[CommitmentQ]

Hi

I am a muslim and i do really like my religion (Islam).
However I really do not like my culture and I feel that culture is something which makes my religion look really bad when there 2 seperate things.

Does anyone else feel the same about our culture?
What are you're views on it?

(When i say culture i mainly mean the pakistani culture, cause im pakistani and I really hate my culture so much beyond belief.)

[Cressida]

You are right, often the malpractice of certain cultures (honour killing, female circumcision, forced marriages, gender inequality) are taken as a generalised reflection of the associated religion. However it is not always a misunderstanding from outsiders as often the perpetrators hide behind religion as an excuse which further distorts perception and spreads ignorance. My view however is a little idealistic as we cannot forget that cultures are borne from if not at least heavily influenced by the religions and rules that govern them so whilst religion may be distinct from a lot of these cultural practices, it is certainly not doing anything to prevent or stop them. It's just like a silent on looker being just as bad as the.bully who commits cruelty.


Religion, when used correctly should not be confused with culture but people manipulate it in order to justify their heinous behaviour. I'm talking about it in general and not specifically per say because of concourse certain religions may hold views or practices that are wrong in the eyes of certain societies but that is a matter concerned with religions having negative parts than with them being confused with.culture negatives.

I guess op, my advice to.you would be to see religion as your own relationship with faith, spirituality and god rather than consciously looking around at what people think of.you. if you are not manipulating religion with culture or commuting malice under religion then you ought not to feel bad. If however you want a change then work towards changing the.world's opinion of your religion and by extension, of.you.

[Cressida]

I'm posting from my phone, pleased excuse all the grammar fails and ridiculous auto cataract

[Lord of the Flies]

(Original post by Cressida)
I'm posting from my phone, pleased excuse all the grammar fails and ridiculous auto cataract

I know you didn't mean this but haha! Ah, technology....

[tammie123]

I totally agree with you, I like my religion but hate my culture (except Im bengali ).

[CommitmentQ]

(Original post by Cressida)
You are right, often the malpractice of certain cultures (honour killing, female circumcision, forced marriages, gender inequality) are taken as a generalised reflection of the associated religion. However it is not always a misunderstanding from outsiders as often the perpetrators hide behind religion as an excuse which further distorts perception and spreads ignorance. My view however is a little idealistic as we cannot forget that cultures are borne from if not at least heavily influenced by the religions and rules that govern them so whilst religion may be distinct from a lot of these cultural practices, it is certainly not doing anything to prevent or stop them. It's just like a silent on looker being just as bad as the.bully who commits cruelty.


Religion, when used correctly should not be confused with culture but people manipulate it in order to justify their heinous behaviour. I'm talking about it in general and not specifically per say because of concourse certain religions may hold views or practices that are wrong in the eyes of certain societies but that is a matter concerned with religions having negative parts than with them being confused with.culture negatives.

I guess op, my advice to.you would be to see religion as your own relationship with faith, spirituality and god rather than consciously looking around at what people think of.you. if you are not manipulating religion with culture or commuting malice under religion then you ought not to feel bad. If however you want a change then work towards changing the.world's opinion of your religion and by extension, of.you.

Yeah i completely agree with what ur saying! thats true, mabye i shudnt give a damn of what others think. Yeah i do that a lot, when people judge me on the kind of muslim I am, saying i should be doing this and that (pray 5 times a day blah blah), i usually just say its between me and god, not them. Just because they pray 5 times a day doesnt make them a better person than I am, I feel theres more to it than that. I think people will be judged for good intentions and stuff rather than solely religion or atleast I hope it will be like that. i think I'm going a bit off topic... but it is what it is.

[CommitmentQ]

(Original post by tammie123)
I totally agree with you, I like my religion but hate my culture (except Im bengali ).

hahaaa yeah im sure its not much different to mine anyway tbh haha. Yeah culture sucks, luckily most of my family isnt like that cultural anyway so im kinda lucky i guess :P

[Xotol]

(Original post by CommitmentQ)
Yeah i completely agree with what ur saying! thats true, mabye i shudnt give a damn of what others think. Yeah i do that a lot, when people judge me on the kind of muslim I am, saying i should be doing this and that (pray 5 times a day blah blah), i usually just say its between me and god, not them. Just because they pray 5 times a day doesnt make them a better person than I am, I feel theres more to it than that. I think people will be judged for good intentions and stuff rather than solely religion or atleast I hope it will be like that. i think I'm going a bit off topic... but it is what it is.

