If Islam is Bad, How Can It Inspire People to Be Good?

By Ali Sina 

2005/09/18

Mr. Ali Sina,

I read many articles and debates in your site. I have some questions, which now troubles my mind. Please answer them if you know. 

I read that you don't believe in a Supreme Deity who created this universe. My question is what is the purpose of our life without the belief in a God and to whom we will answer for our deeds. Why to be good if God does not exists and we don't have to answer for our deeds? If God doesn't exist, why shouldn't I do prostitution, cheat, and why should I try to be good at all? Where will I be after my death? Will I just become dust and nothing more? 

Secondly, I read throughout your site you claim that the Quran is a book of hate, evil etc. But tell me why I became good after learning Qur'an? Believe me, I was so bad when I was 13-17, I committed many indecent acts and was close to commit the horrible crime you would imagine. I read the Qur'an because my friends told me to. I remember, I read the Qur'an with translation when I was 18-19,believe me or not, I became good after reading it. I became obedient to my parents, kind to my relatives, kept my promise, repaid my debts after reading it. Tell me why you say that the Qur'an is a book of hate, Tell me why I was guided and I am a better human being now?

Please answer my questions if you know, and relieve my distress. 

Thank you. 

P J

Dear PJ,

The belief in a supreme deity is a personal choice. I don’t believe in a deity that interferes in human lives, is endowed with human feelings and is subject to the same passions that humans are, as the religions teach. I think these religions are legacies of bygone faiths of ancient people, especially the Mesopotamians who thought the world is ruled by anthropomorphic gods endowed with magical powers. The personal god that people worship today, is the evolution of those primitive deities. It originates from human ignorance and is a very crude concept. Someone asked why in the Quran God refers to himself as "We", in plural. The answer is that those ancient religions believed in a multitude of Gods who met in an assembly and issued joint decrees. The "We" and the "Exalted Assembly"  (37:8) mentioned in the Quran are relics of that language that have stayed in use up to this day. You find reference to that also in Psalms 82:1 where it says "God presides in the great assembly and he gives judgment among the gods".

Is there a purpose to our lives? Yes there is. Each person has to find his or her own purpose of life. My purpose of life is to be a good person and serve my fellow beings. I want to add to human knowledge and understanding and make this world a better place. I want to be an instrument of peace. This is the purpose of my life. No one gave this purpose to me. I chose it on my own because it gives meaning to my life and makes me feel fulfilled and my life worth living. Our purpose of life is to advance the human civilization, to improve the lives of the subsequent generations, to pass our genes, but also our knowledge, our achievements and the lessons that we have learned to our children and make their lives better. Is there a bigger and more transcendental meaning to life? Maybe there is and maybe there is not. The point is that no one has an answer to that question. After all, we are evolved apes. Is there a purpose to the lives of our distant cousins, the chimps, the orang-utans and the gorillas? Why suddenly our lives became purposeful and theirs not? At what precise moment in our evolution this happened? When did God decide to show up and become part of our lives and guide us? Where was this God for billions of years when we humans were just another animal species, indistinguishable from the rest? Could it be that this homocentric notion of the world is a reflection of our childish belief in our own self-importance?  The purpose of the life of a bee is to serve her hive and to nurture the future generations of bees. Why should ours be different? Can't we just see ourselves as bees in this hive called humanity? Why should we create ideologies and religions and kill one another for what is the product of our own fantasies? Why can't we take the advise of Rodney King and get along with each other? 

Just because no one has a definitive answer to the teleological question of existence, it does not mean we should accept any crazy explanation. What is certain is that the purpose of life is not to worship a deity. A deity that creates a world just to be worshiped by his own creation is a needy, desperate narcissist deity who does not deserve to be worshiped but must be pitied and held in contempt. 

I can assure you that even if there is a God who created this universe, the purpose of his creation is not to make his creation worship him. This idea is just stupid. Imagine the size of this universe and what is our tiny planet in comparison to it. If you can't imagine, take a look at this slideshow. (Please do it before you continue). Now imagine the maker of this vast universe is so petty that would torture people for eternity in the most painful and sadistic way, which is burning, if they fail to worship him and do not believe in the pervert man that he sent as his messenger. It really takes a total idiot to believe in this gobbledygook. And yet so many otherwise sane people still believe in it. And you said humans are intelligent species? 

This stupid tale is concocted by very sick people like Muhammad who wanted to be worshiped. He knew that if he asked people to worship HIM no one would be so fool to do it. So he invented an alias, an alter ego that he called Allah and claimed to be his messenger and demanded obedience as his proxy. 

What is obvious is that even if God exists, Muhammad was not his messenger and whatever he said about God were lies. Muhammad's name was Kotham. He was also known as Halabi in the first 53 years of his life. When he migrated to Medina, he changed his name to Muhammad, (the praised one) because he was a narcissist and desperately needed to be praised.  

