My Guidelines
I have certain guidelines that have helped me determine the truth and they have come to me along the path of pursing this truth. I will try and add more as I remember them or simplify them if I find a way.
I believe that our creator has already given us this “Rosetta Stone” to determine what is right and wrong but it would only work if we first give up our ego and stop following other or worrying about what they think.
- Universal Truth: If I hold an idea to be true then it must be true for every people, every place and at every time. For instance the idea that good is intrinsically better an evil is not a contested idea. We all play with the idea that a “good person” can lose when another is not playing by the rules but we also know that, eventually, it won’t be sustained. We feel drawn to the stories of the protagonist coming out on top. It feel “right” it some way. To overcome the odds and do what is right to succeed.
- Find the underlying rule: I never knew marriage to be good for everyone. I also felt that sleeping with a person outside of marriage wasn’t intrinsically wrong, in and of itself. For some couples remaining married seemed like a sin and for some couples never marrying may be better for them. So when I found that the word Nikah (often translated as marriage) does not mean marriage but rather “mating or laying with another person” it blew my mind. Marriage isn’t forbidden there is also another concept of a Nikah contract, what we would call a marriage. Where you legally bind the two people. This isn’t, however, an obligation. What required is to be equitable. You should define what your expectations are and not break the trust of the other party. Take responsibility for your actions. Be open and transparent and don’t hide your relationship from others. Had I been able to do this my whole life I think it would have been drastically different.
- The truth will seem obvious in hindsight. Most of the truths regarding others will lead to a person with the nature of a humanitarian.
- Don’t be afraid to lose your principles. I was fearful of losing my religion believing that it would take me farther away from our creator. The opposite has become true. As I accepted only the truth my understanding deepened. I would never be able to accept giving up my prayer until I was willing to accept the truth that the Quran is complete and that our creator does not need our worship. The clever argument of prayers being for our own benefits went out the window and instead it has been replaced with conversation or gratitude.
- Fear cannot guide. When you are walking towards the light, staying in the shadows will never get you there. Fear and all its flavors(anxiety, negativity, insecurity, doubt, uncertainty, etc.) should never guide your path when determining what to do.
- Use logic and reason and throw out “blind faith.” I held it to be true so long that I never thought of the idea as a wrong one. Blind faith? Why cannot we get clear proofs? The Quran speaks of clear proofs and makes us contemplate the world around us as proof for those who have reason. Why then would the same educator tell us to blindly accept it. In my life I have had poor teachers and great teachers. Poor teachers tell us things like:
You cannot add numbers and letters together.
You cannot take away a bigger number from a smaller number.
Great teacher tell you that you cannot do this “yet” or “we haven’t gotten to that lesson. Our creator would not blind us now only to enlighten us later. If there is something lacking in reason then we would be given at least a clue or a way to attain it that would always work. Not selectively behind the guise of an enigmatic God.