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Debate with a "Secularist" Modernist Muslim
This is a response to a Bengali lady who defends Islam while claiming to be working for the secularization of her country. I sent a copy of that to my freethinking Bengali friends and one of them decided to publish it in the NFB. http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/may/23/gv4n575.htm#A1 20 May 2001 Dear Intellectual Friend, I published the images of the
Prophet in my website, which according to the Sunnis is an outrageous
blasphemy. But I said that those Iranians who painted them did so out of love
and devotion. In reaction to that you were kind enough to write: “It is true
that the painters of these Persian pictures were not blasphemous. In fact the
beauty of these pictures emanates from the innocent piety that the painters had
in their heart. By the way it is the first time Ali Sina said something that
exposed that he has, hidden somewhere beneath his hardened heart, another heart
softer and more humane.” Let me thank you for seeing my softer heart and I assure
you that I have only one heart. I am sorry that what I write about Islam is not
to your liking. However, if you pay closer attention you’ll also see that all
I write is out of love. There is not a grain of malice in me and I have no
ulterior motives. Of course you can accuse me of being completely misguided.
This I admit is possible, for people could be very wrong and still very sincere.
In fact most people fall within this category. The majority of people; SINCERELY
believe in their twisted and misguided ways, do harm and perpetrate crimes all
in the name of the truth, in good faith and clear conscience. How can I be sure
that I am not one of them? Of course since I am aware of this possibility, I do
not do crimes, i.e. I do not kill people, persecute them or harm them in any
shape or form to impose my version of the truth. I am also open and waiting for
someone to come and guide me to a better way. And I say that also with
sincerity. However, since such person has not yet shown up and those
who have tried have either given up too soon or ended up insulting me and even
some challenged me to curse each other to determine who tells the truth (This
was the habit of the Prophet Q.3:61. I don’t like cursing people) I have not
seen a better way yet. Nevertheless, if anyone can prove that what I say is
absurd, I will not hesitate to change my position at once and become his/her
disciple for the rest of my life or until someone else shows me yet an even better
way. Your recounting of your visit to Iran made me feel very
nostalgic and believe me my eyes swelled with tears. These days I feel more
sentimental about my beloved motherland because she is sick, she has been taken hostage
by a 12 headed evil dragon and a bunch of ruthless hooligans who are
killing torturing and ripping her children like never before. Her days of glory
are gone and disgrace has befallen upon her. A disgrace that has lasted for 1400
years. Your diagnosis of what was wrong in Iran prior to the
revolution and what went wrong after the revolution is right. But I beg to
disagree when you accuse the Bengali freethinkers and say: “In the midst of the current political chaos in
Bangladesh, Islam-bashing is a dangerous game”. In my view any recognition of
Islam as a legitimate religion is automatically endorsing its inherent violence.
The inherent violence of Islam is not a matter of opinion. It’s clear that the
whole Quran is a message of hate, of killing the unbelievers, of intolerance, of
mind control, of misogyny, of women abuse and of war. There is no way that any
person with an unbiased mind could read those hate laden provocative verses of
Quran and call that book a book of peace. If you are in any doubt please take a
look at this
link and this is just a sample. So, when a peace loving intellectual like you professes
Islam and recommends that religion, those who listen to you and value
your judgment, read the book of Quran and get their instructions from there
and not from you. Therefore if they follow those instructions and act
accordingly with violence and brutality they are
not to be blamed, you are the culprit. You told them that Quran is the words of God and Quran
tells them to hate and kill. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to see the
relationship. In my article Who
Feeds Fundamentalism, I spoke about this and also quoted a report from
Time Magazine of Singapore that proves my point. In that report an educated
woman from a nice Muslim family turns a terrorist, throwing colored dye in the
faces of women not wearing hijab, encouraging her husband to take other wives
and raising her sons with the love of gun hoping to convert them into Islamic
terrorists. Why? Because she read a book about some Western women who had
