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"The fact that a believer is happier
than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is
happier than a sober one."…George Bernard Shaw ARE
MUSLIM INTELLUCTIALS DUMBS?
By
Sher Khan I am not an
Intellectual or a professional. I am not a doctor, engineer or an academic.
Honestly, I am not a writer either. As you will go through this article, you may
find several grammatical errors and lack of a scholar’s comments. However,
there should not be any spelling mistake except for non-English words. Kafir
(Unbeliever), Bill Gates invented Microsoft Office Words and added only English
words in spelling check. Unlike Quranic miracles this wonder of science helps me
a lot. As long as you understand what I meant, please don’t complain. I am a
simple man. I believe, right is right and wrong is wrong. I believe truth is one
and only, whereas untrue have numerous colors and faces. I do not believe what I
read. I use my own judgment and think pragmatically. I use the golden rules of
logic and reason to convince myself. Aristotle once said, "Plato is dear to
me, but dearer still is truth." O ye who
read, behold! I am here not to write my biography. I am not a famous or a pious
person that my biography will be an impressive one. Lately, I am
trying to understand our Muslim Intellectual’s mind. They attain highest
degrees from Universities and they are the experts in their areas. People like
me should be admiring their intelligence and knowledge. With due respect, I
don’t understand how they comprise religion with their philosophy, work
ethics, subject matters and their belief. Precisely, I am talking about our
great (!) religion Islam. I will be
quoting a few ahadith. Please note these are from Sahih Bukhari, which is
authentic, and a main resource to follow sunnah . Volume 7, Book 71, Number 588: Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: A man came to the Prophet and said, "My brother
has some abdominal trouble." The Prophet said to him "Let him drink
honey."…… then said, "Allah has said the truth, but your brother's
abdomen has told a lie." So he made him drink honey and he was cured. I have not seen any doctor prescribing
honey for abdominal pains. Why not the Muslim doctors follow these easy
solutions! Volume 7, Book 71, Number 582: Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "There is no disease that
Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment." Volume 7, Book 71, Number 591: Narrated Khalid bin Sad: "……….Prophet saying, 'This black
cumin is healing for all diseases except As-Sam.' Aisha said, 'What is As-Sam?'
He said, 'Death." Can you
imagine! How these doctors and pharmaceuticals companies have ripped us off? All
these pharmaceuticals companies from the west made big money just selling black
cumin in their drugs! Volume 7, Book 71, Number 596: Narrated Um Qais bint Mihsan: I heard the Prophet saying, "Treat with
the Indian incense, for it has healing for seven diseases; it is to be
sniffed by one having throat trouble, and to be put into one side of the mouth
of one suffering from pleurisy." ……. Volume 7, Book 71, Number 629: Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "He (a Muslim) who dies
of an abdominal disease is a martyr, and he who dies of plague is a
martyr." Volume 7, Book 71, Number 631: Narrated 'Aisha: During the Prophet's fatal illness, he used to
recite the Mu'auwidhat (Surat An-Nas and Surat Al-Falaq) and then blow his
breath over his body. When his illness was aggravated, I used to recite
those two Suras and blow my breath over him and make him rub his body with his
own hand for its blessings." ….. Volume 7, Book 71, Number 632:Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: Some of the companions of the
Prophet came across a tribe amongst the tribes of the Arabs……the chief of
that tribe was bitten by a snake (or stung by a scorpion). They said,
.."Have you got any medicine with you or anybody who can treat with Ruqya…...
One of them (the Prophet's companions) started reciting Surat-al-Fatiha
and gathering his saliva and spitting it (at the snake-bite). The patient got
cured and his people presented the sheep to them, but they said,
"We will not take it unless we ask the Prophet (whether it is
lawful)." When they asked him, he smiled and said, "How do you
know that Surat-al-Fatiha is a Ruqya? Take it (flock of sheep) and assign a
share for me." I am sure no
Muslim doctor practices this way. How do they deal with their faith in their
professional life? It’s well known that Darwin's theory of
evolution has a big time enmity with Quranic explanation. As a matter of fact,
Saudi Universities don't teach these theories. They even banned Pokemon cards
due to the same reason. Everyone knows about this contention so I am not going
to quote anything on this issue but I like to remind our Muslim intellectuals
that clash between science & religion is inevitable. It's a deadly conflict.
