What is Love?
Printed From: IslamiCity.org
Category: Culture & Community
Forum Name: Groups : Men (Brothers)
Forum Description: Groups : Men (Brothers)
URL: https://www.islamicity.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6702
Printed Date: 27 April 2024 at 5:15am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: What is Love?
Posted By: Israfil
Subject: What is Love?
Date Posted: 07 September 2006 at 2:28pm
|
One of the things I remembered during college studying in part of aesthetic philosophy was 'love.' The Professor asked us what is it? Of course everyone in the class answered with ideas of course a couple answers were: "Love is compassion" or "Love is respect" I even heard the scientific view that "Love is the extreme emotion of desire." Whatever love is it appears that we all as individuals define it throughout our lives whether its with our loved one or with our spouses. I have personally myself experienced love as both giver and receiver however the latter was only a deception by the other individuals part. A sister in the women's section brought up the question: What is better, love or arranged marriage? I heard a variety of answers and of course to another forum members convenience, she rearranges the question. However to answer such a question for face value which is more important? Of course as a philosopher I can answer it but as a man who has experienced both I can safely, and personally say that such a question depends on the individual. There is no straight forward answer. I as a Westerner abhore arrange marriages. I think this tradition does not teach personal choice and it is used to please others yet it is so fostered in tradition that children being arranged in marriages are in the sense forced to accept this reality. If I were to weigh which of the two is more 'free' I'd say love. Love although in itself can mislead the individual provides a personal choice through the individual's desire whereas to be arranged to someone not by personal choice you have to adapt as well as "learn to love." Now I understand some women of various cultures don't like an outsiders point of view to this particular tradition that is why I say it here but I'm sure I haven't escaped from the wrath of others. I frankly believe that whether love or to be arranged to love is defined by people. It can be personally right or wrong and too much of one can be bad as well as too little. Love if not sustained, can mislead us and allow us to overlook personal qualities that may be damaging in the future. However love can also allow us to fully expressed ourselves openly whereas before we would be so reluctant to do such. Love cannot be defined by an one person or any group and although it may be defined scientifically the true answers are always allusive because it changes from person to person. What say you O' Muslims? |
Replies:
Posted By: candid
Date Posted: 08 September 2006 at 12:13am
|
your life is not a movie. I suggest living simple. whenever people talk of love, why is it always that they only talk about romantic love? Love can be between siblings, children and parents, too.
|
Posted By: candid
Date Posted: 08 September 2006 at 12:22am
| Considering the content of the first post, the the topic should be "What is romantic love?" |
Posted By: Angel
Date Posted: 08 September 2006 at 4:49am
I agree with you Candid. -------------  ~ Our feet are earthbound, but our hearts and our minds have wings ~
|
candid wrote:Posted By: IslamicGirl
Date Posted: 08 September 2006 at 7:07am
|
My first & last TRUE LOVE is for My Lord ALONE, my creater: Allah (SWT). ------------- *Islamic Girl* |
Posted By: righteous_4ever
Date Posted: 08 September 2006 at 2:15pm
|
Asalam o Alaikum Here is the Webster dicitonary meaning of "love" 1 a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child> (2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates> b : an assurance of love <give her my love>2 : warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion <love of the sea> Hope that helps!
------------- Hadia |
Posted By: Angela
Date Posted: 08 September 2006 at 3:10pm
|
Famous Quotes on Love, My favorite is in Red. "The greatest science in the world; in heaven and on earth; is love." |
Posted By: Angela
Date Posted: 08 September 2006 at 3:22pm
|
I was looking for the Virtue of Love when I found this text on the OCA Website. (Orthodox Church of America) I really liked the breakdown.
|
Posted By: Israfil
Date Posted: 11 September 2006 at 4:57pm
|
There are a variety of opinions here, but I've come up with my own
theory. I believe that "love" is both cumulative and accumulated through a series of emotions. Love can be seen as cumulative because when we meet someone we "develop" feelings for them. With success, our compatibility will lead our thoughts to develop a positive image of the person. Along with this comes the variety of emotions we develop such as affection, sensitivity, trust, loyalty. Of course with luck (and God's help) these emotions over time sustain themselves which leads me to the sustained, or accumulated emotions. Over time, our emotions are solidified and amplified. Of course the prior does not explain how we show how we "truly" love someone but usually the measurement of our love is our behavior towards the person whom is being loved. The fact that we show a behavior "not typical" of a friend which reflects more affection, and passion is usually our gauge for "love" of the person. I choose not to include loyalty because loyalty cannot be measured in degrees. It's black and white. You are either loyal or not. The same can be said for trust as well, you either trust the person or you don't. Of course one can make the argument of wariness of trust, but when it comes to love trust is absolute and even if one is wary of the person this is part of the cumulative process of love. We cannot semi trust someone and say we love them. We either trust them or not. I can take love as how my friends take it. "Love is like biter beer, you have to have an acquired taste to enjoy it." For those who hold love as undefinable the theory still holds since we define our love for someone as part of our emotion it is still categorized in this theory. Love in it of itself is not abstract from ourselves it is apart of our emotions. In essence it is what we've developed. |
Posted By: Israfil
Date Posted: 11 September 2006 at 5:03pm
|
My above theory doesn't contradict my earlier post since "love" is a choice
that we make when partaking in our marital relationships. Our even before marriage it is something that we choose to develop. |
Posted By: Angel
Date Posted: 12 September 2006 at 2:48am
|
What happens with the saying "can't help feeling the way we/I do" ------------- ~ Our feet are earthbound, but our hearts and our minds have wings ~
|
Posted By: Israfil
Date Posted: 12 September 2006 at 4:24pm
|
Can't help feeling the way you/we do about what? Love?