accepted Islam! That is all the incentive that she needed to become a terrorist. Dear friend, please understand that Islam is not like
Christianity, Zoroastrianism or any other religion. Islam is a religion that
teaches hate. Hate is the message of Islam. Hate is the essence of Islam. Every
other thing in Islam, all its rituals and dogmas gear you for this ultimate
objective, which is hate. Until you deny this fact and until you try to
envision a peaceful Islam that exists nowhere except in your own imagination,
you will not be able to see that Islam is an obstacle to peace, democracy,
civility and progress in our countries. You were completely right is describing the errors of the
Iranian intellectuals for trusting the clergy and letting the revolution to be
hijacked by the fundamentalists. Well these intellectuals made exactly the same
mistake that you are doing now. They threw their lots with the Muslims thinking
that eventually they will take over the government and will stir the country
towards democracy and freedom. But if they were wise they would have known that
this is impossible. Anyone who knows Islam knows that Islam and democracy are
incompatible. Trying to make Islam democratic is like trying to make a square
round. You'll have better chance converting hyenas to vegetarianism than
making Islam tolerant. How in the world, you among all people, who have lived in the West for so many years, and have academic qualifications, and are among the intellectuals can not see that it is you who is playing a very dangerous game by endorsing Islam; a religion that advocates hate and killings? I could have excused you for that if you were a less educated Muslim, but your lack of sensitivity in this matter despite your diplomas and degrees is beyond me! I would like to request that you honor me and read my
article Who Feeds Fundamentalism.
Then please write to me and tell me whether I am not justified to hold YOU
responsible for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, for the atrocities of the
Taliban, for the brutalities of the Iranian Mullahs, for the World Trade Center
bombing and for the blowing up the buses of the foreign tourists in Egypt.
Indeed I do not hold those brainwashed fundamentalists who commit these crimes
responsible! They are ignorant. They are brainwashed. They are themselves
victims. The responsibility of their atrocities, stupidities and crimes falls
directly on YOUR shoulders. You are the one who tells them that Islam is a good
thing. You are the one who is upholding that hatemongering book and calling it a
divine revelation. And you have the PhD. You are educated and a respected
intellectual. The ignorant and uneducated masses of the Muslims look up unto
you. They trust you and they trust your judgment. They assume: You have been to the West, you
have studied, you have earned your degree, so you must know what you are saying. If
you tell them that Quran is a book from God then it is. If you assure them that
it is scientific, they believe it. If you tell them that it is a miracle, it must be. Those
ignorant uneducated masses look unto you to tell them what is right and what is
not. They take their
confirmation from you, but then go and get their instructions from Quran; that
very backward primitive book that teaches them to hate, to kill, to tyrannize
and to violate the human rights because God wants them to be harsh with the
unbelievers, be oppressive with the women and be hateful towards all
non-Muslims. Dear friend, you cannot wash your hands of your
responsibilities. Please do not assume that I am exaggerating when I call you
responsible. No indeed, I am not. I really hold you responsible for the deaths
perpetrated in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists and I demand that you stop
supporting terrorism. By vying for Islam you are vying for terrorism even if you
give lip service to peace. I plead with you to withdraw your support from Islam,
this doctrine of hate. Let it die. Let us kill it together, for it is either it
or humanity. Islam is like Nazism; both these doctrines preach hate. One
stands for the superiority of a race and the other of a religion. But in essence
they both believe in the same precepts. They both advanced by war. They both are
divisive and sectarian. They were both born out of the minds of charismatic but
narcissistic megalomaniac mad men. How would you qualify the intellectual nazi
who upholds that doctrine of hate and calls it teachings of love? How would you
define someone who defends Nazism, expends of her time and money to advance it
and writes about it to promote it? Whether this person is genuine in her belief
that Nazism is a doctrine of peace or not is irrelevant. The fact of the matter
is that her support of Nazism makes her culprit of all the crimes perpetuated by
the Nazis. She becomes responsible, even if she has never killed anyone
personally and has never wished the death of anyone. She is supporting a
