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The gullible nature of
humans has, regrettably again, enabled the preachers of almost religions
to turn themselves into very successful business entrepreneurs. Among the
preachers of all the three major religions of our time, the Christian
preachers are most successful in their efforts.
During my recent visit to
Vancouver
, I saw sign in front of an almost dilapidated church. It read: Church for
sale.
It appeared to me that the
owner of the church or the preacher who owned it did not do well in his
business and the lack of enthusiasm and donations forced its sale.
A House of God on sale and
that, too, by humans! Despite being a non-believer, I felt a shame, laden
with guilt, crawling all over my face!!
Turning the statue of a
crucified Christ into an extremely high-value commodity, many Christian
priests have already built their economic empires. Others are in the
process of climbing the ladder of their success; they, too, would one day
become multi-millionaires. But the common folks, who contribute to their
priests’ success and aggrandizements, would continue to remain what they
are today. This is what is called the irony of fate, which not even
Jehovah, God or Allah has ever cared to address, fearing, perhaps, that
the restoration of peace and happiness among the perpetually suffering and
hungry masses might change the violent atmosphere of the world, a
perspective that all sensible humans will, though, welcome, but the
Al-mighty Deity does not want it to happen, lest it throws His Universal
Plan into a uncontrollable spin.
Religious preaching is not
an easy job, nor have all the preachers succeeded in their ambitious
endeavors. They have to be very careful with what they select from their
Religious Scriptures to preach on. Their cautious selection of preaching
materials is what prevents many of us from learning about the fallacies
and inglorious narratives with which all of them are laden.
The Quran of the Muslim
faith is not only filled with inanities, it also has some vital clues that
lead us to question whether or not Muhammad himself, the founder of Islam,
was a Muslim. It is a very important question, and I wish to explore it,
albeit briefly, to satisfy the curiosity of those who are always eager to
find out facts and realities.
The Quran says that
Muhammad was like other apostles of Allah. Like all his predecessors, he
took birth from the womb of a mother, and when he grew up, Allah appointed
him as His Apostle and Prophet. Like all the previous prophets but Jesus
Christ, he also died and was buried in the soil of our earth (cf. Quran;
3:144 et al).
It is an established fact
that Muhammad took birth in a Pagan family. He grew up with Pagan
traditions and practices, which then dominated
Mecca
, his birth place. They preserved and nurtured their pagan faith with all
dedications and force, for it not only helped them keep their spirits
alive in the arid, inhospitable and harsh conditions of their
surroundings, it also provided them their sustenance.
In an atmosphere where
almost all people practiced paganism, there was no way for Muhammad to
remain outside its influence that controlled all spheres of his life. The
fact that he worshipped the idol of al-Uzza and that he sacrificed an
animal at its altar (Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs, p. 98) are
good reasons, based on which anyone can conclude that Muhammad grew up as
a Pagan and lived the life of a Pagan, until he began to wear the mantle
of a prophet from the age of forty.
Pagan Muhammad became the
Prophet of Islam in the
cave
of
Hira
without ever invoking Kalima Tayyaba. The angel, who visited him in the
cave, is not reported to have asked him to recite it, even though no
non-Muslim, as the one Muhammad was, could then or can now enter Islam
without first confessing that there is no deity but Allah and also that
Muhammad is His Messenger.
It is truly amazing to
note that a Pagan Muhammad was able to found Islam without himself ever
converting to it. Perhaps, his charms and charisma and brutality were
responsible for his astounding success; otherwise, how could a Pagan have
established the concept of one Deity without himself paying homage to Him?
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