Ahmed Maajid

Is It Justice?

2010-04-17T23:26:00.000-07:00

Written by Ahmed Maajid

Mr. Saeed and Ms. Maria are prosecuted for committing fornication. The prosecution does not have enough witnesses to prove their guilt independent of their own confession, and as such, the court relies on their words in the matter. Ms. Maria confesses by saying these words: "I committed fornication with Mr. Saeed." Mr. Saeed rejects and says, "I have never committed fornication with Ms. Maria."

If the court then decides that Maria is guilty of fornication on the basis of her own confession, and Saeed is not, because of his rejection, do you think justice is being served? If you think so, then consider the following points and questions very carefully!

1) In Islamic shariah, fornication is a crime that requires an act which is complete and valid only in the union of TWO people! As such, the physical element of the crime, or the actus reus as it is described in English law, would require two persons. This means that one person cannot commit fornication. Having said this, a confession is exactly what the confessor states, nothing more and nothing less. Hence, if Ms. Maria says that she had committed fornication with Mr. Saeed, it means that she had committed fornication with Mr. Saeed, and with none else. If the court then convicts her for the crime for which she had confessed, it amounts to an automatic conviction on Mr. Saeed as well, and her confession cannot be modified to exclude Mr. Saeed. The case would have been different if Ms. Maria just confessed that she had committed fornication without mentioning the man involved in the act. Since she had named a particular man in the case, her conviction should necessarily mean that the man she mentioned is also guilty. If the court convicts her for "committing fornication with Mr. Saeed, and says that Mr. Saeed never committed fornication with Ms. Maria, it is an irrational, illogical, and unfair decision!

2) Ms. Maria's confession that she had committed fornication with Mr. Saeed is a claim that needs to be considered together with the word of Mr. Saeed as well, since the crime involved is complete only with the union of the two persons. In this case, after Ms. Maria 'confessed', Mr. Saeed rejects her confession, which creates doubt, or what we call shubhah in Arabic. As such, both of them should be exonerated as no penal sanction under Islamic shariah can be implemented in case there is doubt.

Your comments on this issue is highly appreciated!

thank you!

SEVENTEEN REASONS WHY GOD DOESN'T EXIST!!

2010-01-31T14:13:00.001-08:00

Written by Ahmed Maajid

Argument from Observation

My eyes are so powerful that I can see all that exists. From the nearest to the farthest, there is no place where my sight doesn’t go, and never does my sight fail. If I do not see anything with my all-seeing eyes, it simply means that it doesn’t exist. I haven’t seen God with my eyes and therefore God doesn’t exist!

Argument from Reason

I know that, as a human being, my mind is limited in that it can, on its own, understand only that portion of reality which I can directly or indirectly encounter through sensory observation and experience. On the other hand, God, by definition, is transcendental and infinite in His being and existence, nature, attributes, and doings. As a result, I can understand only certain aspects of God’s existence, nature, attributes and doings with my limited mind.

I also know that we don’t have to understand everything about a being in order to prove that being’s existence. For example, one doesn’t have to tell you everything about New York City in order to prove to you that New York City exists. Similarly, to prove Mr. Salman Rushdie’s existence to you, one doesn’t have to know and prove to you everything about him including who his parents were, and where he was born or where he studied! Likewise, one doesn’t have to know and communicate to you everything about God to prove God’s existence to you. In fact, proving just one ontological property of a being is sufficient to prove that being’s existence!

However, since I am too bigoted to accept God’s existence unless I know everything about Him, I will not accept that He is there unless and until I know all that there is to know about Him, and since I do not know all that is there to know about Him, and since there are still unanswered questions about Him, I declare that He doesn’t exist!

Argument from the Paradoxical Nature of the Concept of God

They say that God can do everything and anything as He is omnipotent. Now, can He create a stone so huge that even He cannot lift it? If he can, there shall then be a stone that He cannot lift, and if He can lift any stone, then He cannot create a stone so huge that He cannot lift. Either way, it is "proved" that He cannot do everything?!!??

Now, the concept of omnipotence, as seen from the example of Stone given above, is paradoxical or self-contradictory.

However, this whole thing is a hoax that is being devised to confuse the human mind, as the ultimate reality of the nature and attributes of God can't possibly be fully understood by human beings. The truth is that there are some contradictions that our minds see as contradictions because we simply do not have sufficient knowledge to unravel their hidden aspects that, when revealed to us, clear the picture for us and explain the contradictions. As long as such aspects remain hidden from our mental perception or sensory observation, they will seem to us as contradictions, and once we get the missing pieces of knowledge, they are settled.

Here is an example: Ali tells me today, at 4 pm, that Ibrahim's one and only wife is Shaima. At 5 pm, Yousuf tells me that the same Ibrahim's one and only wife is Misha, and not Shaima. Assuming that they were both correct, and that Shaima and Misha are two different persons and that we are talking about the same Ibrahim, these two statements are contradictory. However, they are contradictory only because we miss a necessary piece of information. It is that at 4:30 pm Ibrahim divorced Shaima and married Misha. With the new information, the contradiction is gone!

This is a simple example that shows us that what appears to us as contradictions may not actually be so; that some contradictions seem so to our minds only because we do not have enough knowledge.

