Can Non-Muslims think Islamically?

Published by TPOS on 9 December, 2012 - 22:09

What I mean by the title means is can non-Muslims show actions and thoughts which are taught in Islam and is it wrong to take advice or inspiration from them?

I commented over here  saying

Quote:
 I watch an Indian drama (don't judge me! I know it's embarrassing and lame Lol) and I was avoiding my work and discovered an interview with one of the actors. He was asked "what is your worst fear?" he replied "tostay in my comfort zone and not take risks (...) because then you stop living."

I thought was pretty awesome! Like normally you fear getting out of your comfort zone but he fears staying in it and he, rightly, associates it with not moving forward in life and get the best out of it.

I dunno, I felt that was kinda relevant.

Lilly, agreed it was relevant but said it's not from the right 'source'. I haven't asked her what it meant on there because I wanted to create this forum. I may be wrong but it seemed like she was saying it's wrong because of it being a random actor saying. 

Which led to the title Q.

I'm sure Lilly will clarify what she meant, when she sees this and gets the time, and even if she didn't mean what I thought, I think others would.

I mean I think people think just because it's not a directly Islamic source e.g. a Shaykh etc then it's not a good source to listen to. Of Course taking on what great teachers of Islam say is the best thing we can do.

But personally I believe there's nothing wrong with following others who do good and being inspired by them, beause if it is right, then it will be Islamic - either directly as an example of the sunnah or just because it is good and right.

Please correct me if I'm saying anything wrong.

I am NOT saying add to Islam. Just saying non-Muslims do good too and we can learn and take from them. IN MY OPINION

An example of what I mean by some non-Muslims show the example of sunnah better than some Muslims:

 

 

Do read it, I know I learnt something new, and you probably will too! The writing looks pretty small so just zoom in to make it more comfortable to read!

Comments

Submitted by TPOS on 9 December, 2012 - 23:39

Also, a couple of weeks ago, I read an article which also made me think how although it's completely unreligious, the principles mentioned can be applied to the Islamic way of thought. I'm just gna quote the bits which made me think this way and say why.

Quote:
He would go wandering off to the left, to the right, up the middle; he was inconsistent; and he would cost us.

...But the experience of Sir Alex Ferguson meant he never lost patience.

We are flawed. We won't just become great over night and we're certainly not expected to either. It takes a lot of patience (amongst other qualities) to continue to fight our nafs and try and be the best we can be. 

Quote:
 And no one is ever telling me he isn't brave, by the way. No one's telling me he's soft. He wouldn't hide in games even though he knew that the first thing every team wanted to do was to leave one on him.
We need to face our fears, do things we may not like to do, get out of our comfort zone! That is the only way we can progress

Quote:
 
As a 27-year-old at the time, an experienced figure, I was expecting to tell this 21-year-old how it was.

And he was telling me something completely different. I'd been playing with my blinkers on for years but he made me open my eyes to different ways of playing the game. Islam encourages being open minded, listening to others, even if they're younger than you and doing things the best way, there is possible.

 

Quote:
 I'll never forget coming in training one day when the session was eight hard runs but, for the last two, he seemed to be taking it easy. 

He simply said: 'Too much water kills the plant.'

Islam emphasises the middle path, to not ruin ourselves, to look oafter ourselves and so on!

 

Quote:
He also believed that the team would be better if he was the world's best.

There is a hadith which says the strong believer is better than the weak believer - the better our character and actions the better is it for us. So we need to work on ourselves, individually, to try and be the best we can be.

But there is also a hadith which says the believers are like one body and the believers are like one building.

Therefore we need to help each other! And if we, as individuals are not trying to be the best we can be, then we can't help each other very well either and the whole ummah will suffer. If we are all trying to be the best we can be, then the ummah will rise!

 

The article I quoted is about the Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, if anyone cares:

 

 

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"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Submitted by LookingToSee on 10 December, 2012 - 13:29

i havent read in details yet but abt what i said.

i wassaying it in a jokey way really, but yeah, i wouldnt take anything a bollywood actor said seriously. i mean. the actual quote is VERY relevant and great but yeah. thats just one tihng amongst many other things.

its just that, FOR ME, hearing the same thing from a scholar or someone practising will have a bigger impact. coz that preson believes in Allah and that.

but there's plenty of things non-muslims say that is totally right.

 

thinking abt the title of your post.

can muslims think islamically. the islamic way of thinking is the best way.

we humans are flawed, sometimes we will think the correct way - which

would be the islamic way, and sometimes we wont. hence why Allah send

the Quran an Sunnah so we can measure our thinking against those. if it

fits, its to keep, if not, its not. coz we really do need a guide, how else are we suppose to know whats right? trial and error?

well thats what a democracy does right, and thats just long. and playing

with people's lives.

im going to take an example, education.

