How Do You Discern the Divine from the Good-Sounding?
@mythociate (21432)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
December 9, 2012 2:56pm CST
4.47 of the Quran says "O you who have been given the Book! believe that which We have revealed, verifying what you have, before We alter faces then turn them on their backs, or curse them as We cursed the violaters of the Sabbath, and the command of Allah shall be executed."
But how do you discern 'what has been revealed to someone' from 'what they say that just sounds good'?
2 responses
@StLouisMetroTutoring (678)
• St. Peters, Missouri
9 Dec 12
I try to do this by questioning things before accepting them. I always try (and I emphasize try - because unfortunately, I don't always) to ask myself why it sounds good. Does it sound good because it's the easiest thing for me to do? Does it sound good because it's what everybody else believes? Does it sound good because it follows the teachings that I hold sacred? This system is by no means infallible, but it certainly helps me stay on track.
@mythociate (21432)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
9 Dec 12
But what about when you have to follow orders without question?
@StLouisMetroTutoring (678)
• St. Peters, Missouri
9 Dec 12
That's not fair! LOL I'm going to answer that with two answers. Because I know, in my heart, what I SHOULD do, and I also know I'm weak and if put to the test, I most likely wouldn't do what I SHOULD do. What I should do is exactly the same thing. It shouldn't matter that I'm being given a direct order. I should still follow what my conscience says is the right thing to do. But in reality, I'm willing to admit that whether I follow that order or not will largely be dependent on how following or not following that order would effect me. It would also be dependent on some sliding scale I have as to HOW wrong I felt it was (I know, there's either right or wrong - there's no degrees. But in reality, I know I would see degrees of right and wrong.) So, for instance, let's say someone were threatening me with my life and saying I had to lie about where I was one night (assuming the lie didn't hurt me one way or another). That's a mighty convincing reason to do something I would probably consider a minor sin. So I probably would. On the other hand, let's assume my boss told me to shoot someone. Not doing it would probably mean I would lose my job. But doing it would mean I would commit a "major" sin. I would most likely weigh the two options and see that my job was worth less than someone's life, so I wouldn't. Neither of these situations took a lot of brain-power. However, other situations would potentially cause much more internal conflict. The internal conflict, unfortunately, would only partly be about whether the option was right or wrong. The other part would be about what how it would effect me. Not pretty - I know. I wish I could say I would always do the "right" thing. But I know better.
@mythociate (21432)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
31 Dec 12
I don't know ... you need to put a double-space between every 3-to-6 lines, because people's eyes don't like to strain so much to remember what line they're on---it breaks up the written train-of-thought.
And other reasons, I'm sure.
@Naseem00 (1996)
• Pakistan
10 Dec 12
Many things that sound good to people are said........... because they sound good.
How do you discern 'what has been revealed to someone' from 'what they say, you can do it simply by asking yourself this very simple question.
Is what is being told to me logical or not?
