The Dumbing of the Muslims’ Mind

The development of rational faculties, or the ability to reason and think critically, is influenced by various factors including cognitive development, education, experiences, and cultural environment. Formal education plays a crucial role in fostering rational thinking skills. Schools provide structured learning environments where students are taught to analyze information critically, evaluate evidence, and draw logical conclusions. Exposure to diverse subjects and perspectives also broadens one’s understanding of the world, enhancing rationality.

Real-life experiences, challenges, and problem-solving situations also contribute significantly to the development of rational thinking. Through trial and error, children learn to assess situations, consider alternatives, and make informed decisions based on evidence and reasoning. While this approach is encouraged in subjects like empirical sciences, it is often discouraged or absent when it comes to Islamic teachings.

Cultural norms, values, and social interactions shape a child’s cognitive processes and reasoning abilities. Exposure to diverse cultures and viewpoints encourages open-mindedness and critical thinking, whereas conformity to rigid beliefs or social pressures may hinder rationality.

Explicit instruction in critical thinking skills, such as logical reasoning, analysis, inference, and evaluation, helps children become more adept at navigating complex information and arguments. Engaging in activities that require problem-solving, argumentation, and reflection further hone these skills.

Encouraging children to reflect on their thought processes and assumptions promotes metacognitive awareness, allowing them to monitor and regulate their thinking more effectively.

Religious studies, particularly Islamic studies, are typically included in the school curricula of Islamic countries. In some Islamic countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, Islamic studies are a central component of the curriculum from primary to secondary education, and sometimes even at the tertiary level. In other countries with predominantly Muslim populations, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey, Islamic studies are included as part of the curriculum, alongside other subjects. However, critical thinking is often excluded from these studies. Students are discouraged or prohibited from questioning Islam, and punishment for doing so can be severe, sometimes even physical.

Islamic countries often do not provide an environment conducive to critical thinking, curiosity, and the pursuit of truth.

Just as muscles need regular exercise to grow stronger and more resilient, the brain also benefits from mental stimulation and cognitive challenges. Without critical thinking, the brain may not be able to develop cognitive function and neural connections. Muscles adapt and grow stronger in response to challenges, such as lifting heavier weights. Similarly, the brain adapts to challenges by forming new neural pathways, refining existing connections, and enhancing cognitive abilities in response to learning experiences and mental challenges. The prohibition of questioning and analyzing Islam critically has led to the stagnation of cognitive development in many Muslims.

Evidence of this stagnation can be seen in the prevalence of irrational beliefs within Muslim communities. For example, some believe that women’s hair emits “harmful rays” or energy that could negatively affect men, or that it can incite sexual temptation and arousal in men, leading to immoral behavior. There have been instances where clerics have suggested that uncovered hair increases the risk of disease transmission or illness. These beliefs are not only propagated by clerics but are held by the majority of Muslims, some of whom may have university degrees. For instance. In 2010 a major earthquake destroyed the ancient city of Bam in Iran causing multiple deaths. Amid that tragedy, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, a senior Iranian cleric, blamed women for it. He argued that when women don’t wear their hijab properly, it arouses men sexually which leads to moral corruption and provokes divine wrath, resulting in natural disasters like earthquakes.

Here’s a concise list of the irrational beliefs held by some Muslim clerics, based on the Quran or hadith.

