Letters to Ali Sina - Page Eleven

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Oct, 26, 2002

Islam needs to change.  It cannot live with itself, it cannot live with its neighbors and it doesn't belong or function even passably well in the modern world, one that is much more than ever built on and must function through rapid change. For these reasons and more, this is why I would argue that your approach is superior to any others I've yet seen, including that of governments and the UN, as you so eloquently argue. You therefore should and really must be considered a prime candidate for funding and economic support.  Your whole basic approach as well as philosophy is one in which you neither try to appease evil nor do you advocate strictly a war policy or approach, but instead focus the overwhelming amount of your efforts and attention on education and open dialog between all parties, in a really broad-based, open-minded, and often scholarly manner, one that is literally proving itself with each new day as the model to follow. Who could argue with that? 

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Oct, 25, 2002

Dear Dr. Sina, 

I am an Iranian and I 100% agree with you. I used to think very much similar to you even before reading your site. 

I think you are doing a great job. But do you really believe that we can see our beloved Iran as a non-Islamic country one day? 

Best Regards and hope that you succeed in your great mission for Iran. 

anonymous!  Kaveh Ahangar

Dear Kaveh, 

I do not “believe” I know! Actually I see our country freed from the claws of Islam in my own lifetime i.e. if I die by natural death and not assassinated. Believe me my friend; despite its bluster Islam is extremely vulnerable. It survived only by suppressing the voices of dissent brutally. But that power is taken away from it. Today we are questioning the tents of Islam and shaking the foundation of the beliefs of millions of its adherents. The days of the glory of this hate mongering cult are over. Its demise is fast and certain.

Dear Mr. Sina,

I and countless others in this world rely on people like you to do what is good and what is right for the sake of the future of peace loving people of all nations. I urge you to NEVER give up in your righteous quest for truth, peace, and freedom from tyranny and ignorance. No matter how hard it might seems, no matter how much threat you receive, good will always triumph over evil because that is the nature of things. You can call it God's law or you can call it law of nature but in the end evil will always be defeated. Not because good actually defeat evil but it's evil defeating evil through self-destruction. So I know right now in this moment of time it may seems bad, it may even seems like evil is having an upper hand but in the end evil cannot stand on it self but to crumble pathetically on it's misdeed. As long as truth is being presented to all people, evil will have nowhere to hide but whither away.

Sincerely,

CW

Oct, 20, 2002    

I can't help thinking how much easier it would have been had you became a Christian, ...donations would have been through the roof!

Dear C. 

Yes you might be right. But I am not doing this for money. My only goal it to convince the Muslims that Islam is not true and hopefully stop them, from unknowingly supporting terrorism through their zakat. I am sure that as long as Islam is strong terrorism won't end. It is a religion that thrived only through terrorism. By our modern standard Muhammad was indeed a terrorist. But terrorism like any other cause needs funds. If the average Muslim do not pay to the Mosques there would be no funding to support terrorism. If you could substitute the oil from Islamic countries with other alternatives, these countries will soon sink into abject poverty and that would also put an end to terrorism.  

A Christian site will not have the same effect that FFI  has. FFI is impartial. It is not preaching any religion. We do not have hidden agendas. We leave Muslims free to choose any religion that they like. Our message is simple: "Islam is bad for you". And it is bad for the world. I think this is the only approach that would make Muslims listen without shunning us just as another competitor. There has been a lot of mudslinging between the Christians and the Muslims for centuries; so much that it is almost taken for granted. When a Christian preacher says Muhammad was a terrorist, everyone condemns him of bigotry and racism. Can they accuse me of that too?      

If the Christians could really see the impact of  FFI on Muslims, they would support it and would make it grow. Billions of dollars are donated to the churches. What is the result? But with almost no funding, FFI has been able to make a real contribution in influencing thousands of Muslims. After Muslims leave Islam, the Christians or anyone can preach them their religion. I am not promoting a substitute to Islam. That is why I think people of other religions should help this site. I am doing 90% of the work for them. :) I personally do not need any religion, but many ex-Muslims do. 

This site is making a difference. No wonder it is banned in Saudi Arabia and some other Islamic countries. A cousin of mine, who himself up until three years ago was a Muslim, was quite amused the other day when an Iranian friend of him dragged him to his computer, gleefully opened this site and said, "Here! This is the site that you have to read if you want to know the truth about Islam". 

The U.S. is now the most horrible place on earth to live, especially if you live in the East!

Anyway, it was getting bad for a long time I had noticed, but now, it's absolutely horrible.