Since God is an infinite, transcendental being, it comes as no surprise that some of His Attributes and some aspects of His Nature appear to us as paradoxical. What can we do? We can humbly accept the simple truth that such contradictions may be the result of our inability to fully understand God's Nature and Attributes and be content with the incredible amount of evidences out there that point out at Him. It is not that hard to understand that some aspects of the concept of God seem contradictory to us only because we lack some crucial pieces of information about the Nature and Attributes of God.

Even our mind tells that no finite being could possibly understand an infinite being completely, and no mundane perceptive faculty can fully understand a transcendental being. When it comes to God, He is infinite and transcendental and we human beings are finite in every way and earthly, no matter how much further along the path of understanding and science we go by using our abilities. God is too great for our minds to fully perceive Him.

A religious philosopher once said that life is not about getting answers to all the questions we have, but it is about getting answers to those for which we can get answers and then learning to live with the questions for which we, as human beings, just cannot get answers. Many questions about God's Nature and Attributes are such questions, and the truth of His existence is too obvious to be ousted by our failure to understand Him fully.

But NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO! I am too arrogant to do so, and I say that my mind and my limited logic should be able to fully and completely understand God. I am an overlord of a Judge, and if God wants me to accept Him, then He must come down to the pedestal of my judgment and talk to me and tell me ALL and EVERYTHING about Himself! Otherwise, He doesn't exist!

Argument from the Replacement of God with Science

Despite the fact that there are many sufficient proofs for the existence of God, including philosophical, scientific, historical, moral and religious arguments, no one can prove the existence of God the way one can prove the existence of, say, an apple. In other words, one cannot illustrate or demonstrate the existence of God in the manner that one can in case of a mathematical truth like one plus one is equal to two. This does not mean that the degree of certainty attained is any less, but merely that the METHOD in which God's existence is proved is somewhat different from the method we use in understanding physical, natural phenomena around us.

On the other hand, I want to believe that science has replaced God and taken mankind out of the age of superstition in which God constituted the ultimate explanation for every being, every motion, and every abstract reality; in fact for anything conceivable. I want to believe that science uses hard logic to prove its propositions, and brought us certain knowledge unlike those fools and liars who speak about the existence of God.

However, my ignorance of even science has meant that I am not, at least consciously, aware of the fact that science cannot, in fact, prove any significant propositions about the universe, and only very few of all of its ideas, with logical certainty. Even though science mostly uses a method of reasoning called induction, which is an illogical way of reasoning that was criticized by philosophers like David Hume, I am too bigoted to understand what is going on here. Also, the explanations of later philosophers such as Karl Popper are just ways of looking into the matter from an angle which merely hides the loophole, and does not patch it up.

The conclusion is that science is basically as rational or irrational as religious belief is, to say the least. Science is not an extra-human and absolute source of infallible knowledge, but it is a human endeavor with all human shortcomings. However, my foolhardy and extremely distorted and arrogant mind would like just something to get rid of this god-thing and therefore God is replaced by modern science, and therefore God does not exist!

Argument from the Errors of the Bible

The Christians say that the Holy Bible is the Book of God. Some of them say that it is an inspired Book which contains the Message of God in the words of men, while others say that it is the Book of God in the sense that each and every word, comma, and full stop was dictated by God.

However, when I read the Bible, I can see many errors and mistakes in it. In fact, one can go so far as to say that the Bible is replete with inaccuracies and mistakes. To some people this is simply a proof that the Bible is not the Word of God. However, to me it means that God doesn’t exist!

Argument from Mythical Jesus

The claim that Jesus Christ lived doesn’t have sufficient veracity as far as historicity is concerned. The Bible, from which we get all the information about Jesus' life and mission is a book full of historical inaccuracies and therefore it's credibility is seriously doubted. In fact, certain historians of our age of enlightenment have argued that the whole story of Jesus and his mission is a fantastically told myth, which is not supported by proper historical evidences. Therefore God doesn’t exist!

Argument from the Qur’an's Stand against Evil

The Qur’an condemns evil in the strongest terms, and urges noble men who dedicate themselves to the truth to stand firm against evil, fight evil with all that they have and even sacrifice their lives for the sake of good in fighting against evil. However, the idea of Good winning against evil, and the forces of evil being crumbled before the might and majesty of Good is too much a burden for me to bear. Hence, I hate the Qur’an, and therefore God doesn’t exist!

Argument from Muhammad’s Fight against Evil

Muhammad fought against the powers of evil, and broke down those forces and established the Kingdom of Heaven on God’s earth, thereby fulfilling the age-long endeavors of the Noble Messengers of God, and those noble souls who had suffered indescribably at the hands of evil and given their lives fighting against the powers of evil for the sake of truth. However, as I said before, I cannot bear to see the defeat of evil and therefore I want to hate Muhammad for defeating evil, and therefore God doesn’t exist!

Argument from Muhammad’s Polygamy

Muhammad was just a man and he had humanly instincts and desires, and therefore he got married to women. In his marital life, Muhammad followed his culture, and acted simply in accordance with his social norms and values, and thus, married a number of women simultaneously. In other words, this man practiced polygamy!