If that is the case then that feeling would be nothing more than just an overwhelming effactuation of someone. Such as the case "love at first sight." I'm sure in some rare cases individuals do see something in somone and say "I'm in love." However, what we define as true love is the quantitative truth within our "accumulated" feelings. Our longevity within a relationship is also another maxim of this. If I see a stranger and I introduce myself and we click and we find within each something we are fond about this is the start of cumulative feelings, but this should not be mistaken for love as some people do. Even if I were to say I "love" this person we must test ourselves when saying this. I don't think no person can find true love in a perfect stranger even when striking a conversation. Even in the rare case where it does happen you cannot know if that is true love because like most (if not all relationships) there is no determination that shows whether we will be with this person forever. |
Posted By: rookaiya
Date Posted: 05 January 2007 at 4:02am
|
does true love mean u have to be with the person forever, is it not possible to experience love that is true for only a brief time. what does true love have to do with the amount of time u spend with the person. two people can live unhappily together for years making each other miserable, as opposed to 2 others who share a brief encounter. will the former be true love cos of the duration of time spent togther. i dont agree with that line of thinking. |
Posted By: candid
Date Posted: 06 January 2007 at 9:06pm
First of all, I distinguish between love and 'romance'. Love is durable and commital. It is a responsibility(and its not just between romantic 'lovers' (if at all), it can be between siblings, parents and children or between friends). Romance is fleeting and delusionary. Romance might mean challenging the world but it does not mean struggling against hardships.
|
Posted By: Patty
Date Posted: 30 January 2007 at 4:54pm
|
There are many kinds of love. What I am describing is romantic or emotional "love", which becomes something much more. I believe many times we confuse "love" with infatuation. Infatuation is that "oh my gosh, I've got to marry him/her or I'll just absolutely die" type of feeling. After a period of time it dies down. Even if we do marry this person we "just can't live without", we lose that immense passion we felt in the beginning of the relationship....and we're supposed to. What happens is we enter into a much deeper emotion....the real, true, and everlasting feeling we have named "love". We develope great respect and admiration for that person. Putting their feelings above our own many times. As time goes by in the land of true love, usually after we have been married for some time, we find great peace and happiness just being with that person, because now we have "bonded" and we are very much connected emotionally to one another. This is how it is meant to be......and it's wonderful. It's not now all about s-x....it's much deeper than that. Once you really find it, you don't have to ask.....you know. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Peace and Joy to All. ------------- Patty I don't know what the future holds....but I know who holds the future. |
Posted By: .:: SoHaIB ::.
Date Posted: 24 March 2007 at 8:53am
|
Have only loved three things iin my life AllAH ( SWT) Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH) My good Ol'Gramps ( HEs THE BEST!! ) Not really into romance and all that mushy stuff ------------- 
|
Posted By: .:: SoHaIB ::.
Date Posted: 24 March 2007 at 1:31pm
|
Although they do say that True love is desiring happiness for the person you love, even if you are not a part of that happiness. -------------
|
Posted By: Megatron
Date Posted: 11 April 2007 at 10:52pm
|
Love is just Nature/God's way to make sure that people reproduce with one another or in the case of children, it's a way to protect your progeny. It's completely artificial and fake. For those who say they 'love' God, I say do you really , 'love' God or do you 'love' the idea that an all powerful deity will provide you with paradise and spare you from Hell. Human's are selfish both from a biological and spiritual perspective. Love isn't real. |
Posted By: rookaiya
Date Posted: 11 April 2007 at 10:58pm
|
megatron i couldnt agree more. there is no such thing as love. its an idea that is conjured up in ones head. but its lack clear definition and has enslaved many people in the past. so much has been said about love, yet love is something that just makes no sense at all. love is blind, love hopes all things and belives all things...these are all meaningless words. bottom line is that love doesnt pay the bills, nor does love keep u company in the middle of the night. how many people claim to love you, yet their actions are contrary to their claims. love is just an over rated concept, which i steer clear of. ------------- "so surely with every difficulty there is relief. Surely with every difficulty there is relief. Surah 94. verses 5 and 6 |
Posted By: shoe ba
Date Posted: 31 May 2007 at 9:38am
|
I really want to reply here, but I am not sure what to say...but here goes! Love is undefinable, as you say, and doesn't have much to do with certain major details of living like paying bills. But it kind of does too. Why would you commit to solving major problems, like paying for things, if you didn't love the person you were doing this for? Both partners, when they love each other, show it by doing things for one another and asking each others opinions about household matters and thinking of the other person when shopping or arranging furniture. It all sounds so silly, but these are the actions of love. ------------- Insert funny comment here |
Posted By: Israfil
Date Posted: 12 June 2007 at 12:28pm
I disagree..You shouldn't get procreation confused with love. One is instinctual and the other made with emotion (mainly in the Amygdala). |