eThErEaL

Alright.

I never said we should be without beliefs. So everything else you said is irrelevant.

Certitude (not as a thought or as an idea) but of "BEING certain", certitude in and as Being itself. Is Being itself an axiom, a principle? No.

Salamun Alaykum, If I were you, I would just hang a lot around people who also like that and who you would consider to be more advanced in those areas. You should do this at all costs. Like, even consider moving to another state, another country (if you have to). This is perhaps the most valuable thing you could or would do for yourself. I am an Agnostic only because I don't take my beliefs all too seriously. But I am a Muslim. Ethereal

but that statement was not of a belief, nor an axiom or principle or whatever.

This is not a belief. :).

Why do you want to be a sincere practicing Muslim? Why not just leave? Is it because you are afraid of a Hell that might exist? Or is it because you feel that by being a sincere Muslim you will feel more fulfilled ? Or maybe it is a combination of the two above? 1) If you are fearful of a Hell (that might exist), that is because you have some faith (iman) in scripture / Quran (God’s revelation). (Know that this is a good sign) 2) If you think that being sincere in your practices will enable you to live a fulfilling life, then this is also true, but also know that you cannot “want to have a spiritually fulfilling life”. It is something that you have to discover rather than something you have to want. You need to inquire what is it about a spiritual life that will make you fulfilled? Try to pin point the exact thing about it that you feel will make you fulfilled. And then (whatever it is), try to find it in your experience / life in whatever it is that you do from moment to moment. A essence of a spiritually fulfilled life is that one is content with their situation and their circumstance (as God has willed it). Contentment or gratefulness is not the same same complacency.

lol...

I answered your question squarely! I am not sure what you mean by I am not giving an actual response. It is something you experience, even if not with the senses. There are thoughts, emotions and sensations that can be experienced. Not everything is a sensory kind of experience. I am not saying love is an emotion by the way. But it is certainly something that is experienced. Yes, so what if I am bias. I have a reason for why I am biased. I am biased because god is not a practical belief to have. What makes me believe in something is its practicality. All beliefs are false at the end of the day. Because a belief is nothing but that! belief is nothing but "a belief"! But we need beliefs to function in the world. I gave a couple of example of what I mean. Like love is a very practical thing. My memories are a very practical thing. I rely on believing on these thing to get me through the day! But belief in god, is useless. The only way I can think of it being useful is because is if it somehow gives you a sense comfort in this unknown universe that we live in. It is useful to you if you feel comforted by believing that someone is always there to listen to you (to be your mom or your dad). I didn't say that God doesn't exists nor did I say that God exists. I said belief in a God is useless for me. That is just your belief. I believe I wont TURN into dust. I believe the body will TURN to dust, but not me. And no, I don't have the useless belief of me being a soul or a spirit or some other imaginary entity. I do not believe I am a body. I do not believe I am a mind. I don't have any positive beliefs about who I am. I just believe in what I am not. I am not this, and I am not that. This is why I am an Atheist / Agnostic. You are are losing your precious life by believing in useless things. Believe in things that have use! You have to give up your useless beliefs. But if they are useful to you, then fine. I don't blame you. Quite honestly, I don't believe that I am IN the world for the world can very well be IN ME. The world may cease, I don't believe I will cease.

children would not have been possible with Adam and Steve. lol

Yes! Of course.

I am sorry you feel I wasted your time. take care

So God is "part" of the causal chain. Creation = effect, God = cause. Cause (God) +Effect (Creation) = Causal Chain. I negated the first principle. That there is no actual causal chain. Prove there is causality. just prove it. No proof. I am making a serious case here. I am not trying to waste anyone's time.

Your application of this is wrong. This statement is not meant for us to start judging specific individuals. Do Sunnis see Muawiyyah as despising and hating the AHlul Bayt (عليه السلام)? We can judge that action, you can't go further than that. You are also adding in a lot of your own interpretation, like Muawiyyah intended to appoint "a fasiq". No, how do you know that is what Muawiyyah intended? That his intention was he wants "a fasiq" to be the next leader? First tell me of this narrative by traditional Sunni accounts. But is it in accordance with the Sunni Narrative that Muawiyyah "hates Imam Ai (as)"? I don'ts peak urdu or farsi. sorry.

