Islam has no Golden Rule? August 17, 2007
Posted by sacrosanct in Islam, Quotes and Wisdom.trackback
A criticism of Islam that I tend to hear a lot from Non-Muslim is that Islam has no equivalent of the Golden Rule, which is so not true. The Prophet Muhammad May Allah bless him and give him peace said that “None of you will truly believe until he wishes for his brother that what he wants for himself.”
Imam Nawawi, one of the greatest scholars of Islam of the past says that the Prophet May Allah bless him and give him peace is referring to all of humanity. Therefore, we must want for our fellow human what we want for ourselves. And many Muslims have not reached this level of faith yet as we still pray for something bad to happen to our enemies, while our Prophet May Allah bless him and give him peace used to pray for his enemies and wish for the best for them.
And here is the Christian Golden Rule.
Imam Ibn Rajab al Hanbali (R), another great scholar said the same thing as Imam an-Nawawi (R) in commenting on this hadith. I remember Shaykh Hamza Yusuf saying this in one of his talks in London.
what… you made up the cartoon with the boy praying and so now it’s part of islam? lol. gimme a break.
and in anycase… both christianity and islam (and any other religion which teaches this) are inherently teaching selfishness:
you’re only doing unto others that which you want done unto you - that’s a selfish way of giving.
the philosophy that teaches you to give without thinking or feeling about how it will benefit you or how you would like to be on the receiving end of some sort of benefit, is the highest ideal there is.
no religion teaches that.
THAT ideal is man made… which is superior in moral quality than anything religion can come up with.
Thanks for your comments.
I didn’t make that up, it’s an authenticated saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him). That’s what makes it part of Islam.
Actually religion does teach that.
At least Islam does. You don’t treat people the way you do because you want good treatment, you do it because you want to follow God’s commandments. When all the companions of the Prophet May God bless him and give him peace, turned to him and waited for him to pray for the destruction of the tribe Daws, he put his hands up to the sky and made a good prayer for their guidance, and the companions were surprised. That’s what this saying of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) is about. It’s of higher faith to pray for those people that have wronged you like Habib Ali al Jifri said. The Prophet (peace be upon him) always treated nicely the people that verbally abused him.
So, this principle does come from religion, actually.
You might not have to have a religion to have it, and many people that have a religion don’t necessarily follow it but it still comes from religion.
“you do it because you want to follow God’s commandments.”
that principle comes from religion.
this one comes from Immanuel Kant:
“you do the right thing because it is your innate moral duty”
that is, not out of obedience to a god that bribes and threatens you - we aren’t animals that need such training… which is what islam, judaism and christianity wrongfully assert.
Islam also says that the fitra (basic nature of humans) inclines towards good. That the human being is innately good and being bad is a deviation.
It doesn’t mean all human beings do good even though our fitra is good. so apparently some people DO need to be taught. Some humans are worse than animals in character. Animals are way more loyal for example. Sadly.
Kant also said that it’s so wrong to lie that if your friend was a prisoner in a house and people came to get him you can’t lie to the people to save your friend, because that would be morally wrong.
“That the human being is innately good and being bad is a deviation.”
islam does not say that at all… if it does then i’m sure you can prove it. show me evidence.
and you’ll also have to overcome the entire theological basis of islam being revealed and being so authoritative of how you should live your lives… because if humans are innately good then they only need to follow their heart - there is no need for laws defining how to live your life from eating to dressing to what should be done with your body after death!
it’s a hadith, the fitra of the human being inclines towards good
Islam does have a devil you know.
If humans only needed to follow their heart, then there would be no crime. The human is tempted and strays to the bad because of the 1) devil and the 2) lower self. That’s why Islam is a way of life. And it’s not only authoritative in terms of dress etc… There’s also a whole science of spirituality that deals with the heart and how to purify it.
Also in Islam eating, dress etc is mostly defined by urf or customs or tradition. But Islam provides guidelines to provide boundaries.