08.21.06
Recognizing Good
Many Muslims concoct this; they say, “we need to do evil first to see good,” meaning in order to recognize what Truth-hood is we need to first experience false-hood. This is a very lame excuse. It just a sorry excuse to feed our egos and desires. I, certainly, do not buy such a statement. At first glance it does make sense, I admit. However, rationally and Islamically speaking it is very flawed. I will paste to you a brief explanation about what I really mean.
An absolutely perfect God does not create an imperfect system, nor or is there such a thing like evil, in its absolute sense. Let me give another example, lies versus truth. You will find that to lie is evil and to speak the truth is good. You will see that lies cannot exist without the truth, but on the other hand, truth can exist without lie. For example, if I say, I always lie. Does it make sense? No. Because there is no essence of truth in my statement, thus it becomes nonsensical. Therefore, truth is a necessary constituent to lies. But I can certainly say that, “I always speak the truth”, or “I sometimes speak the truth”, it makes perfect sense, because there is an element of truth in my statement, and thus my statement makes sense.
After careful reflection and analysis, one can definitely recognize Good and Truth, without necessarily experiencing evil or falsehood. So, we do not have to lie in order to speak to truth, we do not have to party (haram type) in order for us to pray and prostrate, we do not have to listen to music (haram music) in order for us to listen to Du’as and Qur’an, and we do not have to do bad, in order for us to do good.
May Allah give us all the courage and desire to do and spread goodness. Ameen.
Munzareen Said:
August 24, 2006 at 10:27 pm
In a broader view of what you said here, I think this can be applied in a different sene. Many of us will justify sins by saying “Well, it’s not as bad as such and such.” When we justify, we inwardly acknowledge that there is something inherently wrong with what we do.
And I hate when people say a merciful God wouldn’t allow what’s going on in the world today. Divine justice in incomprehensible in terms of human logic. So the suffering the world is enduring right now must be for a reason. We don’t know why but to sit here and deny that there is a God who would allow this is dumb. God doesn’t work the way WE want Him to.
I think it’s also common in very strict households. People feel they need to see the sin before they can appreciate why they aren’t allowed to do it. However, this reasoning is flawed. If we think truly about the detriments of the sin or the punishments, we would NEVER want to do them.
The Enlightenment » I Like To Party Said:
November 3, 2006 at 12:03 pm
[…] And for those that argue, “I just want to see how it is?” No, we do not have to see what it is to understand why its not good or what the “big fuss” is about (refer: http://thenlightenment.whatheblog.com/2006/08/21/recognizing-good/). Should we all commit suicide to see how it feels to be dead? Should we all induce STDs into our bodies, so we understand how they function? We need to strive and resist anything that comes our way. It is our examinations, and obstacles and we must overcome the challenges. It will only benefit us at the end. That is God’s promise. […]