I know that polygamy was a perfectly normal cultural norm of the Arabs of the time of Muhammad. However, since polygamy is a practice that is unacceptable and objectionable in accordance with the socio-cultural norms and values of my time and society; and since I am too narrow-minded to understand the cultural norms and values of other people and other times; and since I want to Judge Muhammad with the yardsticks of my own cultural values and norms, I declare Muhammad to be an evil womanizer, and therefore God doesn’t exist!

Argument from What They Say about Muhammad

They say that Muhammad married a nine-year old Aishah and cohabited with her. There are many points at which this historical claim should be objected, questioned and thus disregarded. Moreover, the people who related this incident were not at all reliable in my opinion. However, since I want to attribute bad things such as pedophilia to Muhammad, I must embrace this claim about him marrying and cohabiting Aisha. Therefore I believe it, and based on it, I establish that Muhammad was a child-abuser.

Also, there is a narration in Islamic historical sources which tells us that Muhammad and his Companions arrested hundreds of Jews, had some of them undressed in order to make sure they had reached puberty, and had all adult men killed and all the children and women enslaved. Although this story was narrated by a Jewish man who claimed to have survived the atrocity, and although there are many other evidences that point out to possible fabrication in this case, I want to believe it and orchestrate it since it will help me to denigrate the character of Muhammad.

Such incidences are proof enough that Muhammad was an inhuman and perverted man, and therefore God doesn't exist.

Argument from Animalism

God prohibits us things such as engaging in illicit sex, improper and immoral fulfillment of carnal appetites, and other excesses of lewdness and profanity. He also commands us to keep away from amassing and devouring money and riches through dirty and selfish means such as gambling, usury, and deceptive dealings. He doesn’t stop there! He goes on to ask us not to drink alcohol, not to display our physical beauty in immoral ways, not to be arrogant, not to be boastful and conceited, etc!

However, I believe that I am free to engage in any of these evils as long as I don’t allow the red blood of any of my brother or sister to be directly seen on my hands! I don’t want anyone to interfere with how, where, and when I go ahead to fulfill the animalistic desires of mine that I have mentioned above. After all, this is the age of liberalism, and I am my own god, and I am living in a universe which I had created for myself, and I am eating, day in day out, of things that I myself have created for myself. Therefore God has no right to tell me what is wrong, what is right when I see it with rationality and logic!

In addition, I do not believe in the concept of objective truths in relation to morality. Many philosophers say, and therefore I too say, that whatever my personal, political, financial, or social interests demand me to commit or engage in, in a particular circumstance or situation, is the right thing for me. For example, if my personal interests demand me to commit fraud in a financial transaction, then committing fraud is perfectly right for me in that situation. Likewise, if I get a chance to commit fornication or adultery with a very beautiful girl or an attractive man, then it is good for me to do it because it brings me sexual gratification and fulfillment!

As I have said earlier, I don’t want anyone to interfere with me fulfilling my animalistic desires, and I don’t want anyone to bar my freedom to do whatever my personal interests dictate me to do. Since God tries to do exactly this, by setting out rules for me and asking me to shun these evils, he doesn’t exist!

Argument from Evil

Human beings have fought wars against each other in the name of religion, nationalism, etc., thereby killing millions of innocent men, women, and children. They have conducted wars that have annihilated whole tribes and nations. In recent times, men have gone so far as to bomb and burn hundreds of thousands of other human beings just for the sake of oil! Can you believe it?

Also, a few people have devoured the world’s resources and thereby driven a huge proportion of mankind into starvation and hunger. A few people are having riches many times more than they actually need, and are wasting them for pathetic purposes (you see some of them, for example, spending millions of dollars on marriage banquettes!!) while millions of people are foodless and homeless due to lack of financial ability to afford the fulfillment of these basic needs! Small populations have reserved for them huge land masses, and innumerable natural resources, so much so that the world’s resources are not distributed among its people – the human beings who are supposed to be equally entitled to the benefits of those resources – in a fair and just manner!

Millions of men, women, and children are dying due to various kinds of diseases every day. Although the world has enough resources to give proper medical treatment probably to all of them; and though the world possess sufficient technical ability to cure almost all of them, those poor people are dying of sicknesses just because they are not rich enough to afford the expensive medical treatment offered by the medical industry (yes, it is an industry doing business)! In other words, an overwhelmingly large proportion of poor human beings who are dying due to fatal illnesses are actually medically curable, and they would have been happily living their lives if they had the necessary financial and curative resources and facilities at their disposal! However, they have no choice but to suffer in life, and die as dogs uncared for, simply because those few people who have devoured the world’s riches are not prepared to give their poor brothers and sisters in humanity their due!

Instead of making our world a mechanized process, in which we human beings would mechanically be perfect beings, God gave us freedom - something of which we make a huge uproar, but something that we grossly misunderstand, and hypocritically deal with. We pretend to cherish freedom as a great gift to us (from nowhere!!!), and we boast about freedom as a virtue we hold dear, and then we curse freedom by blaming God for what we do with our freedom!

