6 ms·

Muslim here. Ritual prayer is the core exercise. Before sunrise, after sunset, and 3 other times during the day. But as important or more so is constant reme

Muslim here. Ritual prayer is the core exercise. Before sunrise, after sunset, and 3 other times during the day. But as important or more so is constant remembrance of God. If that's not institutionalized in one's day-to-day psychology, one will lose spiritual momentum, if we can use such terminology. "Worship" in Arabic عبادة actually means something like "conformity to God's order", as far as I understand. So even eating an apple becomes a spiritual exercise when done with knowledge of why and doing so for God's sake, even as its sole beneficiary seems to be oneself.

potatoman22 5y ago
The constant remembrance of God sounds vaguely similar to mindfulness, especially with your example of eating an apple while practicing it.
- marc_io 5y ago
  This is also similar to Christianity's concept of vigilance.(https://www.openbible.info/topics/vigilance https://www.openbible.info/topics/vigilance)
  - knuthsat 5y ago
    I think it's a normal thing in Hinduism. There's a rituals where you offer the cooked meal to God first, then you eat. The offering is accompanied by a bell.
    - chakhs 5y ago
      in Islam it's not an offering to God, and there are no rituals involved. It's attaching the goal of getting to heaven to any action. "I'm eating this food because it will help me worship God" so giving purpose to mindless tasks
    - AYBABTME 5y ago
      What would be a common, practical justifications for why this is a useful trait to have?
dotancohen 5y ago
> even eating an apple becomes a spiritual exercise Shall I remind you of the first apple eaten? )) Though I don't pray five times per day, I agree with every word of this post.
- xinuc 5y ago
  Interestingly, it's not an apple in muslim tradition. We just call it "khuldi" or forbidden fruit.
robofanatic 5y ago
It is all good as long as it isn’t forcefully institutionalized upon others (that includes your own children)
andrei_says_ 5y ago
When you say “God” - where do you perceive it to be? When you pray for example - do you pray toward a certain direction in space?
- omarfarooq 5y ago
  There is a direction of prayer, but Muslims do not conceive God to have dimensions, so He is not in any direction.
  - andrei_says_ 5y ago
    So literally, when you pray ( if you’re speaking from experience), where does your intention go? If a prayer is an internal call, how is it directed?
    - omarfarooq 5y ago
      When I make the intention, I'm not sending it in any direction, since I don't believe God is in a direction. Rather, since He is All Hearing and All Seeing, it is sufficient for me to make the intention for Him to know it. I hope that helps answer your question.
- curiousgal 5y ago
  Muslims pray towards the Kaaba (the house of God, built for him by Ibrahim (Abraham)) which is in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. So people across the world face different directions.
- Oaknice 5y ago
  Quran 2.177: Piety does not lie in turning your face to East or West: Piety lies in believing in God, the Last Day and the angels, the Scriptures and the prophets, and disbursing your wealth out of love for God among your kin and the orphans, the wayfarers and mendicants, freeing the slaves, observing your devotional obligations, and in paying the zakat and fulfilling a pledge you have given, and being patient in hardship, adversity, and times of peril. These are the men who affirm the truth, and they are those who follow the straight path.
throw1234651234 5y ago
"Ritual prayer is the core exercise." - well, you also work your legs and glutes when you stand up, and there is a good back stretch in there. Develops a good sense of direction too. Fasting for a month from sun up to sun down kind of kills gains though, and isn't enough time to go into ketosis, so I am not sure what that's all about (well, I know what's it's about from the book perspective, just not from the gains perspective).

potatoman22 5y ago

The constant remembrance of God sounds vaguely similar to mindfulness, especially with your example of eating an apple while practicing it.

marc_io 5y ago
This is also similar to Christianity's concept of vigilance.(https://www.openbible.info/topics/vigilance https://www.openbible.info/topics/vigilance)
- knuthsat 5y ago
  I think it's a normal thing in Hinduism. There's a rituals where you offer the cooked meal to God first, then you eat. The offering is accompanied by a bell.
  - chakhs 5y ago
    in Islam it's not an offering to God, and there are no rituals involved. It's attaching the goal of getting to heaven to any action. "I'm eating this food because it will help me worship God" so giving purpose to mindless tasks
  - AYBABTME 5y ago
    What would be a common, practical justifications for why this is a useful trait to have?

dotancohen 5y ago

> even eating an apple becomes a spiritual exercise Shall I remind you of the first apple eaten? )) Though I don't pray five times per day, I agree with every word of this post.

xinuc 5y ago
Interestingly, it's not an apple in muslim tradition. We just call it "khuldi" or forbidden fruit.

robofanatic 5y ago

It is all good as long as it isn’t forcefully institutionalized upon others (that includes your own children)

andrei_says_ 5y ago

When you say “God” - where do you perceive it to be? When you pray for example - do you pray toward a certain direction in space?

omarfarooq 5y ago
There is a direction of prayer, but Muslims do not conceive God to have dimensions, so He is not in any direction.
- andrei_says_ 5y ago
  So literally, when you pray ( if you’re speaking from experience), where does your intention go? If a prayer is an internal call, how is it directed?
  - omarfarooq 5y ago
    When I make the intention, I'm not sending it in any direction, since I don't believe God is in a direction. Rather, since He is All Hearing and All Seeing, it is sufficient for me to make the intention for Him to know it. I hope that helps answer your question.
curiousgal 5y ago
Muslims pray towards the Kaaba (the house of God, built for him by Ibrahim (Abraham)) which is in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. So people across the world face different directions.
Oaknice 5y ago
Quran 2.177: Piety does not lie in turning your face to East or West: Piety lies in believing in God, the Last Day and the angels, the Scriptures and the prophets, and disbursing your wealth out of love for God among your kin and the orphans, the wayfarers and mendicants, freeing the slaves, observing your devotional obligations, and in paying the zakat and fulfilling a pledge you have given, and being patient in hardship, adversity, and times of peril. These are the men who affirm the truth, and they are those who follow the straight path.

throw1234651234 5y ago

"Ritual prayer is the core exercise." - well, you also work your legs and glutes when you stand up, and there is a good back stretch in there. Develops a good sense of direction too. Fasting for a month from sun up to sun down kind of kills gains though, and isn't enough time to go into ketosis, so I am not sure what that's all about (well, I know what's it's about from the book perspective, just not from the gains perspective).