Dynamics of Hatred
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
22 February
2023
It's Time To Introspect And Get Rid Of This
Toxic Hatred; Muslims Across The World Must Try To Flush It Out Of Their System
To Comply With The Contemporary World And Its Modern Thinking.
-----
“There’s no
permanent enemy and friend in everyday life because life and associations are
dynamic and situational. But the dynamics of religion, esp. of Islam, are
different. Here, an enemy of (your) faith is your enemy forever. Dynamics of
religious hatred can never be defined clearly and cogently. "
Salman
Rushdie to a British newspaper in 1995
So
prophetically true! An Iranian organisation has called the writer Salman
Rushdie a ' living dead ' and has declared an award of 1,000 sq. metres of
farmland to the man who attacked Rushdie in the US last year. Imagine, the
(religious) hatred is still implacable after more than three decades!
Almost the
same, though not so brutal, happened to Taslima Nasreen, who recently said that
her hip surgery went horribly wrong. All Muslim zealots rejoiced and said that
their Allah avenged. As if, it has nothing else to do!
Why should
Allah, if at all it does exist, behave so vindictively like humans?
In a speech
at the foundation day of 'The Spectator', Richard Ontang of the University of
Hull, England, opined that, “Hatred is institutionalized when instigated by a
religion. In other words, religion legitimises hatred and justifies its role in
brewing and perpetuating contempt and shedding the blood of the transgressor.
While many religions have understood the spirit of prevalent times and become mellowed
and toned down, the followers of Islam still think it to be their divine duty
to behead and mutilate those who dare criticise Allah, Quran and Muhammad.
Islam is still stuck in a desert hole of Arab Peninsula just the way it began
its marauding journey 1400 years ago."
The fanatic
attacker almost rendered Rushdie a 'living dead' and there's no denying the
fact that the five-time Booker Prize winning author is now partially blind and
his one hand is not working. Yet, the uncouth fanatics are happy and rejoicing
that Allah has taught him a lesson. For how long can you hate and castigate a
person who personally never harmed you and just wrote something flippant about
your Muhammad?
When the
civilised world condemns these medieval murderers, the whole Islamic world
cries hoarse and labels it as Islamophobia. This is their clichéd refrain.
It's time
to introspect and get rid of this toxic hatred. Muslims across the world must
try to flush it out of their system to comply with the contemporary world and
its modern thinking. By the way, don't forget to read Rushdie's last book,
Victory City (Penguin Hamish Hamilton) written before the attack. The book
harkens Rushdie's return to magic realism. I just want Rushdie to win next
year's Nobel for Literature.
-------
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/dynamics-hatred-muslims/d/129165
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in
Islam, Islamic
Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia
in America, Muslim Women
in West, Islam Women
and Feminism