The Truth about Command

[Eiman Alhamad]

Hello All,

This will be my first time writing in Steve's forum. I have been reading for Steve on and off for some time. I like most of what Steve writes, but I do feel that some of his writing conflict with my beliefs. I am currently reading Steve's book, PDSP. Again, I like most of what I read, but there is one thing that just made me stop reading and decide to post something for the first time. That thing is Steve's writing about “Command”.

I am very open to many changes in my life, but my belief in God is fixed and I cannot imagine having it changed. I am a Muslim, and I believe that God (in Islam, Allah) has given us free will and gives us a choice between two paths. I also believe that there will be a Judgment Day where everyone will be rewarded and/or punished depending on their choices. This is where Steve and I disagree.

Steve believes that to have full command of your life, you should be the only and the higher authority in your life and to take full responsibility for all your actions. I believe that I am the authority in my life and should take full responsibility for all my actions, but that God is my higher authority. I believe that God is the Creator of me and the world that I live in and God knows what is best for everything and everyone on this planet and in this universe. I also believe that God has the right to reward us for our rightful acts, punish us for wrong ones, and he is also patient with us. These are the same right that a parent has to be patient with their child, but also to reward their child for doing something right and punish the child for doing something wrong. This is a simple example that I would like to elaborate on.

As a parent, you give your child free will to do many things in their lives and they are responsible for their actions, but you also draw the line when it comes to other things (e.g. playing with fire). The reason you draw the line and you punish your child when playing with fire is that you know what is best for your child and you know that letting your child play with fire will harm him/her. You also know it could harm the rest of the family by burning the house down. Letting your child play with fire might even harm your neighbors and who knows how many other families if the fire is not contained fast enough.

So, your higher authority in this case comes from your greater knowledge. So, imagine the authority of the creator of knowledge!!

To help us understand this world and to gain basic knowledge that can help us live life to its fullest, the Qura'an, Allah's words, is a manual from the creator to us. You will also find that when the Qura'an is followed correctly and to the word, it should align us with truth, love, and power.

Eiman Alhamad

[supertom]

If you believe that you have the "manual by the creator" than why would you need another book esp one like steves.

Anyway I dont see what the problem is, you seem to have already tuned "command" into your beliefs.

[Eiman Alhamad]

Supertom,

I don't see why I can't or shouldn't read other books, even though I have the Qura'an. Reading new books and having new points of view always enlighten a person and expands their horizon. When I read any book, like all of the smart people in the world, I don't have to accept everything in it to be 100% correct. Books are points of views of their writers. Even the writers themselves could change their point of views on a certain topic in the future, if they found evidence that points otherwise.

The only reason I wrote this post is to give a different view of command in our lives. As a reader of this post (or any other written material), you have the right to accept, reject or even challenge it.

[supertom]

If I had a "manual from the creator " no-way would i read books by weak humans, you couldnt learn anything knew because my creator would know and tell me everything i needed to know.

Remember Eiman, trusting yourself in is trusting in the one who created you. But you are looking into the aurthority deeply, its a principle people mostly know in a negative way.

[Eiman Alhamad]

First of all, what are your believes? Do you believe that you have been found in this world which follows specific laws and follows them accurately by accident? or do you believe in a God, but your God left you in this world to figure out life alone or to follow other human's opinions?

According to “my manual by my creator”, I am asked to read. Actually. the first word that was sent by my creator was “read”. It also says we should ask advice and pursue knowledge from experts in their fields and people with experience. I found that Steve was very successful in his business and managed his time extremely well and this is what drew me to his blog. I never read articles he wrote about spirituality, because “my manual by my creator” had all I needed to fulfill my spiritual side. So, I did not need a “weak human” to tell me what to think spiritual.

Again, the reason I wrote this article is to give a new perspective to what steve has written in his book. And every smart and intelligent being has the right to read what I have written, think about it, and then accept or reject it. I have nothing against Steve and I still like to read his points of view .

[Brutha]

I don't know the essentials of Islam well enough but the belief in the Christian got doesn't conflict with the belief in personal responsibility.

According to the bible God gave humans free will and the responsibility to use it. Humans are free to do evil things. They just get judged afterwards by God for them.

Existencial freedom is mainly about having a choice to act in a certain way. You are free to make the choice to follow the Moral framework that is layed out by the Qu'ran.
On the other hand you are responsible for everything that follow because of your decision to believe in Allah.

Hopefully you don't believe in Allah because your friends and your family do and expect you to believe. You also shouldn't believe because of fear of punishment. ou believe because you made an existencial choice.

If you don't have the ability to commit to a certain Moral code you wouldn't be free. It's a similar case for the concept of lightworkers.
A lightworker is free to do something evil, but he chooses to be good.

If you want to know more about the principle of existencial freedom from a religious perspective you should read Kierkegaard.

[Dev]

I am really enjoying this thread. Such a beautiful discussion from Gods children.
Eiman - After I finished reading PDSP, whenever I go back to a particular page/topic(especially to the one I have underlined), I almost magically find new meanings in it. The meaning goes deeper every time. New insights come out of nowhere. And this also happens when I read my religious scripture "Bhagvad Gita"

Agreed Steve isn't perfect but he has got better then us understanding the Core Principles of Life. The Core principles of Life never change be it PDSP/Koran/Bible/Gita

It is only our interpretation that changes the degree of our understanding.
If you feel what you feel in this thread, just accept it & go ahed with other things that you find in the book. A stage will come when the meaning of "Command" will give you different insight & perspectives. Till then continue Growing!

[Eiman Alhamad]

I'm sorry for the late reply, but I have been busy the last few days.

Brutha,

In Islam, a person is free to choose any path, but will be Judged by Allah later. The true essence of Islam and Christianity are the same, to worship the creator.

As I have said before, I cant imagine myself being other then a muslim, not because of my family or my friends, but because I have read a lot about religion and have found it to be logical to my mind, and satisfying to my heart.

I also thank you for the book recommendation, I will put it in the list of books I want to read.

[Eiman Alhamad]

Dev,

Thank you for writing in this humble thread

I think that many books are worth reading over and over, each time you read them you have already matured because of life's experiences and will have a deeper insight or maybe a different view altogether.

I wouldn't add Steve's book to the list of Holy books, but, as I have said before, Steve has many good, you could also say great, thoughts and insights about life from his past experiences. That is what makes Steve's book a nice book to read and think about, and at other time to challenge .

[Brutha]

In Islam, a person is free to choose any path, but will be Judged by Allah later. The true essence of Islam and Christianity are the same, to worship the creator.

Hopefully you don't choose the path you choose because of fear of judgement but because you believe that it's the right think to do.