THE GOLDEN RULE

Jesus taught:

> So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,
> for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

This guiding principle for living in society is called the Golden Rule. It also exists in the negative form:

> Don't do to others what you do not want others do to you.

This teaching is found in many if not most religions, and even in secular world view systems. According to Jesus, this rule sums up the commands that God has given for living in relationship with others. Even many atheist and humanist thinkers make it the basis of their systems of ethics. It appeals to them with its lack of reference to divine authority.

The value of this rule is self-evident:

> ... it is not possible to conceive of a rational person, be he Jew or Gentile, saint or savage, bond or free, contesting the Golden Rule as a standard by which to judge the conduct of his fellow creatures, however careless he may be about living up to that standard himself. (John Bigelow; source)

Although this rule is found in most religions, Islam is a glaring exception. What is worse, not only does Islam not teach the Golden Rule, it is actively violating it in many respects.

The following link shows a long but very revealing debate about this issue between ex-Muslim Ali Sina and Yamin Zakaria, a Muslim who went so far to even question the legitimacy of the Golden Rule:

http://www.faithfreedom.org/debates/YaminZakariap8.htm

Ali Sina then followed this up with a general article on the topic: The Golden Rule and Islam

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