"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to
the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober
one."…George Bernard Shaw
Are Muslim Intellectuals Dumbs?
By Sher Khan
I am not an Intellectual or a
professional. I am not a doctor, engineer or an academic. Honestly, I am
not a writer either. As you will go through this article, you may find
several grammatical errors and lack of a scholar’s comments. However,
there should not be any spelling mistake except for non-English words.
Kafir (Unbeliever), Bill Gates invented Microsoft Office Words and added
only English words in spelling check. Unlike Quranic miracles this
wonder of science helps me a lot. As long as you understand what I
meant, please don’t complain. I am a simple man. I believe, right is
right and wrong is wrong. I believe truth is one and only, whereas
untrue have numerous colors and faces. I do not believe what I read. I
use my own judgment and think pragmatically. I use the golden rules of
logic and reason to convince myself. Aristotle once said, "Plato is
dear to me, but dearer still is truth."
O ye who read, behold! I am here
not to write my biography. I am not a famous or a pious person that my
biography will be an impressive one.
Lately, I am trying to
understand our Muslim Intellectual’s mind. They attain highest degrees
from Universities and they are the experts in their areas. People like
me should be admiring their intelligence and knowledge. With due
respect, I don’t understand how they comprise religion with their
philosophy, work ethics, subject matters and their belief. Precisely, I
am talking about our great (!) religion Islam.
I will be quoting a few ahadith.
Please note these are from Sahih Bukhari, which is authentic, and a main
resource to follow sunnah .
Volume 7, Book 71, Number 588:
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
A man came to the Prophet and said,
"My brother has some abdominal trouble." The Prophet said to
him "Let him drink honey."…… then said, "Allah has
said the truth, but your brother's abdomen has told a lie." So he
made him drink honey and he was cured.
I have not seen any doctor
prescribing honey for abdominal pains. Why not the Muslim doctors follow
these easy solutions!
Volume 7, Book 71, Number 582:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "There is
no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its
treatment."
Volume 7, Book 71, Number 591:
Narrated Khalid bin Sad:
"……….Prophet saying,
'This black cumin is healing for all diseases except As-Sam.' Aisha
said, 'What is As-Sam?' He said, 'Death."
Can you imagine! How these
doctors and pharmaceuticals companies have ripped us off? All these
pharmaceuticals companies from the west made big money just selling
black cumin in their drugs!
Volume 7, Book 71, Number 596:
Narrated Um Qais bint Mihsan:
I heard the Prophet saying,
"Treat with the Indian incense, for it has healing for seven
diseases; it is to be sniffed by one having throat trouble, and to be
put into one side of the mouth of one suffering from pleurisy."
…….
Volume 7, Book 71, Number 629:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "He (a
Muslim) who dies of an abdominal disease is
a martyr, and he who dies of plague is a martyr."
Volume 7, Book 71, Number 631:
Narrated 'Aisha:
During the Prophet's fatal
illness, he used to recite the Mu'auwidhat (Surat An-Nas and Surat Al-Falaq)
and then blow his breath over his body. When his illness was aggravated,
I used to recite those two Suras and blow my breath over him and make
him rub his body with his own hand for its blessings." …..
Volume 7, Book 71, Number
632:Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
Some of the companions of the
Prophet came across a tribe amongst the tribes of the Arabs……the
chief of that tribe was bitten by a snake (or stung by a scorpion). They
said, .."Have you got any medicine with you or anybody who can
treat with Ruqya…... One of them (the Prophet's companions) started
reciting Surat-al-Fatiha and gathering his saliva and spitting it (at
the snake-bite). The patient got cured and his people presented the
sheep to them, but they said, "We will not take it unless we ask
the Prophet (whether it is lawful)." When they asked him, he smiled
and said, "How do you know that Surat-al-Fatiha is a Ruqya? Take it
(flock of sheep) and assign a share for me."
I am sure no Muslim doctor
practices this way. It’s a wonder, how they deal with their faith in
their professional life?
It’s well known that
Darwin
's theory of evolution has a big time enmity with Quranic explanation.
As a matter of fact, Saudi Universities don't teach these theories. They
even banned Pokemon cards due to the same reason. Everyone knows about
this contention so I am not going to quote anything on this issue but I
like to remind our Muslim intellectuals that clash between science &
religion is inevitable. It's a deadly conflict. These two cannot prosper
together.
"Where knowledge ends,
religion begins."
[Benjamin Disraeli]
We would never get
Archimedas’s principle of buoyancy or basic laws of hydrostatics, if
he was not born before Islamic age. Imagine him running in the street of
an Islamic country naked and shouting “eureka” “eureka”. He sure
would have been beheaded before he could convey his discovery.
"Say to the believing men
that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will
make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all
that they do."
[Al-Qur’an 24:30]
Most of the real scientists and
philosophers do not believe any religion. They cannot afford to limit
their thinking with religious guidelines. Here is an interesting report.
"Mr.