doctrine and a philosophy that promotes hate and murder and that is what
matters. Now you my friend are not much different. You are
supporting Islam and that makes you culprit of all the crimes that Muslims
commit inspired by their holy book. You tell them that Islam is a good religion
and Quran is a good book and the Quran teaches them to kill the unbelievers, to
view the non-Muslims as Najis (impure) to beat their wives if they are
disobedient, to hold women in contempt and call them deficient in intelligence,
to wage war against the non Muslims, to not befriend with the Christians and the
Jews and to live in constant hate, isolation and distrust. How can you look
yourself in the mirror? Doesn’t your conscience bother you? Am I wrong? Is not Islam all the above? Then prove it to
me. I will accept if you can really show me that Islam teaches love, unity,
brotherhood of all humankind, equality of rights between men and women and is a
religion of peace. But if all the evidences point to the contrary please don’t
try to fool yourself! Do not try to lie about it. Hereby I give you my solemn pledge to denounce
“Islam-bashing” (as you call it) and become a Muslim fighting for all
Islamic ideals, if you prove that Islam is a religion of peace, of love and of
unity of all mankind. Can you make the same honest pledge with courage that if I
show you Islam is not what you think it is you will leave it? Would you leave this
cult if I prove it to you that Islam is the cause of backwardness, religious
strives and bigotry in our countries? Would you still call yourself a Muslim if
I bring the evidence that Islam is a doctrine of hate, intolerance and wars?
This is a challenge. Would you accept this challenge? Are you willing to
re-scrutinize the claims of the Prophet with fairness and with open mind? Dear friend, we live only once. Let us not waste this
precious life in the pursuit of a wild goose. By the mercy of God, Heaven or
Universe (whatever you want to call it) you and I have been given the privilege
to influence many lives. This privilege entails responsibilities. People like
you and I build this world and shape the human destiny. Can we afford to neglect
our responsibility? Shouldn’t we stop and meditate, even if it is once in our
lives? Shouldn’t we question what has been given to us in our childhood as
facts, which we accepted trustingly then? I think it is. I think we should. I
think we have to stop and see where we are going before going there. We might be
heading towards a deadly precipice and we may be bringing upon ourselves
calamities of incalculable magnitude. Let us pause. Let us think. Before we go
head on. With warmest regards Your “softhearted” friend Ali Sina
26 May
2001 Dear
brother Ali Sina,
I am glad you've written to me directly. It is also pleasing to me that we are
talking of love in our hearts. Without love there cannot be any genuine
commitment to the common humanity, to the world we live in, or to justice in the
society.
Today, my heart is heavy with anxiety for my aging father who has become so
frail that I may have to drop everything and fly to Bangladesh. I should tell
you that my father, an engineer, considered himself 'a man of science' all his
life and brought up his two daughters without any religious education. I am not
a practicing Muslim, though I'm not quite the aetheist that my father is.
Therefore, I'm sorry, I cannot take up the challenge you threw at me.
Also, I'm not exactly in the business of defending or eulogizing Islam. There
are others who do it regularly. As a scholar I believe my duty is to do the
analytical thinking, i.e. asking the right questions and then finding the
answers to the best of my abilities.
Because of my culturally eclectic upbringing and my own worldwide travels, I
have learned to respect all people of all background, including their religion.
A religion is, by definition, a cultural artifice. Much intellect, emotion and
imagination are invested in fashioning this cultural artifice. That is why I
like studying religion along with politics, history and literature. I have no
right to insult a religion if I claim to be a member in the family of mankind.
To single out one religion for the purpose of insulting it is the most illogical
act and follows neither the matter of principles nor the laws of civility. When
crimes are committed in the name of a religion, I would rather analyze the
conditions, the political, historical and social backgrounds of that crime and
its perpetrators, than blankly blame the religion.
Such analysis requires knowledge -- a lot of knowledge. In today's complex world
every event is globally connected. Hence limited or biased knowledge is not
sufficient for in-depth analysis that can be of any use to the community.
Insulting a religion blatantly exposes the basic ignorance of those who indulge
in the incivility.
