Sunday, October 28, 2012

Muslims and Focus. 6 Things Muslim's can do to improve focus.


  I am not going to be nice in this article. I am going to try to be real and discuss a topic that is very important. Not just for societies as a whole but for individuals in their day to day life. You don't have to be Muslim to want or crave or understand the power of focus so if you are a non Muslim reading this article I hope you benefit from it too. The importance of focus in your life exponentially increases your chances of success and happiness in life. However I am not writing this article in order to help individuals focus, I will be writing that one later. I am writing it about the collective, that is Muslims who are clearly all over the place in their thinking. They are confused and have all kinds of idea's floating around. Many young Muslim males and females are unclear on which path to follow. Even worse with the advent of the Internet, conspiracy theories and other forms of entertainment have made matters more confusing. Many cannot focus on what is important. They do not know what to focus on even, there are over 100 million young Muslim males and females in the world and they could if they choose to be the first men and women to land on Mars or worse delve into the world of paranoia helplessness and extreme and unforgiving behavior  I personally would like to see these young Muslims in 50, 60 or 70 years landing on Mars myself. So I have chosen to describe the top ten things breaking the focus of Muslims and destroying or greatly limiting their life chances of success. They are not in any particular order and are all extremely important.

6. Conspiracy theories: Conspiracy theories are everywhere, especially on the Internet, everyone has an opinion about what's really going on. Who the real "oppressors" are etc. Muslims sitting in front of the Internet watching sometimes 50 or 60 part conspiracy video's not only waste useful time which could be spent on friends, family, work or prayers or religious study. They take allot of young Muslims outside the realm of known reality, break their normal and regular disposition and in extreme cases turn many young Muslims into paranoid and even semi schizophrenic types. "Did you see the 666 in the Disney logo" one will ask the other, "did you know Rihanna worships the devil". Most of the time the people making these video's themselves are purely in a world of conjecture egged on by other conspiracy theorists. Don't get me wrong taking a critical analysis towards current events is very important and investigation and using logic are also important. However you will never know if someone is a Free Mason or not. You will never know if Michael Jackson was killed by the "Illuminati". I totally understand that you tube conspiracy video's can be fun to talk about and even watch. However remember your first priority is toward yourself!, then your family and community. Have you prayed, have you washed the dishes have you studied, helped out at the local orphanage etc. Your time on this earth is too short to be trapped in a false reality of silly conspiracies and poorly made you tube video's. Your time is valuable and you must make the most of it. Don't let conspiracy video's break your focus on what is important.




5. Laziness: Muslims are lazy! You may say "Hey wait, that's a huge generalization and aren't millions of Muslims hard working chaps"! Of course they are, I believe most generalizations are wrong, however what I am getting at, is that other civilizations emphasize hard work, almost like it is a religion, and work relentlessly to build and fulfill their obligations. Since so many Islamic obligations such as feeding the poor, healing the sick, and taking care of your family, depend on the wealth you have, relentless hard work should be a first priority of all or most Muslims. Saying that this life is only a test, and that as long as I fulfill my religious duties I am good is not enough. Laziness is a sin anyway you cut it, and living off welfare is not becoming of a true Muslim. There is no excuse for laziness none whatsoever, Laziness will bring poverty and misery on those who indulge in it, and it must be said clearly that laziness is not acceptable and their are no excuses for it period.

4. Bad, illiterate or uneducated Imam's or Mullah's. These guys are everywhere as well. Like the conspiracy guys these guys have proliferated thanks to Internet technology. Every single one of these guys has an opinion on religion and is ready to send anyone to hell who does not agree. Their only qualification is usually some extra large beard and a fiery look with an Arab robe. Some of these guys yell and shout, some talk quietly  some come off as know it all's and young Muslims tend to take to them. After all young Muslims are looking for guidance. I will list a few guidelines when trying to choose a good imam to listen too in my next 2 or 3 articles. I can only say for now, look to the guys who are living the Deen and who are successful with a happy wife and children. The ones who live and breath the religion. Also look to your own understanding read the Quran and Sunnah in a language you understand and what you feel is right in your heart, is what you should go for only deferring to Mullah's or Imam's who you know are good. This will keep your focus on the Quran and Sunnah and not some middleman who may or may not have a clue on what he is talking about. Remember the key here is focus.

3. Politics: Muslims are obsessed with politics this obsession wastes the time of millions of Muslims who have neither the power, nor money or time to be important in politics. I myself fall pray to this focus breaker at times. Politics is a dirty game as they say, and it does not alleviate the hunger of one orphan, or make one screw on a highway titter etc. An obsession with politics will take up valuable time, the time you need to fulfill your religious obligations. Remember politics is entertainment, so you can not use politics as an excuse for not fulfilling your religious duty because you say you are learning, or getting valuable information from it. Politics is such a waste of time, it breaks the focus of Muslims, and causes stress and anxiety.

2. Talking about religion: We see this everywhere Facebook posts, quotes, meetings, etc. Muslims are always talking about religion, when they truly know nothing about it in the first place. We have all had that moron who knows nothing quote one verse or one story because he has read the Quran 10 or 20 times and thinks in his peanut sized understanding of religion, that he can declare case closed! on certain issues. That solves that one he may exclaim. This is the curse of pride, we must be humble and accept that we know nothing, and try to focus on the simple and obvious things. Talking about religion breaks our focus because this inevitably leads to arguments anger, confusion and frustration as everyone has a different opinion. Again please read the books yourself and come to your own understanding and focus on the things which are obvious. Like pleasing your parents, keeping your house and yourself clean. Staying in shape, and finding a good job to take care of you and your family. The major irony here is that I sound like I am preaching to people about being selfish. In fact it is just the opposite, have you ever met that fat guy who goes to the gym, and never really works out, but tries to preach to others, about working out as if he is Sly Stallone from Rocky 4. The fat guy may proclaim  I am being unselfish! When the other's in the gym are thinking " Work on yourself we don't need your advice" Unfortunately allot of Muslims are like that, while Muslim countries are poor, underdeveloped and miserable, often in a state of Civil war, some Muslim preachers have taken it upon them selves in utter arrogance to preach about the United States or South Korea being bad. Remember don't be the guy in the gym who's fat and is always talking, be Sly Stallone from Rocky 4 and every action you make will encourage and help people 100 times more then the mere words of a looser. Don't break your focus by talking about religion, live the religion quietly and focus on leading by example.

1. Protests, Marches and demonstrations: While I respect the march for civil rights conducted by African Americans in the 1960's for political and civil rights in America Muslims are not in that position. Muslim people are in some of the most important nations on earth. Some Muslim countries have 1 million man armies with nuclear weapons. Others have 5,000 year old civilizations. While Muslims are indeed in a miserable and sorry state, they are at the same time still a great people even if a mere shadow of their former selves. They are not an oppressed minority in a rich powerful country. Muslims should work for political change in their respective countries as now most or many of the major Muslim countries are democracies with free elections. Protesting and begging the powers that be for any thing that happens which offends you is firstly unbecoming of a Muslim and secondly a misplaced usage of time and energy. While my heart goes out to Black Americans or the people in the Gaza strip for the most part, Muslims should shun this "Gaza Strip" Mentality especially if you are from a country with over 100 million people with nukes. Muslims need to focus on personal responsibility and a leadership roll, not perpetual victim hood and begging higher ups to give them respect and attention.  A no nonsense ruler mentality should be developed, where excuses are minimal and hard work is maximized.

Posted by Insightful
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