I have recently watched “The Secret” movie, and I am wondering how are these ideas perceived by knowledgeable muslims.
For those of you who have watched this movie, or know the topic (it’s been marketed/ discussed a lot in medias)
if you’re interested to know more, here’s the free 20 first minutes:
what do you think about these ideas promoted in the movie ?
Can you relate some to islamic teachings? or oppose some by Quran teachings?
Re: The Secret- muslim views
Does this sound familiar to you?
إن الله لا يغير ما بقوم حتى يغيروا ما بأنفسهم
Indeed God does not change what is with a people until they change what is within themselves
obviously, thought without action is nothing... but action without focus is nothing either.
Re: The Secret- muslim views
Lord.
Less than 10 minutes, and I'm bored out of my mind. There is no such thing as "the law of attraction". Aside from the terribly cheesy melodramatic opening, the idea that if you want something enough --> you will get it has more to do with your motivation. Poor people want money all the time; yet do you see them getting rich?
Re: The Secret- muslim views
Lord.
Less than 10 minutes, and I'm bored out of my mind. There is no such thing as "the law of attraction". Aside from the terribly cheesy melodramatic opening, the idea that if you want something enough --> you will get it has more to do with your motivation. Poor people want money all the time; yet do you see them getting rich?
very correct, however I would like to point out that few among them actually do something about it and I have seen people turn their lives around by changing their outlook on life that they CAN change their life around. So the "law" is the ability to self-actualize rather than the "law of attraction".
What the producers of this film have done is take this a step further by going into the metaphysical world... where thought is supposed to actually affect the quantum field and in turn directly affect the probability of something happening. But they have done so in a dramatic fashion by glorifying it...
Re: The Secret- muslim views
It's a Kabbalistic thing. I read a book in my childhood about "law of attraction", I did try it but it made me even more materialistic and I use to think that I'm some kind of super human being, Audhubillah.
I soon realized this law thing is against Qadar(divine decree).
Re: The Secret- muslim views
The Secret - The Rebuttal
Introduction
This short piece aims to demonstrate the flaws in the concept and practice of 'The Secret', including the rational, ethical and Islamic implications thereof.
It will introduce the concepts that have been highlighted and utilised by those who profess to the 'methodology'.
The Hook - Mystery
By presenting an idea to people that is intended to be readily on the uptake an effective hook needs to be identified. This hook is by presenting the idea as some sort of secret,
an archaic mystery and then to add credibility to the idea by deceitfully associating it to persons of achievement in the past. Some of them were not rich or affluent people, but
they 'knew about it' nonetheless! What is it that the people are selling here? That is the question to ask at a distance. The people who were talking about it in the video were
all nobodys.
The people who were listed in the introduction were all dead and could not stand up for themselves to discredit the creators of this ideology.
Mysterious things prompt the curious minds to delve in a wonder. Then there was the argument of 1% controlling 96% of the worlds wealth. These things in combination seem to be
related but are in effect lies and deception. The question one must ask is why are they so interested to get this secret out?
As a Muslim it seems to me 1) They are selling something and want to make money 2) They are diverting the attention of the layperson away from the reality towards a 'faith-following'
for the non-religious to control them.
State of Mind
The reason why such an ideology is required and perhaps backed by governments is because it has potential in preventing the more cynical people from developing anti-social traits.
Exploiting the sense of Common Sense
The Law of Attraction is not a law at all. It is subject to a lot of scrutiny. First of all Attraction is not a law, it is a phenomenon that occurs with certain things.
Like objects will cause an attractive force if they are in contact in some instances, this is called co-hesion. However, unlike also attract called adhesion. In Magnetism only
unlikes will attract. In gravitation only likes will attract. When applied to the human psyche, it is not conclusive that like minded people attract each other.
Then one has to define what being like-minded actually is. It has been established by developmental psychologists that people can change their behaviour to suit different
audiences. So it is quite possible to be like-minded to all mind types. In fact the most influential people are thost people who act in accordance to their target audiences.
Next the great 'secret' is something which is actually not a secret at all. It is a lie to insinuate that by 'being positive minded and focussing on the wants rather than
the don't wants' is a secret. It is actually common sense. People in social care circles and religious circles have been told to focus their energies on 'good' things from
the get go. It is however, a dangerous thing not to think about 'responsibility' because such people become narcissistic, i.e. they don't believe they are accountable to anything
rather everything has to go their way.
Islamically we are told to be patient in hardships and thankful in ease situations.
Elimination of the concept of 'Out of Control'
The reality of life is that many things are out of our control. This is the reason why du'a can be so effective. To kid people into believing that things are in their control
merely by thinking about them strongly enough and seeing the fruitful signs of it is more deceit. Actually in some cases people do see results in focussing their energies in
what they want.
Why it works
So here is why it works. When people are absorbed in what they want they are generally in a positive state of mind. This condition makes sure that they are in a relaxed state.
