A Hindu Or A Muslim Atheist: An Oxymoron!
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
19 March
2024
In a recent
interview, 'celebrated' atheist Javed Akhtar told Barkha Dutt that he was a
Muslim atheist as he was born into a Muslim family. So, despite being an
atheist, Muslim was his identity. Sorry, I beg to differ with him.
The very
term a Hindu or a Muslim atheist is an oxymoron. Agreed, almost all of us are
born into a particular faith and that's beyond an individual's control. But
leaving the parental or familial faith is a fundamental right of an individual.
Once you stop believing in god and religion, your parental faith has no bearing
on you. How can your parental faith be your identity even after leaving
religion and refusing to believe in a god or gods? You can't eat the cake and
have it too.
Poona-based
actor and doctor Shriram Lagoo called himself an avowed atheist. But when he
died, his last rites were performed according to Hinduism, precisely
Brahminical Hinduism as he was a Brahmin! Where did his atheism go? An atheist
has no religion and his faith in god is also zilch.
Sahir
Ludhianvi remained an atheist but he was buried in a Muslim graveyard. What was
the use of screaming from the rooftop that he (Sahir) was a Munkir-e-Zaat
or an Ilhadi having no faith in Islam?
Our
religious imprints are too deeply entrenched in our collective psyche. So, in
spite of claiming to be an atheist, one remains forever attached to one's faith
at a subconscious or unconscious level.
Here, no
boasting or self-praise, as an atheist, rather an apatheist, I've already
donated my whole body to the medical college and when I breathe my last and if
my body is not mutilated, it'll be given away to a medical college including my
skeleton. No obsequies will be performed as I never endorsed any faith in my
whole life. Nor did I believe in any damn god.
When an
ordinary person like me can think in such a revolutionary and non-religious
manner, why can't these fashionable atheists do the same? By the way, no last
rites were performed when my parents bid adieu to the world. Their whole bodies
were given away to the medical colleges along with their bones.
Humans are
too frightened of god, religion, afterlife, hell, heaven and all that jazz.
Javed Akhtar is no exception.
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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/hindu-muslim-atheist-oxymoron/d/131951
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