Islamic Thoughts

• ANALYSES
• 1 Behavior code of Muslims toward non-Muslims
• 2 September 11 (2001) attacks on America not compatible with Islam
• 3 Ways To Defuse Religious Tensions
• 4 The Value Of The Ten Commandments
• 5 Bright Spot Of The Us Constitution: Religious Freedom
• 6 Lessons from the prophet's hudaibiah treaty.
• 7 Rulers' roles in promotion of christianity.
• 8 Exploring a model definition of 'religion'
• 9 Where islam stands as a civilized religion?
• 10 Proving god's existence through experimental science.
• 11 Roles of man as necessary & God as sufficient condition.
• 12 Human kindness is a shadow of god's kindness.
• 13 Why islam is the best choice for the Africans?
• 14 In Old Age, All Roads Lead To Death.
• 15 No Creations Are Without Purposes & Uses.
• 16 Prayer Prevents People From Bad Actions.
• 17 When Haram May Be Excusable: Five-Step Conditions.
• 18 Islamization Of Some Un-Islamic Cultures.
• 19 Greater The Faith, Tougher The Test.
• 20 How Science Can Make A Difference For Muslims?
• 21 The Time Gap Reality Between Sin & Punishment.
• 22 Good & Bad Days Alternate In Cyclic Order.
• 23 Let Moon-Sighting Unite & Not Divide The Muslims.
• 24 Faith Crisis Among Some Intellectuals.
• 25 Islamic Policy Toward Animals.
• 26 Improving The Muslim Performance (Aamal) Standard.
• ARGUMENTS
• 27 How Middle Course Better Than Conservative And Liberal Extremes?
• 28 Why God Is The Best One To Be Worshipped?
• 29 Costs And Benefits Of Belief In The Afterlife
• 30 Bible Is Similar To Hadith But Different From Quran
• 31 Defaming Islam: Freedom Of Speech Or Violation Of Rights?
• 32 How Islam Compares With Democracy?
• 33 Who Is Responsible For '0' Small Pox Since 1980?
• 34 Timeliness Is The Leading Condition For Prayer.
• 35 Ten Arguments For Women's Education.
• 36 Why Physical Fitness Matters For The Muslims?
• 37 Homosexuality Vs Adultery: Which Is Worse And How?
• 38 Countering Abortionist Argument
• 39 Which Is Better: Open Or Secret Prayer?
• 40 Small Or Large Recitation: Which Is Better In Prayer?
• 41 Personal Or Social Suffering: Which Is More Painful & Why?
• 42 Cultural Slavery Vs Cultural Diffusion.
• 43 Why Should America Ban Religious Defamation?
• ASSORTMENTS
• 44 Visible Action Of Invisible God: From Author's Diary.
• 45 Optional Good Deeds Are Like Bodyguards For Compulsory Ones.
• 46 The Gravitation Law Of Performance (Not One Of Newton).
• 47 The Theory Of Relativity (Not That Of Einstein).
• 48 In Good Deeds
• 49 "Rob Peter to pay Paul" is not for islam
• 50 Muslims Cannot Be "Penny Wise And Pound Foolish".
• 51 Islam Endorses Salad Bowl & Not Melting Pot Theory.
• 52 100% Homosexuality Means Prospect Of 'O' World Population.
• 53 Sinning In Teens To 40's & Suffering From 50's To Death.
• 54 Revenge May Be Lower But Not Greater Than Harm.
• 55 Why Karl Marx Is Irrelevant Forever?
• 56 Is God The Same One For All Religions?
• 57 How God Controls Economy And Livelihood?
• 58 How Muslim Repression In Myanmar Violates Buddhist Principles?
• MISCELLANEOUS
• 59 Grim Reality of Death: Unfailing Lesson for Everyone

41 : PERSONAL OR SOCIAL SUFFERING: WHICH IS MORE PAINFUL & HOW?

All major sins, if not forgiven, will end up with some form of punishment from God, causing sufferings for the sinner. Such punitive consequences of sins may be classified into 2 categories: personal and social, as described below.
Personal: Personal sins are linked with (a) violation of personal obligations including prayer, zakah, hajj, fasting etc. or (b) involvement in major sins ('haram') like partnership with God ('shirk'), atheism, adultery, murder, illegal earnings etc. Such sins are the root cause of individualized punishment from God in the form of diseases, injury, poverty, mental agony etc. These mostly affect your personal life and do not inflict much pain on the society around you.

Social: Social sins are committed through defaulting in social obligations like promoting Islam, resisting social sins, proper burial of body etc. Such obligations represent collective responsibility for the society. If some members of the society can successfully bear this, then the society as a whole will be cleared of this obligation. Otherwise, the entire society will be faulted for inaction. Such social sins will invite social punishments like war, riot, epidemic, famine, ruler's oppression etc., that bring bitter taste of sufferings for the entire society.

Now the question is: between personal and social punishment, which inflicts more pain and how? The answer is certainly points toward social punishment. Because, when a few persons or a small section of the society suffer from personal problems like hunger, disease, quarrel, tension etc., then the benevolent society around them may come to their help and lessen much of their sufferings. But when the society as a whole faces nationwide disasters like war, famine, pandemic etc., then almost everyone will be among the victims and there will be hardly anyone to be on the safe side, in order to be able to help the distressed. So it seems obvious that social sufferings are more painful than personal punishment.