Islamic Morality
By. Anwar Sheikh
Man
is born with a moral sense which enables him to differentiate
between right and wrong. Without subjecting behaviour to a
common standard of vice and virtue, social evolution is not
possible. This is the reason that even the primitive societies
had words which denoted differenc between good and bad.
All societies did not practise
universal standards of vice and virtue, yet it is well known
that almost all communities knew what was good and bad. For
example, mutual fidelity of consorts, speaking the truth,
keeping promises, respecting family ties, helping the poor and
weak, were considered signs of good morality. Of course,
morality cannot be coded but its rules are well understood. From
this attitude arose the famous maxim: "Do not do to others
what you do not want to be done to yourself."
It means that you must wish others what
you wish for yourself. Since every one desires security of
person and property, liberty to worship, fair trial, freedom of
speech etc., these facts, over a period of time, rose to become
what is called Human Rights. He who violates these rights is
held the enemy of humankind.
When Islamic morality is judged by
universal standards, this Arabian religion fails to qualify as
the friend and guide of humanity. In fact, it constitutes a
major threat to the survival of human race. I have no doubt that
the Muslims will protest against this point of view, and as
usual, will produce far- fetched and irrational evidence to
prove that Islam advocates love and brotherhood of mankind. This
type of sorcery has worked wonders for Muslim fundamentalists in
the past, but with the dissemination of knowledge, it is
difficult to cloud the truth with the magic of misinterprelation,
marvel of mesmerisation and mysticism of meaninglessness.
Islam has become a set of fundamentals
which preach social segregation, hatred of non-Muslims and
elimination of dissenters through dominance, death and
destruction. These conclusions, no matter how true, cannot be
palatable to the Muslims and therefore rank as fabrications,
from their standpoint. I can do no better than quote from the
Koran to decide the issue. Examine the following for yourself:
1. "Do not let non-Muslims enter
mosques. They will go to hell." ( Repentance: 17 )
2. "O ye who believe! The
non-Muslims are unclean. So let them not come near the
Inviolable Place of Worship." (Repentance: 28)
3. "O ye who believe! Murder
those of the disbelievers .... and let them find harshness in
you." (Repentance: 123)
4. "Humiliate the non-Muslims to
such an extent that they surrender and pay tribute."
(Repentance: 29)
5. "O believers, do not treat
your fathers and brothers as your friends, if they prefer
unbelief to belief, whosoever of you takes them for friends,
they are evil-doers." (Repentance: 20)
6. "Certainly, God is an enemy
to the unbelievers." ( The Cow: 90 )
7. "God has cursed the
unbelievers, and prepared for them a blazing hell." ( The
Confederates 60 )
8. "Let not the believers take
the unbelievers for friends.... whoso does that belongs not to
God." (The House of Imram: 60)
9. "O believers, do not make
friends with the Jews and Christians; ..whoso of you makes
them his friend is one of them." (The Table: 55)
10. "The believers indeed are
brothers." ( Apa rtments: 10 )
11. "Moslems are hard against
the unbelievers, merciful to one another." (Victory: 25)
A Muslim naturally believes in all such
Koranic verses, which determine his social outlook and he
becomes a narrow- minded sectarian. This psychological approach
is the fountain of fundamentalism. It is a myth to say that
Islam advocates good relationship with the People of the Book,
that is, the Jews and Christians. What I have said at 9 above
supports this statement. If this were not enough, one could
refer the matter to HADITH, the sayings of the Prophet: Chapter
LXXI of SAHIH MUSLIM clearly states that since Islam is the
religion for the entire humanity, it abrogates all other faiths.
To illustrate the point further, the hadith no.285 asserts that
any Jew or Christian who has heard of Muhammad but does not
believe in him, will become "one of the denizens of
Hell-Fire."
The Islamic fundamentalism has become
the foundation of Islamic morality. What makes it a threat to
human survival is the fact that it is not a passive approach but
advocates active aggression to impose itself on the unbelievers.
Why? It gives several reasons for this. Let me quote two:
1. "Muslims are the best of all
nations." (House of Imram: 110). Obviously, the best
nation is superior to other people, who must wear the yoke of
discrimination.
2. The Prophet Muhammad has been sent
by God with "the religion of Truth, that He may cause it
to prevail over all religions.." (Private Apartments: 28)
Simply stated it means that Muslims are
superior to non- Muslims and have the birth-right to dominate
them. This is why Islam calls itself DIN-E-GHALIB, the religion
of dominance.
