Israel Matzav

Truth is the new hate speech: Amil Imani writes an open letter

Without further ado, here are some of my questions.
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* Speaking of creating, Islam says that you created the universe by the command: kon va yakoon (become and became). The universe appeared instantly in obedience to your command. There are different views about this whole topic of creation that I don’t want to trouble you about. For now, my simple question is: Lord, by this simple command of kon va yakoon, you brought about this indescribably magnificent universe, yet you took some twenty years to write your smallish book, the Quran. Why did it take you so long to write it? I fear a thunderbolt might strike me dead for posing this intrusive question. I hope you hold off and allow me to continue.

So, I think maybe I can supply a rationalization, not a plausible reason, for it. I said to myself, your lordship, perhaps it took you twenty years because Muhammad was illiterate and slow in getting your dictates and taking them to a scribe to jot them down. That’s why. Yet, finding someone who could actually write things down among the horde of savages was not an easy task.

A follow up question! Why a supremely august being, as you are, with all the indescribably exulted powers and attributes, chose an illiterate Arab, a hired-hand of a rich widow, as your messenger is a mystery. Couldn’t you have chosen a Rabbi from nearby Medina, a Zoroastrian Mobed, a Christian Priest from Mecca itself, a Hindu Monk, a Buddhist Clergy? These were people who had specialized in matters of religion, rather than an Arab whose only skill was helping drive caravans of camels.

I have seen Islam’s pat answers to all questions: to no one is given the right to ask Allah about his doings, he does what pleases him and ordains what he wants. But this is no answer. It is a copout.

*Are you male, your lordship? Pardon me for asking a personal question. The reason I ask is that you have much against women. You stipulate that women are worth one-half of men. You ordain that men are rulers over women and much more. I really don’t see that. My lifelong experiences with women have convinced me that women are every bit as worthy as men, if not even better in many respects. For one, women are the life-givers and nurturers of life. Men, by contrast, are forever in the business of life-taking.

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*My next question is about the role of religion. My limited understanding is that the major function of religion is to bring disparate people together. That is, bring unity and amity among the diverse and quarreling human groups. Islam fails miserably on this major point. While Muhammad was alive, he kept preaching the gospel of divisiveness. He taught a gospel of us against them, believers against the unbeliever. Since his death, Muhammad’s followers have doggedly followed his gospel of divisiveness.

How can fueling the fire of polarization bring about the peace of unity after what Muhammad did and his disciples continue to do, killing the unbelievers en mass and without the least bit of mercy?

Compounding the problem is the fact that as Muhammad was still gasping his last breath, his senior disciples were busying themselves with the business of killing one another in their lust for power and leadership. And Islam has been on a mission with the internecine as well as infidel killing ever since.

Labels: Islam

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:21 PM