1. Unbelievers are impure, necessitating ablution after contact.

2. Evolution is a Western conspiracy to undermine Islam.

3. Promote the idea that vaccines are designed to harm Muslims or control their populations.

4. Many illnesses are caused by jinn possession, cured only by exorcism, not medical treatment.

5. Driving can harm women’s ovaries and reproductive health.

6. Polio vaccines cause infertility in Muslim children.

7. Music is haram and a tool of the devil.

8. Lizards should be killed due to their cursed nature.

9. Women inherently have a mischievous nature needing strict control.

10. Solar eclipses are signs of God’s displeasure with humanity’s sins.

11. Promote stoning or killing certain animals believed to be associated with sins such as fornication.

12. Women are the primary source of societal chaos, justifying extreme segregation.

13. Angels will not enter homes with dogs or images of living beings.

14. Homosexuality is a Western ploy to corrupt Islamic societies.

15. The Earth is a few thousand years old, rejecting scientific evidence.

16. Television is haram due to potential immoral content and Western influence.

17. Educating women beyond a basic level leads to immorality.

18. Western technology, including the internet, as a threat to Islamic values.

19. The belief the splitting of the moon.

20. Natural disasters are divine punishments for specific sins.

21. Education in secular fields leads to un-Islamic values.

22. Women should never assume leadership roles as warned by the Prophet.

23. Camel urine is a remedy because it was prescribed by the Prophet.

24. Deny well-documented historical events, like the Holocaust, due to conspiracy theories.

25. Oppose organ transplants and blood transfusions, claiming they interfere with the sanctity of the body.

The only way to help Muslims unshackle their minds and develop their rational faculties is to challenge their religious beliefs and question their dogmatism. Sheltering their belief from criticism, lest their religious sensitivity is injured, impedes the development of rational thinking in them. This is an unforgivable sin, as it not only harms them but also has repercussions for the world. When a significant portion of humanity, approximately 24%, holds irrational beliefs and a subset of them believe in divine justification for violence, we all suffer the consequences.

Looking at it from another perspective, we are all interconnected as one. The apparent separation between us is merely an illusion. While our bodies undergo constant change and eventual decay, our consciousness is eternal and originates from a singular source. Once manifested within our bodies, it diversifies into infinite forms, much like sunlight passing through a prism and producing various colors — all stemming from the same light.

Similarly, our consciousness emanates from a unified Source, linking us all to each other and the universe. Despite outward differences, we remain fundamentally connected. None of us can progress in our consciousness evolution alone; it is a collective endeavor. Thus, aiding one another in our awakening is aiding ourselves.

Regardless of religious affiliations — whether believers, atheists, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, or any other — we are bound together by an invisible thread. Our salvation or enlightenment is intertwined; we cannot achieve it individually. Therefore, we cannot turn a blind eye to others’ struggles; we are responsible for each other and keepers of one another.

This awakening is a global necessity, and Muslims are integral to humanity’s collective journey. They require assistance and enlightenment. There is no alternative; we must all emerge from the spiritual darkness together, or risk mutual destruction.

Indeed, technology has undeniably woven intricate threads of interconnectedness throughout our world. Our economies, health, sustenance, environment, the water that we drink, and the air that we breathe — all facets of our lives — are interwoven in a complex tapestry. Yet amidst this external and digital connectivity, it is our hearts that remain disconnected.

We must bridge this gap between our hearts. We must extend a helping hand to one another, not only to untangle ourselves and our fellow humans from antiquated and unfounded beliefs but also to relinquish ideologies that breed animosity.

We must expose, dethrone, slay, and bury petty gods that promote division and hatred. These gods divide humanity into “us” and “them,” friend and foe, sowing discord and nurturing hate. We are all fractals of the same universal consciousness, children of the same God. We are all part of God, like droplets of water that are part of the ocean, no matter where they are. We come from the same source and return to the same source. Those who deny it are spiritually benighted, and those who promote hate are mentally insane. The Islamic world is a perfect example of what happens when millions of sane people follow an insane man — they all act insanely.

Just as a society cannot thrive when tainted by racist ideologies, true peace eludes us when religious animosity festers among us. To cultivate a world of harmony and coexistence, we must uproot all ideologies that foment hatred. Only then can humanity truly flourish, embracing the richness of diversity while celebrating the common bonds that unite us all.

It has become a well-worn refrain to assert that the fault lies with us, and that we must strive to be more tolerant of diverse perspectives and accepting of opinions that diverge from our own. However, this line of thinking betrays a certain naivety and fails to reckon with the genuine dangers posed by certain ideological frameworks.

The ideology of Islam, in truth, is one that is irredeemably pernicious. It stifles the life of the mind and corrupts the very core of the human spirit. While there may be those who, with the best of intentions, discourage criticism of Islam, the old adage about the road to perdition being paved with good intentions rings painfully true. For how can those who adhere to the tenets of Islam ever come to recognize the ways in which their guiding philosophy is actively harming both themselves and all of humanity, if we dare not shine the light of rigorous interrogation upon it?

It is not only necessary, but imperative that we continue to engage in the critical examination of Islam, regardless of whether its adherents welcome such scrutiny. Undoubtedly, they will resist and object strenuously to having their most sacred beliefs put to the test. Yet it is our solemn duty to persistently illuminate the reality of this ideology, for only when their eyes are truly opened will they be able to confront the unvarnished truth.