I do not believe in the existence of a being that could be called God. Nonetheless, if it makes more sense to you that the world should have a god and you are comfortable with that belief, there is no reason why you should stop believing. My objective is not to convince people that God does not exist. My objective is to show that Islam is a lie and Muhammad was a psychopath liar and not a good person.  

Now to answer your question why we should be good if there is no God, know that this universe is governed by natural laws.  These laws can be easily discovered by all people with commonsense. For example, if you put your hand in the fire you get burned. We can’t break these laws without paying the consequences. When you observe these laws, you live happily, when you break them you get hurt. 

Science tells us that abuse in alcohol damages the health and affects the brain. It makes you withdrawn, affects your mood and hence you become abusive, emotionally unavailable to your family and loved ones, ignore their needs, and as the result they will carry emotional scars all their lives and hurt their children and loved ones, This will cause their families to break apart, their children to suffer, and the pain is perpetuated generation after generation and countless lives would be affected. There are terrible consequences to alcoholism. The health problems are the minor ones in comparison. The same can be said about drug abuse. Do you need someone telling you if you drink or use drug you go to hell? Isn’t the knowledge of the facts enough for you to make sensible decisions? 

Prostitution is a social ill. Not only it can ruin your life by exposing you to sexually transmitted diseases, it makes you a cheap and dispensable commodity. It robs your self-esteem. It causes tremendous emotional pains and renders you incapable of loving and building meaningful relationships. If prostitution happens at early age, the damage can be irreparable. There is something sacred about sex. It is a gift that two people in love share. It is the physical expression of romantic love. The primary function of sex is of course procreation; its secondary function is fostering love between the couples, which would help binding them together, and assuring a lasting relationship. Why this is important? It’s because human society is based on families. Family is the cornerstone of humanity. It is the cradle of us humans. Healthy families mean emotionally healthy and happy humans. This means better societies, fewer crimes, less abuse, less social unrest and less suffering for all mankind. An emotionally injured person does not only cause pain to herself, but also to those who cross her path in life. Emotional pain passes from one generation to another and affects countless lives.  

Using sex as a commodity goes against its intended function. It breaches the natural law and we all pay the consequences of that. The whole society is affected by it. A similar argument can be made against promiscuity, sexual libertinage, adultery, the so-called “open marriages”, and all other deviances. Ancient sages understood these natural laws and incorporated them into their teachings. Some called them religion and others simply called them teachings or philosophies. But they are just commonsense. Do we have a society that thinks prostitution is good, adultery is good, promiscuity is good? Islam is the only exception that vests prostitution will sacredness and calls it temporary "marriage". Muta, is not marriage, it is prostitution where the mullahs are pimps. Islam is the only religion that condones promiscuity and disloyalty of men in the form of polygamy. Does this foster love among the spouses? Does it ensure marital stability? It causes rivalry. It promotes jealousy, animosity and rancor. It embitters the relationship and poisons the atmosphere. Children that grow in such environment, grow emotionally lacerated. Islam is against the natural law. 

Freedom of expression is wonderful. But like everything else even this great thing can be and has been abused. In the West there are television shows that openly promote promiscuity, and make it look normal. Let us not forget that this world is far from being perfect. It is affected by many ills. In the Islamic countries there is repression, oppression and corruption and in the non-Islamic countries there is libertinage, raffish and licentious lifestyle.  

Do we need religion to make people moral and build a more ethical society? The truth is that religiously ruled societies are far more corrupt than the secular societies. The lack of freedom in the religious societies has given rise to hypocrisy and underground vices. The wealthy Arab sheikhs routinely travel to India, buy young Indian girls for sex and return home all under the auspicious of Islam. The mullahs, acting as pimps, solemnize their shameful perversion with “divine blessing” and temporary nikah and even provide them with rooms for the day or days that they want to stay. The Iranian mullahs have been making huge amounts of money in this kind of legalized prostitution and human trafficking by selling poor Iranian girls as sex slaves to Arabs. In Islamic countries, corruption and immorality are swept under the carpet. Everyone wears a mask and pretends piety. Hypocrisy is the name of the game. 

Do religions really have an effect in mending the bad behaviour of people? Yes they do. But the influence is entirely subjective. We have countless stories of people confessing that they were living wretched lives of libertinage, drinking, abusing drugs, having sex with anyone, having troubles with the law, etc. until they found salvation in the religion that they embraced. They tell you their faith saved them. The truth is that they saved themselves. It was they who decided to change. It was their decision and their determination that pulled them out of the slum. Religion had nothing to do with it. The power came from within them. Religion was an external stimuli and nothing else. Let us clarify this with an example. 

Let us make another example and this is even more appropriate. Suppose you have been hiking. You are tired, and maybe hurt and in pain. You have no energy and can hardly walk. Suddenly you see a ferocious beast running towards you. You forget all your pain and start running for your life. Obviously it is not the beast that gave you the strength, He might have caused your adrenaline to rise. The strength came from within you.  

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