Prayer is mentioned in the Qur'an and the Hadiths. I don't really think you can pick and choose what you want to and don't want to do when the Qur'an commands a lot from Muslims. If it is the ultimate truth from Allah - as you would believe as a Muslim - you should follow its words. It's compulsory. Also, even if you believe people will be judged for good intentions rather than religion, the widely followed interpretation of Islamic scripture says otherwise - faith takes precedence over deeds, even if deeds are counted for somewhat.

So, I think you'll need to define what you mean by culture first of all, then outline what you consider as examples of culture-related practices over religion practices and the confusion between them, and then we can see if there is really a dichotomy between your interpretation of culture and religion.

[B-Man.]

(Original post by CommitmentQ)
Yeah i completely agree with what ur saying! thats true, mabye i shudnt give a damn of what others think. Yeah i do that a lot, when people judge me on the kind of muslim I am, saying i should be doing this and that (pray 5 times a day blah blah), i usually just say its between me and god, not them. Just because they pray 5 times a day doesnt make them a better person than I am, I feel theres more to it than that. I think people will be judged for good intentions and stuff rather than solely religion or atleast I hope it will be like that. i think I'm going a bit off topic... but it is what it is.

This is hilarious considering you made this thread to tell us about how you hate culture and love religion. Now you espouse a cultural view opposing a religious practice: prayer and how it doesn't make you a better person

[SnoochToTheBooch]

I dare say culture and religion are not quite as separate as you think.

[At peace]

(Original post by tammie123)
I totally agree with you, I like my religion but hate my culture (except Im bengali ).

Doesn't really make a difference, as long as you are from subcontinent, you'll face this prob sis. They hold on to culture like religion.

(Original post by CommitmentQ)
Hi

I am a muslim and i do really like my religion (Islam).
However I really do not like my culture and I feel that culture is something which makes my religion look really bad when there 2 seperate things.

Does anyone else feel the same about our culture?
What are you're views on it?

(When i say culture i mainly mean the pakistani culture, cause im pakistani and I really hate my culture so much beyond belief.)

I'm in. Except that I don't really agree with your "prayers" bit. Those views are so damn cultural.

[CommitmentQ]

(Original post by Xotol)
Prayer is mentioned in the Qur'an and the Hadiths. I don't really think you can pick and choose what you want to and don't want to do when the Qur'an commands a lot from Muslims. If it is the ultimate truth from Allah - as you would believe as a Muslim - you should follow its words. It's compulsory. Also, even if you believe people will be judged for good intentions rather than religion, the widely followed interpretation of Islamic scripture says otherwise - faith takes precedence over deeds, even if deeds are counted for somewhat.

So, I think you'll need to define what you mean by culture first of all, then outline what you consider as examples of culture-related practices over religion practices and the confusion between them, and then we can see if there is really a dichotomy between your interpretation of culture and religion.

I'm not using this as an excuse not to pray just incase you thought that... I pray whenever I can and try my best to connect with God during my prayers.
And i wouldn't call being a good person with good intention deeds exactly.. bit of an understatement.
And i personally think its wrong that Allah will judge us solely on religion, although it will play a big part. People want to think it is like this however it will all be religion they'll be judged on solely, no matter how good or bad of a person they are. This would kind of suggest any non muslims no matter how good they are , are pretty much going to hell, of which I don't know about you, but I believe is completely wrong.

And i repeat I am not using this as an excuse not to pray, I pray when I can, i do every fast, give money to charity and I do my bit as a muslim for Islam. and lets face it, who follows the Quran word by word? Im pretty sure everyones going to hell if following it word by word is so crucial.

[At peace]

(Original post by CommitmentQ)
I'm not using this as an excuse not to pray just incase you thought that... I pray whenever I can and try my best to connect with God during my prayers.
And i wouldn't call being a good person with good intention deeds exactly.. bit of an understatement.
And i personally think its wrong that Allah will judge us solely on religion, although it will play a big part. People want to think it is like this however it will all be religion they'll be judged on solely, no matter how good or bad of a person they are. This would kind of suggest any non muslims no matter how good they are , are pretty much going to hell, of which I don't know about you, but I believe is completely wrong.