I understand the pain you feel, Ali Sina, about
your motherland, which is why I wanted to share with you my fond memories of my
visit to Iran. My hope is that these dark days will pass --soon-- and there will
be another dawn.
About that Kermanshahi song, the Afghani people
know that folksong very well, perhaps because Kermanshah is closer to the border
of Afghanistan.
Please wish my country well, because like the
Iranians, and like ordinary people everywhere, the Bengali Muslims are secular people, especially since we have
been a multireligious country for more than nine hundred years. The dirty
politics of the Islamists are ruining the traditional culture of our country.
And I too am pained as I watch our corrupt, ineffective politicians unable to
check the tide of this dirty Islamist politics.
With all my best,
F.
27 May 2001 Dear Sister F. I am so pleased to see that you are not upset with me for
being harsh on Islam and still call me brother. It is an honor for me. I am sorry to hear about the delicate health of your
beloved father and I hope, that he recover very soon and you will have your
peace of mind back. I am also impressed to learn that your father is a
freethinker. My family was a very religious one and I was raised as a very
religious person. In fact I was the most religious person in all my extended
family (cousins and second cousins). I was known as Akhoond Ali (Mulla Ali )
when I was a freshman in high school. However, as my mother recently confessed
my grandfather was a freethinker. He was a philosopher and a mystic. Though I
never saw him, it pleases me to know that I am taking the path trodden by him,
It is like carrying his torch. You said that you are not a practicing Muslim though you
are not as atheist as your father. Well, let me tell you that I am also not an atheist in the
strict sense of the world. Of course I am not a theist either. That is to say
that my views of this universe are not materialistic. I believe in a spiritual
reality permeating everything and I call that reality the Single
Principle. However, I am not religious. As for the challenge, actually I did not want it to sound
confrontational. In a debate, the one who learns most is the winner. It is in
with this spirit that I start my debates. You wrote, “As a scholar I
believe my duty is to do the analytical thinking, i.e. asking the right
questions and then finding the answers to the best of my abilities”. I salute you for that. As a
student of knowledge this is also my objective. If you do not want to be an
apologist of Islam, I understand. But because of your noble thoughts expressed
above, I think it become imperative for both of us to ask the right questions
and help each other find the best answers. In my opinion, asking whether
Islam is the source of the backwardness and human right abuses in our countries
or not is a very important question. This is the question we never had the
chance to ask. But now that we can ask such questions and not fear the
execution, I think it is high time we asked ourselves for the first time: Is
Islam true? Is Islam helping our people to progress intellectually, morally,
spiritually, scientifically, politically, culturally and economically? Is Islam
really the culprit for the social unrest, wars and upheavals in our countries?
Was Islam responsible for the splitting of the mighty India in three feuding
nations and the death of millions of innocent people? Is Islam responsible for
the mayhem in Afghanistan, the chaos in Iran, the commotion in Kashmir, the
turmoil in Philippines, the pandemonium in Palestine, the anarchy in Algeria,
the human right abuses in Egypt, the honor killings in Pakistan and Jordan, and
the brutalities in Saudi Arabia? Well, the answer to all those
questions could be no. Islam may come out completely unblemished after
questioning. But we shall never know if we don’t ask. If you are certain that
Islam is innocent, then there should be no harm enlightening those who have
these doubts. Why not confront the critics and respond to their concerns? Why
attack them? Why assassinate their character? Why imprison, and kill them?
You wrote that you have no right
to insult religion and added “To single out one religion for the purpose of
insulting it is the most illogical act and follows neither the matter of
principles nor the laws of civility.” I agree with you completely. No one
should insult the religion of others, demean its follower, or god forbid, coerce
them to abandon their faith. This practice is uncivilized, absolutely
unacceptable and must be reprimanded. That is precisely why the freethinkers are
trying to stop Islam. Islam insults the religion of others. The holy Prophet
himself taunted the religions of the Quraish so much that they went to Abi Talib,
Muhammad’s aging uncle and complained: “This Nephew of thine hath spoken opprobriously of our gods and our religion: and hath abused us as fools, and given out that our forefathers were all astray. Now, avenge us thyself of our adversary; or, (seeing that thou art in the same case with ourselves,) leave him to its that we may take our satisfaction.” Muir p. 162 The Prophet did not stop there. He invaded the Mecca and in
an act of sacrilege destroyed their gods. The Taliban just were following the
example of the Prophet when they destroyed the sculptures of Buddha in Bamyan. I
have a collection of several verses of Quran.
