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Should i pick philosophy at A levels even though i am a muslim?

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Original post by TheonlyMrsHolmes
Never fear education.


...except Gender Studies.
Original post by Student403
This reminds me of

"Is applying to Jesus College haram?" :toofunny:


LOOOOOOOOOL
anyhoo I do philosophy + Ethics at A2 and as complex it is, I actually quite enjoy it & if you think that studying philosophy will shake your believe in Allah swt then all you need to-do is be more firm in your faith. I love learning about everything thats opposition to my religious belief or everything in general, I think its good bc it provides you with a wider understanding. Btw doing philosophy at GCSE or A Level is fine but its when people do it at a degree level because there are people who have lost their faith whilst studying it in Uni but that's like everything else in life.
P.S Jummah Mubarak to you all:tongue:
Original post by Studentxoxo
LOOOOOOOOOL
anyhoo I do philosophy + Ethics at A2 and as complex it is, I actually quite enjoy it & if you think that studying philosophy will shake your believe in Allah swt then all you need to-do is be more firm in your faith. I love learning about everything thats opposition to my religious belief or everything in general, I think its good bc it provides you with a wider understanding. Btw doing philosophy at GCSE or A Level is fine but its when people do it at a degree level because there are people who have lost their faith whilst studying it in Uni but that's like everything else in life.
P.S Jummah Mubarak to you all:tongue:


Jummah Mubarak :smile: Btw check out the thread you quoted me - I posted it slightly after my initial post. It's hilarious
Original post by Student403
Jummah Mubarak :smile: Btw check out the thread you quoted me - I posted it slightly after my initial post. It's hilarious

LOOOOOOLL I just seen it, muslim banter though esp in Ramadan most live
Original post by Studentxoxo
LOOOOOOLL I just seen it, muslim banter though esp in Ramadan most live


Love it :biggrin:
Original post by Student403
Love it :biggrin:


I can't stop laughing @ the poor lad like he actually was wondering:rolleyes::tongue: anyways allow this, we're taking up this thread thats meant to be on philosophy
Original post by Studentxoxo
I can't stop laughing @ the poor lad like he actually was wondering:rolleyes::tongue: anyways allow this, we're taking up this thread thats meant to be on philosophy


Isa College :toofunny: True, true - sorry OP
Original post by Student403
Isa College :toofunny: True, true - sorry OP


LOOOOL next its going to be mary > Maryam:toofunny:
Original post by RobML
Huh?
literally don't know what you're saying there

Posted from TSR Mobile


this. I pasted your response so that we could see what a professional would say

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/43nufb/what_are_your_most_compelling_arguments_for_the/d05toe7
(edited 8 years ago)
im a christian and honestly if anything philosophy will strengthen your belief in a God and if you do the course including ethics it will strengthen your morality and behaviour as well :smile: I am currently doing AS and i love the course
Original post by champ_mc99
Doesn't matter if you're Muslim. Do a REAL subject.


+10
I'll just quote Bertrand Russell here. 'If something's wrong, then we shouldn't believe in it.' That's all to the problem it seems to me. If philosophy makes you realise this, then the right thing is to abandon your religion not philosophy. The same goes for any other discipline.
I've been an atheist all my life and i probably don't have an authoritative say on the religious' psychology. but I do often see that a lot of them attribute too much to their faith, as if it holds some special place and shouldn't be removed. However the truth is just that existence of god is just a metaphysical proposition and it must either be true or false (or, sensical or nonsensical if you take A.J. Ayer's line). There's nothing special about religious belief. It would be like not taking maths class because that'd overthrow the belief that 1+1=3
Original post by Zed1_.
I am currently doing my gcse's and i plan to do philosophy, psychology, economics and business studies at A level. However, despite my interest in philosophy i am quite worried about if it would break my islamic faith. I'll be honest, i don't actually follow the religion. I don't pray, i commit sins and so on but i am happy being a muslim but i am concerned as to whether the theories and questions of god's existence will destroy my faith.

Thanks.


In the great era of the Islamic Caliphate, about the 12th century AD when Western Europe was still rebuilding from the wreckage of the Roman Empire, study of ALL philosophies was one of the noblest occupations. Why else would the works of the classical Greek philosophers (Plato et al) have been translated into Arabic after being brought from Alexandria? Did this destroy the faith of Islamic scholars? Of course not, any more than studying mathematics (algebra) and chemistry (alchemy) did!

What happened then? The Caliphate in about the 13th century AD started to worry that asking questions might lead to political problems, so they closed down all thought except study of the Koran and Hadith. it was a political move, concealed behind doctrine.

