God's Teaching is Practicable, It has Maximum and Minimum Standards. Ways of Advice.

[YALASH]

Peace be on you.
God sends religious laws for the benefit of human who have diverse mental and physical capabilities. Religious laws in Holy Quran have minimum and maximum standards for practice. “Allah burdens not any soul beyond its capacity……” (Holy Quran ch2:v287). When human acts on His directives which He has asked to do, grants unlimited reward. Religious law or Shariah is based on softness.

When a person came to Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and asked him about Islam, he (p.b.u.h.) told him about five compulsory daily Prayers, financial sacrifice Zakaat and Ramadan fasting and upon his further enquiry man was told if he could offer extra to these essentials it will be extra reward for him. The man went back saying he will stay with basics. Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) said if he will do so he will be successful.


So it evident from it that Islam has not asked everyone to observe very high standards like companions Hazrat Abu Bakr (r.a.) and Hazrat Umer (r.a.) did when they brought full and half things in house respectively to help a cause of time. Islam makes obligations based on least common human capabilities.


One is encouraged to increase capacities to go for high standards though. One way of doing it to help weaker friends in faith.


Ahmadiyya Khalifah asks religious teachers of his community to focus on uplifting the member's spiritual and other capacities.

(khalifaofislamDOTcom)

[MANICHAEAN]

Dear Yalash

If its not too personal a question, may I ask what is the range of your reading outside of the subject that is obviously dear to your heart?

A priest will have his devotions, and a rabbi a study of the sacred books of his faith, but I often wonder what numerous individuals of a strong religious faith read in their "spare time."

One Catholic Father I knew had a great interest in the Graham Greene novels and those by Evelyn Waugh for obvious reasons.

But I wonder how many of the classics in English Literature you are acquainted with?

Best regards
M.

[YALASH]

Peace be on you. Interesting question. This humble does not fit any of titles you have mentioned above. I can read - people, free birds and two parakeets in cage, world current events - their background (overt or covert) and where they are leading to, science, organizations and their plus minus. Once started War and Peace and The Three Musketeers but soon came to realization that, I have to move on in the direction of future, not back to past. Newspapers' thought provoking article are interesting to read. Rich and poor nations' ups and declines are interesting to know. English is not my first language though, but please do not stop reading what I try to convey in sincere spirit.

Thanks.

[mal4mac]

War & Peace are of the future, as much as they are of the past, and of the present, and Tolstoy's great book, of this title, has much to say about these matters. By dismissing it so lightly you insult Western culture as much as certain French and Scandinavian cartoonists insult your prophet.

[Pompey Bum]

Well, as a lover of Tolstoy's great novel, I want to assert that I took no offense by the comment. And Yalash, of course, is a friend, and a man of peace and God, and not to be associated with the violence he has the courage to openly oppose.

I agree with Mal, however, that War and Peace is a book of ideas for the future (and present) as much as the past. Perhaps you may want to try it again at another time in your life. You might also like to read The Kingdom of God is Within. Or perhaps you have already found all you need. But I highly recommend those two.

[YesNo]

As I think about the topic of the thread, maximum and minimum standards, it seems to me that in general we don't often know what is the minimum that should be done and when we have done enough. It doesn't matter what our minds are focused on: taking care of our children, investing, performing religious practices, reading books or losing weight.

In the case of losing weight, I was 185 pounds (at 6 ft) a while back and set a target for 175. I am now at 177 to 179 and now I'm thinking maybe I should do more and try to reduce my weight to 170. I should set a limit and stick with it. For my height 175 is enough.

[YALASH]

War & Peace are of the future, as much as they are of the past, and of the present, and Tolstoy's great book, of this title, has much to say about these matters. By dismissing it so lightly you insult Western culture as much as certain French and Scandinavian cartoonists insult your prophet.

Peace be on you. Definitely I did not mean to insult anyone. Every culture has its unique values and diverse people can get benefit from each other from global village. My try to read was many years ago, will try again. There is prophecy in Islam that: Sun will rise from West in latter days. We, the Ahmadiyya Muslims, believe that, these are promised latter days [1000 years era (from late 1800 onward)] with promised reformer has come. After the continued persecution in East, many migrated to West and our Khilafat Head Office was to go to UK (which is West) since 1984. If you find few words of caution about West (as my recent blog entry said), it should not be taken as if we are anti-West.

No hard feelings.

Well, as a lover of Tolstoy's great novel, I want to assert that I took no offense by the comment. And Yalash, of course, is a friend, and a man of peace and God, and not to be associated with the violence he has the courage to openly oppose.

I agree with Mal, however, that War and Peace is a book of ideas for the future (and present) as much as the past. Perhaps you may want to try it again at another time in your life. You might also like to read The Kingdom of God is Within. Or perhaps you have already found all you need. But I highly recommend those two.

Peace be on you. Thanks for encouragement. I will surely try what you have suggested. Thank you. Do you know any place (site) where one can read closest abridgement [or short] of classical great books of various cultures?

As I think about the topic of the thread, maximum and minimum standards, it seems to me that in general we don't often know what is the minimum that should be done and when we have done enough. It doesn't matter what our minds are focused on: taking care of our children, investing, performing religious practices, reading books or losing weight.

In the case of losing weight, I was 185 pounds (at 6 ft) a while back and set a target for 175. I am now at 177 to 179 and now I'm thinking maybe I should do more and try to reduce my weight to 170. I should set a limit and stick with it. For my height 175 is enough.

Peace be on you. Thanks for opinion and good wishes to your weight loss program. More weight stresses lower discs of spine.

[mal4mac]

Peace be on you. Thanks for encouragement. I will surely try what you have suggested. Thank you. Do you know any place (site) where one can read closest abridgement [or short] of classical great books of various cultures?

