Sects in Islam

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Sects in Islam

Muhammad predicted that there would be hundreds of sects of Islam, but, strangely enough, only one would be true to his teachings. Those who don't remain true will 'make excellent speech but will do heinous deeds'. Now for me, the true sect would be the Sufis, of course, as they have so many great saints and are such great lovers of God. However, I selected them as they are most similar to my own thinking, but the problem is that every Muslim would conclude that their own sect was the one true sect. No one ever believes that their own beliefs are wrong. If they did, they would have changed their beliefs to something else and would no longer believe the old wrong beliefs.

Muhammad went on to encourage his followers to fight against those who claim to be Muslims but don't really follow his teachings. Indeed, one of three reasons that a Muslim can be killed is if he / she fights against Muhammad or Allah. Now it is not really possible to fight against Muhammad as he has been dead many centuries, but anyone who opposes 'my' sect of Islam must be fighting the one true sect and, hence, fighting Allah. Yikes! That sounds like a recipe for the sectarian violence which is so prevalent amongst the Muslim world. What to do?

It seems to me the problem is that the Muslims (except the Sufis, of course) have taken those teachings which were appropriate for a fledgling religion struggling in most harsh times and hung on to them (focusing on anger and false pride) while ignoring the teachings which are the real pearls concerning love and compassion.

The teaching that struck me as most valuable was 'If you can go the entire day without any malice in your heart, do so. That is my way and he who loves my way loves me...'. That is so sweet. I would alter it to say that we should avoid taking any action against another person unless we can do it with compassion and love in our hearts.

Of course that doesn't make sense where we have to react immediately and don't have time to sort out our own feelings. It also doesn't make much sense for parents who have to fulfill their responsibilities to their kids whether or not they are ready for it (and that is one of the blessings of kids in giving us challenges to face whether we are ready or not). It also would not make sense for police or soldiers enforcing the law and / or legal orders.

Indeed that is one of the advantages of having laws is that it gives us a framework for taking appropriate action without the danger of being guided by our anger. The blood feuds of the past were fed by people acting on their anger without the restraints of the more rational law. Following the law also eliminates the need to determine which of the sects of Muslims is only paying lip service to the teachings of Muhammad while doing 'heinous deeds'. In all countries it is illegal to murder innocent men, women and children who are, for example, praying in a Mosque. So, we can oppose terrorists because terrorism is illegal everywhere and there is no need to consider whether they are following or opposing the teachings of Muhammad.

The way I tell if I am motivated by compassion or malice toward another person is to imagine them having good luck and being happy. If I share in their happiness, them I have the compassion I seek. It I am disappointed and frustrated, by their imagined success, then I am motivated by malice. In that case I try to get beyond whatever behavior or feelings cause my ill feelings. I believe that all people are really seeking love, respect, and acceptance. When people are truly happy they don't strike out against others, it is ignorance, fear, pain, or the resulting anger that causes anti-social behavior. So I keep looking for those perspectives where I get in touch with their underlying ignorance, pain or fear and have compassion for them. Simply put, I can always find a perspective where I think another should have known better, but that makes me angry and ruins my life without any benefit. However, there is always a perspective where I recognize that this person doesn't know any better and this brings up compassion which makes life sweet.

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This page was last updated on December 25, 2008