Positivity of Islam

It maybe strange to hear that I am not really a very religious person, it suffice to say that I am a believer! These beliefs make me interpret everything that I hear in various ways, rather than stick to one side of the story.  Having a belief is not as easy as it sounds, but with a lot of practice, one can master the mathematical operation that is created in the brain due to having that belief. So let us hear this story 

Freedom of expression is something used by the western world to defend what their people do against other people in other part of the world. People are free to do what they like to do, free to say what they like to say and free to criticize whoever and what ever they want to criticize. However this is only valid in the west, for the west and by the west. Islamophobia is a term used to make the west hate Muslims and Islam, and at the same time the western people are misled by the media to believe that Islam and Muslims are here to burn or kill all of them. That process had created hatred and is the reason for having all of the problems that we are having in this millennium.

I will mention three incidents only to prove that freedom of expression is a one way road. The Novel by Salman Rushdi, the caricature and the movie. I will not bring out the burning of the Quran in Guantanamo or the other acts of mass killings that the Muslims had had since time memorial.  The Novel "satanic verses" was one of the most humiliating books, but the west celebrate this person, and invite him to give the opening speeches at major conferences that are well attended and well paid for by Muslims; no one was listened to, and Muslims were criticized because they asked to have that story removed from the shelves the reply was he had freedom of speech. The Danish person that created the caricature about Prophet Mohammed was disillusioned by the word “freedom of expression”, he will not apologize nor would he remove that work. What happened? A mass boycott to the products and other things in Denmark. Then off late the film that is a shameful piece of art created by an ignorant and defended by the west as being part of the freedom of expression? It doesn't matter how 2 billion people feel, this person is free to do what he likes even if it means we humiliate the prophet that is classified as the most influential person in our world. Of course everybody boycotted google and youtube. However is this really a matter of freedom of expression?

Ok, now lets look at another incident, a french magazine published photos of princess Kate in the nude, isn't that the so called freedom of expression? The royals sue the magazine (http://www.canoe.ca/Canoe/Royal/news/2012/09/14/20199741.html)

And an Iraqi artist called Layla Al-Attar drew a caricature of George Bush the father on the entrance to Alrasheed Hotel, what happened to the artist? A missile hits her house and kills her. Where is the freedom of expression here? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layla_Al-Attar)

This preamble is dedicated to all of those that fight for freedom of expression to be for everyone in this world. However what we need also is the respect for everybody in this world. As both freedom and respect goes hand in hand.  Those that do humiliating acts against other people are not doing a favor to themselves nor to the subject of freedom of expression itself.

To those that oppose our prophet and our religion, I would love to gift to you some interesting findings about our religion which has nothing to do with what the media portrays about it.  

I have read many books that talk about positivity and how if we are positive we will be able to reach our goals and we will lead a life full of happy surprises.  When I dug deep into these books I found clear resemblance to what the Quran keep on telling us.  The things people in the west know about Islam are only 1% of what the Quran mentions, and are delivered to the west in a way that makes them scared of the religion. 

In fact Islam is the religion of peace and it is totally against killing, and against committing terrorist acts that have no real value but to create hatred-ism and phobia in the minds of people around the globe.  

Islam is against killing ones self, and thus those suicide bombers are not really following the teaching of Islam.  There are many articles that mentions Jihad, but in most of these articles Jihad is the fight against the self. One must prevent oneself from committing acts that are going to do harm to humanity, and that is the real meaning of Jihad.  However the west portrays Jihad as a synonym to what the Crusaders have done to the Muslims in Jerusalem, I agree that there were some atrocities created by both the Muslims and other religions which I consider against humanity, but these atrocities are a result of misconceptions and misunderstanding of what Islam as a religion is. 

Islam was supposed to be the religion that will help people reach their goals, be happy, lead a stress-free life, be rich, be healthy, against depression, for love, for education, for lifelong learning, for happy marriage, for happy divorces, for protecting of human rights, for treating people well, for owning great morals etc. 

Each of these attributes are a subject by itself and there are articles in Quran to prove each and every point. I will list only a few that talks about love, money and depression.

Money:

Alaaraf (Elevations):

32. Say, “Who forbade God’s finery which He has produced for His servants, and the delights of livelihood?” Say, “They are for those who believe, in this present world, but exclusively theirs on the Day of Resurrection.” We thus detail the revelations for people who know.

Alraad (Thunder)

26. God dispenses the provisions to whomever He wills, and restricts. And they delight in the worldly life; yet the worldly life, compared to the Hereafter, is only enjoyment.

Alnaاl (The Bees)

71. God has favored some of you over others in livelihood. Those who are favored would not give their properties to their servants, to the extent of making them partners in it. Will they then renounce God’s blessings?

Alisra (The Night Journey)

30. Your Lord expands the provision for whomever He wills, and restricts it. He is fully Informed, Observant of His servants.

Alqusas (History)

82. Those who had wished they were in his position the day before were saying, “Indeed, it is God who spreads the bounty to whomever He wills of His servants, and restricts it. Had God not been gracious to us, He would have caved in on us. No wonder the ungrateful never prosper.”

Alankaboot (The Spider)

17. You worship idols besides God, and you fabricate falsehoods. Those you worship, instead of God, cannot provide you with livelihood. So seek your livelihood from God, and worship Him, and thank Him. To Him you will be returned.”

