 |
|
A Contract with Allah
Mumin Salih
Published
on
February 13, 2007
Most of us, if not all, agree
that there are many good Muslims around who believe in the same human values
that are common to all nations and cultures and, at the same time, practice
their religion with moderation and without jeopardizing their relations with
others. This kind of Muslims genuinely believes that Islam teaches peace,
love and other good social values. Many ex-Muslims may have once belonged to
this category, until they started to dig deep on Islamic knowledge and
discover more about the untold secrets of Islam.
Those so-called good Muslims (described above), as well as many western
apologists of Islam, ardently believe that there is no problem with Islam
itself, but the real problem lies in its correct understanding and
appropriate application. Some may wonder why we don�t promote this good
brand of Islam as an alternative to radical Islam. This essay will explain
why this is only a wishful thinking as moderate Muslims can easily turn to
radicalism.
Marketing Islam
The Islamic package comes in several stages: in the first stage, Muslims are
introduced to a soft aspect of Islamic teachings which is purported to be in
harmony with natural human, instincts like relations with parents and giving
charities. Following today�s fashion you may also add the emphasis on the
myths of Quranic miracles which only exist in the minds of Islamic scholars.
With this, also include some favorable quotations made by westerners for
various reasons and in peculiar circumstances which is outside the scope of
this essay.
This is an introductory phase designed to establish allegiance to Allah,
i.e. to Mohammed�s teachings. This is always kept nicely polished and
claimed as ranking high at the top of the Islamic package. Marketing Islam
in this way reminds me of how shops in many Islamic countries sell big boxes
of fruits and vegetables: the top layer contains the best selection while
underneath the fruits may be
rotten.
It is possible to preach a good brand of Islam and still be able to support
the arguments with a number of moderate Quranic verses and Hadiths. Most
Muslims follow such approach when they start practicing Da�awa (calling for
Islam) and it is a recognized Islamic practice to use even financial
incentives to tempt people to join in the fold of Islam. The Quran made it
clear that such new comers (Al Muaalafat Kulubohom) who are still not sure
of Islam are given Zakat money to help them to make their decision, which is
the practice in Saudi Arabia today. It comes as a no surprise that many good
Muslims see Islam from the moderate verse�s and ahadith points of view and
believe it to be a religion of peace and noble social values. They would
usually produce the same set of moderate Quranic verses and hadiths in
defence of their religion.
It is during this stage that a Muslim commits himself/herself to the
absolute obedience and total submission to Allah, that is, to Mohammed�s
teachings--as if they sign a contract with Allah that becomes binding
immediately. Once this stage is achieved and a Muslim signs the agreement
with Allah, the rest is just a matter of reading the small print when other
Islamic teachings about slavery,aggressive wars and treatment of others will
come to light. Only then they
realise there is more to true Islam than what they had initially learned.
Covenant of Allah
The Quran makes many references to this kind of agreement between Allah and
Muslims using the word Ahd (Arabic for Covenant) this word can also be used
to mean an agreement or contract in Arabic.
Read the following Quranic verses to see how Allah sees this covenant
(Translations of Yusuf Ali)
Q.2:27 Those who break Allah's Covenant after it is ratified, and who sunder
what Allah has ordered to be joined, and do mischief on earth: these cause
losses (only) to themselves.
Q.2:40 �and fulfil your Covenant with Me as I fulfil My Covenant with you,
and fear none but Me.
Q.16:91 Fulfil the Covenant of Allah when ye have entered into it �.
Q.16:95 Nor sell the Covenant of Allah for a miserable price: for with Allah
is (a prize) far better for you, if ye only knew.
Q.13:20 Those who fulfil the Covenant of Allah and fail not in their
plighted word;
Q.33:15 And yet they had already covenanted with Allah not to turn their
backs,and a covenant with Allah must (surely) be answered for.
Q.33:23 Among the Believers are men who have been true to their Covenant
with Allah: of them some have completed their vow (to the extreme), and some
(still)wait: but they have never changed (their determination) in the least:
Q.48:10 �.. and anyone who fulfils what he has covenanted with Allah, Allah
will soon grant him a great Reward.
It appears from the above verses that the Quran is talking about a contract
between Allah as the first party and Muslims as the second party, and it is
very important that Muslims must fulfil their part of the contract in order
that Allah fulfils His part. Let us have a look at some of its clauses.
According to this contract, the second party (Muslims) promises to pronounce
The Shahada, which is the single most important pillar of Islam and makes
the difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. The Shahada (in Arabic it
means seeing or eye witnessing) is a statement made by a Muslim that he/she
is a witness that Allah is God, and that Mohammed is his messenger.
Considering that not a single Muslim has ever seen Mohammed in the last
thirteen centuries you know what a big flat lie this is! It is amazing the
number of Muslims who are willing to make such a wrong statement in front of
God! The first part of the
Shahada is also a self contradicting statement as it is about giving the
name Allah to God. If Muslims really believe there is only one God then why
he needs a name, especially a pagan name?
Also, according to this contract, the second party (Muslims) will commit
themselves to a total trust in Mohammed�s teachings without ever questioning
them even when they seem so bizarre. Muslims are not committed to trust
human minds unless they are in agreement with Mohammed�s teachings, because,
according to them human minds can be misleading. Islam (which means
submission, not peace) demands total blind faith from its followers.
Therefore, Muslims are expected to place their total trust in Mohammed�s
teachings, no matter how much
absurd they might sound. When Mohammed says dip the fly in your food because
there is cure in its wing then that must be true regardless of what science
says. Muslim intellectuals devised various excuses to help their brains
swallow such inedible nonsense, such as: saying �who knows? May be in the
future science will prove it right! Allah knows best�
In effect, Muslims accept to put their brains to rest as no more thinking is
required. A Muslim�s mind is mainly used to read and memorise the Quran,
hadiths and other Islamic studies. Outside the Islamic field, a Muslim�s
mind can only be used to augment whatever information already exists in the
Islamic library and must always come to the conclusions that are supportive
to the Islamic ideology. Other conclusions will not be tolerated and may
even be treated as
crimes that might be punishable by death sentence.
In return for the above, Allah (the first party), promises victory to
Muslims in this life, and Paradise in the next life. Allah is the tool used
by Mohammed to discipline his followers and is still used for this purpose
in our time. To avoid His severe punishment in life and after life Muslims
are in constant fear of upsetting Allah, and there is no shortage of
examples in the Quran of how Allah had punished those who disobeyed Him in
the past. At certain stage, Allah nearly annihilated the entire human race
from the face of earth. This is why
when a committed Muslim is asked to become a suicide bomber he/she has no
choice but to oblige�can a Muslim ever dare to disobey Allah?
Making of a radical Muslim from a good one
Good Muslims are good so long as they are still in full personal control of
their minds. Even then, they are within the reach of the hands of
radicalism. All it takes to make fundamentalists from good Muslims is to
produce some of the radical verses or hadiths to show them how they are in
breach of their contract with Allah and, by agreement; they will shut up and
be convinced. The weakness
of Muslims is: they agreed to surrender their minds� abilities to reason.
They surrender their minds to a 7th century man whom they never met or
seen�a man who painted for them a brutal picture of Allah which they are not
allowed to dispute
for one second.
Good Muslims are carriers of a deadly virus of cult; they feel healthy and
appear healthy but are always vulnerable to develop the full blown disease.
The very fact that they are good puts them under increased risk of giving up
the controls of their minds to Mohammed�s teachings to honour their contract
with Allah. Once that happens, it is only a matter of time when they will be
sucked into the black hole of radical Islam.
Mumin Salih�s e-mail address
[email protected]
|
|
|
