Help with definition

Aapa

Mirajmom
Assalaam alaikum,

I like to start with the basicis of anything. I am plain and simple. Some of these threads lately are a little on the ponderous side of the equation.

So...I would like to start with the simple: what is the difference between absolute and extreme.
 

Hassan

Laa ilaha ilaa Allah
Staff member
wa alaikum assalaam

ok, I'll bite. Extreme is very far with a negative nuance, but absolute is all the way in a good way?

If this leads to the start of a new phrase "muslim absolutist", I can probably live with that
 

Aapa

Mirajmom
Asalaam alaikum,

Getting there. But to use the word Muslim absolutist is a little redundant. Believer is an absolutist. The Quran is Absolute. We can not change it. We can not negate it. We can not refute it. It is the Absolute Law.
 

Hassan

Laa ilaha ilaa Allah
Staff member
:wasalam:

Absolutely.

Our understanding of fundamentalist may not be laced with negativity as it is in some (most) media, but we could do with something the media can repeat without confusion.

So if you weren't leading that way, where did you intend this question to go?
 

Aapa

Mirajmom
Asalaam alaikum,


I do not know. I hope this to be beneficial. So often as I read posts I see that many are quick to judge but many do not think.

This is post to slow us down and think it out a little. It does not hurt to use intellect, our own limited, intellect. Once a person knows themselves than they can think.

The art of thinking takes practice.
 

Hassan

Laa ilaha ilaa Allah
Staff member
wa alaikum asalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu

I could take this thread completely off topic, but I think I read today threads that demonstrate what you speak of.

One of the first things that perked my interest in Islam was that we are required to think, not just follow. Someone said something about peace too (that was tongue in cheek)

Jazakallah khairan for your intention.

I gave you my take on absolute and extreme, from they way I use the language, not based on a dictionary definition. Is the way you use those words similar, or is there a significant difference?
 

Aapa

Mirajmom
Asalaam alaikum,

What I love about Islam is that it recognizes the gift and blessing of language. And although the Quran is given to us in Arabic, Allah subhana wa taala gave us all the languages. Now, how about them apples. Part of being human is to know language. The predecessor to language is thought. The implementation of thought is through language.

Well what I love about the connotation of the word Absolute is that it is simply absolute. Thus there can be no wavering. There is no negative nor positive. It is. And that is what the path is absolute.

What people trip over I think is that they do not have an understanding of absolute and get stuck in extremism to protect the irrational.

A lexicon is a repositry of words. Language flows and grows with massive international and intercultural as well as intracultural interactions.

And the bottom line is really simple. Am I able to get you to understand what I am trying to get you to understand.


But, please take the thread in your direction...it is not necessarily off topic but rather a side-bar.
 

Hassan

Laa ilaha ilaa Allah
Staff member
wa alaikum asalaam

Am I able to get you to understand what I am trying to get you to understand.
I think so. I'm a bit of a polyglot, forgive me if I brag, and have noticed that language gives away how other peoples think - to achieve fluency you need to change how you think. I also noticed for people who speak only one language and try to learn another in adulthood, a great obstacle to overcome is that a chair is not a chair, it is an object called a chair in one language.

So if I have established my credentials that I appreciate the aesthetics of what you say, then:
What I love about Islam is
...
the bottom line is really simple.
(See what I did there?) Let me repeat. Absolutely. No ifs, buts or contradictions, there you go - there's the book. SubhanUllah

What people trip over I think is that they do not have an understanding of absolute and get stuck in extremism to protect the irrational.
I think that is when the yelling started

If only I could learn Arabic faster/better
 

Aapa

Mirajmom
Asalaam alaikum,

Moi aussi.


But, when we are in the universe of absolutes all rays lead to the same point. It does not matter what language the object is identified by; we are still in the absolute we just use approximations to help us waver through the path. I know that sounded very awkward but it was the easiest way to put it.

When we start to yell it unnerves our being. We step out of the comfort of the absolute into the path of doubt.
 
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