But now, oh, after the attacks, nothing will ever be the same, and now of all things, I have to worry about a darn sniper, I was coming out of the store tonight and walking with my son to the car in the parking lot and I had to wonder about a sniper! Who in the world would have ever worried about something like that? 

Yes it is scary and it is going to get worse. I said this three years ago and unfortunately I was proven right. You cannot fight this terrorism unless you fight the ideology behind it. I am afraid there is no other way. If the Americans think that by expending billions of dollars their government is capable to stop terrorism and protect them, I am afraid they are kidding themselves. Read my lips. Islam must go or the world shall never see peace. How many more lives should be sacrificed before the world wake up and listen? 

Oct, 19, 2002    

Dear Ali Sina, 

Thanks for your reply. When you get a chance, tell me more about yourself, when you left Iran  a 3-line (or more) description of yourself I can use to introduce you. I think your articles speak for themselves, and believe me, they are incredibly powerful. I want to be able to introduce you to my readers. I'd also like to give a sense of why you left other professional pursuits to spend so much time on Islamic scholarship? I know you've written about this elsewhere, but what motivated you? Why not just keep silent, stick to your job and your family? 

Thanks and regards,

K.T.

Dear K T 

I cannot answer your questions in three lines :). What I can do is to send you my testimonial that is going to appear in the upcoming book of Ibn Warraq. It is called “Why I Left Islam” and I believe this is going to be also the title that Ibn Warraq has chosen for his book. That book would be a compilation of several testimonials of different ex-Muslims and mine is one of them. It (my story) is over 10,000 words. I hope it will answer your question. 

Now as for the three-line introduction of myself I will jot down a few words and will send it to you with my next email. But it would help if you tell me what information you want me to include in it. 

Also I thank you for introducing me to your readers. Of course that is what I need most. This message must reach a billion Muslims. Most of them are wonderful human beings who would not hurt anyone and do not want but to have good relationship with the rest of humanity. However, they do not know that just by being part of a gigantic terrorist organization called Islam, they are helping the cause of terrorism. Therefore getting this message to them is vital and urgent. I cannot do that alone. We need to create a network of support. Through this site and its forum I have found a good number of dedicated people with the same sense of mission. What is taking form is actually a movement; a movement that is destined to usher the Islamic world into a new phase of its existence; a phase that can only be compared to the European Renaissance. 

This is a unique opportunity. This change, this renaissance is inevitable. After 1400 years of oppression, only now, technology is making this change possible. These thoughts are not new. Freethinkers in Islamic countries have thought of them since the beginning of Islam. But they did not have the means to get their message across. Their pens were broken, their books were burned and they were boycotted and persecuted. But now things are different. Today we can carry this message to the masses and defy death. With this, that ideological and social revolution is bound to happen. 

I want to be part of that. I am not heralding anything nor I am pioneering this revolution. The awakening of the Islamic world is bound to happen. Millions of Iranians have already wakened up and this number is on the rise.  It is our duty to share our experience with the rest of humanity. Iran has always been the trendsetter in the ME. This time too, we are not going to fail our historic responsibility. In the midst of this dark night of terror and confusion, I see the morning star. And I know the night of ignorance is over and the dawn of liberation of Muslims from the yoke of Islam is in the horizons. 

Now you know why I quit my profession to dedicate myself to this cause. It is a chance I could not afford to miss. Also the consequences of not facing the threat of Islamic expansionism is so life threatening that we cannot afford to not take action. Islam has the potential to cause far more danger than Nazism and communism combined.   

Kind regards

Ali

Oct, 19, 2002    

I think that it is really brave of you to reveal the truth about Islam.  I really admire you for it.  Thank you for pointing all of this out for me.  I have found a lot of it fascinating.  

askha@ucalgary.ca

Oct, 17, 2002   

 Ali,  

I just have a quick question for for you. I myself am very interested in religious studies. I want to know your background of education? Do you have a degree, masters or PHD? I am currently studying western religions, and I have for many years now. As I browsed through your site I caught many errors, this is what sparked my interest of where you have learn your knowledge on Islam? 

Sincerely,

Ashley K. H.

Dear Ashley  

I have a doctorate in a technical field. That is why I never use my title when I am on line. Some Iranian friends who knew me personally started calling me with my title and now others are doing it too. I prefer to be called just by my name because I realize some people; especially Muslims, think I am trying to establish some sort of authority by calling myself a doctor. My field of study has nothing to do with theology, or philosophy. So there is absolutely no use for people to know I hold a doctorate when that is irrelevant to our discussion of Islam. My interest in Islam picked after I read the Quran in Arabic with the help of its English translation. I started to talk about it a couple of years later when I could emotionally sever myself from It. Then in the process I started reading the Hadith, and the history of Muhammad that I had very little knowledge of prior to that.  