Please go through some of those verses and you’ll see how Muhammad violated
the very noble principles you are upholding and why the Muslims following those
teachings have become the number one violators of human rights. We, the
freethinkers do not Insult Islam. I have read many excellent dissertations by
great Bengali freethinkers about Islam. I have adorned my site with some of
those articles. I found all of them scholarly prepared and logically expressed.
I have never come across one article where the writer insulted Islam or its
founder. On the other hand Muhammad insulted everyone. He cursed them and he
fought them. He killed them, he banished them, he enslaved them and he told that
they would go to Hell. The prophet did more than insulting. He abused every
human rights of people who did not believe in his religion. Muslims are doing
the same. The Taliban’s decree that the Hindus wear the badge of shame is
nothing new in Islam. The Zimies have always been required to distinguish
themselves so in a rainy day they do not defile (najis) a Muslim by letting a
drop of rain, fall from them on the latter. Dear Sister, we have to stop this abuse and this insult.
Islam teaches discrimination; Islam teaches hate; Islam insults and abuses the
people of other faiths. As a humanist you want to stop that. This is what you
want too. I am sure when you said you do not approve insulting religion of
others, it means you must take side with us and fight against any doctrine that
make such insults. You wrote; “When crimes are
committed in the name of a religion, I would rather analyze the conditions, the
political, historical and social backgrounds of that crime and its perpetrators,
than blankly blame the religion.” As an educated person you know
that this is not a scientific method. Why you a priori presume that everything
else could be responsible and rule out religion? May be precisely that is the
source of the problem. May be it is the religion and not the political,
historical or social backgrounds that is to be blamed. I am not saying that
religion is the culprit, but to rule out the religion is not logical. Why? Why
would any rational person limit his or her options? I think that the reason
dictates that you include the religion among the suspects and start your
investigation all over again, with an unbiased mind, free from preconceived
ideas and open to accept the results whatever they may be. Could it be that
religion is responsible for the historical background of a nation? Is it
possible that religion influences the social and political milieu of the
countries? How can we exclude religion from such important analysis? You wrote; “Such
analysis requires knowledge -- a lot of knowledge. In today's complex world
every event is globally connected. Hence limited or biased knowledge is not
sufficient for in-depth analysis that can be of any use to the community.” Of course it requires knowledge.
I always say that knowledge is the best antidote to ignorance. Despite the fact
that I agree with you that we need knowledge and the more you have the better it
is, to make such analysis about religion, i.e. to verify the truth or falsehood
of any religion, and its usefulness for the society, you do not need to
have a lot of knowledge. Religions have become too complex. So many people
have written so many things about them and so many philosophies, schools of
thoughts and institutions have been created around them that the task seems to
be too daunting. But in reality it is not. What we have to do is just read the
books that these religions claim to be the revealed words of God and the source
of their guidance. Anyone who reads the books of the Bible or the Quran with an
open mind and without prejudice can see that these books are full of errors and
outright crazy. You don’t need too much knowledge to know that when Muhammad
says: stars are missiles that Allah shoots at the Jinns, who stand on each
other’s shoulders to climb the heaven and eavesdrop the conversation of the
Exalted Assembly, he is talking baloney. Quran is so full of mistakes and
nonsense that really a schoolboy can see its absurdity. The reason so many
Muslims don’t see it is because they don’t read that book and those who read
it and stay Muslims do not want to see it. At the end you asked me to wish
well for Bangladesh and complained about “the dirty politics of the Islamists
ruining the traditional culture of your country”. I do wish well for your country
with the bottom of my hearth, and that is why I plead with you to join me and
the other freethinkers of your country, ask and find answers about those
important questions that affect the well being of your country. Ask about the
effect of Islam on Bangladesh and its people, their culture, their civility,
their productivity, their priorities, etc. Does Islam make people more moral? Is
Islam ethical? Does Islam foster the unity of family? Does Islam stand for
gender equality? Does Islam advance national unity by giving to all its citizens
the same rights and privileges irrespective of their faith? Does Islam promote
science? Does it cultivate culture and advancement of human mind, by encouraging
philosophy and arts? Does Islam advocate democracy, freedom of expression and
freedom of thoughts? Has Islam been a positive influence in your country? Did
really Islam benefit Bangladesh? I don’t say that it has or it hasn’t. I
just say these are important questions. Why not ask them? Just ask these
questions, ponder upon them, open dialogues with others, and listen to those who
agree and those who disagree. Then you are ready to make up your mind with
knowledge and clear conscience. Not many people are emotionally
ready or intellectually disposed to ask pressing questions such as these.
