Religion is a very personal topic for me. I try to live by a moral code that is based in my families teachings from our faith. I also try to be non-judgemental, and believe that what ever you believe is simply that, what you believe.
In college, i decided i was not going to believe in god anymore, and had a real challenge to my faith. i decided to take some class in comparative religion, and it was very interesting, to find there are many common features to most of the prevailing religions in the world. Of the 21 faith or beliefs systems that dominate our planet, there is a common Ethic of Reciprocity. The most commonly known version in North America is the Golden Rule of Christianity. It is often expressed as "Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you." There is no such ethic found in the Koran. The basis of the Golden Rule is the universal equality of all humankind, regardless of their religion, race or origin. It does not say: Do unto some persons, as you would have them do unto you, but do unto all persons as you would have them do unto you.
I asked a question looking for answers about this disconnect, and got this response.
Where is the golden rule in the Koran?
"Nowhere in the Koran is there an expression of the Golden Rule, therefore, it is of no importance in Islam and Muslims have no reason to observe it. Since Islam's most important message to humanity (the Noble Koran) does not contain the Golden Rule, it is logical that it was unimportant to Allah. This explains why he entirely omitted it from the Koran. The Golden Rule is held to be central by all religions except Islam.
In Islam, Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths, it would be "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." The caveat with the Islamic version is the view of humanity- for Islamic reciprocity is restricted to interactions between Muslim "brothers". (An infidel is not to be addressed as "brother" by a Muslim.) This limitation is further explained in Bukhari 8,73,70 Mohammed said: "Harming a Muslim is an evil act; killing a Muslim means rejecting Allah."
(Note: but harming or killing an infidel is a mere misdemeanour.) Islam divides the entire world into Islam and the Kafirs (unbelievers) and has two separate sets of ethics for each sphere.
Finally, the Koran itself makes it clear that brotherhood applies only towards other Muslims: (Koran 48:29) : "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are harsh against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other."
The basis of the Golden Rule is the universal equality of all humankind, regardless of their religion, race or origin. It does not say: Do unto some persons, as you would have them do unto you, but do unto all persons as you would have them do unto you.
Islam denies the universality of the Golden Rule because Islam starts with the division of all humanity, into two different groups: Islamic and non-Islamic. Every aspect of Islamic ethics is based upon this separation, thus Islam has two different ethical codes. Said another way, Islam has dualistic ethics. Thus, in Islam, "Good" is whatever advances Islam; "Evil" is whatever resists Islam."
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