"The servants of the Compassionate are those who walk humbly upon the earth, and when the ignorant address them, say, 'Peace,' . . ."
Quran, 25:63
This is one of my favorite passages from the Quran, and one that finds its way into my prayers with some regularity (if only it made it's way into my life more often). It's drawn from the 25th surah, often rendered as "The Criterion." For much too much of my life I've been a poster child for arrogance, and one of the things that drew me to Islam is the emphasis on humility. Yes, I know that most religions emphasize the same virtue, although it seems to me that Muslims walk the walk as compared to talking the talking on this front. To me the key is to be consistently mindful or your actions and words and, yes, thoughts throughout the day. As I've proposed in the past, this is why the repeated daily prayers also speak to me because, in addition to everything else, they are moments when you stop and reflect. For me this reflection almost always comes back to a self-critique of how I am treating others, and my own arrogant failings.
Quran, 25:63
This is one of my favorite passages from the Quran, and one that finds its way into my prayers with some regularity (if only it made it's way into my life more often). It's drawn from the 25th surah, often rendered as "The Criterion." For much too much of my life I've been a poster child for arrogance, and one of the things that drew me to Islam is the emphasis on humility. Yes, I know that most religions emphasize the same virtue, although it seems to me that Muslims walk the walk as compared to talking the talking on this front. To me the key is to be consistently mindful or your actions and words and, yes, thoughts throughout the day. As I've proposed in the past, this is why the repeated daily prayers also speak to me because, in addition to everything else, they are moments when you stop and reflect. For me this reflection almost always comes back to a self-critique of how I am treating others, and my own arrogant failings.
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