I know that all the and all other evils that I have spoken of and, also not spoken of, that have been catastrophic calamities hunting on mankind are only the doings of man himself. I know that man can put it right by becoming more loving and more understanding towards his brethren in humanity. However, I, as a human being myself, do not want to take any responsibility. I want God to send an army of angels to put everything right, or to use His Omnipotence and Omniscience to mend the situation instantly. In other words, we human beings should be free to bring about whatever evils on our fellow human beings, and God simply should clear up the mess we create! Since God doesn’t do that, He doesn’t exist!

There are certain evils that are described by some philosophers as 'natural evil', which are the result of natural forces created by God, which are not under the control of us human beings. God had already warned us of such things as part of a moral and spiritual examination of our love, devotion, submission, obedience, integrity, patience, and perseverance. In fact, God did never make any promises of a perfect life. He was very lovingly honest with us, and informed us that even with these natural calamities that would befall us at times, if we stood as a family of human beings with love towards each other, helpful to those of us befallen with such calamities, life would be incredibly beautiful and worthwhile. God also was very honest with us saying that eternal happiness and salvation would be there for anyone who stood patiently and lovingly facing God, and by the side of other human beings as a true brother/sister to all of them. However, since I failed to prove my worth in this task, and since I failed to pass the moral and spiritual examination, I would blame God for everything, and therefore God does not exist!

Argument from Accountability

Those who believe in God say that it is unjust to treat the wicked and the good alike. They say that the wicked, who purposefully reject the truth and commit all kinds of evil such as murder, rape, deception, lying, spreading mischief on earth, etc., and the good, who accept the truth, are humble, sincere, kind, loving, forgiving etc., are never the same and should never be treated in the same manner. They also say that treating those wicked people and the good people in the same manner amounts to outright injustice.

However, the concepts of fairness, justice, good and evil are beyond the grasp of my twisted mind and therefore I cannot accept the fact that God should punish the wicked in hell, while He puts the good in Paradise. God should put all the people, whether they are good or evil, in Paradise, and since God will punish the wicked in hell, He doesn’t exist!

Argument from the Testimony of the Almighty Father

Almighty Father Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (he had this little problem of being in love with his sister, but that's nothing, you see) traveled throughout the length and breadth of all that exists and, thus, came to know of all that was, is, will be, wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be! In fact, he was there at the funeral of God and he wrote many books such as The Gay Science, and Thus Spake Zarathustra, in which he stated that God was dead. Therefore, God doesn’t exist!

Argument from the Testimony of the Noble Son

Charles Robert Darwin the Noble Son of the Almighty Father traveled to the lands of east and west in the blessed ship called HMS Beagle, and he visited the blessed island of Galápagos where he was given knowledge of existence. After this, he wrote the Holy Book – Origin of Species – in which he explained the existence of life in the universe with the theory of evolution (the Holy Doctrine of Evolution, actually). According to this doctrine, God didn’t create the universe and its contents. Whatever life in the universe, says the doctrine of the Noble Son, originated through the process of evolution. In fact, the Noble Son says that man is an evolved form of a kind of monkeys which were prototypes for the human beings we see!

I don’t understand how this could be, and I am not sure whether Darwin the Noble Son fully understood what he said either. In fact, neither the Noble Son, nor any of his followers have really explained how their wheel of evolution began to move, or how it is steered. However, since Darwin the Noble Son said that life originated through the process of evolution, and since he gave testimony that God didn’t create life, the Noble Son was true and God doesn’t exist!

Argument from the Testimony of the Holy Spirit

Clinton Richard Dawkins – the Holy Spirit – is a man of encyclopedic knowledge of biology, and he has a subtle and intelligent mind. Yet, he is seriously short of real wisdom, and his propositions about God and his supposed proofs against God's existence from books such as The Blind Watchmaker and The God Delusion are nothing but speculation and conjecture presented in twisted rhetoric. Those books certainly have immense capacity to mislead people who are devoid and bereft of true wisdom. But they are sufficient proof as to the author's lamentably prejudiced perception and interpretation of the world as it is and the phenomenal manifestations we see in it.

However, Dawkins the Holy Spirit has said that God doesn’t exist, and he postulates a new version of the theory of evolution, and with it, proves that God is a myth. Even though how he proves the non-existence of God is a mystery to me, and a mystery, probably, to everyone else, I will accept his testimony nonetheless. You can ask me a million times why I accept his theory, but I will not tell you why. You may tell me that I am accepting his testimony blindly, like many millions of people believe in religions blindly! I don't care at all. I will only say this – since Dawkins said that the belief in God is delusional and that God is a delusion entertained by people with weak and irrational minds, I believe in Dawkins the Holy Spirit, and therefore God doesn’t exist!

Argument from My Whims and Caprices

When I tell my friends that I do not believe in God, they seem to be awestruck and amazed at how brave and daring I am. Also, by doing this, I get their attention. They talk about me among themselves, and they come to meet me and ask me several questions and listen to all that I tell them, though most of what I say doesn’t make sense either to them, or to me. Actually I do not know why theists are theists, or why atheists are atheists because I don’t have the mental ability, personal integrity, and sincerity of heart to look at the truth without reservations and stand for the truth for the sake of the truth!

