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youngsister
10-11-2006, 02:16 PM
:sl: I am doing a project at college , I choose to evaluate Islam.
The main question is:

Does age affect a person religious belief?
I need to explore different age groups and how they practise Islam.
I need help guys lol, tell me what you think.
:w:
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Re.TiReD
10-11-2006, 02:24 PM
:sl: age just makes you more mature and able to understand basic concepts better. ever wonder why the prophet received revelation at the age of 40? its coz a persons mind and body are fully developed at that age...:) thats the most i can think of...:) :w:
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DigitalStorm82
10-11-2006, 04:48 PM
Ever heard of this phrase?

"I'll get religious when I get older"

It shows a misconception many youth of today have regarding religious issues.

I think, mentally there is no "maturation" required in terms of religoin... look at the wife of Prophet Mohammad (sws). She was so young and yet the mother of the believers.

I think anyone can become religious at any point in their life... of course if Allah guides them to that path...

But the point is there is no difference between the ages... however, majority of the older people are religous because they are closer to their death and want to do good in this world... where as the youth have a mentality that they will wait till they are older to get religious...

So, in conclusion... doest age reflect left religious beliefs... no they dont.

Religion is just practiced more by older generations... thats all.. :)

Goodluck with paper and research.

W'salaamz,
Hamid
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Hijaabi22
10-11-2006, 09:12 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by youngsister
:sl: I am doing a project at college , I choose to evaluate Islam.
The main question is:

Does age affect a person religious belief?
I need to explore different age groups and how they practise Islam.
I need help guys lol, tell me what you think.
:w:
well personally I think the older U are the more knowldge of Islam U have therefore the more practisin U r, BUT there are many cases in which this isnt the case, I think U need sum statistics to bak U up, but lukin around its obvious that most teens are not practisin :? hmmmmm this project sounds phatttttttt Id luv 2 do sumat like that!
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Hijaabi22
10-11-2006, 09:15 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by DigitalStorm82
Ever heard of this phrase?

"I'll get religious when I get older"

W'salaamz,
Hamid

man thats the attitude of sooooo many youth today myself included :hiding:

Hus heard this PHAT nasheed by Native Deen, its called Hellfire, goes umat like this... sumat 4 us all 2 ponder on inshaAllah

........

What got me to this point, why am I not surprised.
No need for rewind, my life flashes right before my eyes,
I wasn’t unlike most, and specifically speaking
Grew up Muslim in public school, Islamic school on the weekend,
Once in a while made it to Jummah maybe not even that,
As far as Islam is concerned it really wasn’t where my head was at,
But it was cool if I made grades on the home front,
A 4.0 my parents bought me anything I want.
The "fly-est" gear to help me cop them digits,
Then maybe when I am 30 I'll become religious
But later came, my disposition stayed the same,
Live your life one way too long it's not so easy to change

I refrained from the things that was said to help me gain
And indulge in the things that I should of obstained
Mixed up caught up, going out of my brain
I guess it's about the time, I ran into "Mary Jane" (Marijuana)
Inhalations in my breath, got my mind thinking less, oh yes,
And in this state I met the angel of death,
And then came the time for Allah to resurrect,
My soul from the clutches of a six foot depth
I find myself surrounded by the company I kept
Realizing full well this was the day of regret
And over the horizon, slowly it crept,
Anticipation thoughts racing and I'm losing my breath
And with all my might my right arm I stretch,
Imagine my reaction, I caught my book in my left,
I caught my book in my LEFT!!! I caught my book in my left!
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جوري
10-12-2006, 11:06 AM
I think with age one is able to grasp abstract concepts much better......
try to evaluate this from Piaget's stages of cognitive development learning & you'll know exactly what I mean.... then contrast it with religion
.
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anonymous
10-12-2006, 11:45 AM
ibrahim got the message at 15 and he's amongst the top 5 of prophets... prophet Muhammad got the message at 40 n kept it up till he died. noah was as he was committed when he recieved his message till he hit age of 900 or so.

and they all came with Islam....

so Islam is dynamic across all ages :) and as the prophet said "the youth gave me victory, the old men failed me".... fromt he hadith we know that youth tend to be the most dynamic of the age spectrum.

