What is this? We have to be decent and polite. We need to know where to draw the line, and whatever we do has to make sense. But those who are religious don’t need to be sensible or rational. It’s not a problem if they are crude. They have the right to declare bounty on someone’s head. They have the right to be uncivilised, to be murderers. But we (by we I mean the non-believers) don’t have those rights. In every society, the believers get more advantages than the non-believers.

By now, everyone must already know exactly what the telecommunication and ICT minister, Latif Siddique, said in New York. He lost his ministry for saying what he said. Not only that, Muslim radicals started protesting on the streets against him. They are demanding his execution. A Tk5 lakh bounty has been declared on his head. He is receiving threats from different groups. Apparently, he won’t be allowed back in the country. The media has also humiliated him in different ways.

But what was his fault? It is true that after uttering the Prophet’s name, Latif Siddique did not say “peace be upon him.” Even if one does not utter those words, there is no reason for peace not to be upon the Prophet. Almighty Allah will give his soul peace nevertheless. He was the greatest friend of Allah, and He himself sent Prophet Muhammad. The problem is, most of the Bengali Muslims know very littile about the Qur’an and Hadith. They haven’t read much about the history of Islam either.

More than 90% of the Bangladeshi population is Muslim. Most of them are Muslims because their parents were Muslims. Some converted to Islam, either on their own or by force. Many of these Muslims claimed that Latif Siddique hurt the “religious sentiments of Muslims.” By Muslims, they meant all Muslims or the Muslim community as a whole. However, a group or community doesn’t have feelings, a person does. So, it can be said Latif Siddique’s words hurt some people’s sentiments.

A person doesn’t only have religious sentiments, they experience many kinds of feelings. When their other feelings are hurt, they don’t get so riled up. So it can be asked, are religious sentiments more fragile and dangerous than other feelings? Are they hurt so easily that when someone hurts religious sentiments, anyone can break the pillars of civilisation – democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech?

The Muslim countries might not make necessary arrangements to protect human rights, but each of those countries take measures to protect Islam. If anyone raises any question about Islam, then capital punishment, execution, getting slaughtered, life imprisonment, life in exile, harassment, etc are inevitable.

Muslim extremists stone women. They slaughter people brutally. They whip girls for wearing trousers and cane them for driving. People all over the world see these barbaric acts. At one time, there was barbarity all over the world, but such behaviour has been made illegal by the establishment of laws in almost all countries.

Whether someone admits it or not, it is true that the number of Muslim extremists and Muslim terrorists has increased critically in the last two decades. Large and small groups like al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hezbollah, and ISIS have been formed. They are dreaming of turning the entire world into a “caliphate,” where only Muslims will live, no one else.

According to a report by Pew Research Centre, most of the Muslims of the world want Sharia law. Today, a sense of disgust has been created about Islam around the world. Hatred has been cultivated towards Muslims. Non-Muslims in many countries express their lack of interest in becoming friends with Muslims, giving them jobs, and maintaining professional and social relationships with them. A dreadful distrust has been developed towards Muslims.

But human rights laws in the West are so strong that Muslims can live their lives as they wish. No country has plans to drive them away by beating and killing them. The West stops racism in their countries on their own.

Democracy becomes pointless if people lose their right to express their opinions or freedom of speech. If we try to change society, various feelings of various people get hurt. A society cannot be changed if we want to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings. People’s religious sentiments get hurt even when you try to separate state from religion or get rid of laws against women.

Too many good deeds haven’t been done till now without hurting religious sentiments. When the clerical rule in Europe was stopped, the religious sentiments of numerous people were hurt too. The discoveries of Galileo and Darwin hurt people’s religious sentiments as well. Scientific advancements hurt the religious sentiments of superstitious people.

But if we stop expressing our opinions, ban scientific discoveries and usage, and stop the progression of civilisation in the fear that it’ll hurt them, then the society will be left as a puddle of water, it will never turn into a spontaneously-flowing stream. Many say that since the majority of the people of the country are Muslims, Latif Siddique should have talked sensibly, keeping that in mind.

If one has to say what other people want to hear, then there is no need for freedom of speech or one’s right to express opinions. Freedom of speech is for those whose opinions don’t correspond with the opinions of most others. Freedom of speech is saying what you don’t want to hear. Those whose opinions don’t hurt anyone’s feelings don’t need freedom of speech. When the government takes the side of people who are against freedom of speech, it brings about the ruin of its own country.

Nowadays, religious extremists are doing very good business by exploiting people’s religious sentiments. They have always profited from this business in Bangladesh. Every time they scream on the streets demanding someone’s execution for religious dissent and start burning public property, the government takes their side and starts oppressing the people who hold different opinions. This strengthens the power of religious exploiters a hundredfold, and takes the country back 100 years.

The government did exactly the same thing in my case. The friendship between the government and extremists has forever remained the same. Back then, if the Khaleda-led government had punished the Muslim radicals instead of taking their side, they wouldn’t be so powerful now. I could have stayed in my own country as well. There would have been freedom of speech in the country.