Only one thing matters to me! It is that by denying God, and by claiming that I am an atheist, I will be able to project myself to my friends and those around me as a unique person who dares to do anything. In other words, my sick and pathetic mind thinks that I am been cool by rejecting God, and therefore God doesn’t exist!

I am cool, man (and woman)! And you should be cool like me as well! Ha ha ha haaaa

FREEDOM OF RELIGION, PLEASE!

2007-06-19T05:19:00.000-07:00

Written by Ahmed Maajid

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace!

Article 9 of the proposed (as of June 2008) Constitution of the Republic of Maldives states that only an adherent of Islam can be, become, or remain a citizen of the country. The said Article categorically denies any possibility of a non-Muslim being a citizen of the Maldives. According to this constitutional provision a Maldivian citizen cannot believe in, follow, profess, or preach another religion within the confines of the Maldivian polity and its jurisdiction. If he/she does so, he is no more a Maldivian citizen, and he/she is subject to whatever consequences that the lawmakers will (or might never) decide on in the future! There is no need to explain how this Article of the Maldivian Constitution constitutes a blatant and straightforward denial of the freedom of religion. It is only too clear!

While some people have voiced out their criticism of this constitutional statement of a "No Muslim, No Maldivian" ideology (with varied intentions and objectives), others have vehemently defended it (also, with varied intentions and objectives). To me, the said constitutional provision seems to be nothing more or less than a pathetic, shameful, and impractical attempt to dictate over people's conscience - something that countless tyrants and despots in gone-by eras have attempted but none in the history of mankind ever succeeded at!

This is a very sensitive matter that needs to be handled with utmost prudence and attention, given the complexity of the issue and its multi-dimensional scope of socio-political relevance. We ought to deal with the matter very carefully and honestly. In any case, the truth cannot be simply ignored for the sake of vested interests and political objectives. What is true and right cannot be sacrificed in order to be "politically correct” (though that is a basic rule in the devilish New World Order of modern times)! The truth should be upheld at all costs - for a nation's true and real dignity lies there and not anywhere else!

God's Decision

Some people would have us believe that the concept and practical application of the golden principles of freedom of religion (like other human rights) are achievements of human intuitive endeavors. Some say that this freedom was first proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Also, many people tend to consider it as a concept that is contradictory with Islamic ideals. They think that speaking about freedom of religion is tantamount to speaking against Islam, or at least speaking in a tongue unintelligible to Islam.

However, the truth in this matter is seen in a totally different picture. As a matter of fact, the Noble Qur'an - the uncreated Word of God Almighty - is the oldest known proclaimer of the idea and underlying principles of freedom of religion and conscience, in its true sense. The Noble Qur’an has stated the concession of this freedom in crystal-clear terms at a time when this idea was most strange to theological circles and academic sittings of men! As such, it is not an achievement of man’s intellectual development and maturity. It is not the fruit of any philosophical endeavors on the part of man. It is a God-given freedom! It is God’s decision to give His people this freedom!

God says in the Noble Qur'an: "There shall be no coercion in matters of faith. Distinct has now become the right way from [the way of] error: hence, he who rejects the powers of evil and believes in God has indeed taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way." - Surah al-Baqarah: 256 (Trns. by Muhammad Asad). In another place, God says: "And say: "The truth [has now come] from your Sustainer: let, then, him who wills, believe in it, and let him who wills, reject it." - Surah al-Kahf: 29 (Trns. by Muhammad Asad). These and other Qur’anic verses make it very clear that freedom of religion is a fundamental Qur’anic concept. However, since it will be a deviation from the topic, I will not go into details of how the principles of the concept are derived from these verses. Any sister or brother who needs further clarifications on this issue can refer to the writings of good Islamic scholars (like Muhammad Asad or Charles Le Gai Eaton). In any case, these verses are extremely clear and self-explanatory, and there is no need to rack your brain to understand what they say! (yea, these verses actually mean what they say, unlike what most of the supposed “scholars” of Islam would have us believe!)

In accordance with the supreme divine plan with the race of men, God has granted every human being the freedom to choose whatever religion that might seem appropriate to him/her. This freedom includes in its ambit the liberty even to deny God! Having made that decision, God has shown men two pathways (the Najdain, to use a Qur’anic term) - the path of righteousness and the path of error. The one who chooses the path of righteousness does so to his own benefit, and the one who chooses the path of error does so to his own destruction.

When God's decision is communicated to us in terms so clear, we ought to respect it and implement it. We should not change it, and we can never improve on it. Only the very arrogant among men would dare shout out that the laws of God should be repealed, reformed, or modified! Similarly, if a Law of God is, at any given moment, incompatible with a prevailing social, economic or political condition of any society, that implies a problem with the society in question. As such, the society must immediately strive to change and adapt to the Law of God (if it wishes worldly success and eternal salvation, that is), instead of foolishly trying to modify and improve on God's Law!

