On the Making of an Unbeliever
Abul Kasem
UITE OFTEN I RECEIVE E-MAILS asking me why
I have so much dislike for religion in general and Islam, my religion at
birth, in particular. This question is not easy to answer. A person’s
religion is the most sacred, and to some, the most valuable asset one may
claim to possess. Wars are waged, genocide perpetrated, friendships
broken, love turned into hatred, peace into turmoil, harmony into discord,
enlightenment into darkness just because of religious difference. Nothing
is more sensitive and dangerous than fomenting the religious feeling of
people. As demonstrated by many suicide bombers, many believers consider
their faith more precious than their own lives. Under such scenarios, it
is not so simple for any one to look at his religion of birth critically.
Many years, possibly decades of observations, experience, study and
contemplation are required to examine one’s so-called religion of birth.
Below, I have listed a few issues that may
make an ardent believer to question his/her ‘religion of birth’, and
may eventually turn him into an unbeliever. These listed concerns are not
comprehensive. As the current events unfold, there will be many new
aspects that may be more critical than what I have mentioned. Please spend
a little time and ponder on what might turn a believer into an unbeliever.
Four million diehard devotees (the
Biswa Ijtema in
Bangladesh
) from many Islamic Paradises beseech Allah in three languages (Bengali,
Urdu and Arabic) for His blessings. Yet Allah keeps these countries the
most corrupt, the least developed, the most crime-infested, utterly
terrorised and amongst the poorest in the world. You start doubting if
Allah ever understood any of those languages of prayer, especially His own
language, that is, Arabic. This epidemic of prayer has been going on for
decades, but Allah remains adamant. To the total chagrin of the true
believers, Allah continues to bestow prosperity to the infidels. You
question the fairness of Allah.
When the Mullahs are in power in
one of the Islamic Paradises (e.g.,
Bangladesh
) a great deluge of flood creates havoc there. The Mullahs term this
devastating natural calamity as a test of Iman
(faith) from Allah—just like Nuh’s flood. Curiously, when a secular
government is elected to power, the same Mullahs call the raging flood a
punishment from Allah for the electorate for choosing a secular
government. You marvel at the capricious mind of Allah.
When a 14-year-old boy is
mercilessly flogged to death (in Iran) in the month of Ramadan for not
fasting strictly to the stringent specifications of the religion you
question the very authenticity of Allah’s Scripture on which this
punishment is meted out.
A 16-year-old girl (in
Iran
) is raped by gangsters but she cannot prove her innocence for lack of
resources to hire a competent lawyer. The Mullahs swiftly hang her in
public without giving her a right to appeal. Her rapists go scot-free. You
tremble in fear as you have a few teen-age daughters. You are frightened
to death thinking what might happen to your young daughters if they become
victims of similar rape.
Allah decides to send His soldiers
to kindergarten schools to slaughter infidels’ infants (Beslan in
Russia
). This action of Allah shakes the very foundation of your belief. You
assume the savage perpetrators of this infanticide were not true
believers. When you consult the Hadis
you are profoundly shocked to learn that wanton killing of infidels’
children is religiously sanctioned. You become fearful about the safety of
your own child when he/she is enrolled in a
childcare/pre-school/kindergarten.
You remember your past secret love
life and suddenly learn from newspaper reports that a hapless widow in an
Islamic Paradise is to be stoned to death for merely becoming pregnant and
giving birth out of wed-lock to an innocent daughter. You thank yourself
that none of those women with whom you had illicit sex became pregnant.
You wonder what would have happened if you were caught.
You sincerely fall in love with an
infidel woman but you cannot marry her unless she embraces the ‘religion
of tolerance’. You and your lover decide to flee the Islamic Paradise
and immigrate to an infidel land just to exercise your fundamental human
right.
You and your wife for 12-years go
on a holiday trip to a scenic beach resort (e.g., the state of Trengganu
in
Malaysia
). You lodge in the luxurious beach hotel Club Med. Out of blue; at the
dead of night, the religious police heckle you demanding to witness your
marriage certificate. Unable to produce the matrimony document, you and
your wife have no choice but to be hand-cuffed and immediately whisked by
the ‘guardians of Allah’ to be locked up in dingy cells. You and your
distraught wife are separated and threatened with lashing until you can
prove your Islamic marriage. You desperately fax to your relative to send
you the original marriage certificate. Until that arrives you and your
dear wife spend a few weeks in tenterhook. While all the infidel guests at
the resort sleep in peace you suffer this despicable indignation because
you have an Islamic (read Arabic) name. After you return to your home of
infidels you promise not to set foot in an Islamic Paradise, ever.
You visit
Thailand
, the land of smiles. Out of curiosity you visit a massage parlour or a
Turkish bath. Inside the dimly-lit premise you spot your bearded but
impeccably western-dressed Tabligi
friends who were once your university mates. Astounded, you ask them what Tabligi work they are doing in such a sex joint. To your utter
surprise your Tabligi friends
tell you that Thai massage girls/prostitutes are halal
for them. They claim that while they may have wives and children at Dar-ul-Islam
(home country of Islam) but since they are in a Dar-ul-Harb
(the land of warfare) or the land of infidels, it is alright for them to
have sex with Thai women as these sex-kittens are like captives to the
Muslims. You return home and check the Sharia
book (Islamic Law) for their outrageous claim. To your complete disbelief
you find that the Sharia fully
supports your Tabligi friends’
claims.
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