salamz
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Ali_slave of Allah
10-12-2006, 11:48 AM
some ppl say i 'll get religiouse when i get like 30's n ..
who grantuees u can live till u reach 30 lol
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Re.TiReD
10-12-2006, 12:03 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by PurestAmbrosia
I think with age one is able to grasp abstract concepts much better......
try to evaluate this from Piaget's stages of cognitive development learning & you'll know exactly what I mean.... then contrast it with religion
.
lol...psychology..dont go there...:heated: if i could remember the study i'd understand it..:D lol

format_quote Originally Posted by Ali_slave of Allah
some ppl say i 'll get religiouse when i get like 30's n ..
who grantuees u can live till u reach 30 lol

yeah thats true, most people become more practisin when they get older coz they know they're closer to their grave but that doesnt mean younger people dont...its just when you're older you begin to realise more than ever that this life is not forever so they start to practice...

i've written a poem..goes sumfin like this...

but you know you're okay
till you start turnin grey
then you get out
the mats and the caps
open the Quran
and read it like you mean it...
its longer but this part relates to our way of thinking :heated: which is totally wrong, personally I get more satisfaction practisin ma deen now coz the time of ones youth is said to be the most difficult so you really feel as if you're accomplishing something :)

:w:
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Hijaabi22
10-13-2006, 09:31 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by PurestAmbrosia
I think with age one is able to grasp abstract concepts much better......
try to evaluate this from Piaget's stages of cognitive development learning & you'll know exactly what I mean.... then contrast it with religion
.
urgh piaget, dat man confuuuuusssin man
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Malaikah
10-14-2006, 01:59 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by PurestAmbrosia
try to evaluate this from Piaget's stages of cognitive development learning & you'll know exactly what I mean.... then contrast it with religion
:sl:

i might be totally wrong here.. but i thought his theory was about babies? well before puberty? :? if thats the case i dont see how we can apply this to the question at hand since i would assume the question could only really apply to mature people....

but like i said i could be totally wrong.

p.s. i dont think age has much to do with anything, there is just way too much diversity amongst people, i mean you have look also at how the culture and upbring and other stuff affect it as well... because age, i reckon, doesnt funtion on its own
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Ummu Sufyaan
10-16-2006, 06:14 AM
:sl:
try looking into the sahabas lives. see what age allah guided them.
hey, could you post up your essay, so that we ould read it, and help; you out with it. or if u dont want, pm it to me. it sounds very interesting. jazakallahu khair.
:sl:
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Curaezipirid
10-16-2006, 08:57 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by PurestAmbrosia
I think with age one is able to grasp abstract concepts much better......
try to evaluate this from Piaget's stages of cognitive development learning & you'll know exactly what I mean.... then contrast it with religion
.
Also there is a sound teaching used in Rudolph Steiner education (even though he aligned with nazism and theosophy so many of the families involved could be effected by the occult) about the development of a Human child. But particularly that part which is found in other cultures about the way in which children learn.

Children learn based in physical activity only until the change of teeth, from between 7 and 8.

From that time they learn based in emotions.

Then from around 14 children begin to be able to learn with their intellect of active mental processes.

Then another seven years later and the body changes again enabling the adult to accept further responsiblity; the another seven years and the person is able to experience respsonsiblity in expressing their lessons more openly in society.

I read somewhere about the teaching of Islam as to what is accomplished at ages 40, and up, going up in units of ten years. But since I am only 38 that much is really beyond me to teach.

However, if you are yourself young, then comprehending the nature of how age effects the experience of Religion is better learned by relating to the age group below that you are now in. Try even contemplating how to express to a younger person what it is like to be a bit older, and when you find you can not you might understand how the Religious experience changes with age. There is a sound biologicial basis.

Also; about that post clearly telling what age the Prophets were when they received their message: it is best to properly contextualise their experience.