The Prophetic Example and Caliphal Precedents

Muhammad – the Noble Messenger of God – implemented the Qur’anic concept of freedom of religion with unprecedented and unsurpassed broadmindedness, tolerance, and mercy. The Prophetic State of Islam established in Madinah – the City of Light – was a multi-religious society by all means, and people of non-Qur'anic faiths could live there as fully-recognized and assimilated citizens. They could and did practice and preach their religions by all and every peaceful means; their religious institutions and sanctuaries were held in due honor, given ample protection, and accorded due respect; they were consulted in the government and they had their part to play in the social, economic, and political affaires of the State! If anyone wants proof of these statements, he/she can refer to the Constitution of Madinah (the Sahifah al-Madinah) and reliable biographies of the Noble Messenger (I would recommend to my readers the Life of Muhammad by Muhammad Hussain Hykal for one, and I would urge my brothers and sisters to be aware of books such as The Sealed Nectar, or Al-Raheeq al-Makhtoum, which propaganda has often hailed as the best on the shelves).

The rightly-guided Caliphs of Islam recognized the basic freedom of religion in accordance with the Will of God and the explanatory example of God’s Noble Messenger! As an enlightening precedence, we could study the famous incident that happened immediately after the liberation of Jerusalem from the tyrannical Byzantine Empire during the caliphate of Umar the Great. Umar visited Jerusalem and he was having a look at the Church of Resurrection (or the Sanctum Sepulchrum, where the Holy Sepulcher of Jesus Christ lies according to the Christian tradition) with the Grand Patriarch Sophronius when the call for prayer was made. When the Adhan sounded, the Patriarch cordially invited Umar to pray inside the Church. Umar, however, refused to do so, and said that if he prayed in the Church, the Muslims might one day claim a right to build a mosque in the place by reason of his offering prayers there, and might demolish the Church. Reasoning thus, he went out and prayed in a nearby empty area (where a mosque dedicated to his name has, in fact, been built later as he had predicted).

Umar’s statements clearly stated a brotherly respect for the Christian religion and their holy places. He didn’t want the Church to be demolished one day to be replaced by a mosque, as it would lead to bitter clashes between Islam and Christianity! He wished for a peaceful coexistence of Islam and Christianity in the Holy land of Jerusalem! He was fully aware of the Christians’ freedom to practice their religion in all its peaceful manifestations – a freedom that Umar knew well to have been granted by God – who was more important to him than petty political interests!

God's Messenger implemented the Will of God by respecting freedom of religion in the very heart of Islamic State (in the Prophetic state of Madinah). Those who truly understood and followed the Prophetic example (the devouted Companions) respected and upheld freedom of religion. After that, I don't understand how the matter would be clearer. Or, do the Maldivian Constitution writers and politicians know even better than God, His Messenger, and the Pious Caliphs?

A Question of Choice

Islam teaches that belief in God with full submission, love, commitment, devotion, trust, and obedience is the foundation stone from which all the other aspects of the religion, be they dogmatic, ritual or behavioral, stem forth. In fact, countless Qur’anic verses state that one’s adherence begins, continues, and fulfills itself with the belief in God and all entailing implications of this belief. Also, the Noble Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Noble Messenger of God make it very clear that belief and faith are matters related to one’s intellectual faculties. They are not actions that a person commits with his hands and tongue. You believe in God and have faith in Him with your heart and your mind. In a word, religion is a matter basically for one’s intellect, for one’s heart and mind!

If this is the case, then it is simply stupid to think that a person can follow or believe in a particular religion without his own, voluntary, and informed choice. This is the simple yet profound reason why, as aforementioned, the Qur'an declares that there cannot be any compulsion or coercion in matters of religion. That is the reason why the Qur’an “lets anyone who wills reject the truth and anyone who wills accept it” through and by his own choice and decision. When the Qur’an says so, it means so. It is not rhetoric that twists and abuses language to deceive and mislead people. It is God speaking, and when God says something, He means it; He means all of it; nothing more, and nothing less. He is fair, and He never plays foul, though many men seem to understand it not.

A tyrannical, despotic, and authoritarian government can make laws and regulations forcing the citizens of a country to lip-serve Islam. They can force the citizens to name themselves as Muslims, to dress like Muslims dress, or to perform Islamic rituals, and so on. But a truth that cannot be changed by tyrants is that when a people follow or pretend to follow a religion under duress and compulsion, without their hearts and minds being content with it, their "following" has no meaning whatsoever.

If you want a person to follow a particular religion, the only way is to convince his heart and mind as to the truth of that particular religion, and thereby making him chose for himself that religion. A bullet shot from an AK47, or a bomb thrown from a B52, or a pathetic provision in a Constitution simply cannot do the job! The Maldivian constitution writers and all other fools who try to arrest people’s conscience would do well to understand and remember this truth preached by Islam and affirmed by human reason!

An Absurdity

An undeniable fact is that, while the overwhelming majority of the Maldives is Muslim (at least in theory), there are many who adhere to other faiths (such as Christianity and atheism – yes, atheism is a faith!). Do we really believe that a statement in our Constitution saying that every Maldivian should be Muslim would make such people Muslims? Do we really believe that forcing these people to profess Islam would yield any fruitful results? Don’t you think that such spiritual dictatorship would result in bitter hatred, which would someday erupt like a volcano and would, in all likelihood, give way to bitter religious conflicts and bloodshed?

