Re: Islam is a complete way of life?
We always say and claim that islam is a complete way of life and shapes us who we are. To some extent it is true but i am not sure it is that simple. Practical realities do not support this claim.
When you make the aforementioned claim you are essentially saying in so many words that people shape their values, morals and personalities based on their religion/religious scriptures ....
the fact of the matter is that people are a product of their culture and societal norms and tailor their religious scriptures to conform to their cultural values and beliefs...
that is precisely why a Turkish or Indonesian muslim will react so differently from a saudi or afghan muslim on a similar issue..A Saudi Imam who belongs to a conservative cultural region for thousands of years would defend "women cant drive in Saudi Arabia" based on a certain islamic interpretation where as a turkish Muslim who belongs to an open pluralistic ottoman society for centuries would deny that based on his adopted version of scripture.
so how can you generalize islam or any other religion in such a simplistic, generalized, absolutist way?
Peace phoenixdesi
If I made a diet plan in which contained all the nutritional value that a person needs and sell it to people ... In theory they could eat the selection of products without any need to eat anything else outside the diet plan ... What may happen is that people would choose to eat other things also ... They may end up fattening up as a result of the extra calorific content.
The product I am selling is still a square diet plan, but when people choose to supplement it they get fat ... However, some substitutions of ingredients may be possible to retain the balance, but that is already allowed within the diet plan.
The fact is the diet plan is written in such a way where certain foods can be substituted for others ... So long as the diet plan is followed it is square ... The moment the wrong substitutions are made or one allows himself to eat beyond the diet then they get fat ...
Islam should be seen as a multi-option diet plan, where some cultural variance is allowed and within the religious framework ... The adoptions of which will retain a square religious diet ... However, when adopting things without calibrating them through scholars it has the effect of fattening us up and we end up breaching the boundaries of what is considered Islamic.
You are talking about what happens based on the choice of people rather than what Islam allows ... Islam is a way of life ... You cannot deny it because that is what it claims for itself ... The word Deen prescribes this understanding. This does not mean that people who are Muslim necessarily choose this for themselves ... One last point to make myself clear ... If there is a law in a non-Muslim country that drinking alcohol is allowed, that does not mean it is allowed for Muslims. In Turkey a Muslim country, alcohol last time I remember is available in stores and restaurants whereas in the Middle East only in big hotels or special hidden away depots ... Neither are Islamic in that allowance ... So they have chosen something beyond the limits. On the other hand to allow women to drive cars in Turkey and not in Saudi ... To deny or allow this practice so long as it is done within the framework of Islam ... in other words Turkey justifying this due to the Islamic principle of equality and Saudi justifying this on the principle of security of segregation of genders ... Both are within the limits of Islam and the core rationale for both is taken from Islam ... Of course the practicality of one may be better for one society than another ... But that type retrofitting is already within the Islamic diet plan.