It is proven that being in a relaxed state is a more productive state, because the mind is not preoccupied in controlling all the biochemical processes involved in a stress
situation. The lie in the 'law' of attraction' is just that ... i.e. that there is a connection that our minds have to the universe. If there is a connection it is limited
only to the observation and reflection on our universe to recognise our existence in context to our surroundings.
Islamically there is another reason why it works. Allah (SWT) has Created this world as a deception. The deception is basically the 'cause-effect theory' making us think that
an action will cause a typical reaction. The fact that Allah (SWT) ensures this, elludes the observer and we often eliminate the concept of God's intervention in any thing that
occurs. Every human has been given the freedom to choose in this world, in order for that freedom to be fully manifest ... Allah (SWT) compels to fulfil all intended actions.
Even a non-believer makes implicit du'a in their hearts. So when a person thinks hard about wanting something they do so and it becomes a du'a that Allah (SWT) fulfils.
The unIslamic Secret
The concept also follows a typical superstitious format. That a variety of things happen and these are subject to their normal day to day occurences. In some cases things do not
happen and the theory is not debunked. The reason why is because they are not detected.
Let's assume Person A only thinks about what he wants to be done, he thinks of things X, Y and Z to be done. Let's say X and Y are accomplished but Z does not get accomplished.
The mindset of Person A tells him to only focus on what he wants, so he will put the outcome of X and Y on a pedestal and learn to forget about the unsuccessful result of Z. By
intentionally forgetting about ones burdens one develops a false sense of things going right all the time. This can be dangerous ... ignoring a bill does not make them go away.
Islam promotes not what we 'want' rather what 'we should want' and how to go about it. This system seems to side-step all safeguards and borders the concept of justifying the
means by the ends, which is originally a Machiavellian idea that was made famous when Nietsche coined the phrase.
Probable basis of 'The Secret'
The major problem I feel in this is that it follows a pantheistic approach to the Cause of Things. It introduces the concepts of becoming super-human and makes people conform to
a faith-like devotee to an ideology that is being passed off as a Law that is a secret. It probably stems from the Mystic religions that share a commone thread. This thread is
the belief that mind power is a path way towards accessing the essence of spirit and that can make us - humans - in to gods. This belief of Deification of the
self is absolutely kufr!
Many cults and splinter groups have fallen away from mainstream religions because of these views. Kabbalists from Judaism, Universal Sufis from Islam, Knights Templars from
Christianity and so on.
It is one of the worlds that is Dajjalic in essence i.e. it presents a beautiful view from the onset ... but on the inside it eats out your soul. The soul is consumed because
the world begins to feel like a feeding ground for a bunch of metaphoric vampires out to exploit and dominate their 'wants' - It becomes a world for the materialists and people
are conformed to the pyramidical capitalist system of competition.
Humanity Lost
A major aspect of humanity is coming to terms with what we have, and to be satisfied to an extent, but this methodology puts water over that aspect. It is a system that takes
our humanity or sense of it away from us.
Re: The Secret- muslim views
^^very nice post! thanks a lot psyah!
I disagree on one thing though:
Capitalist system of competition is not based on deification of self. It's based on the technological use of human by other humans, and eventually on the industrial use of nature by humans.
Humans are caught in an infernal loop of technological race to invent more and more sophisticated and comptetitive, and hirerachical systems to exploit nature in order to sustain an evergrowing population AND evergrowing environenmental destruction and corrolary hazards.
It's not beliefs that are catching humanity in capitalism....it's GREED.
Re: The Secret- muslim views
^^very nice post! thanks a lot psyah!
I disagree on one thing though: Capitalist system of competition is not based on deification of self. It's based on the technological use of human by other humans, and eventually on the industrial use of nature by humans. Humans are caught in an infernal loop of technological race to invent more and more sophisticated and comptetitive, and hirerachical systems to exploit nature in order to sustain an evergrowing population AND evergrowing environenmental destruction and corrolary hazards. It's not beliefs that are catching humanity in capitalism....it's GREED.
Peace sister parissenoor
The capitalist system is the result of greed entirely I agree. What I meant about deification is something vastly different. There is an ideology a belief system that exists amongst but a few initiated people usually those people who have been playing a part in the upper ranks of the Capitalist system, divulged to them is a systematic disclosure of beliefs that eventually indicate to them the overall plan, which is just this. The effect on humanity is truly greed and one would not know about the religious implications and many would think with technology comes atheism and such and such but there is a different set of workings in the background that some would call 'conspiracy theories' but I have reason to believe otherwise that I have ratified with evidence from the signs of the Day of Judgement. Greed or capitalism that breeds it is a 'useful' ideology to spread because it enables the best form of control over the populous. This may be radical sometimes too radical that is why I don't say much about it because then it then impinges on ones credibility.