Another point to ponder over is how we might act to enforce such a provision in the Constitution. What are we supposed to do when we find out that someone who used to be a Maldivian (and so, presumably a Muslim!) has opted out of Islam and embraced another religion? Will we behead him/her, or put him/her in jail, or deport him/her from the country for ever? Or shall we allow the person to remain in our country as a tourist with a life-time visa or something? …

In short, isn’t it sheer absurdity to try to control what the hearts of men believe with laws and swords and guns?

Constitutional Muslims

Welcome to the age of Neo-Islam!

In Saudi Arabia we have the Saudi Official Patriarchal Version! In Egypt we have the Egyptian Standard Moderate Version. In Turkey we have the Turkish New Age Secular Version. In Pakistan we have the Sub-Continental Militant Version. In Malaysia we have the Malaysian Latest Capitalist Version. The list is growing as newer versions are coming out and new types of Muslims keep on emerging.

The modern age has seen practicing Muslims and non-practicing Muslims. Look out and you will see democratic Muslims, communist Muslims, feudal Muslims, fanatic Muslims, and many others. The newest type seems to be Constitutional Muslims. You wouldn’t see this term described in a dictionary of Islamic disciplines now, but you are not unlikely to see it in a few years. Let us guess the meaning of the term as it might appear in the pages of such a dictionary – “A Constitutional Muslim is one who doesn’t actually believe in Islam, but professes to be a Muslim because the national constitution he/she adheres to forces him to do so, under pain of political and communal ex-communication and criminalization!”

A Disgrace to Islam

Not a single “Islamic” nation on earth today has taken Islam in its own terms and conditions! Each of them has accepted Islam with reservations and modifications to suit her own desires and wishes. Every single one of them has given a more important role to her traditions, cultural heritage, political and economic interests etc. In doing so, Islamic nations have often deliberately tampered with the true teachings of Islam.

The Maldivians, too, are on the same path. We are following a man-mad Islam, instead of following the true, God-given Islam. We do not read and consult the Qur'an in order to understand Islam. We refer to "textbooks" of Islam written by people who have, more often than not, misinterpreted and misrepresented Islam. These textbook writers have tampered with true Islam for various reasons. Sometimes they do it deliberately as a result of their vested interests. Sometimes they do it out of their love of their nationalist beliefs, traditions and cultural heritage. Sometimes they do it because they blindly follow their forefathers instead of trying with their own minds to understand God’s Word for themselves and for their times.

The claim that Islam doesn’t acknowledge freedom of religion in its fullest sense is one that has been made by one group of people as mentioned above. This group, which self-labels itself the orthodoxy of Islam, vehemently and wrongly claims that the denial of freedom of religion is something that has its root in the Noble Qur’an and the Blessed Sunnah of the Noble Messenger of God. We, the Maldivians, are holding onto this erroneous understanding of Islam for our own political interests; because our political stability seems (at least to some people) to be dependant on our religious "unity".

Those who change and modify Islam in this manner are but a disgrace to Islam!

Political Reasons

When we speak about recognizing the God-given freedom of religion and conscience in the Maldives, we often hear the adversaries of this ideal truth speaking about a consequential situation of turmoil following the granting of this freedom. They say that recognition of the freedom of religion would entail a state of chaos in the country, as many people will instantly declare apostasy from Islam, and many Muslims would likely react without tolerance. Definitely this argument has its weight and validity; but in this case, the withholding of freedom of religion in the Maldives is being justified merely and wholly by political arguments! It has nothing to do with Islam!

We should ask ourselves one very important question at this point! Can we justifiably snatch from the people a basic freedom granted to them by their Lord on account of collective political and communal interests of our nation? Certainly not! We cannot build a community by killing the individual! Definitely the society does have its rights as a communal entity! But, the individual cannot possible be destroyed in order to build the society? That is simply wrong!

If we make reservations on basic human rights of the people, why don't we pass a law saying that no Maldivian who has completed a university degree can live and work abroad? That seems to me to be a more sensible law than any pathetic law barring the freedom of religion!!!

Avoiding the eruption of inter-religion chaos and mayhem resulting is definitely essential. Politically speaking, we, as a nation, cannot afford to have our country lost in a state of religious wars. We cannot afford to see the lives and property of the people being forfeit on account of such wars. If there is a real possibility of religious differences giving way to such a chaotic state, we must find solutions to that. However the solution to such a potential problem doesn’t lie in the pathetic attitude of forcing every Maldivian, at the point of the sword or the gun or the law, to profess Islam and to guise Islam (being blind to every person's real religious conviction)! The solution lies in two very plausible grounds not far away from our reach.

What Should We Do?

First, we can try to guarantee the continued unity of the Maldivian nation in its adherence to Islam by making the people truly love Islam. The government has the power, and is in a position to do it. For this, teach them Islam for what it is! Teach them the Noble Qur’an (and not what some pathetic people interpret the Noble Qur’an to be). Tell our children about God instead of making them worship President Maumoon, Britney Spears, Shah Rukh Khan, Batman, Benten, Catman and Supermario! The Muslims in the West – in countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom – understand Islam much better than those of the failed Orient, and we can redirect our religious life in their manner!