So causality is applied even to the creator? Before you said it is not applied to God now it is? Do you see your inconsistency? I am just telling you that you are inconsistent. If you want to point out even more inconsistencies then be my guest. You are just shooting yourself in the foot. Is God the Cause? Yes or no? If Yes, then Causality applies to God! And Causality applies to God, then God is relative to the rest of the so called “causal chain”. You are trying to prove something that is indescribable. What or who are you trying to prove? The Indescribable! Furthermore what is it about It Or what about Him or Her or whatever, are you trying to prove? You are attempting to prove something Indescribable about The Indescribable. This is getting even more absurd isn’t it? That He, She It or God or whatever exists? right? But does God exist? What does it even mean to exist? Isn’t existence relative to nonexistence? point being is that it is a futile attempt to even attempt to prove God’s “existence”. think of it like this, whatever you are trying or attempting to prove, is, BY YOUR OWN STANDARDS, not that which you are trying to PROVE because what you are trying to PROVE is beyond concept (it is indescribable). So whatever you have in mind, IS NOT GOD. So all this is all just a completely useless exercise.

So those were your additions as I thought. Which is where your personal judgement comes into play. In other words this is where your narrative comes to play which is based on judging people rather THAN just their actions. yes. That is what he did which is wrong. This is where right and wrong comes into play for us. We can judge that this and that action is right or wrong. But you are going a step further and casting judgement on the fate of a person and his heart. Do you see the difference? there is. This is why Maududi can say “Such and such a person was wrong or right to have done such and such” but this doesn’t mean we can say, he is not a Muslim anymore unless he or she explicitly says so. Again, do you see the difference between judging actions verses judging intentions? So all Sunnis agree that in the battle of Siffin and Jamal Imam Ali (عليه السلام) was doing the right thing while Muawiyyah and Aisha (رضي الله عنه) were wrong. This is with regards to specific actions. Sunnis don’t cast judgement on the person, just on specific actions. Do you see the difference? If tomorrow I see you womanizing and drinking alcohol, do I have the right to assume you are no longer interested in Religion and that you are outside the fold of Islam? Can a killer, for example, Wahshi (who killed Hamza (ra)) not somehow be redeemed? in the Sunni narrative, Wahahi’s story is a story of hope and mercy for every single sinner. That Wahshi ultimately entered the folds of Islam and was later on redeemed by his killing of the false prophet, “Musaylama” during a battle (we assume the best not the worst, but we admit that only God knows best).

What do you mean “yes, philosophically”? philosophically as opposed to ? As opposed to actually?

Check my post again. Edited.

I am sorry for ignoring that. So if God is a cause then causality is still applicable to him. if you want to be consistent don’t apply causality to God at all. @Zainuu Also, God is not higher or lower. If God is “higher“ the that would make God relative to creation.

Survival instinct is a modality of love as well.

So you agree that causality does not apply to God. So you agree that God is not even a cause?

I love myself. I just can’t help but love myself. Everything I do is for the sake of myself!

Prove it. You see, cause and effect is not universal because if it were it would apply universally! Even to God! @Zainuu

it depends what It means for something to be “true”. Alright. Here, are you mixing Maududi’s point of view with your point of view? Does Maududi say Muawiyyah never accepted Islam? So Maududi says he never followed the Sabiqun in letter and in spirit...? so according to Maududi this act of appointing Yazid makes Muawiyyah a non-Muslim? I think you succinctly put it! I accept this completely. This is precisely why I follow the Sunni narrative over the Shia narrative. This first point for example is a major thing for me because it makes me feel closer to the Prophet (S). God raised the companions of the Prophet (S) not by virtue of the companions themselves but by virtue of the Prophet (S). This is what I find to be very valuable. This applies everywhere and to everyone. Only God judges people. We, however, can only discern between a good action and a bad action. This is an important spiritual attitude to have. This is another reason why I follow the Sunni narrative. right. Which follows from the above point. I hope you can see the major problems in NOT accepting this Sunni narrative I was Shia before... and i used to accept the Shia narrative by default. And over the years, I have started to see that the Shia narrative creates a toxic atmosphere that is not spiritually conducive to me: the important thing is that YOU find it spiritually beneficial to curse Yazid (apparently). Alright then do whatever makes you feel spiritually healthy. If you truly find it beneficial to judge others then fine... continue! I don’t find this to me healthy. It feels suffocating actually. I only realized how suffocating it was when I started to accept the Sunni narrative more and more. In any case, We can agree to disagree.

What don’t you agree with exactly?