aneeshm
Deity
OK, now for my own definition of what constitutes a Nominal Muslim, a Common Muslim, and a True Muslim. Nominal Muslim is a definition, Common Muslim a useful generalisation, and True Muslim a subcategory.
Nominal Muslim: scy's definition. Anyone who calls himself one. No qualifiers allowed - fascist vocals as well as insipid trapshuts are counted equally.
Common Muslim: A person who is a Nominal Muslim, and also possesses the extra attributes of:
a) Professing belief in the validity, whether literal or metaphorical, of the Quran
b) Considering himself a part of a wider Common Muslim community, whether it be small or universal
c) Accepting the Islamic worldview implicitly or explicity, as a form of belief in the afterlife, paradise for believers, eternal damnation for unbelievers (or some variant thereof - insipid modernisations of the original concepts still count for purposes of this discussion), belief in Mohammed being the "Seal of the Prophets" (the Last Prophet)
d) Acceptance of the Islamic tradition, whether it be the Quran, the Hadith, or the results of the deliberations of the Ulema through the freedom allowed them by Ijtihad, as a valid source of totalitarian guidance - totalitarian meaning covering the spheres of both personal and political/ideological ethics, and the relationship between said ethics and the supernatural world, with the supernatural world (Allah et al) being the basis of said ethics
e) Having inculcated in himself, whether osmotically or deliberately, the core aspects of an Islamic culture, be they strong or weak, be they the basis of his culture or merely a veneer over another.
True Muslim: The guy who believes in the absolute validity and truth of the Islamic tradition in one of its forms as unshakeably as we believe in the existence of Mount Everest, and who decides his actions based on the same. Imagine a Common Muslim with all the "weak" qualifiers removed from the definition, and you begin to have a rough idea of a pale imitation of what is a True Muslim.
Nominal Muslim: scy's definition. Anyone who calls himself one. No qualifiers allowed - fascist vocals as well as insipid trapshuts are counted equally.
Common Muslim: A person who is a Nominal Muslim, and also possesses the extra attributes of:
a) Professing belief in the validity, whether literal or metaphorical, of the Quran
b) Considering himself a part of a wider Common Muslim community, whether it be small or universal
c) Accepting the Islamic worldview implicitly or explicity, as a form of belief in the afterlife, paradise for believers, eternal damnation for unbelievers (or some variant thereof - insipid modernisations of the original concepts still count for purposes of this discussion), belief in Mohammed being the "Seal of the Prophets" (the Last Prophet)
d) Acceptance of the Islamic tradition, whether it be the Quran, the Hadith, or the results of the deliberations of the Ulema through the freedom allowed them by Ijtihad, as a valid source of totalitarian guidance - totalitarian meaning covering the spheres of both personal and political/ideological ethics, and the relationship between said ethics and the supernatural world, with the supernatural world (Allah et al) being the basis of said ethics
e) Having inculcated in himself, whether osmotically or deliberately, the core aspects of an Islamic culture, be they strong or weak, be they the basis of his culture or merely a veneer over another.
True Muslim: The guy who believes in the absolute validity and truth of the Islamic tradition in one of its forms as unshakeably as we believe in the existence of Mount Everest, and who decides his actions based on the same. Imagine a Common Muslim with all the "weak" qualifiers removed from the definition, and you begin to have a rough idea of a pale imitation of what is a True Muslim.
