What are some of the benefits of being a Muslim?

Before I state anything, I need to tell you that I am not Muslim. From that standpoint I think that one of the benefits that I see is the structure, the willingness to be disciplined in their approach, the way that they stick to a set, balanced way of life.

For men: 72 virgins

For women who die as virgins: only having to have a 1/72 share in a man who wants 72 virgins

Being part of a cohesive community, I would imagine.

The 72 Virgins Myth is viewed by mainstream Muslims as something akin to diapered baby angels on clouds with harps. The inference that the houri are virgin women is far from the common perception.

Also, that cannot be a benefit – it’s unfalsifiable and unprovable, and therefore can’t be measured in terms of cost or benefit.

The same benefit that most religions confer, namely removing the stress of being an insignificant, meaningless speck in a vast, indifferent universe?

After meeting muslims in many countries from Indonesia to Europe, I would hardly call them a cohesive community. And the vast majority weren’t willing to be disciplined in their approach and they didn’t stick to a set, balanced way of life. This is what I observed after living a several years in four muslim countries and visiting several others.

@meiosis – that would be removed by belief and faith moreso than religion.

Benefits aren’t really what matter. What is important is being a part of what you believe is true.

I couldn’t imagine a Baptist being a Penticostal because the meetings are more fun, or a Penticostal being a Baptist because the music is better.

@iamthemob That’s just semantics. It’s hard to be religious without faith and belief, and the major religions tends to have “you’re very special to god, death is not the end” motifs associated with their dogma.

The same benefits as any religion: Comfort and community that stagnate critical thinking.

@meiosis – that’s not semantics. Faith and belief can exist without religious structures. Therefore, one needn’t adhere to one religion or the other to gain the benefit that you mention. So, each religion, in some way, must offer a benefit or can be beneficial for people in various ways that at least make it seem or feel different from another.

@Blackberry – You of course have the right to say whatever you want, however it is clear that your statement is sarcastic, and a jab at religion generally. I clearly asked for benefits only, and I knew some people would use it to make petty comments regardless of that. Personally, I find the repeated need to make such petty comments the more significant contributor to the stagnation of critical thinking.

Each Muslim gets two personal angels to follow them around and look out for them, one over the left shoulder, and one over the right. It’s always nice to know someone has your back.

@GeorgeGee – that cannot be a benefit – it’s unfalsifiable and unprovable, and therefore can’t be measured in terms of cost or benefit.

@iamthemob Ok sorry…...But I was serious about the community part. That’s why any of them do it….right? Besides the asinine reasons like thinking their religion is the true religion.

@Blackberry – If you’re asking, then…you don’t really have an answer to the question, do you?

@iamthemob Well, I have speculation, and there are already some studies suggesting why people believe in religion and god. The generally accepted reasons like community, needing those feelings of security to deal with the notion of death, the stress relief it provides etc. So I guess I have some type of answer lol.

@Blackberry – I was asking about being a Muslim, though…not being religious. What is the particular benefit, etc.

@iamthemob Essentially, they’re all the same.

@Blackberry – That’s obviously incorrect.

Asking the benefits of a religion and then making disparaging remarks about answers saying they are “unprovable” is nonsense. All of religion in that sense is unprovable so this is a bait-and-dump effort. Your question asked what the benefits are, not what “scientifically provable” elements of the religion exist. It’s clear you want only to take potshots at Islam and that quite frankly is idiotic.

@iamthemob The differences don’t matter for your actual question. You are asking what the benefits of being a Muslim are. Well, the benefits are same if you are a Christian as well. The only difference is one person was raised in a different geographical location. The reasons for being a muslim or christian are the same.

@GeorgeGee – see above – there are several examples of why the prayer pillar provides solace and regularity to ones life. It is possible to answer the question seriously – and you clearly were not. The concrete example given above is one which can be shown to be a benefit, or understood as one, using natural means of observation.

The idea that the spiritual elements of a religion are the only reward, dismissing the practice of it, is just ignorant. And, if you’ll read this thread, I think you’ll see my motivation for the question is more than likely the exact opposite of “taking potshots.” It’s more along the lines of me being deathly afraid of the effects of Islamaphobia that I’ve been noticing recently.

@Blackberry – If that’s your assertion, than your answer is moot. Then there is no benefit, according to your logic, and therefore you can’t provide an answer that the question is requesting.

There are benefits, but they are not specific to being Muslim is what I’m trying to say lol. So yes, I guess there are no exclusive, logical benefits to being muslim.

@Blackberry – Same answer as above. If you can’t imagine there being one, does that mean that there isn’t? How much research have you done into the religion and its history to be confident that it has provided, or doesn’t generally provide, any particular experience that differs from other religions in some way?

Very low probability of contracting trichinosis, the worm you get from undercooked pork.

@iamthemob Like you responded to the people that gave irrational answers like 72 virgins, their specific benefits are unprovable. But studies like these all center on one aspect: the brain.

