Tagwa (Abraham, human, paradise)

[Continuum]

Just in case any one want to discuss 'Tagwa'

Al-Muttaqin (Arabic: لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ‎ Al-Muttaqin) refers to those who practice taqwa, or in the words of Ibn Abbas -- "believers who avoid Shirk with Allah and who work in His obedience."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqwa

The Arabic word taqwa used in a not-necessarily-religious sense means "forbearance, fear and abstinence."[4]

Some descriptions of the term from Islamic sources include:
"God consciousness ... piousness, fear of Allah, love for Allah, and self restraint".[5]
"God-consciousness or God-fearing piety", "virtue", "wariness".[6]
Fear of Allah, "being careful, knowing your place in the cosmos". "Proof" of Taqwa is the "experience of awe" of God, which "inspires a person to be on guard against wrong action" and eager to do thing which please Allah.[7]
literally "to protect". In general, to protect yourself "from the Wrath of Allah" by not "indulging in things that Allah forbids".[8]
"a high state of heart, which keeps one conscious of Allah's presence and His Knowledge." Taqwa motivates the person who possesses it "to perform righteous deeds" and avoid forbidden activities.[4]

[Woodrow LI]

At some point in my studies I came across the phrase "Love of Allaah(swt) without taqwa is reduced to sentimentalism" or words to that effect. I can not remember where I heard it.

But with the concept of Taqwa (Which I find close in meaning to the Hebrew "yirat Elohim") seems to exist in all 4 Abrahamic Faiths. It basically comes across as a facet of love. Not the aversion that the word "fear" generally convey's.

The closest not religious concept would be the fear of offending a loved one.

[Continuum]

Originally Posted by Woodrow LI

At some point in my studies I came across the phrase "Love of Allaah(swt) without taqwa is reduced to sentimentalism" or words to that effect. I can not remember where I heard it.

But with the concept of Taqwa (Which I find close in meaning to the Hebrew "yirat Elohim") seems to exist in all 4 Abrahamic Faiths. It basically comes across as a facet of love. Not the aversion that the word "fear" generally convey's.

The closest not religious concept would be the fear of offending a loved one.

A more relevant word may be 'reverence'.

Reverence = a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration.
Dictionary.com.

But the very unfortunate thing is this reverence is tainted by the fear of Allah which is construe as a 'threat' in the Quran. This concept occur 190 times in the Quran.
This is not like the fear of offending a loved one. It is a fear of threat if a believer do not comply with the commands of Allah, Allah will not be pleased and their passage to Paradise will be hindered, delayed and the rewards for them will not be great.

I believe this concept of Tagwa contributed as a catalyst in triggering those evil prone Muslims who are born with natural tendency for evil to commit terrible evils and violence to please Allah.

[Khalif]

Originally Posted by Continuum

Just in case any one want to discuss 'Tagwa'

Al-Muttaqin (Arabic: لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ‎ Al-Muttaqin) refers to those who practice taqwa, or in the words of Ibn Abbas -- "believers who avoid Shirk with Allah and who work in His obedience."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqwa

Taqwa, like Eeman, is not something one will practice but something that permeates a personality making a person pious and righteous. At a stage in one' s life it gets imbedded in one's Self (Nafs).

[Continuum]

Originally Posted by Khalif

Taqwa, like Eeman, is not something one will practice but something that permeates a personality making a person pious and righteous. At a stage in one' s life it gets imbedded in one's Self (Nafs).

This is where you are ignorant of human nature and self-development in spirituality.

One element of Tagwa is God consciousness.

Here is one example of exercises to develop one's God conscious;

Spiritual Exercises: Developing God-consciousnessDaily Devotions for Dining with God

The first Annotation is that by this name of Spiritual Exercises is meant every way of examining one’s conscience, of meditating, of contemplating, of praying vocally and mentally, and of performing other spiritual actions, as will be said later.
For as strolling, walking and running are bodily exercises, so every way of preparing and disposing the soul to rid itself of all the disordered tendencies, and, after it is rid, to seek and find the Divine Will as to the management of one’s life for the salvation of the soul, is called a Spiritual Exercise.

The above from a quick search from Google. It is a basic sort of exercises to develop one's god consciousness.

I am aware of a wide range of exercise to develop one's god consciousness. Since I am a non-theist I do not agree with the term god-consciousness.

My perspective is that of the individual's spiritual development to realize its optimal potential to be a human being to contribute to the well being of humanity.

The fact is a person can only improve and realize his potential based on right beliefs, knowledge and right actions that change the relevant parts of the neurons in his brain that will increase his skills and competencies.
It is the same with a beginner tennis player striving to be a professional tennis player wherein there must be real changes in brain in relation to tennis skills via his knowledge, skills and practices. This principle is the same for all human skills including spiritual and religious ones.

The point is you have a messed up confusion with the terms Muslim [loose], Muslim [specific], Mumin and Mushin. This confusion will hinder the progress of your Muslim-ness [general] as a Muslim [general].

[Khalif]

After your last word on this topic, I have to say, "Peace".