I would not recommend reading an abridgement of War & Peace. It's an "artistic whole" that should not be abridged. Would you abridge the Koran? To make it easier, I would suggest reading the most straightforward translation. If there is no suitable edition in your first language, you might want to look at several English translations to see which you like. The most recent I read was the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, which I found very straightforward. I've also read the Maude translation, which I rate as highly, but is perhaps more demanding for someone with English as a second language. But it has the advantage of being available for free on the web, including on this site

http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/war_and_peace/

But this is not a classic of English Literature, for that I would start with Shakespeare, and for a serious adult like yourself, Yalash, you might as well start at the top with Hamlet:

http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/hamlet/

This is early 17th century English, so it will be a struggle, but it's worth it!

[Pompey Bum]

Peace to you, too, my friend. I agree with Mal4 that abridgments are not the answer. Also, if I may offer an opinion, from what I know of you, I'm not sure that War and Peace is the right book for you (despite my great enthusiasm for it). Instead I would suggest Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, which examines three approaches to life: the worldly, the sacred, and the intellectual. This is also a voluminous Russian classic (not as long as War and Peace, but long enough), and it would require a good bit of time to read and think about. So if not now, perhaps at some point in your life. Personally I love both of them, but somehow I get the feeling that The Brothers Karamazov would be more meaningful for you. You must, of course, decide for yourself. You can download free versions of both works at the Project Gutenberg website, or read them online at this one.

I also agree with Mal4 about Shakespeare. You should get student editions with lots of footnotes until you become comfortable with the archaic English. It's hard at first, but the poetry is like nothing else in the world, and you do get a knack for the language before too long. The nice thing about reading Shakespeare's works is that, because most are plays, you can experience each with only a day or two of reading--unlike War and Peace or The Brothers Karamazov. I also agree that you should start at the top, as Mal4 suggests. But there we differ slightly: for me, the top is King Lear. But certainly you should read the great tragedies (if you have not done so already): King Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Othello. But there are many more, and each is a treasure in its own way. We discuss and rank our favorites here:

http://www.online-literature.com/for...speare-s-plays

[YALASH]

Peace be on you mal4mac and Pompey Bum.
Thank you very much for your very valuable expert guidance. I will InshaAllah try.

Your words have sparked some memories. There is one year in this humble's life which I spent in Moscow as international student when our Holy Khalifah asked us to go to convey our message and for learning. No first language or English would work (though native people were opening up to English), foreign companies were flooding markets with goods and locals would stand in lines for 'khaleb' (long elliptical bread), various mafias were present. I lost about 10 Kg weight in 10 months but learnt something about society and people. In last weeks, i walked quite a lot to see old alleys and life there. I heard from a friend that there is a lady professor who is translating Holy Quran. I bought maps and took a card which could work in metro and bus alike, but I could not find the scholar. Building numbers would not match the maps. When asked people, they were sympathetic but smiled at my innocent ignorance. Walking to stalovia (student's cafe) in evening at -40 degrees, we asked each other who were the first people to come and lived here. After half a year, place was closed and was turned into an office.

It was common to wave hand to a car, if fare was settled, just sit down and reach your destination on the way.

Eggs were in 10, not 12.

People were fond of reading books during travel in metro.



It is useful to wander off sometimes as off-topic. is not it?

N.B. Translation of following books are found in my first language. Yet to see. Things in own language are felt as if one is seeing in bright light.

War and Peace
Pride and Prejudice
King Lear
Hamlet
Othello
Tale of Two Cities
Tess of D’Urbervilles
Mayor of Casterbridge
Paradise Lost
Anna Karenina

Brothers Karamazov's reviews are strong, will have to read it.


That will be helpful in a global village if each great novel in major languages is translated in other major languages so that people easily know others' heritage, but it will be a mammoth project.


Thank you for all suggestions.
Good wishes.

[russellb]

Is it necessary for Yalash to do all this reading? As for Tolstoy, at least according to a John Bayley introduction to 'Anna Karenina,' he came to conclude that his two great novels were worthless and all that mattered was the pursuit of God and Truth. It seems to me that you're well on the way there Yalash and there might be people who've read half the books in the Bodlean Library in Oxford who are behind you

[Iain Sparrow]

Is it necessary for Yalash to do all this reading? As for Tolstoy, at least according to a John Bayley introduction to 'Anna Karenina,' he came to conclude that his two great novels were worthless and all that mattered was the pursuit of God and Truth. It seems to me that you're well on the way there Yalash and there might be people who've read half the books in the Bodlean Library in Oxford who are behind you

uhm, actually it's the Bodleian Library of Oxford, and like England herself... it is a dead place of past glories, where dusty books gather more dust. If it were up to me, and I were King; I would shut its mighty oak doors forever, and burn all the books within.
Most of the best knowledge comes from experiencing the world, not from books, and certainly not in the pursuit of God, and/or Truth.

[russellb]

I guess we people living in this "dead place" can be thankful that you're not King then. Does your monarchical fantasy embrace any other stupid ideas?

[Jackson Richardson]

Since we're a constiutional monarchy, the sovereign can only act on the advice of HER prime minister, whoever SHE or he may be.

Since the Bodleian is a copyright library, it is adding to its stock every day: it is entitled to everything published in the UK. A good deal of its recent stuff will be held electronically, I'd imagine.

PS King Lear is far more worthwhile than Hamlet.

And surely the pursuit of truth is the best knowledge?

[Iain Sparrow]

I guess we people living in this "dead place" can be thankful that you're not King then. Does your monarchical fantasy embrace any other stupid ideas?

Why yes, I am full of stupid ideas... that those who search for that which does not exist (God, Truth, Peace), do so out of self-loathing, and a pretentious belief that we are *special*.