The Islamic perspective on living life congruently

Let me first start off by saying that I am not a Muslim nor was I raised in an Islamic environment. That said, I recently read two totally unrelated articles that really clarified the Islamic perspective for me. What is it about Islam that is so powerful and draws so many people to it? Is it that Islam imposes itself on people and shuts out everything else so people have no choice?

I have always said that this was not the case. After all, how do over a billion people hold so steadfast in their faith even when in non-Muslim environments? There is indeed something peaceful and fulfilling about Islam that non-Muslims who wish to understand the Islamic mindset better would do well to meditate on. It is the sense of unity of different aspects of life—congruent living—that not only promotes Muslims’ great steadfastness of faith, but also the immense drive to spread and establish Islam wherever one goes (which by itself is no different than Christians “spreading the Word” or atheists polemicizing against belief in God).

The first article I read that brought things into perspective was Hassan Butt’s Plea to Fellow Muslims to Renounce Terror. Butt was a former member of the extremist networks that have been staging attacks in London. He writes that the extremists

take these premises two steps further. Their first step has been to reason that since there is no Islamic state in existence, the whole world must be Dar ul-Kufr [land of unbelievers]. Step two: since Islam must declare war on unbelief, they have declared war upon the whole world. Many of my former peers, myself included, were taught by Pakistani and British radical preachers that this reclassification of the globe as a Land of War (Dar ul-Harb) allows any Muslim to destroy the sanctity of the five rights that every human is granted under Islam: life, wealth, land, mind and belief. In Dar ul-Harb, anything goes, including the treachery and cowardice of attacking civilians.

The overwhelming majority of Muslims would not twist their faith into this. The thing about Islam, though, is that it is regarded as not just a faith. It is a social system, a society, with its own rules and norms, and these norms are at peace and in harmony with each other. Bombings are not the way to achieve this; however, the peace and harmony many people experience as Muslims is very powerful as a motivator to take great measures to strengthen Islam. This harmony in life is best explained by liberating concept of congruent living.

July 5th, 2007 Posted by Michaell at 12:13pm | Debate and News, Concepts and the Future, God and Belief | one comment