Re: The Secret- muslim views
[quote="“psyah, post:7, topic:176958"”]
Peace sister parissenoor
The capitalist system is the result of greed entirely I agree. What I meant about deification is something vastly different. There is an ideology a belief system that exists amongst but a few initiated people usually those people who have been playing a part in the upper ranks of the Capitalist system, divulged to them is a systematic disclosure of beliefs that eventually indicate to them the overall plan, which is just this. The effect on humanity is truly greed and one would not know about the religious implications and many would think with technology comes atheism and such and such but there is a different set of workings in the background that some would call ‘conspiracy theories’ but I have reason to believe otherwise that I have ratified with evidence from the signs of the Day of Judgement. Greed or capitalism that breeds it is a ‘useful’ ideology to spread because it enables the best form of control over the populous. This may be radical sometimes too radical that is why I don’t say much about it because then it then impinges on ones credibility.
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wsalaam psyah,
overall plan, conspiracy theories, sounds like a dirty secret!
I guess i know what you mean, and I have to admit that I somewhat share your views…
Greed is very common among humans, and can be very much easily enhanced: it “enables the best form of control over the populous” and controlling docile slaves is obvioulsy the economic interest of those benefiting most from capitalism (1% richest human beings or so)
A famous french guy who used to be very critical of political system (he was a comedian, run for presidency, founded charity to feed poor people in winter in France,then died in a suspicious accident):
“If people were not buying that stuff, it would not be sold!”
I would make sure to clarify one thing:
Do you mean deification of self is the religious belief of the initiated fews?
or do you mean deification of self is spread amongst capitalism-followers in order to control them?
Regarding your first post, my biggest wonder is “Why do you assume that the power of mind (best formulation than *law of attraction) *lead to deification of self?” and I explain it into more detailed questions:
Finally to link power of mind to the Greed problem a wonder based on personal experience:
3. The more we can have, the more we realise what’s truly important for ourselves, so aren’t we going to be LESS greedy when we feel in control of our mind and life?
It may sound weird, but the more I earn, the less I spend…
Once I bought my biggest cihldhood dream but afterwards I realised that money can neither buy happiness nor love…Power of mind comes with the realisation that hapiness lies inside us, BUT not outside to be bought or bring to us by anyone.
Why would I buy s*** that capitalists would like me to have in order to fill their bank accounts?
They advertise their s*** is the way to have “friends” or try to get a rich husband/nice wife.
But now that my mind has the power to make mytself feel good, and so loving and caring that people come to me anyway…CApitalists can keep their s***!
Re: The Secret- muslim views
I would make sure to clarify one thing: Do you mean deification of self is the religious belief of the initiated fews? or do you mean deification of self is spread amongst capitalism-followers in order to control them?
Peace parissenoor
Sort of both. However, the initiated few know what they are trying to do, whereas the others are merely a form of it to practice. The idea stems from the notion that Isa (AS) was a master of the mystical arts, that is how he performed the miracles i.e. healing, etc. These ideas are transfered in to the comic world and film industry to translate the 'power of humans' into the populous without using a religious framework, rather it is an entertainment one.
Regarding your first post, my biggest wonder is "Why do you assume that the power of mind (best formulation than *law of attraction) *lead to deification of self?" and I explain it into more detailed questions:
Finally to link power of mind to the Greed problem a wonder based on personal experience: 3. The more we can have, the more we realise what's truly important for ourselves, so aren't we going to be LESS greedy when we feel in control of our mind and life?
There is nothing inherently wrong in what you have said. What however the mindset does not allow us to include in this equation is 'with things that are out of our control'. Allah (SWT) will allow us to a given extent to exercise free will, except when it goes against our destiny, in which case an accepted du'a will be required to realign our paths. We are to keep a positive state of mind as sanctioned by Islam. We however, are not allowed to rely on this state of mind or that will compromise our reliance on Allah (SWT). If the people toting a theory claim that 'power' is in the hands of man, then they have eliminated the essential argument 'if Allah (SWT) Wills'.
To answer question 2 ... the idea behind the method is to convince the user of that method that they do have power and that there is a secret metaphysical set of actions that can make a person a god and those who are best at the technique can become like 'gods' in their own right, i.e. will be able to fly and extent life and raise from the dead, etc. Of course if this happens and somethnig like it may happen, such as in the case of the descriptions of Dajjal, people will be convinced that they owe their lives to him.
It may sound weird, but the more I earn, the less I spend... Once I bought my biggest cihldhood dream but afterwards I realised that money can neither buy happiness nor love...Power of mind comes with the realisation that hapiness lies inside us, BUT not outside to be bought or bring to us by anyone. Why would I buy s*** that capitalists would like me to have in order to fill their bank accounts? They advertise their s*** is the way to have "friends" or try to get a rich husband/nice wife. But now that my mind has the power to make mytself feel good, and so loving and caring that people come to me anyway...CApitalists can keep their s***!
Okay some people spend in synchrony to the amounts they earn, some people do not. Some people are destined to earn more and have their lifestyle reduced, others earn less and have their lifestyles increase and so on. This only demonstrates what is written for them in their destiny. Saving money is not really good in itself unless it is done to avoid spending on useless things, and spending money in itself is not good unless it is done to help the needy and fulfil our needs. So there is a balance. Spending more or less comes with a burden.