Secondly, teach the people the Islamic ideal of religious tolerance! Tell the people that Islam has mandated religious freedom and the peaceful co-existence of religions in all God’s lands (including the Maldives, which, when last I looked, was also a part of God’s lands). Tell them that fighting for religious differences is a great evil in the Eyes of God. Make them truly realize and internalize this Islam-preached universal truth! Show them the beautiful examples of Islamic Sham (currently Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and part of Turkey) and Islamic Spain. Tell them how the Syrian Christians of the Sham enjoyed religious freedom and much more religio-intellectual development under the Muslim Caliphate of Raashidun, compared to their supposed religious brothers of the Byzantium. Tell them how the Jews enjoyed their greatest post-prophetic golden age (which produced Jewish scholars of the stature of Moses Maimonides) under the patronage of Islamic Spain! By teaching the Maldivian Muslims the ideal of tolerance that Islam has prescribed, we can make them ready to accept and respect the decision of their fellow countrymen who choose other religions for themselves.

Dishonesty or What?

As I have said in the beginning, many people have defended the “No Muslim, No Maldivian” provision in the prospective Constitution of the Maldives. Those people who defend this provision do not belong to one ideological or political faction, and as such, all of them do not share same and similar intentions in their stance in this matter. Some of them are doing it purely for political reasons. They are shouting out the slogans of "No Muslim, No Maldivian" ideology just for political purposes.

These "dirty politicians" know that the bulk of the Maldivian population is still "Muslim" - at least in theory! They know that those Muslims have been reared and brainwashed to think and believe that all their fellow Maldivians should be Muslims as well. They are aware of the fact that those Muslims are not yet prepared to tolerate any religion other than Islam (obviously, in their ignorance of true Islamic values and rules). As such, these "dirty politicians" also know that by upholding the flags of "No Muslim, No Maldivian" ideology, they are bound to win the sympathy and support of a considerable number of the Maldivian people!

The painful truth is that these "dirty politicians" are not shouting the “No Muslim No Maldivian” slogans because of any respect or any love for Islam! They do not love God or His religion! They do not, in fact, love anything other than their mundane desires! They do not even have the capacity to love truly! What they seek are only votes in elections! They are abusing Islam and people's inherited love for Islam as tools for achieving their political purposes.

They are wretched, huh? … By God, they really are, and more! They are dishonest, evil, arrogant, ignorant, and destructive to Islam as well as this country by all accounts. Left in their hands, and this country will sink so low that in no time it would be humanly impossible to make things right again.

Think, and Learn from History!

History of mankind is full of occurrences from which we can learn our lessons if we are prudent enough. As I have said before, despots have many a time tried to arrest people’s conscience and run ideological dictatorships. They have tried to write with their swords, guns, and laws the doctrines that people should believe, the principles they should live by, and the aspirations they should harbour. However, in each of these cases, it led to nothing but an ultimate stage of chaos in which people, in one way or the other, rose up in defense of their true convictions, beliefs and principles. In each of these cases, the despots who tried to suppress the natural rights of the people were shamefully ousted and disgraced. Dishearteningly, most of these cases involved unspeakable violence and bloodshed. One very good example was the French Revolution – an even that every student of history is likely to be quite familiar with.

We have seen the same drama in our history – and not long before. The Maldivian government has, for about 30 years, tried to dictate the political beliefs of the country. It has tried to suppress opposition by trying to force the people to have particular political viewpoints. However, this oppression created bitterness among people who disliked the government, and there came a point at which the inevitable eruption occurred. The opposition, which was so long put down with force, by means of inappropriate utilization of the country’s security forces and unfair, unreasonable and improper laws, ultimately came out defying even the rule of law, and a state of chaos and violence is the result as we are now seeing.

Another idea that history has constantly supported is that religious clashes are much bitterer than political clashes. A religious clash is often bloodier and more violent, as religion is a more sensitive issue than politics. As such, societies should be more alert to possible religious clashes than political problems. We must remind ourselves that if we continue to suppress the religious convictions of many hundreds of Maldivians, there will come a moment when those people will rise together, possibly with arms, to fight for their religious rights. Isn’t it better to give them their rights, as Islam has ordered us, with decency, kindness, and fraternity before it is too late? Isn’t it wiser to let them have their way with peace before they get it by fighting? The Maldivian Constitution writers and politicians may have denied the people the freedom of religion thinking that they are ensuring political unity and stability by doing that. But if history can tell us anything, they will be proven wrong before long, and what we are doing will result in nothing but conflicts and tumults in the future. The sooner we realize this and do something about it the better!

Honesty and Truth, Please!

Let us leave our dishonesty, arrogance, and ignorance behind for good! Let is truly rise in the Path of God! Let us truly love and obey Him by truly loving and respecting all His slaves! Let us not slander, denigrate, and disgrace the truth by forcing people who despise it to lip-serve it! Let us be truthful by all means! May the Peace and Blessings of God by upon all the people! May the Mercy of God be shown to all – Believers and the Lost as well – for the Lost may well be found by the Light and Hand of God – the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace!

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(Note: On the true position of Islam on the issue of apostasy, see these articles - http://www.islamicperspectives.com/Apostasy1.htm and http://www.naseeb.com/naseebvibes/prose-detail.php?aid=4839&PHPSESSID=33115943d4afa20bdb28b302bcf1406b)