A-levels. sometimes its one exam for each subject right at the end of

the 2 years, then its one exam after each year, then its 4 exams, then

its back to 1 exams at the end of the two years. we just keep going in a

circle, trying out the different ways. (i dont know if there's an

"islamic solution" for this particular problem, but thats not the point)

another example. the saying "every cloud has a silver lining". thats a "i

believe/i dont believe" kinda statement right? but if you put it against

Quran and Sunnah, then you discover that its actually true.

The Prophet () said:

“How

wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good,

and that does not apply foranyone except the believer. If something good

happens to him hegives thanks, and that is good for him; if something

bad happens tohim he bears it with patience, and that is good for him.”

Saheeh Muslim

Volume 7, Book 70, Number 545:

Narrated

Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri and Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "No fatigue, nor

disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a

Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that

Allah expiates some of his sins for that."

urgh my post is gone funny coz i copy pasted it coz i got logged out in the middle of writing it... sorry abt that.

—

Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?

Submitted by TPOS on 10 December, 2012 - 19:30

I don't understand what you mean by using democracy as an example? :S

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"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Submitted by LookingToSee on 10 December, 2012 - 23:15

i didnt. i was talking about the flaws in man-made laws.

—

Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?

Submitted by TPOS on 11 December, 2012 - 00:52

Lilly wrote:
i didnt. i was talking about the flaws in man-made laws.
Oh ok, I understand now. I re-read the comment too, the spacing/formatting of it made it hard to read so I think that's why I missed the point.

Quote:
if it fits, its to keep, if not, its not. coz we really do need a guide, how else are we suppose to know whats right? trial and error?

well thats what a democracy does right, and thats just long. and playing with people's lives

I'm not talking about taking our views, opinions, rulings, role models FROM non-Muslims. I guess in some ways you can relate it to democracy the way you have described - taking the good and leaving the bad. But democracy has it's flaws and it's more about the way of govt blah blah blah, so I don't like that comparison.

Because what I was saying is just to take the good from people IF they are saying something which goes with Islam. And I mean that in for example the way we communicate with people or just other things, not the actual rulings etc. Yh I don't think I'm being clear. Sad

But I think it's unfair and prejudiced to say you can't take something valid, seriously, because it's not coming from a teacher. Obviously, if they didn't make sense and they were commenting on something they had no idea on then ok fair enough, but otherwise I don't see what's wrong with it. To me, it feels kinda rude to dismiss someone's opinion like that. 

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again, I follow this particular Jewish guy on twitter and I find him brilliant. He's very spiritual and he says stuff based on both Judaism and Islam. Obviously I'm not taking the teachings of Judaism but I take his wisdom and advice and reminders. One particular thing I will remember is him saying "If God wanted mechanical prayers from us he would have given us mp3 players to us instead of minds, hearts and mouths." It may seem like a typical wishy washy one-liner to some people but it genuinely has reminded me to focus on what I'm reading when I stand to pray, at times.

And these people who are in the limelight, (some lol) do have other interests etc and if they say or do something good and it rubs off on others, then that's gotta be a good thing! 

Man, I feel sorry for fan-girls, if only they followed someone who actually made their and other people's lives better. 

Also, some of that was just a rant, I did read that Lilly said non-Muslims do say the right stuff and for her personally it would just have more impact coming from someone authoritative, which is fine. I was just pointing out that we shouldn't dismiss something on the basis of who's saying but judge more on what's being said.

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"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Submitted by LookingToSee on 11 December, 2012 - 22:08

you're right. its not right and it would be rude to dismiss what people say just coz they arent muslim. if it sounds good (as in, makes sense and that) i will take it. but i dont trust my way of thinking when it comes to those great one-liners. i'll take it but i'll see if it fits against Allah's wisdom. if it does then im all for it.

like i said. i use the silver lining expression.

its like, for a non-muslim, they chose whether they believe in "an eye for an eye". its all based on how they feel and what kind of person they are, and from one day to another something might happen and they change their mind about how they feel about that statement.

but here, me, as a muslim, Allah said that yes, an eye for an eye; but forgiveness is better. so i believe in an eye for an eye and its not just something i feel washy washy about coz its just something i came up with based on my life experiences. its something i can truly lean against and believe in. because the all wise, the one who created us said this WILL work. (really that last sentence is about the silver lining thing..)

—

Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?