As every student of psychology knows,
the purpose of any fundamentalism is to secure blind following
from its adherents. This is possible only when they are
conditioned to a certain object or goal which begins to rank as
the sole purpose of their lives. As a result, the purpose begins
to overrule the method of acquisition; whatever secures it is
good and whatever obstructs it is bad. In a nutshell, people
must stop thinking for themselves, especially in terms of
morality. As the Marxists brainwashed people in the name of
proletarianism and what it stood for, the Muslims have been
conditioned to the person of the Prophet Muhammad, who is
projected as the Saviour of his followers, having complete power
to find them permanent residence in paradise, which is the abode
of luxury, love making and lasciviousness. Since Muslims, in
most countries are deprived, depressed and desolated, they are
prepared to do anything to uphold the honour of the Prophet. For
total obedience, they are at liberty to indulge in the most
convenient morality such as mendacity, rape, murder, theft and
treason without losing their chance of entering the paradise
which has been absolutely guaranteed by their faith in the
Prophet Muhammad.
A corollary of this belief is the
oppression of non-Muslims by the Muslims, who deny human rights
to the unbelievers for upholding the Islamic precepts in
relation to the infidels. As a result, non-Muslims are
discouraged to live in the Muslim countries even if they have
originally belonged to their ancestors. It is justified on the
precedent that the Prophet Muhammad expelled all Jews and
unbelievers from Arabia. The modern example is that of Pakistan,
the original home of the Hindus. There were millions of
non-Muslims in this land before partition of India but as
Pakistan came into being they all were thrown out through
malice, mutilation and massacre. On the contrary, over
100,000,000 Muslims live in India and demand human rights! In
Islamic countries, the non- Muslim minorities are either
non-existent or very tiny indeed. This strangulation of human
rights has become a part of the Islamic morality.
Since Islam is the Din-e-Ghalib i.e.
the religion of dominance by God's will, Muslim minorities in
non-lslamic countries do everything possible to harass,
humiliate and harangue the host countries to practise their
faith and culture. The "Muslim Parliament" of Great
Britain is an example in point. In fact, this coterie of a few
hundred Muslim fanatics, is a mockery of the British tolerance
and hospitality. Its major role is to collect donations from its
adherents, forbid Muslims to seek identification with Great
Britain and practise all rules of Islamic intolerance towards
the host community. There is no concept of parliamentary
government in Islam, whatever, yet these hatred-mongers have set
up this association in the Land of Magna Carta, dedicated to
liberty. It is only a matter of time before the British
government take notice of its evil influence on the British
culture, causing problems also for those who have adopted the
British ways and are proud to be sincere citizens of this land.
Use of violence for securing worldly
goal and terrorisation of non-Muslims are the pillar of Islamic
morality. It is done through:
Now, let us ponder over these two points:
1a. Islam declares Muhammad the
greatest of all prophets and therefore reserves the highest
reverence for him. This has become an article of faith. A
Muslim, unwilling to force it on others, is considered deficient
in belief. As a result, every Muslim looks for an opportunity to
demonstrate the magnitude of his faith by molesting non-Muslims,
and even fellow- believers who express less bigotory in this
field. Politicians have seized upon this emotional condition of
the Muslim mind to enhance their grip on power. For example,
Pakistan has passed TOHEEN-E- RASUL ACT (Contempt of Prophet's
Act), which prescribes death for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Such an Act has never been passed in the world of Islam during
the last fourteen centuries; nor is there any religious
justification for it. In fact such a law in itself is a gross
contempt of the Prophet, who wanted to be known as the Blessing
for mankind. A person who is so conscious of himself cannot be
the Blessing for lacking tolerance and understanding of the
human behaviour. Yet they have done it to terrorise the
dissidents and non-Muslims. The treatment of the Qadiyanis and
Christians in Pakistan, speak for itself. In fact, it is an
ambassador of moral perversion which is an echo of the European
Inquisition conducted by the Christian clerics to defend the
holiness of their saviour, Jesus Christ.