The brain is what receives the information parents teach to their kids as they grow up, which becomes a part of their thought process. People are subject to proselytization and that influences them. Culture, how you were raised etc. It all helps determine what you think. All of the magical crap you said was unprovable is not even worth discussing because it is just that: unprovable.

@iamthemob, prove you exist. Ah, you can’t, so you are irrelevant. And you must be wrong, because by definition, people who do not exist can not be correct.

@Blackberry – I’ve already commented on the prayer pillar – it would be a natural and observable benefit if the prayer pillar provides a framework to organize ones life and meditation on. I haven’t said any “magic crap” so I don’t know what you’re talking about.

We’re looking at real world potential benefits. Not everything, again, about a religion is the “magical crap.”

@GeorgeGee – and I disappear in a puff of… logic (?) ;-)

How ‘bout we just say tangible benefits and leave intangibles to another question. I think the thread is deteriorating into meta discussion instead of the benefits of Islam.

Anyway, I recall an interview with an American woman who moved to Iran and converted and wore a veil, whole nine yards.

And she said becoming subservient to her husband gave her freedom. Because she didn’t have to waste time making decisions.

I wouldn’t call that a benefit but she believed it.

@jaytkay – smashing idea. ;-)

@GeorgeGee “prove you exist. Ah, you can’t, so you are irrelevant”
What the hell are you talking about…..? He’s a physical entity engaging in coversation with you right now.

@iamthemob I believe the benefits of being a muslim (just like any other religion) are the effects it has on your brain. And now I feel like an idiot because I could have said that initially LOL!

I would assume that not eating pork, not consuming alcohol, etc. would be healthier.

@Blackberry – Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. ;-).

In essence, though, then we could relate that to medication…certain drugs work for some people and not others. I don’t want to make it sound like it’s a drug, of course…but we can say that there are cultures and rituals associated with the Catholic church that certainly aren’t associated with the Baptists – and the particular way you choose to participate in the belief is concrete and may be because that particular method of worship is what allows you to feel the universal sense of community shared between religions.

There seems to be a lot of badmouthing of Islam right now, to the point where I’m concerned…very much so. I was hoping that we could have a open discussion to figure out the good things about it, and was hoping that, I’m sorry…but I’ll say those coming in from different religions or atheistic standpoint would try to respect that we’re actually taking about the good that Islam can do.

And thank you, @phaedryx. ;-)

@phaedryx Wow, I never thought of that…..great job. It seemed so simple : ) I think we found one good thing lol.

So I passed on your question to my best friend who is a Muslim and this is his response

” The primary benefit that I can think of right now stems from the principle of the oneness of divinity – which, I think,is fairly unique to Islam, and has been interpreted in practical terms as not only not worshipping ‘false’ idols/other gods’, but also not being held to worldy gods and ideas like money, ideology, prior traditions. This has led to many Muslims questioning, speaking truth to power, and critiquing social hierarchies. Judaism also has a strong emphasis on the oneness of divinity and I don’t know very much abt the it, but there is a priority given to this principle in islam that really informs the whole philosophy of the religion as well as the legal structure that then stems from it. Finally, there is the absense of an intermediary between you and God – unlike in most other religious traditions, you dont have to go through a priest or rabbi to come up with your own interpretations, or your community’s interpretations, which leads to the diversity of thought in different peoples’ religiosity. This particular notion was a very ground-breaking concept in religion, as it upended the priestly power structure way before the reformation and it’s one that makes me stick around. ”

um, also, the two of you would make an awesome couple, just saying.

This might also be interesting: http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=health+benefits+of+ramadan

@Simone_De_Beauvoir – the interesting thing about Islam, as opposed to some Christian sects, is that one needs to speak their oneness with god I think about two times in front of people, and of course mean it, and they’re considered a Muslim.

So there’s no built-in leadership structure through which you must go to get to be considered part of the religion.

Probably being Muslim provides a certain type of protection in prison.

@YARNLADY – I’m almost afraid to ask…how so, and why is that the answer you came to?

@GeorgeGee ‘s response reminds me of a GA my wife gave a while back

can I say that I have been very, very afraid of @GeorgeGee‘s avatar?

@iamthemob The protection is in being part of the dominant group.

Christians make up 80% of the prison population.

Being allowed to visit Mecca is a pretty cool, in my book.

a sense of purpose,
a moral code,
a feeling of solidarity and transcendentalism through communal prayer,
the capacity to accept things as they are and the peace that brings by subordinating causality to God’s will,
a strict adherence to traditional values that reduces temptation and the anxiety of moral dilemmas,
less existentialist angst/anguish
less anxiety about death
the Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, if only for the grandeur of his name and title, as it rolls luxuriously of the tongue :P
and last but by no means least, the unimpeachable revelation that Globalisation is the grand design of Satan :)

Wasn’t it Pee-Wee Herman who said “Mecca-lecka-hai, Mecca hiney ho?”