The Islamic world was intellectually far ahead of Europe at that time, some three centuries ahead of European thinking. It is one of history's great tragedies that this progress was stopped

Your problem is not risking your faith - there are for example plenty of philosophers and scientists who are convinced Christians or Muslims. It is dealing with the ignorance of bigots who only know their own tiny viewpoint. The Prophet is supposed to have said (in a Hadith) "the ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr" Try telling a jihadist that!
Reply 133
Original post by The Assassin
this. I pasted your response so that we could see what a professional would say

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/43nufb/what_are_your_most_compelling_arguments_for_the/d05toe7


The answer usually given is that biological life has two important characteristics: first, it is life; and second, it is biological (and thus physical). God wants life because life makes conscious experience and free-will choices possible, and those things are goods. God wants physical life because such creatures can interact with their environments, and biological life because such creatures can be in danger, put others in danger, and so on. And God wants vulnerable life in general (say) because he wants that life to know that it depends on him.


Still seems pretty groundless to me. An explanation of the bolded part would be nice though (although it seems free-will could only be a good in virtue of there being life in the first place. An analogy would be courage (taken as a good); if there was nothing to fear courage would be useless/meaningless and therefore neither good nor bad)
(edited 8 years ago)
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته,
I picked Philosophy and it only strengthened my faith in Allah. Just be careful and make sure you don't get doubts. If you do, quickly seek refuge in Allah.
What does your religion have to do with the choice. Study it if you'll enjoy it and do good at it. Don't choose something that you're not good at just because of your religion. Many of my friends are Muslim and study Philosophy.
I'm doing Philosophy in A2 year and it killed my religious faith but for many people it doesn't. What I would say is that if you don't pick a subject because you are worried you may change your beliefs then you really shouldn't be doing that subjects. I'd also say that the faith of someone who refuses to be challenged isn't really faith. I've got a guy in my class who is very religious and we get on so well, we just disagree with lots of things. He's heard challenges to God but still has faith and I can respect that. If you feel taking a course in philosophy would undermine your own faith then you don't hold those views very strongly.
Original post by Zed1_.
I am currently doing my gcse's and i plan to do philosophy, psychology, economics and business studies at A level. However, despite my interest in philosophy i am quite worried about if it would break my islamic faith. I'll be honest, i don't actually follow the religion. I don't pray, i commit sins and so on but i am happy being a muslim but i am concerned as to whether the theories and questions of god's existence will destroy my faith.

Thanks.


I had a friend who was a Muslim and took philosophy. He said a few arguments made him question his belief, but many made him believe not necessarily in a particular religion more strongly or, a typical God but definitely more strongly in a higher being ('God':wink:. In philosophy it is important to be able to see both sides to an argument and consider both sides open-mindedly. After all, many religions come down to the same concept. They are just interoperating the words of God in slightly different ways and applying different religious laws.
I wouldn't worry about it wavering your faith. I found more people believed in a form of god after doing philosophy than the other way around.
Best of luck with your A levels. 😃
Am a Muslim and I took philosophy. I do pratice the my deen on a daily basis. So prayer, dua etc. Prior to picking philosophy as an A level I also had the same thoughts. But I believed I could overcome any comments made in the classroom and it's just class talk (to me anyway.) Having said that, philosophy doesn't only critique God but there's a lot of supporting evidence to support his existence through the ontological argument, design, cosmology etc. Just like a normal debate where you have an opposing and proposing side. As you get to know more about at A level and might have touched upon at GCSE. I would encourage you to take RE because the philosophy and ethics in it. I believe is vital in a persons life. It also allows you to obtain different perceptives of different issues and you get to learn how other people respond to certain situations. Related to religion of course. RE lastly, unlike other subjects provides you with analytical and logical thinking skills. Good luck with the rest of your studies and I hope you do consider philosophy. PS I carried it on onto A2. And though there's certain topics that I find quite dull. It was a very good choice that I made by taking it.
(edited 8 years ago)
Philosophy is divided into various topics, one of which is Philosophy of Religion; arguments for and against the existence of God. During the crusades when my ancestors were hacking peoples heads off, Christian and Islamic scholars got together and shared ideas, theories and knowledge, a fair amount of which actually came from the Muslim side. Do philosophy.
Other sections include Epistemology: the study of knowledge (rationalist or empiricist) probably one of the oldest debates in philosophy, many rationalists express a belief in god.
Later you might do Political philisophy (which has minimal religious stuff, so no sin points there!)
If you're smart and enjoy thinking (plus you actually belief in God) I'd recommend philosophy. Clearly you're concerned about committing sin but it sounds like you're pretty relaxed about that anyway so the topic you study shouldn't make a difference, unless it was like an A level in atheism or how to be a satanist.

Remember the academic method is all about theories and realising there might not always be one right or wrong answer (at lesst in Humanities "

*EDIT* only just seen your PS :/
(edited 8 years ago)

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