If there was no hell, would you still do good?

Do you think of Hell and Heaven when you do good?

no, but when "doing good", people are "doing" instead of thinking.

Would you still put yourself in a situation to do good if there was no punishment for doing bad?

That would then probably fit into "Hell yes!" if its the case all the time, or "Yes, but probably not as much" if its some of the time. Or you could always ask for fried with that.

Salam

If there was no Hell, nobody would be good at all.

In fact, there would be no good, period.

Religious people are good because of God.

Some Atheists try to be good because of religious people.

Hence, everyone who is good, is good because of a Good God.

And God is good because of His nature.

Omrow

[quote=wednesday]Some people don't do good KNOWING that they are doing something good. Honest slip of mind.[/quote]

It doesn't count as doing good unless you consciously know you are doing good.

Actions are judged according to their intentions.

Interesting... you 100% sure about that?

[quote=You]Interesting... you 100% sure about that?[/quote]

OK let's take the example of making hijra. This is one of the actions most loved by God.

Umar related that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Deeds are [a result] only of the intentions [of the actor], and an individual is [rewarded] only according to that which he intends. Therefore, whosoever has emigrated for the sake of Allah and His messenger, then his emigration was for Allah and His messenger. Whosoever emigrated for the sake of worldly gain, or a woman [whom he desires] to marry, then his emigration is for the sake of that which [moved him] to emigrate." Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim.

So, yes.

ok, imagine a deed. any deed, but it has to be repetitive.

You do it the first time with full intention of it being good. and the next time. and the time after that. However after a period of repetition, you no longer apply any intention to it - its just something you do without conscious thought. Is it still a "good deed" or a mere habit of life?

[quote=You]ok, imagine a deed. any deed, but it has to be repetitive.

You do it the first time with full intention of it being good. and the next time. and the time after that. However after a period of repetition, you no longer apply any intention to it - its just something you do without conscious thought. Is it still a "good deed" or a mere habit of life?[/quote]

A good habit?

There is a reason we are advised to start everything by saying 'bismillah'.

[quote=Ya'qub]A good habit?[/quote]

So how does this fit in with

[quote=Ya'qub]Actions are judged according to their intentions.[/quote]

?

[quote=You][quote=Ya'qub]A good habit?[/quote]

So how does this fit in with

[quote=Ya'qub]Actions are judged according to their intentions.[/quote]

?
[/quote]

Because making the intention can be part of the habit... OR you can make an intention to form a good habit.

An interesting question... I opted for 'yes, but probably not as much', because I'd like to think I would still have all the positives of my character and what I am, but realisticly I think there would be some difference.

This has reminded me of a conversation I had with a Muslim who is not very 'practicising'. We were talking about zakat and in particular the 2.5% of wealth that should be given, and the person said that they gave to charity anyway but didn't think detail like '2.5%' was that important - 'all that matters is that you are a good person'. And i understood what the person was saying. I suppose that is kind of similar to this.

I'd like to think, and actually do think, that I am still the same person as I was before I made a conscious decision to learn more about Islam and try to implement it. I feel stronger and more secure in general but my morals etc seem the same to me.

I voted hell yes, because I think I would still do good, inshaAllah.

Question is, would I still refrain from bad?

Well, whilst the intention to refrain would be there, I don't think I'd have the self discipline and so I might not be able to refrain from some bad things.

[quote=Dawud]
Question is, would I still refrain from bad?

[/quote]

Would people, generally refrain from doing bad..if there was no hell?

Good question. One that I should have thought of.

Overall, if people get hurt, then IMO there will not be as much difference - hurting other people cannot be done by everyone and IMO very few people will think long term when doing that.

But the question is of "victimless crimes" - you don't see anyone harmed from doing them, no harm in the hereafter either, so why not?

I've asked this before, but what was that time era where people did whatever they wanted...regardless of it being good or bad/shameful?

^jahiliya.

I think some people are more, inclined to be one way or another. To be good or evil. Some people. Its just in their nature.

Would i still be good if there was no heaven and hell? Assuming i am good, id prob say yes. Id still be the way i am. My actions are not dictated by the impending doom of hell (they probably should be... but they're not.).

Talks Dan Ariely on our buggy moral code - challenges a few conceptions.

[quote=Noor]^jahiliya.[/quote]

Thanks.

[quote=You]Talks Dan Ariely on our buggy moral code - challenges a few conceptions.[/quote]

^^ A very good watch IMO. A few notes:

1. Cheating is endemic.
2. Its not that a few people cheat a lot, but that a lot of people cheat a little.
3. It is not motivated by greed:
3b. In an experiment when there was little chance of people being caught cheating, if the people were told that they would get $$$ for every answer, they would cheat less than if they were told they would be given some other token/prize for each answer - even if the token could be exchanged for the same amount of money.
4. remind people of morals and people cheat less, even if they do not believe in those ethics - telling an athiest to swear on the bible will mean less (or no) cheating!
5. if you see someone from your own group blatantly cheating, you will likely cheat more. if you see someone from a group you oppose, or do not identify with, you will cheat less.

Practical lessons learnt from this:

1. In the financial industry, the performance prizes given are normally not straight up money, but something that can be converted into it (such as stock options or other things) - if instead they were given a cash bonus, the industry may be more honest.
2. In MIT there tried an experiment where they got students to sign that they would abide by the MIT code of honour - catch being that MIT had no code of honour! it was just to keep people more honest.

Very good talk IMO.

Some humans will get away with as much evil as they can if the rule of law is not established. Fear of severe punishment is what prevents them from comitting henious crimes. That is why we have prisons in place.

Obviously this does not apply to everyone, particularly for those people who have acquired and learnt what good is and what good actions are. Relying on a person's piety is not sufficient. People are always susceptible to turn to bad and evil, and need to be reined in once in a while. The fear of Hell is needed. :shock:

I think Ive gone off topic completely, so I'll stop :oops:

That is not off totally topic, so keep going if you wish. (besides, staying on topic is so last year!)

It is a good question whether without punishment people will do bad or not - in an ideal world, people will still avoid bad simply because the good leads to more satisfactory results.