Doors of Perception

Monday, September 19, 2005

Arrogance-Harun Yahya summary

Hello once again its your friendly neighbourhood Sweetdemotion. There's something that bugs me about people, and even myself. Its probably the source of our self-destruction.By the title you can see I am talking about arrogance.

The following is a summary of what I read by Harun Yahya.Alright, the defintion:
It means attributing a seperate existence to one's self ,seeing one's existence apart from and independent of Allah.

There are four reasons people become arrogant
1.Power and Wealth
2.Beauty and youth
3.Status, prestige
4.Intelligence, enlightment + education

So why does a person become arrogant? A person becomes arrogant because he believes he deserves these qualities. We need to realise that our self-confidence depends on Allah alone.The deal with arrogant people is that they want the appreciation of others. The funny thing is that these kind of people are the most disliked and their company least welcomed. On the other hand, those who are humble are those who have recognised the importance of character, wisdom and morality as true values. They earn love, respect, and appreciation of others.

A normal person who enjoys a stable state of mind is extroverted, open and sincere.An arrogant person suffers a disturbed state of mind. Being decieved and carried away by their pride, his/her inner world is a sombre place of distress and anxiety, consumed with devious thoughts and schemes. Such a state of mind becomes exhausting, and causes them to age before their time.Lacking in character, they are cold and illtempered. You rarely see a pleasant expression on their face, or hear an encouraging word from them. Men usually become agressive and women show signs of uneasiness, and a minor problem causes them tension.The arrogant also fear making mistakes because they feel humiliated. The have total confidence in themselves yet, paradoxically, feel constant worry of doing the wrong thing. They try to escape accusation of faults, because they think its embarassing to admit fault.

The arrogant humiliate others when they discover their mistakes. They exaggerate the errors people make, No one feels at ease in their company! They also feel that being sincere and natural shortcomings are subject to ridicule. They love praise.They love themselves and thus can never experience true love. They find it demeaning to show love to others, but they want it themselves!They are jealous. The presence of someone else with better qualities makes them feel uneasy. This can make them hostile and malicious.If thats not enough, they also suffer from physical problems. They look old for their age, have wrinkles. Their mouth dries, their eyes are dull. With women their skin thickens and their hands become bony.

thats it....like I said this is summary of Harun yahya's "Arrogance" book.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

women

The Prophet said that women totally dominate men of intellect and possessors of hearts. But ignorant men dominate women, for they are shackled by an animal ferocity. They have no kindness, gentleness or love, since animality dominates their nature. Love and kindness are human attributes; anger and sensuality belong to the animals. She is the radiance of God, she is not your beloved. She is a creator - you could say that she is not created.- Jalal al-Din Rumi

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Miserliness- Imam Mawlud(translated by Hamza Yusuf)

There were two aspects of miserliness. The first is Shariah (Sacred Law).

Paying Zakat (charity) is a must and mislerliness in the form of not paying it is forbidden.It allow applies to a man's wife and children...even if they are seperated he should pay child support.

The second aspect has to do with manliness and valor, which in western terms can be seen as chivarly and virtue.It is an Islamic ethic that rich person be generous and compassionate.
A creditor should be flexible to their creditor, espeically if they dont need the money. They should show compassion and understanding towards guests in their house who happen to e.g. drop something on the carpet.

The miser clings to his wealth and hoards it up.

The Prophet(S) said:

"God has made what comes out of the son of Adam as a metaphor for the world [dunya]. "

Giving Zakat is letting go of something to purify one's wealth and soul. It is possible that someone's earning may have some impurity in it, some dountful source. By giving Zakat, one purifies one's provisionfrom whatever unknown impurities that may have entered.

Treatment

The treatment for miserliness is realizing that those who achieve wealth usually do so only after exhausting themselves over long periods of time, working for it day and night.Meanwhile life passes on.Time runs out, and in the end its all over. The culture of wanting more for the sake of more can literally occupy a person's whole life.

Reflect long and hard on the fact that people climb the heights of affluence and start to achieve what they have worn themselves out for, then death assials them without invitation.

Nobody likes miser, even misers dislike each other.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

It starts