Speaker, a new report says only 7% of scientists believe in God. That is
right. And the reason they gave was that the scientists are super smart.
Unbelievable. Most of these absent-minded professors cannot find the
toilet."
[Congressman James Traficant, August 3,
1998. House record page H6885]
Both scientists and prophets
live in a state of meditation. The difference is, one meditates to find
the truth and the other pretends to find God. According to famous
psychiatrist Thomas Szasz.
"If
you talk to God, you're praying; if God talks to you, you have
schizophrenia."
[Thomas Szasz (b. 1920),
U.S.
psychiatrist.The Second Sin,"Schizophrenia" (1973)]
To believe, or not to believe,
that’s the question? If you believe, your mind will work like a
puritan. Religious teachings will encircle all your knowledge. No matter
how many books you read, your knowledge is limited. It will not go
beyond the textbook. Your thinking process is a puddle of water. If you
do not believe, limit of your thinking is unbounded. Whatever you read,
you challenge, you think and you look for something new. Your thinking
process will roar like waves of ocean and thoughts will erupt like
volcanic expulsion. Only then, another Einstein may emerge from our
Muslim (I mean, ex-Muslim) community.
Last few decades, a new trend of
Islam is going on. Some scholars are trying to prove that Quran is
scientific. Sad part is, most of our Muslim intellectuals have joined
these flock. All these claims are so childish that only a 2nd grader can
be fooled or a Muslim who deliberately desires to be fooled. So far, no
one has invented anything out of Quran. Emphatically, there is no Allah
or God monitoring our actions. If there were one, he would be laughing
so loud that whole earth would start shaking and may have caused a major
disaster.
"All
religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed,
imagination, and poetry."[Edgar Allan Poe]
I
hear, Islamic scholars are scratching their heads to understand the
meaning of a Quranic verse "Alif Lam Mim". I will not be
surprised if one of them come up with a solution that Einstein salvaged
E=MC˛ out of "Alif Lam Mim". However, these scholars are
working hard to relate scientific inventions to Quran but they can not
invent anything out of Quran.
Truth is universal. Good deeds
are indisputable. Only bad things need to be defended. If a student
excels in all areas, he is courteous and never smokes or takes drugs.
His parents have nothing to defend. They will be proud to tell everyone
about his achievement. Now if he is taking drugs and doing not so good
in school, then his parents have two choices. (1) They can be truthful
and discuss with others to cure the problem. (2) They can deny, they can
lie and they can defend him with all kind of lame excuses, ignoring the
fact that something should be done to solve the problem.
Unfortunately, our modern Islamic scholars have taken the later
approach instead of trying to cure Islamic disease. They are dedicated
to establish Islam as a religion of peace! Their tenacity can only be
compared with Don Quixote's determination who was adamant to fight with
the windmill. Quiet a few Muslim intellectuals are dancing like puppets
along with those quack Islamic scholars.
Is there a Muslim scientist or
an Islamic country that has invented something significant in the last
century? Is there any prominent Muslim Scholar who did something
meaningful for mankind? All Islamic countries are sedated with Islamic
opium. Most of them are
fighting with unbearable poverty and misery.
Marx saw religion as "the
sigh of the oppressed creature . . . the opium of the people, which made
this suffering bearable." [Quoted in A History of God, Karl Marx,
German political philosopher and economist (1818-1883).]
Those who have petro-dollars,
they are living in a luxurious life better than paradise. They are
spending tons of money to promote Islam but nothing for scientific
invention. Is there an environment for research or scientific studies in
Islamic countries? Is there any churches, Sanagogues or temple in
Saudi Arabia
? Can people from different faith and community live freely? Even a
moderate Muslim would not feel comfortable in the strict religious
guidelines! Now, look at western countries. There are hundreds of
mosques and several Muslims are preaching Islam profusely. Only
USA
alone has over 1000 mosques. Although it’s an unfair situation, I am
not concerned with the number of mosques or churches. They are equally
dangerous for mankind. Question is who is loosing in this game? All
Islamic countries are too busy to protect the chastity of Islam.
Whereas, western countries are encouraging people from all faith or no
faith to live and think freely. This approach results in a dynamic
economy with the help of diversified community. Undoubtedly, this
strategy also helped to flourish science, technology and civilization.
Funny thing is, most of the Muslim intellectuals who live in western
countries are still in the nutshell of their Islamic creed.
Science, technology and
philosophical thoughts have changed so rapidly without Muslim's
contribution that we are far behind from the main stream. We need to
change our beliefs. In old paradigm, the “others” were our enemy. In
new paradigm the “others” should be our benchmark.
Applaud to all the intellectuals
and scholars who did not have any religious affiliation. Voltaire,
Shelley, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Bernard Shaw, Darwin, Bertrand
Russell, Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway and so many others rejected
religion to find the truth and think rationally. They are the
lighthouses for the mankind. I hope our Muslim Intellectuals and
scholars will follow their path and enlighten their intelligence with
the light of the truth.
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