As for "many errors" that you caught in my writings, would you kindly tell me about them so I can correct them?  

I hope to receive a response from you.  

Regards,  

Ali Sina  

Oct, 16, 2002   

Dear Ali Sina -  

Although I don;t normally send E mails around the internet I feel morally bound to write to you and commend you firstly on your moral courage in facing up to a religion in which you were raised and secondly on your physical courage (knowing how strict Muslims treat apostates). 

Of course I do not agree with everything on your site. I could argue against your rather sterile materialist interpretation of existence, but you are right - right to the nth degree - to point up the horrors at the heart of Islam.  

I was brought  up in a Christian culture.   From that context I woudl make the following comments: 

1.  "Christians"  - depsite the feelgood message of the New Testament - have been responsible for some of the worst all time atrocities e,.g. second world war when about 50 million died.  Also Christans (like Muslims) enslaved millions of Africans and subjected many millions more to a second calss colonial status. 

2.  Not all religions are of equal value and not all trends within each religion are of equal value. I woudl say that it is just as difficult for a true belieivng Orthodox Jew to have liberal and democratic ideas as it is for a true belieivng fundamentalist Muslim. Even a fundamental Christian woudl have problems with such concepts. However it is clear that Liberal and Reformist Jews and progressive Chrisitians cope quite well with the modern world. So do progressive Hinuds and Buddhists. In fact Buddhists are probably best placed of all followers of religion to cope with the modern world.  The quesiton is then - coudl one have a progressive, reformist Islam. On that I thin you are bit unduly pessimistic.  Clearly there are "Muslims" who have very progressive beliefs.  It is not impossible. Islam can simply be retianed as a traiditonal frmaework for the rites of passage in the same way that people in the West often use Christianity for rites of passage. All we need are more progressive Muslims.  

You don;t seem to solicit financial donations - but where can we send money to support your endeavours?

David Field

Dear David, 

Of course I do not expect everyone think like me or agree with my points of view. Firstly because it makes my writings superfluous and secondly because it would be a boring world when people say, yes I know that, as soon as you open your mouth and try to show off how intelligent you are. 

But the answer to your objection is not difficult. You seem to believe that since the Christians also committed many crimes there is little difference between Islam and Christianity. Well, I disagree. Obviously Christians did a lot of wrongs but can you find any verse in New Testament that would justify those wrongs perpetrated by the Christians? Can you show me one case where Jesus ordered killing someone? Muhammad waged hundreds of offensive wars, massacred innocent people and took their property and enslaved their wives and children. Not a single war fought by Muhammad was defensive. It is a lie when Muslims tell you the contrary. Each and every war fought by Muhammad was offensive. 

Jesus is reported to have said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone” when an adulterer was brought to him. But in an identical situation Muhammad ordered the offender of the religious law to be stoned to death. I think Christ is more a myth than real, but he was a superstar saintly person. Even if he is a myth, he is a good example. Muhammad on the other hand was an evil man in the true sense of the word. No my friend, I am afraid Islam cannot be reformed. This becomes clear to anyone who reads the Quran and studies the history of Muhammad. 

You asked whether it is possible to have a progressive, reformist Islam. I answer that with a rhetoric question: “Is it possible to have a pacifist Nazism?”  Violence is part of Islam. Islam cannot survive without violence just as you don’t have chicken soup if you without the chicken. 

You wrote, “There are "Muslims" who have very progressive beliefs”. That is absolutely true. But those Muslims’ progressive beliefs have nothing to do with Islam. The more a person thinks Islamic, the more primitive is his thinking. So what you say is not reforming Islam but diminishing it. Islam cannot be reformed. Your only options are to diminish it or to eliminate it. I prefer total eradication.  

As for donations, I thank you for the offer. Yes I do have a donation button in the “How to Help” page of this site. But of course, it does not seem to be a favorite page. It is one of the less visited pages of this site. :)  

. 

Kind regards

Ali Sina

 Oct, 14, 2002  

 Oct, 08, 2002  

 Dear Ali,

I have just discovered your website.  

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere admiration for your efforts and the energy you have focused into this cause. I hereby pledge my support and wish you all the very best in what you are doing. 

You are a beacon of light and a voice to all those (especially the women and children) who are suffering immensely. 

You are the people's hero!! 

Kind regards, 

Dale P.

Oct 01, 2002