These two cannot prosper together. "Where knowledge ends, religion begins." [Benjamin Disraeli] We would never get Archimedas’s
principle of buoyancy or basic laws of hydrostatics, if he was not born before
Islamic age. Imagine him running in the street of an Islamic country naked
and shouting “eureka” “eureka”. He sure would have been beheaded before
he could convey his discovery. "Say to the believing men
that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that
will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all
that they do." Most of the real scientists and
philosophers do not believe any religion. They cannot afford to limit their
thinking with religious guidelines. Here is an interesting report. "Mr. Speaker, a new report says only 7%
of scientists believe in God. That is right. And the reason they gave
was that the scientists are super smart. Unbelievable. Most of these
absent-minded professors cannot find the toilet." [Congressman James Traficant,
August 3, 1998. House record page H6885] Both scientists and prophets live in a
state of meditation. The difference is, one meditates to find the truth and the
other pretends to find God. According to famous psychiatrist Thomas Szasz. "If you talk to God, you're praying; if God
talks to you, you have schizophrenia." [Thomas Szasz (b. 1920), U.S.
psychiatrist.The Second Sin,"Schizophrenia" (1973)] To believe,
or not to believe, that’s the question? If you believe, your mind will work
like a puritan. Religious teachings will encircle all your knowledge. No matter
how many books you read, your knowledge is limited. It will not go beyond the
textbook. Your thinking process is a puddle of water. If you do not believe,
limit of your thinking is unbounded. Whatever you read, you challenge, you think
and you look for something new. Your thinking process will roar like waves of
ocean and thoughts will erupt like volcanic expulsion. Only then, another
Einstein may emerge from our Muslim (I mean, ex-Muslim) community. Last few decades, a new trend of Islam is
going on. Some scholars are trying to prove that Quran is scientific. Sad part
is, most of our Muslim intellectuals have joined these flock. All these claims
are so childish that only a 2nd grader can be fooled or a Muslim who
deliberately desires to be fooled. So far, no one has invented anything out of
Quran. Emphatically, there is no Allah or God monitoring our actions. If there
were one, he would be laughing so loud that whole earth would start shaking and
may have caused a major disaster. "All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out
of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry."[Edgar Allan Poe] I hear,
Islamic scholars are scratching their heads to understand the meaning of a
Quranic verse "Alif Lam Mim". I will not be surprised if one of them
come up with a solution that Einstein salvaged E=MC˛ out of "Alif Lam Mim".
However, these scholars are working hard to relate scientific inventions to
Quran but they can not invent anything out of Quran. Truth is
universal. Good deeds are indisputable. Only bad things need to be defended. If
a student excels in all areas, he is courteous and never smokes or takes drugs.
His parents have nothing to defend. They will be proud to tell everyone about
his achievement. Now if he is taking drugs and doing not so good in school, then
his parents have two choices. (1) They can be truthful and discuss with others
to cure the problem. (2) They can deny, they can lie and they can defend him
with all kind of lame excuses, ignoring the fact that something should be done
to solve the problem. Unfortunately, our modern Islamic scholars have taken the
later approach instead of trying to cure Islamic disease. They are dedicated to
establish Islam as a religion of peace! Their tenacity can only be compared with
Don Quixote's determination who was adamant to fight with the windmill. Quiet a
few Muslim intellectuals are dancing like puppets along with those quack Islamic
scholars. Is there a Muslim scientist or an Islamic
country that has invented something significant in the last century? Is there
any prominent Muslim Scholar who did something meaningful for mankind? All
Islamic countries are sedated with Islamic opium. Most of them are fighting with
unbearable poverty and misery. Marx saw religion as "the sigh of the oppressed
creature . . . the opium of the people, which made this suffering
bearable." [Quoted in A History of God, Karl Marx, German political
philosopher and economist (1818-1883).] Those who
have petro-dollars, they are living in a luxurious life better than paradise.
They are spending tons of money to promote Islam but nothing for scientific
invention. Is there an environment for research or scientific studies in Islamic
countries? Is there any churches, Sanagogues or temple in Saudi Arabia? Can
people from different faith and community live freely? Even a moderate Muslim
would not feel comfortable in the strict religious guidelines! Now, look at
western countries. There are hundreds of mosques and several Muslims are
preaching Islam profusely. Only USA alone has over 1000 mosques. Although it’s
an unfair situation, I am not concerned with the number of mosques or churches.
They are equally dangerous for mankind. Question is who is loosing in this game?
All Islamic countries are too busy to protect the chastity of Islam. Whereas,
western countries are encouraging people from all faith or no faith to live and
think freely. This approach results in a dynamic economy with the help of
diversified community. Undoubtedly, this strategy also helped to flourish
science, technology and civilization. Funny thing is, most of the Muslim
intellectuals who live in western countries are still in the nutshell of their
Islamic creed. Science,
technology and philosophical thoughts have changed so rapidly without Muslim's
contribution that we are far behind from the main stream. We need to change our
beliefs. In old paradigm, the “others” were our enemy. In new paradigm the
“others” should be our benchmark. Applaud to all the intellectuals and
scholars who did not have any religious affiliation. Voltaire, Shelley, Mark
Twain, Thomas Edison, Bernard Shaw, Darwin, Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein,
Ernest Hemingway and so many others rejected religion to find the truth and
think rationally. They are the lighthouses for the mankind. I hope our Muslim
Intellectuals and scholars will follow their path and enlighten their
intelligence with the light of the truth. |
