The Iron Chains of Religion

By Dr. Wasima Syed 

2005/04/20

Taking the name of Islam along with religions like Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc is one of the biggest mistakes we as non-Muslims or even 'lesser Muslims' can commit. The normal mode adopted by anyone while saying things on religion is "Religions like Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, etc........". We unknowingly impart respect to the curse that is Islam in our own minds and to those we speak on these matters. This is similar to saying "Religions like Hinduism, Christianity, tuberculosis, Judaism, etc......"

By taking the name of tuberculosis or plague along with religions, we degrade the religions. Degradation of any religion does not do any one any harm by itself. But taking the name of cholera or cancer in the same breath as actual religions, we lend respect to the disease, which in our case is Islam. Doing so, distorts the picture of Islam in our minds and those who come across such words. It's like taking the name of Saddam Hussein along with Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. People start confusing Saddam Hussein to be a priest, a messiah; a condition which people like Saddam Hussein ruthlessly exploit.

Even today, after almost daily Muslim terrorist attacks and bomb blasts, people still believe that "Islam is a religion of peace; some extremist Muslims have hijacked the religion!" The term 'religion' lends an aura of spirituality around the word. Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Jewish religion..... Hope you have got the picture.

Islam is no religion at all. It is a terror cult with an imperialistic or expansionist agenda – expansion at the cost of bloodshed, looting, plundering, cheating, and all other dirty tricks of the world. Islam is a curse, a cancer much worse than the physical variety. The Islamic disease is so deep-rooted on an individual level that very few can rise above it by themselves.

For the brave, enlightened few who somehow manage to see beyond the psychological ghetto of Islam, there is the ever-present danger of the Islamic sword. Islam has drilled itself very deep into the minds of the Muslims. The fear of 'Jahannum' or Islamic Hell is systematically inculcated as a first step of infant upbringing in almost all Muslim households. Impressions developed in infanthood burrow themselves very deep into the human psyche. If someone does manage to come out, the mullahs, even family members, community elders, and peers are all there to taunt him and pull him back into this gutter.

Imagine a deep, dark well. You are born inside this well and never had the opportunity to see the outside world. Somehow, irrespective of aunts and parents and teachers’ advice, you begin this arduous and lonely journey to climb out of this dirty well. Your own well wishers and relatives pull your legs, but somehow you manage to climb out. But outside the well, there are the henchman of the demonic Allah with their sword, ever-ready to ambush you and slit your throat.

Ali Sina's article You Are Hurting Me gives an idea, how deep-rooted the Islamic problem is. A religion is a very private thing. In most cases, it is as good as a third parent, and in many cases, the actual parent indeed. If my dad is a smuggler, who cheats and plunders for his living, cheating and plundering would be the normal way of life for me. If I see my dad cheating and murdering since the first time I opened my eyelids in infancy, cheating and murdering will seem normal to me as plowing the fields is a normal to the son of a farmer and fishing is normal to the son of a fisherman..

If I was brought up in a family where my parents and aunts and uncles cheat for a living, I would consider the law enforcement agencies, the police, the noble-hearted (who advice me against cheating) as my enemies. Cheating and smuggling feeds me. What I eat in the evening, 1-2% is digested and converted to energy, and the remaining is excreted out. Religion caters to the inherent hunger of the mind. The mind does not excrete anything that it comes across. It registers and stores data for ever, especially if entered in early childhood.  

 So, it's high time we stopped taking the name of Islam along with religions or the term 'Muslim' alongside the Hindus, Christians, Jews, etc. Reserve the terms 'Islam' and 'Muslim' as an abuse and avoid its usage. If at all you want to use these terms, use 'Islam' as a term to explain a contagious disease like AIDS, bird flu, etc. and the term 'Muslim' as a carrier of this fatal disease.