Ghulam Mohiyuddin’s Contribution To My Articles
By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam
13 September 2024
I had sent in a rejoinder to Ghulam Mohiyuddin sb’s article titled “Naseer Ahmed's Contributions to New Age Islam but then requested the Editor to drop it. It wasn’t right to react to it. I needed to understand why GM sb was saying what he was saying and treat every word seriously to increase my understanding of his behaviour and to ensure that we reached an understanding of our respective worldviews, which happen to be opposites.
His behaviour, supported by reams of evidence, is described below:
1. Ridiculing the Quran and Claiming Errors
GM sb constantly ridicules the Quran and holds the view that it contains many errors and contradictions. His behaviour indicates a deep-seated conflict with the religious text and its teachings.
2. Rejection of Core Beliefs
He does not subscribe to core Islamic beliefs such as the Hereafter and the need to submit to Allah, which he derogatorily refers to as slavery. This rejection of fundamental beliefs highlights his dissonance with mainstream Islamic teachings.
3. Self-Identification as a Muslim
Despite his critical stance, he identifies as a Muslim and insists that his interpretation of the Quran is the correct one, dismissing the interpretations of believers. This paradoxical behaviour seeks to redefine his religious identity on his terms.
4. Argumentative Nature
He engages in endless arguments to defend his views, showing a strong need to assert his perspective.
From the above, one can derive the following preliminary conclusions:
My Preliminary Conclusion
GM sb can express his views freely as he has no personal stake in the matter, dismissing the Book as a seventh-century text full of errors. From his viewpoint, if his interpretation is ridiculous, it is because the book is ridiculous. His ridiculous interpretations serve two purposes:
a) Confirms his position that the book is ridiculous and full of errors.
b) It is an attempt to reject the argument that proves otherwise.
Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance is experienced when an expressed view is the opposite of your own or materially different. It can create doubt. If it creates doubt, coping behaviour kicks in. However, over a long period, suppression of cognitive dissonance leads to mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and withdrawal.
Neither GM sb nor I show any mental health issues. Both are mentally very strong. The Cognitive Dissonance does not, therefore, create doubt in either of us. Both are equally convinced of our respective positions.
GM sb, however, has to deal with the cognitive dissonance that he experiences when he reads my articles. My articles provide a straightforward way to dispute logically and with evidence my thesis. GM sb finds he cannot do so but is convinced that he is right and I am wrong. He finds himself inadequate logically and with evidence to prove me wrong. Therefore, he resorts to several tricks that are exposed in the structured analysis. The structured analysis has put him in a straitjacket, so he is disturbed and is lashing out.
GM Sb’s Worldview
GM sb lives by the following beliefs:
1. All religions are man-made
2. God does not reveal anything nor interfere in our affairs
3. There is no Hereafter and only this life
GM Sb’s Morality
In his book, the ends justify the means. Religious morality, which says the means must also be moral, is for fools. Such rules serve an evolutionary purpose and are no longer meaningful.
He, therefore, sees nothing wrong in using his dishonest tricks to argue. They serve a noble purpose: to banish religion from the people's minds.
He credits my intelligence and knowledge but thinks I am misusing them.
He is not an enemy of Islam, as I have sometimes said. He defends Islam and Muslims from motivated attacks.
He is a good Muslim according to his definition of a Muslim.
What Is Common Between GM Sb And Other Believers
Followers of various Imams follow only what their imams say. They have a closed mind to everything else and will not listen to anything different. If you say something different, it doesn’t register - they have switched off their minds. Their behaviour is described in the Quran in several verses.
GM sb has likewise reached his conclusions based on his idols, whoever they are. In his opinion, they are right, and I am wrong, except that I am smart, intelligent and knowledgeable, which makes it difficult for him to prove me wrong. That doesn’t mean I am right and he is wrong. He, therefore, argues endlessly even when he has lost the argument and every digression. In his opinion, I am misusing my knowledge and intelligence to maintain the ridiculous notion that God sent His revelations and the Quran is His word, which accurately describes what science is discovering today. He, therefore, calls me by all kinds of names such as “charlatan”, “liar”, etc.
The honest way for him to deal with the situation is to say that he cannot find a logical argument to contest what I say, but he is not persuaded by it either. Resorting to all kinds of tricks does no good.
Acknowledgement Of GM Sb’s Contribution
I have acknowledged it before, and several others have commented that GM sb’s contributions to my thinking process have been invaluable. But for him, I may not have written many of my articles. He plays the role of Devil’s Advocate to perfection. He is the only reason I write for NAI. Without him, I have no audience and no motivation to write. I am grateful to him and thank him, and I will pray for him. This is a sincere sentiment. I wish him well and pray that God will find a way for him to pass the test.
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A frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal contributions to its interpretation.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/ghulam-mohiyuddin-contribution-articles/d/133187
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