way too seriously). She couldn’t hear the difference between the English letter “P” (which her teacher was saying) and the English sound ‘B” (which she was saying) because in Arabic, there is no distinction between these two sounds; pronouncing one as the other in Arabic, doesn’t really cause a difference in meaning . For example, pronouncing the Arabic word for Saturday, Sabt, as “Sabt” or as “Sapt”, with a light p, wouldn’t really change the meaning of the word. And that’s why Arabic speakers learning English, who have no hearing problems at all, often cannot hear the difference between the two sounds!

But, it’s not only in language that we humans sometimes perceive things incorrectly. Just the other day, I heard a little kid telling his mom, “Oh, mom, look! The moon is chasing us”. How many of us, as children, were also convinced that the moon was running after us or following our cars? We looked out the window and that’s what we saw….and we believed what we saw.

We believed it, not realizing how limited human perception (including sight, touch, hearing, etc.) really is. Did you know that if you stood next to an elephant, this giant creature, SubhanAllah, you would hear only a third of its growl? Yup, the BBC recently featured an article on this. What about dog whistles? We can’t hear the sounds but dogs obviously can! Not only that, but if you looked at a flower, in many cases, you would be seeing something very different from what bees see. That’s because it turns out that many flowers have ultraviolet patterned petals; these patterns, which can be seen by bees but not by the human eye, help the bees identify the flower’s store of nectar. And what about touch? Have you ever touched something that was so hot, your body mistakenly felt it was cold or vice versa? Like an ice-cube?

The simple truth is that what we sense is only a fraction of what is all around us. It’s a well known fact that many animals start running for cover from earthquakes long before we do; the fact that we cannot, without our modern technology, sense this gigantic catastrophe, this overwhelmingly massive destructive force as fast as they can, should make us realize that our perception really is… unreliable. 


It should also humble us.

And it should also strengthen our belief in all that Allah has informed us about….all that He has promised us…and all that He has, from His Mercy, warned us about.

Yes, knowing that there are things right now, at this very moment, right next to me that I cannot see or hear…well, it proves to me that right now, though I cannot see them, there are, on my shoulders, two angels recording every single one of my deeds.

And yes, around me, there are shayateen (devils) who see me, but who I do not see, and who are trying to lure me from Allah’s path.

And far far above, far beyond human sight, is the Throne of the Magnificent. And underneath His Throne, is a paradise with things no human eye has ever seen, waiting for its dwellers.

Dwellers who come right here from Earth- dwellers who dare to believe in the Unseen.

P.S. Have you ever perceived something completely incorrect? For example, you heard someone say something but really they said the exact opposite? (You missed the contraction part/not/etc.)