Finding the answers to these questions may be heartbreaking. Truth will set you
free but it aint easy to swallow. If you don’t see yourself fit for facing the
truth: that is fine. Stay out of it. Don’t ask questions that may shatter your
biased beliefs and your cherished faith. Keep your head under the sand and
pretend nothing is wrong. Freethinking is not for everyone. It requires strength
of character. It requires devotion to the Truth and an uncluttered mind to
accept the truth whatever it may be. If you don’t see yourself ready for that,
do not let people force you into it. But please do not stand in the way of those
who are ready to face the truth. Do not be an obstacle in the way of brave men
and women of your great land who have risen valiantly to slaughter the beast of
Islam that is sucking the blood of your nation. Do not taunt them, do not
belittle them, do not blemish their character if you cannot respond to their
logical arguments. Please define your position
clearly. You either believe in Islam or you don’t. You are either pregnant or
you are not. You cannot sit on the fence saying I am a not practicing Muslim.
What do you mean by not practicing Muslim? Don’t you believe that Islam is the
religion of God? If you do, why you don’t practice it? Why you don’t wear
veil? Why you don’t allow your husband to marry more wives? Why you don’t
obey him and instead prefer the infidel’s way of equality? Why would you take
him to the court if he raises his hand on you, despite the fact that Allah give
him this right? Why you demand equal pay when you know that you are deficient in
intelligence? (This is what Muhammad said). If Islam is good why you don’t
follow it? But if it isn’t why you prescribe it for others? Why you think the
poor women in the villages of Bangladesh should be oppressed by the inhumane
laws of this religion that you do not follow?
To say to the wronged and uneducated women of your country that Islam is
good for you while you yourself do not like it for yourself is hypocrisy. This
is very unethical. I do not expect that from you sister.
Dear sister, once more let me
plead with you humbly and beg you to join us in this holy crusade. This task is
so sacred, the rewards are so immense, the field is so vast, and the workers are
so few that we cannot afford not having you on our side. Please join the forces
of light. Please join the freethinkers of your country. Please fight the
darkness of bigotry and religious hate. Please help the masses of people in
Bangladesh realize that our forefathers made a mistake, or better said: were
forced to make this mistake. Pease be a heroine. Please be a pioneer. Please be part of the solution. Please
let the future generations remember you with pride. But if you cannot, if you
don’t see that stamina and that strength of character in yourself, please do
not stand in the way of the freedom fighters of your country. If you don’t
want to be part of the solution, don’t be part of the problem. Please! Leaving your religion that you
have grown up with is not easy. Religion is addictive. I should know. I have
been there. You go through stages of denial, bewilderment, shame, shock, guilt,
frustration, and anger sometimes all of that at the same time. But the last
stage is enlightenment and freedom. The result is great, but the process is
painful. Believe me, once you are out of it, you know that it was worth it.
With my best wishes, Your brother Ali
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