Noah was old because when he was younger the flood was not happened yet.
Ibrahim was young because he needed to be prepared young, and clearly lived among those whom were able to believe a fifteen year old.
Mohammed was the right age to receive full comprehension of Qur'an and all other ahadith. But also we can know that all the Prophets, Peace and Allah's blessing go with them all, were enabled by good childhood preparation, and the exact experiences which they needed to comprehend reason in the message Allah needed for them to express. The reality of this fact is that all of the Prophets would have experienced the Prophesies being transmitted through their being as a magic-like comprehension of why all that has happened in their life has been. So each one of necessarily began to experience what is necessary for a Prophet right from birth. Each instance of any Prophesy connects many moments in time and space, and will have necessarily been connecting the Prophet with their own childhood experience as well as the future. Also within the same framework of Allah's will over long stretches of time, each Prophet connects with others in an enduring legacy.

When you study any material, like the simple question of what impact age has in the general experience of Religion, try studying that material in a field of perception lower that you, and then also a field of perception higher than you. Studying what ages different Prophets receive what messages will help. But perhaps also studying the life cycle of an Elephant could help.

Wasalam
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The Ruler
10-17-2006, 07:21 AM
:sl:

being religious may come with age...but thats like indirectly related...it depends on the person's experience not their actual age...get me?

:w:
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Grace Seeker
02-19-2007, 11:39 PM
Since you asked this question in response to a school assignment months ago, my guess is that it is all ancient history to you now. But I think it is a good question and might deserve a second look by the rest of us.

Though some here don't have much appreciation for psychologists, I do. I think the work of Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Erik Ericson might be particularly helpful in addressing your question: "Does age affect a person's religious belief?"

Now first, I'm going to make an assumption that you meant "effect" not "affect". "Effect" is like cause and effect refering to changes that take place because of something. While "affect" is a close synonym for "feelings" or "emotions". So, I understand your question to be about any connections that might exist between age and religious belief.

Certainly, age effects religious belief. I doubt that an infant is born with any particular religious beliefs at all. I'm not saying that an infant can't know God, but it is not any systemitized set of beliefs. What the infant knows, if any thing, comes as experiential knowledge. Then as one gets older and processes more information about the world one begins to develop a set of religious beliefs (or unbeliefs as may be the case with some). How one codifies these is going to, in part, be dependant not on any particular religion to which one is exposed or kept from, but simply on the way one processes information and relates to the world and others in it that is very age dependant.

A small child sees the world as centering on him/her. They don't know how to share, not one's toys, not one's food, not one's parents with others. Such a child if possessing any beliefs about God at all, probably has a very me-centered focus with respect to God also.

Then as one gets older we realize that these other people are independent beings. They are not just extensions of our own lives but have lives of their very own. That changes the way we view the world, and I would suspect changes the way we think about God. Only know, when we realize that the world does not revolve around me, can we conceive of a God who might be at the center of the universe.

Notice how children develop a sense of moral fairness. Again when they are young, fairness is all about how ti affects them. Take something from a child, no matter the reason, if they want it you will be accused of not being fair. But as they grow older they begin to have a sense of justice in which their are rewards and punishments connected with behavior that does or does not conform to what they perceive as being expected of them. Look at how much of our conversation on this board is simply restating God or Allah's position with respect to certain behaviors. A young child could not do this.

Now a few of our younger members might find this offensive, but it is not with that intent, but I think that just as children mature, so do adults. At a certain time in life, must people realize that God is not just about justice. That God is more than a scorekeeper, but is also gracious, showing mercy to us when we do not deserve it, simple because this is his nature. Thus we learn to look past others mistakes. This abilty to be forgiving and less judgmental is something that I think develops over time. There are some teenagers who get it and practice. But there are even more very old people who live this way. And, of course, some never do. And I think this is because as we get older, we have more life experiences where we realize that a simple do good type of justice is not quite sufficient to deal with the realities of life. Then we become more open to realizing that indeed God is not as demanding of that as we once thought.

Here the atheist might contend that we are just creating the God we need as we get older. I disagree, I think that we become more aware of deeper levels to the nature of God as we get older and learn to think more deeply ourselves.

So, I do think that age does effect a person's religious beliefs. And there is one other way that you can see it. Just by way of observation, I note that most of us (human beings, not just LI members) make a commitment to the religion that we ultimately practice while in our early teens, ask questions of it just before entering adulthood, and then either more on to something new or become more thoroughly committed to our way of life whether it be Islam, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, or simply a secular version of some religion. Yes, some do change later in life, but they seem to be the excpetion which proves the rule.
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