SOME THOUGHTS - Nasima Khatun

(to ALi Sina, avijit and others....)

HI

I have been following the some of the articles sent by people on this mailing group and found many of them to be interesting. This mail is for those who have compared Islam with christianity in the West claiming them to be more tolerant than the Muslims. It is true that the christians in the west can take criticism of their religion. People in the west take their religion at a personal and individual level compared to that of the muslims. No Muslim will tolerate criticism of Islam especially when it is accused of lies and indecency. Death treats are issued without hesitation. However, you have to understand the context and social setting of the west and the third world and the Muslim world. The west have undergone certain revolutions such as the French revolution and and wars the broke up the European empire that transcended to turkey. They have radically changed people’s way of thinking. The French revolution was instigated by the classical liberals whose prior writings against the ruling Christian monarchy enabled the masses to comprehend the fallacies of the monarchical rule. In Karl Marx’s term, the country was ripe for such revolution. That’s why the age of enlightenment brought with it a whole new concepts and ideas that had been suppressed before. It bought with it the ideas of liberalism which claimed to be based on rational concept.

Also these countries have undergone industrialization. The masses were empowered the enjoyed a great portion of country’ wealth. IN such a setting democratic ideals were accepted and monarchical rules were not just questioned but overthrown. It’s the initial evolutionary process and then the revolutionary process that changed the people’s way of thinking in the west where the ideas of tolerant, freedom equality became paramount.

If we look at the third world, well we had religious revolutions or counter-revolutions. The masses are uneducated and do not understand what is good for them. The majority accepts what the religious authority says. An ordinary guy cannot think independently. Why? Because of the social settings of the country. Ignorance and arrogance prevails as oppose to broadmindedness, moderation, rationality. People believe in God and Islam for many reasons. The reasons could be strong faith, instinct, contextual logic and hence forth. But in bangladesh, the majority of the people follow Islam because it was taught by their parents. That’s is why they do not understand the concepts of Islam. They do not have knowledge of Islam. But their faith is strong. They were brought up to respect the prophet more than respecting their parents that is why they will not tolerate any criticism of the prophet or Islam.

And MY point?

Well in order to improve the situation in the Muslims countries, we should not blame the religion for all the mishaps that happen, such as rape, murder, etc. We know that this is not true. Islam has had many positive impact on the world today. From Ali sina’s mail, there seems so much hate for the Muslims on his behalf. I feel that his hatred, although based on the concepts of Islam, is also based on the fact the he is a shi’a and from Iran. Your article about the sunni’s prohibiting idol worship clearly shows your personal discontent with the majority Sunni Muslims.

This is why in countries like Bangladesh, more harm will be done than good, by forming an organization whose sole purpose is to implement freedom of speech. The term ‘freedom of speech’ is very vague. What is the purpose of freedom of speech? Just to show that I am right and u r wrong? About 5 yrs ago I saw an interview of Taslima Nasrin on TV. She was proclaiming her fight for the justice for the women in Bangladesh. But did Salman Rushdi have the same objective when he insulted the Muslims with his book? There is a fine line between freedom of expression, and libel and slander. The latter is disproved of by the so-called ‘freethinkers’, and the former is promoted. As far as I was concerned Salman Rushdi was in breach of libel and slander of the prophet and the Muslims. His book was not a critique or an analysis of Islam – that would have been freedom of expression. His book was an expression of erotic fantasy. If he wanted to prove that Muhammad was sleaze he could have put some kind of constructive arguments. But his book was just an entertainment. You want to make Salman Rushdi a leading name for your organization. But why? Because he enjoys insulting Muslims? Or because he really wants to eliminate the inequity in the world caused by Muslims. ‘Freedom of expression’ violates the concept of tolerance. If what I say does more good than harm then I will certainly say it. If what I say Causes more harm than good then I will stay Quiet, and that’s TOLERANCE for me.

 

I am guessing that you want to promte freethinking because it will illuminate all the prejudices and injustices that are advocated my Islam. But do you think your hate for Islam will allow that. You have to educate them and be more tactful. Little is achieved by publishing

 

I am all for promoting justice and human rights, but the same time I believe in Islam. My humanistic thoughts emanated from (believe it or not) Islam, Western education and my Parents. You see when I was small my parent could not and would not answer many questions that I put to them. When I was small in BD my islamic teachers did not allow us to question them. But when came to UK I learnt Islam by myself through books. I learnt that Islam had a lot to offer me as a women, It gave me many rights but it was taken away by our Bangali culture.

You guys talk about the evil effects of Islam but I have seen how Islam has promoted broad thinking and equality. Islam in backward society promotes injustice and inequality. In UK I have seen Islam promoting women’s right. Many Muslim orgs promote and help divorced women, widowed women to get back on their feet, Islamic women’s organizations aim to better the status of women in the British society. SO Islam is not as evil as you are portraying.

SO what I am saying is that if you feel that this organization is going to promote justice and equal rights then I am all for it. But if it’s a forum that only allows u to say what u want then I would consider whether it is really worth it.

 

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Published in Mukto-mona : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/524