By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
11 March
2024
Sab Terey Siwa Kafir, Aakhir Iss Ka Matlab Kya
Sar Phira Dey Insaan Ka, Aisa Khabt-e-Mazhab
Kya
Yaas Yagana Changezi
(All others are infidels if they don't follow
Islam and believe in Allah / What's the use of such an insane faith that drives
people crazy?)
A
22-year-old student was sentenced to death in Pakistan on the charges of
blasphemy over WhatsApp messages, reported BBC on Friday. This young student
said something derogatory about Muhammad.
It seems,
the people and the judiciary of Pakistan don't have anything worthwhile to do
other than checking who's exchanging 'blasphemous' contents with whom.
Blasphemy
law is an alibi for settling personal vendettas in Pakistan. Earlier in August
last year, more than 80 Christian homes and 19 churches in Pakistan were
vandalised after two Christian brothers were accused of “desecrating” the
Quran.
In one of
Pakistan’s most high-profile cases, Christian woman Asia Bibi was at the centre
of a decade-long blasphemy row, which eventually saw her death sentence
overturned and ended with her fleeing the country.
Here one's
reminded of Changezi's Misra-e-Saani (second line): Sar Phira De
Insaan Ka Aisa Khabt-E-Mazhab Kya.
Despite
being 1400-yr-old, Islam doesn't seem to have matured as a tolerant or
civilised faith. Its obsession with Muhammad and the Quran is still insanely
intense and that's the root of all problems. In fact, the so-called prophethood
is the fundamental cause of this intolerance and zealotry.
Pakistani ex-Muslim
Anwar Shaikh wrote, "Since Prophethood seeks to elevate a Prophet at the
expense of God, it has, obviously, nothing to do with God or guidance. It is
just a political device of the Middle Eastern origin, which enables its
operator to achieve his ambitions under the pretence of spirituality. With a
view to bridling the curious human mind, the doctrine of Prophethood
discourages free will, which is the fountain of free-thinking, enquiry and
social progress. Instead, it imposes complete hegemony of fate on man to drive
him as if he were an ass.
In fact,
Prophethood is the tool of Dominance-Urge, which goads a person to seek the
highest possible position in a social or political hierarchy. All the
conquerors, heads of states, etc., however, represent ephemeral type of
Dominance-Urge because it expires with the demise of its possessor. However,
its spiritual counterpart is a lasting phenomenon because a Prophet commands
his followers from beyond his grave through the law that he laid down in his
holy book."
Though
Islam calls itself a monotheistic faith, its monotheism has many layers.
Pristine and the earliest Vedic monotheism believed Eko Brahma, Dvitiyo Naasti
(God is unique sans an appendage).
But in
Islam, its Allah comes with a paraphernalia that consists of Muhammad, Quran,
Hadees, lakhs of bogus and contradictory interpretations propounded by equally
muddle-headed, English-knowing exegetes who're still around with their
'scientific' explanations of all 6, 234 numbered verses of the Al-Furqaan.
Alas, Allah
is lost in a jungle of weeds. It's like a bride coming with a dowry! When
secondary things become much more important than the primary objective, i.e.
Allah, intolerance and conflicts are bound to crop up.
Islam will
have to get rid of its Book and the cloying love for the Messenger to focus
only on Allah. The instances of blasphemy will automatically come down. In
short, Islam needs soul-searching and further polishing. It still has rough and
corrugated edges. Intolerance is in the DNA of Islam.
-----
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/quran-love-messenger-allah/d/131887
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