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I am a practicing Salafi Muslim, but also a Ruby on Rails developer of 7 years. I have noticed this about the Ruby on Rails world. After working in Rails jobs

by tboyd47 12y ago

I am a practicing Salafi Muslim, but also a Ruby on Rails developer of 7 years. I have noticed this about the Ruby on Rails world. After working in Rails jobs at 5 different companies in 2 cities, I've met and worked with scores of other Rails devs, but I've only known only one other Rails dev who was even Muslim, and no one who was Salafi. Some would be disheartened by this, but I take it as a source of pride. I was not born into a Muslim family, but I embraced it later in life. So I love Islam a great deal and consider it to be the best thing that has ever happened to me. But I do not get into debates about religion or God with co-workers or on the internet, because I don't feel it's appropriate. When I'm at work, I'm not there to proselytize; I'm there to make great software and earn money. And on the internet, it's just too pointless. If I'm talking to you about Islam, then I'm not doing it for fun -- I'm doing it because I want you to become Muslim. I find it very unlikely that someone who never believed in God in their life would start believing just because some stranger on the internet talked them into it. Rather, the end result is always a flame war, and that doesn't really encourage good manners.

cpursley 12y ago
I'm not familiar with Salafi. What are it's basic tenants?
- tboyd47 12y ago
  Salafi Islam is really just like mainstream Islam, meaning we believe like the other Muslims, pray the same way, etc. The only difference is how we view the companions of the Prophet (sall Allah alaihi wa sallam). We consider them to be authoritative sources on Islam, while a lot of Muslims see them as just regular people. So for example, say here we are living many centuries after Islam started, and someone comes and says they have a "new interpretation" of the Quran -- well, it's not really possible for that person to know the Quran better than the people who actually met the Prophet (sall Allah alaihi wa sallam) and learned it from him directly, while seeing him implement it in his life and hearing him explain it. That's the main tenet, I guess, and it's really just a logical and common-sense way of looking at things. That's probably the best I can do without going into too much detail. Thanks for showing interest.
  - makeset 12y ago
    > it's really just a logical and common-sense way of looking at things. To you, yes. Plenty of other Muslims find it utterly illogical why some random people who happened to be in the right place 14 centuries ago should be taken as any sort of authority. It's as black to them as it is white to you. We all think our own particular beliefs are the logical and common-sense way of looking at things. In matters of faith, all judgments are subjective by definition. It's human, but delusional and dangerous nevertheless, to assume that they extend to hold objectively.

by tboyd47 12y ago

cpursley 12y ago

I'm not familiar with Salafi. What are it's basic tenants?

tboyd47 12y ago
Salafi Islam is really just like mainstream Islam, meaning we believe like the other Muslims, pray the same way, etc. The only difference is how we view the companions of the Prophet (sall Allah alaihi wa sallam). We consider them to be authoritative sources on Islam, while a lot of Muslims see them as just regular people. So for example, say here we are living many centuries after Islam started, and someone comes and says they have a "new interpretation" of the Quran -- well, it's not really possible for that person to know the Quran better than the people who actually met the Prophet (sall Allah alaihi wa sallam) and learned it from him directly, while seeing him implement it in his life and hearing him explain it. That's the main tenet, I guess, and it's really just a logical and common-sense way of looking at things. That's probably the best I can do without going into too much detail. Thanks for showing interest.
- makeset 12y ago
  > it's really just a logical and common-sense way of looking at things. To you, yes. Plenty of other Muslims find it utterly illogical why some random people who happened to be in the right place 14 centuries ago should be taken as any sort of authority. It's as black to them as it is white to you. We all think our own particular beliefs are the logical and common-sense way of looking at things. In matters of faith, all judgments are subjective by definition. It's human, but delusional and dangerous nevertheless, to assume that they extend to hold objectively.