And i repeat I am not using this as an excuse not to pray, I pray when I can, i do every fast, give money to charity and I do my bit as a muslim for Islam. and lets face it, who follows the Quran word by word? Im pretty sure everyones going to hell if following it word by word is so crucial.

That makes sense, it would have been easier to avoid confusion if you would have said you take Islam for a deen(Which deals with everything) and not a religion (which only deals with worship).

[CommitmentQ]

(Original post by At peace)
That makes sense, it would have been easier to avoid confusion if you would have said you take Islam for a deen(Which deals with everything) and not a religion (which only deals with worship).

omg haha you are spot on, that is exactly what i meant. I'm just really bad at wording stuff. thanks for understanding.

[Supermandem]

I think you've skewed what you perceive as culture and religious beliefs.
Prayer and matters of religion have nothing what so ever to do with culture, they are solely religious beliefs. If it is stated in the Quran that God will judge on both religion and character, that it is compulsory to pray five times a day and that only Muslims will go to heaven, that's religion. If someone tells you to pray because it is commanded by God, again that isn't a cultural view, it is a religious view.
You seem to be picking and choosing what you feel right and wrong, and accusing what you feel is wrong as 'culture'. It is not your place to decide whether Gods will is wrong or not, if you believe in Islam specifically then you are required to take the Quran word by word and accept that it is Gods will, not that you believe such and such is unfair etc. You are a Muslim or you aren't, it's really that simple.

Actually take time to read the Quran word by word, I think you'll be quite surprised to see that not everyone will go to hell

[CommitmentQ]

(Original post by Supermandem)
I think you've skewed what you perceive as culture and religious beliefs.
Prayer and matters of religion have nothing what so ever to do with culture, they are solely religious beliefs. If it is stated in the Quran that God will judge on both religion and character, that it is compulsory to pray five times a day and that only Muslims will go to heaven, that's religion. If someone tells you to pray because it is commanded by God, again that isn't a cultural view, it is a religious view.
You seem to be picking and choosing what you feel right and wrong, and accusing what you feel is wrong as 'culture'. It is not your place to decide whether Gods will is wrong or not, if you believe in Islam specifically then you are required to take the Quran word by word and accept that it is Gods will, not that you believe such and such is unfair etc. You are a Muslim or you aren't, it's really that simple.

Actually take time to read the Quran word by word, I think you'll be quite surprised to see that not everyone will go to hell

only that muslims go to heaven is religion. right....
and im guessing from what ur saying u follow every word of the Quran.
And yes i know i was just emphasising that not many people follow every word... which is clearly not the case with you however.

[Spaz Man]

I completely agree with the OP. Pakistani and Afghan tribal culture in particular is horrifically misguided.

[prog2djent]

Saudi Arabia barely has a culture, and is probably the most religiously involved society in the world.

And look at it.

Funny though, groups that you would classify as involving culture with the religion giving the appearence of extremism, try to reject culture and only focus on the religious aspect, look at Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab.

[MonkeyMan2009]

(Original post by CommitmentQ)
Hi

I am a muslim and i do really like my religion (Islam).
However I really do not like my culture and I feel that culture is something which makes my religion look really bad when there 2 seperate things.

Does anyone else feel the same about our culture?
What are you're views on it?

(When i say culture i mainly mean the pakistani culture, cause im pakistani and I really hate my culture so much beyond belief.)

surely there are good and bad things about all cultures. Isn't there anything good at all in your culture? My gf is of pakistani pataan origin and there are certain things in her culture (i.e. family closeness and values) which are similar to my family culture (italian)

[MonkeyMan2009]

(Original post by prog2djent)
Saudi Arabia barely has a culture, and is probably the most religiously involved society in the world.

And look at it.

Funny though, groups that you would classify as involving culture with the religion giving the appearence of extremism, try to reject culture and only focus on the religious aspect, look at Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab.

don't saudi, boko, shabaab all share the same brand of islam (wahabbism)?