@GeorgeGee Wasn’t that his genie, Jambi?

@iamthemob “Faith and belief can exist without religious structures”

Yes, they can, but the oppposite is not the case. Religion requires faith and belief, being a muslim requires faith and belief, and this faith and belief provides a comfort that one isn’t a mere speck in an indifferent universe.

“Therefore, one needn’t adhere to one religion or the other to gain the benefit that you mention.”

No, you’re absolutely right. Your question, however, didn’t ask what were the exclusive benefits of being a muslim.

“So, each religion, in some way, must offer a benefit or can be beneficial for people in various ways that at least make it seem or feel different from another.”

How do you come to this conclusion? Why should religions be mutually exclusive to each other? Why would they, when they all have essentially the same product on offer?

@meiosis your religious prejudices are silly.

@mammal Where do you see prejudice in @meiosis post?

@cockswain – How do you come to this conclusion? Why should religions be mutually exclusive to each other? Why would they, when they all have essentially the same product on offer?

QED

@mammal @iamthemob It’s bizarre that you should see prejudice in what I’ve written. Disrespectful, possibly, but prejudiced? No.

Prejudice simply means that you assume general qualities about something before the information needed to make any judgment about the thing.

It’s clear that you can’t make the statement that all religions cannot be mutually exclusive because they have the same product to offer. It ignores the rich diversity in religions as well as the subjective experience of them.

Mutually exclusive obviously means something very different to you, in the context of religion, as it does to me. If we were to draw a venn diagram of religions, there would be a very large area of overlap. They may all be wonderfully diverse in the practises involved, but from what I remember of my religious studies classes, a creation myth, omnipotent and omniscient being(s) and judgement/reward/punishment after death are all common, and major, themes.

@meiosis – Then we have the same concept of “mutually exclusive” – the right one. However, because there are both overlaps and differences, religions cannot be mutually exclusive, and you should not characterize my argument as such. However, what they offer to each individual may be different to some, and that’s what they find as the benefit.

Because you assume that they are too alike to be different to anyone, as your last question “when they all have essentially the same product to offer?” indicated regardless of your intent, you are unable to see an individual benefit and therefore say there is none. Therefore, you are neither (1) the person at whom the question is addressed, as your answer is meant to negate it, and (2) the fact that you are attempting negate it reveals that your prejudice regarding religion’s value prevent you from determining the individual value of one or the other.

Oh, I’m terribly sorry. I must have missed the bit in the question where you asked only for what you perceive to be positive benefits.

You asked for what we saw as the benefits, I gave you what I consider to be the main benefit of Islam.

“The same benefit that most religions confer, namely removing the stress of being an insignificant, meaningless speck in a vast, indifferent universe?”

(1) Written as a question, rhetorically suggesting, therefore, that there is no benefit.

(2) It is clear that the question is in reference to being Muslim or practicing Islam, not religions.

(3) Asking for benefits about Islam or being a Muslim has nothing to do with asking about my subjective perceived benefits – it has to do with other peoples subjective experience of it.

Therefore, I haven’t asked for what I thought to be the benefits. I asked about Islam. You answered about religion, and collapsed Islam into it. Therefore, you did not answer the question, as that answer is stating that Islam is not different, and therefore there are no benefits. As I clearly asked for benefits only, you have not addressed the question.

Decide to become part of a growing movement of Muslims eager to reform Islam trying to avoid the mistakes Christianity has made in the past while it was evolving. With the Internet and satellite tv this reformation might only take one or two generations compared to several centuries needed for Christianity.

In a book that I read recently I found another benefit:

Between Muslims there’s no racism whatever the color of the skin might be.

Between Muslims there’s no racism whatever the color of the skin might be

Riiiiiight.

Yes, racism seems to be a Christian phenomenon. I find this quite amazing.

I think that racism is more of a “Colonial” or “Empire” phenomenon…therefore (1) considering that colonial powers were overwhelmingly Christian in modern times, there is an intimate connection between the two that is ironic considering the basic inclusive messages in NT dogma, and (2) Christianity was used by colonial powers as an excuse to clear or convert inferior or uncivilized cultures, religion or god always being the on of the most useful ways to justify an atrocity, and ironic for the same reason as above.

Nonsense. Racism is a global phenomenon, not limited to any particular group or culture.

@meiosis – Prejudice yes. Oppression, indeed. But much like sexism, it’s difficult for racism to exist without a power structure (institutional racism) supporting it.

@iamthemob agreed, and there are power structures in all societies. For example, the Micronesian people of West Papua In Indonesia make credible claims of racism at the hands of the more powerful Asian peoples who dominate the rest of Indonesia

@mattbrowne my first thought: what about the Kurds in Iraq?

@phaedryx – Good question. The same would apply to the Kurds in Turkey. I think this discrimination might be based on nationalism or other political reasons. But it would still contradict the observation made in the book I read.