62. God expands the provision for whomever He wills of His servants, and restricts it. God is Cognizant of all things.

Alroom (The romans)

37. Do they not see that God expands the provision for whomever He wills, or restricts it? Surely in this are signs for people who believe.

Sabaa (Shiba)

36. Say, “My Lord spreads out His bounty to whomever He wills, or restricts it; but most people do not know.”

39. Say, “My Lord extends the provision to whomever He wills of His servants, or withholds it. Anything you spend, He will replace it. He is the Best of providers.”

Alzamr (Throngs)

52. Do they not know that God extends the provision to whomever He wills, and constricts it? In that are signs for people who believe.

Alshura (Consultation)

12. To Him belongs absolute control of the heavens and the earth. He spreads the bounties to whomever He wills, or reduces it. He is aware of all things.

27. If God were to increase the provision to His servants, they would transgress on earth; but He sends down in precise measure whatever He wills. Surely, regarding His servants, He is Expert and Observant.

AlTalaq (Divorce)

And whoever fears God—He will make a way out for him.
3. And will provide for him from where he never expected. Whoever relies on God—He will suffice him. God will accomplish His purpose. God has set a measure to all things.

Love

Albaqara (The Heifer)

177. Righteousness does not consist of turning your faces towards the East and the West. But righteous is he who believes in God, and the Last Day, and the angels, and the Scripture, and the prophets. Who gives money, though dear, to near relatives, and orphans, and the needy, and the homeless, and the beggars, and for the freeing of slaves; those who perform the prayers, and pay the obligatory charity, and fulfill their promise when they promise, and patiently persevere in the face of persecution, hardship, and in the time of conflict. These are the sincere; these are the pious.

190. And fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not commit aggression; God does not love the aggressors.

195. And spend in the cause of God, and do not throw yourselves with your own hands into ruin, and be charitable. God loves the charitable.

205. When he gains power, he strives to spread corruption on earth, destroying properties and lives. God does not like corruption.

216. Fighting is ordained for you, even though you dislike it. But it may be that you dislike something while it is good for you, and it may be that you like something while it is bad for you. God knows, and you do not know.

Al Omran (The family of Omran)

14. Adorned for the people is the love of desires, such as women, and children, and piles upon piles of gold and silver, and branded horses, and livestock, and fields. These are the conveniences of the worldly life, but with God lies the finest resort.

31. Say, “If you love God, then follow me, and God will love you, and will forgive you your sins.” God is Forgiving and Merciful.

32. Say, “Obey God and the Messenger.” But if they turn away—God does not love the faithless.

57. And as for those who believe and do good works, He will give them their rewards in full. God does not love the unjust.”

76. Indeed, whoever fulfills his commitments and maintains piety—God loves the pious.

92. You will not attain virtuous conduct until you give of what you cherish. Whatever you give away, God is aware of it.

134. Those who give in prosperity and adversity, and those who restrain anger, and those who forgive people. God loves the doers of good.

146. How many a prophet fought alongside him numerous godly people? They did not waver for what afflicted them in the cause of God, nor did they weaken, nor did they give in. God loves those who endure.

148. So God gave them the reward of this world, and the excellent reward of the Hereafter. God loves the doers of good.

159. It is by of grace from God that you were gentle with them. Had you been harsh, hardhearted, they would have dispersed from around you. So pardon them, and ask forgiveness for them, and consult them in the conduct of affairs. And when you make a decision, put your trust in God; God loves the trusting.

Deppression

Alhajar (The Stone)

55. They said, “We bring you good news in truth, so do not despair.”
56. He said, “And who despairs of his Lord’s mercy but the lost?”

Alroom (The Romans)

36. When We give people a taste of mercy, they rejoice in it. But when adversity befalls them, because of what their hands have perpetrated, they begin to despair.

These verses are borrowed from this site http://www.clearquran.com/ which unfortunately doesn't let you do any searches, I had gathered these verses by reading the Quran and understanding its meaning of Money, love and depression.

If you notice, there is a host of verses that talk about wealth, and love but if you want to find those verses that talk about going on a crusade, you will have to dig deep, and most of the times, these are not found.  Basically the Quran which is our main source of inspiration, encourages us to believe and once we believe we can acquire the worldly needs and also to hope for an eternal life in Heaven. 

The difference between the books that are written about positivity and its power like for instance "The Secret", that it assumes that everybody on earth can obtain what they want, just by believing that it is going to be there, however in Islam, we believe that anyone can acquire what one wants if we believe in God Almighty and we ask for our needs and wants to be granted.  Sometimes these needs are not granted due to a reason beyond our comprehension, but we must not give up and we must not think that we have been deprived from these requests. 

Not a single request from God is too large, God is great and we can ask for infinite amount of wealth, happiness, health and wisdom.  We are asked to work for our needs of course, as these will not be fulfilled without working towards them, unless of course one is asking to win the mega lotto, in that case we still need to buy the ticket.

At the end of this preamble, all I want to insist upon is that, we all need to learn from the teaching of prophet Mohammed, and learn that freedom of expression when granted it has to be available for all, and it has to come with some amount of respect.

A call to all the people of this world, it is a horrible time, when oppression, poverty and ignorance are the main ingredients of our living conditions, we do not need to be against each other, instead lets unite and find out about the treasures of science, engineering, philosophy and other fields of knowledge that are not discovered just yet. I say that we have all suffered enough, and it is time to heal our wounds, love and respect each other and serve humanity.