by Sujit Das
Muslim’s backwardness, envy, disappointment, unhappiness and many other such painful realities are well reflected in Iqbal’s poetry Shikwa where he complained to Allah about the prosperity, power and education of the non-Muslims in contrast to Muslim’s poor condition. After one year of reciting Shikwa, Iqbal presented Jawab-i Shikwa, where Allah gave a reply to Iqbal’s complaint. Last three lines are as follows.
Too Musalman ho to taqdir hai tadbir teri
Ki Muhammad se wafa toonay to ham teray hain
Ye jahan cheez hai kiya lauho qalam tere hain.
(If you are Muslim your prudence is your destiny. If you are loyal to Prophet we are yours. This universe is nothing; the tablet and the pen are yours.)
This poetic composition of Iqbal is based on Qur’anic teaching. According to Iqbal; Muslims’ proven loyalty with Muhammad can own Allah. Since being loyal to Muhammad is same as following orthodox Islam; Muslims should practice Islam more rigorously to prosper. If Iqbal is true, then how the infidels have prospered? We, the non-Muslims, do not practice Islam at all. In fact some of us even oppose Islam. In that case how the infidel countries are better than Muslim countries that at least practice a little? If the Qur’an is full of science why the Islamic countries are most backwards? The Muslims do not know the answer because they have even forgotten to ask the question.
There is a lesson to learn in this. The Creator of the Universe has no master-plot or mega-plan to deprive anyone of happiness, prosperity or power. Nor He has any intention to be unfair to the Muslim world. The only reason of the misery of the Muslims is Islam itself. Prophet Muhammad is not the savoir, but an abuser and exploiter of the Muslims. He is like a “black hole” at the centre of the Muslims’ incredible dream-like galaxy. Muslims are like objects for Muhammad. He is continuously dragging the Muslims towards him and sucking their blood. Abuse is the eventual act of perverted intimacy. Muhammad used Islam to pervade Muslim psyche, and possessed their mind. Qur’an is the weapon what he had used to achieve his narcissistic goal. He was a predator. As Iqbal said, “If you are loyal to Muhammad we are yours”. It is of course a tragic event. But it is more than of a tragedy that Muslims do not want to face the root cause of the problem.
Muslims are unable to see the truth because they have ceased to believe that reason is the most valuable and the most specific human power that can establish the validity for norms and the ideas for human conduct. Homo sapiens, is a Latin term meaning for “wise man” or “knowing man”. But in actuality many times we simply ignore our innate wisdom, believe in superstitions and easily become the victims of imposters. Reason is the only means for discovering the truth. Unlike other religions, Islam is not seen by Muslims from different angles. For this reason all the religions prosper but Islam got stuck in a seventh century mentality. When Muslims begin with the Qur’an, first they conclude that it is Allah’s word. Hence they are unable to judge the book with a critical mind. If they change their viewpoint a little they will notice its obvious falsehood.
Religion is supposed to instill ethical behavior, promote human values, fraternity, respect, integrity, and the moral guidelines required for the construction of a better human society regardless of whatever God or Gods are worshipped. But from the beginning, Islam was based on terrorist activities and today, after 1400 years, Westerners have finally realized the term “terrorism” describes their code of behavior. We are living in a world that is becoming smaller and smaller day by day. Human beings; regardless of religion, race, skin color, language, culture or nationality, should unite and cooperate with each other to make life more enjoyable and fulfilling for all. The Qur’anic injunction is viewed as obscene by all who believe in a peaceful, nonracist united world. Is it really possible to imagine a human society where all the people should believe in a collection of superstitious absurdities and in the event that some of them do not, those nonbelievers should be ostracized or slain by the other members of the society? The preposterous content of the Muslim’s Qur’an is echoing the power-hungry, lascivious thoughts of Muhammad who presented himself as a Prophet of God. When the contents of the Qur’an are read out of curiosity and not through the eyes of faith, the words speak for themselves. The dispassionate reader cannot help but conclude that the Qur’an is a preposterous fabrication by an ignorant person. Muhammad, the author of the Qur’an, was a licentious Arab. How could such an ignoble person dictate human values to others? Those foolish people of the seventh century Arabia who decided to follow Muhammad can be forgiven, but how the educated people today can be forgiven who still want to be fooled? Who knows better; the almighty, omniscient, omnipotent, merciful, etc., etc Allah who has created heaven and earth in six days and His beloved seal of Prophets, mercy to mankind etc., etc messenger, or a bunch of infidels such as, Darwin, Aryabhata, Galileo, Copernicus, Aristotle, Edward Hubble, Gandhi, Einstein, Meghnad Saha, Stephen Hawking, Amartya Sen and so on? It is the new age of enlightenment and every day new truths are being revealed. I feel sick when I see, today, more than a billion Muslims are unable to see the ploys of one mentally deranged man. Muslims should give way to logical thinking and that is all what is required; the truth will take its own course in time.
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