This Islamic exploitation of the
believers has led to their moral bankruptcy, and this fact is
well demonstrated by what happened in Pakistan during the middle
of April, 1994:
Hafiz Sajjad Tariq of Gujranwala in
Pakistan, accidentally dropped a copy of the Koran in a
fireplace. As it caught fire, people of the locality became
aflame with rage. Not caring that Sajjad was a pious Muslim
devoted to exalt holiness of the Scripture (Koran), they a leged
that he had desecrated the Word of God. As mullahs of the area
heard of it, they instantly issued Fatwas of apostacy against
Sajjad. Like hawks, the fundamentalists swoaped down on him,
each hoping that his blow would despatch the victim to hell
assuring him (the assailant) a seat in paradise. As they were
hitting him, someone shouted that he was being dished out an
un-Islamic punishment because he must be stoned to death. By
then, they had broken his ribs and he was not able to walk. A
gallant police officer intervened and locked him up with a view
to saving him from mob-violence. As the news spread, a large
crowd of frenzied Muslims appeared before the local police-
station demanding his immediate release. The Police Inspector,
instead of enforcing the law, fell for the temptation of
establishing himself as the champion of Islam and handed Sajjad
to the attackers. They started stoning him mercilessly and
thereafter set his body on fire. If this were not enough, they
tied his corpse to a powerful motor-cycle and dragged it through
the streets for two hours! After a pious show of Islamic
morality, they felt that they had done enough to avenge the
honour of the Prophet whom the Koran had been revealed.
This type of Islamic morality is
rampant, not only in the Islamic countries, but also in the
lands where the Muslims have settled in sufficient numbers. To
explain this point, I may quote Britain where I live. I wrote
and published a book: "Eternity" in 1990. It
challenges the basic concept of revelation, the foundation of
prophethood. As the Muslim organisations heard about it, they
individually and severally issued a fatwa condemning me to
death. Neither have they given me a chance to explain myself
before a properly constituted tribunal of justice nor have they
accepted my challenge for a public debate. Its consequences have
been painful to me and my family.
What I have stated above roughly
deleneates the Islamic morality in relation to legislated law.
Now, I may briefly touch upon the second part of the issue i.e.
the direct commands of Allah which are so evident that they need
not be legislated:
2a. Jehad is one of them, and forms an
integral part of the Islamic morality. It is an open behest of
Allah to murder, pillage, rape and create widows and orphans for
imposing Allah's will on the unbelievers, who are considered His
worst enemies just for the "sin" of unbelief. Yet,
Allah calls himself the Independent (SAMAD), All-Compassionate,
All- Powerful and Creator of the whole universe!
If Allah does possess all these
qualities, how can He sanction the destruction of innocent
people? If He were so desperate for worship, being the All-
Pawerful, Compassionate, Creator, He would have created
humankind in such a way that everyone was born with the belief
suited to God.
Instead of delving into this mystery, I
hasten to add that Jehad or violence is considered holy by
Allah, who, in return for persecuting, pillaging and paralysing
the infidels declares:
"Allah has bought from the
faithful theirselves and their belongings against the gift of
paradise; they fight in the way of Allah; they kill and are
killed.." (Repentance: 110)
A HADITH ( the saying of the Prophet
Muhammad ) declares: "Know that Paradise is under the
shades of swords." (Sahih Bokhari, Ch. 22: 73 )
What is paradise? The Muslim scholars
are usually embarrassed by this question and pretend that it is
not physical but a condition of the mind. The above Koranic
verse clearly states that it is a definite exchange i.e. offer
of paradise for killing a non- Muslim or getting killed in the
process of obeying this divine command. The paradise is the main
temptation for practising Islam. This is the reason that the
Koran explains it well. Paradise is the description of the
luxurious surroundings dwelt in by Houris and Ghilman. Houris
are the most beautiful ever-young virgins with wide, flexing
eyes and swelling bosoms. Ghilman are the immortal young boys,
pretty like pearls, clothed in green silk and brocade an
embellished with bracelets of silver.
Allah shall give
every believing man no fewer than seventy houris and many
ghilmans. To make sure that the lucky fellow can cope with them,
Allah will increase his virility a hundred-fold! This is the
ultimate goal of the Islamic morality, and it is why that the
Muslims, who are usually depressed, are ready to practise
convenient morality based on violence. Even more potent factor
in this field is their staunch belief in the intercessory powers
of the Prophet Muhammad, which means that he has the authority
to accommodate his followers in paradise irrespective of what
they may have done. I shall deal with this point in the next
issue of "Liberty."
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