It’s not only the Muslim fundamentalists, even the government has deprived free-thinkers of their democratic rights for their own insignificant interests. If Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had not dismissed Latif Siddique from his ministerial post, then he could have returned to the country. The storm would have died down eventually.

The clever religious exploiters would have understood that the politics of religious sentiments would not work in this government’s tenure. The expulsion of Latif Siddique only added fuel to the fire of Muslim fundamentalists. This will strengthen their evil forces a hundredfold. The country will again move backwards a hundredfold.

Various details about Latif Siddique are being disclosed these days. Apparently, he was a horrible person. When the government goes against someone, the number of his friends goes down to zero. My situation was the same. I had to leave the country. My friends vanished. Limitless rumours were spread about me.

Latif Siddique probably did many horrible things. I am not saying that he is a very good person. All I am saying is that he has the right to express his own opinions. Just as I support Latif Siddique’s right to express himself, I similarly respect the rights of his opposers to share their opinions at an equal measure.

If you don’t like his opinion, write and talk against his views and use logic to refute his arguments. But declaring a bounty on his head, physically attacking him, talking about hanging, executing, killing, and beheading him – I am against these barbaric threats.

There is nothing as wonderful as kissing. We shall kiss in the daylight, out in the open, and in front of hundreds of people – this is the mantra of the ongoing “Kiss of Love” protest in India.

University students have been shouting slogans in this public kissing campaign. They are protesting against the acts of arresting two youngsters for kissing on the streets in Kerala, and not letting a girl enter Star Theatre in Kolkata for wearing a miniskirt. Mainly, they are kissing to protest against moral policing in India.

Incidents like these have been occurring often in many countries. If policemen see couples getting intimate in parks or beside streets, lakes, or rivers, they tend to harass them. As if dating is a crime. Holding hands, hugging, or kissing in public are considered vulgar. Sexuality is also considered obscene. Is violence obscene too? Sadly, I don’t think anyone believes that violence is vulgar.

Disrespecting people on the streets, swearing at people by using filthy words, sexual harassment, mob killings of pickpockets – none of these seem very obscene to anyone. No one objects to people spitting or urinating on the streets. People starving to death or dying on the streets for lack of treatment doesn’t seem to be offensive to anyone.

But, it is offensive when you hold someone’s hand or kiss someone out of love. Loving is a crime. That is why there’s so much hatred around us.

Do you remember how John Lennon protested against the Vietnam war? He got naked in front of the whole world and announced: “Make love, not war.” Those who believe in the politics of hatred and jealousy prefer wars to making love. It is surprising that in this 21st century, Bengali writers and littérateurs believe that kissing in public is not right.

Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay said: “This can’t be a way to protest. This shows nothing but bad taste. People protested in Kerala by arranging a mass-kissing event. That doesn’t mean the same thing needs to be done in Kolkata.”

Minister Bratya Basu of West Bengal said: “Would they accept it if their parents did the same?” There are moral police everywhere! Even in the intellectual society.

I wonder why we need to make love only inside the four walls of locked rooms. Go near nature. Go to secluded forests. Go to quiet sea beaches on moonlit nights. Kiss. Love and make love.

We are nothing but the children of nature. Let the world see that we love each other. Let the sky see. Let the jasmines see.

Even though our Western friends are used to this, our friends from the East are not. To them, bodies – especially women’s bodies – are still vulgar. So is sexuality.

When I first went to Europe, I was surprised to see naked and half-naked men and women sun-bathing near the sea. That was probably the time when I discovered that our bodies are beautiful, not vulgar. Whenever I see two people kissing deeply, I feel that we don’t need walls around us to steal a kiss.

Kisses are just as beautiful and nourishing under the open sky. The taste of a kiss is the same – indoors or outdoors. But, when you want to kiss each other and you can’t – because of what people would say – that pain of repression is awful.

I didn’t have many lovers in my life. But, in the city of Paris, I kissed one of my boyfriends whenever I wanted to, in the gardens, streets, cars, theatres, and cafes. I am not talking about kisses on the cheek, I am talking about long, deep kisses.

Without kisses, my life used to feel so dry. I feel really good when I see people loving each other. Jealous and resentful people cannot stand others loving one another.

I have noticed that those who are for kissing in public, and those who are against it, both sides are blaming patriarchy. Kissing in public means turning women into commodities – a trick of patriarchy.

On the other hand, the reason behind stopping people from kissing in public is to keep women locked indoors; to go against the independence of women. This is also a trick of patriarchy!

I don’t want to go into discussions about patriarchy. I am simply taking the side of human bodies, and love.

I accept all kinds of love – love between man and woman, two women, or two men. I praise the expression of all kinds of love. I don’t want to see anyone dying or suffering on the streets. I don’t want to see anyone being beaten up or beating up someone else. I don’t want to see arson.

I don’t want to see people insulting, harassing, or raping girls. I want to see people loving and kissing each other on the streets. I’ll be happy even if I see people making love! Making love is a lot more beautiful and sacred than war, famine, or death.

A few days ago, I wrote on Twitter that my boyfriend was 20 years younger than me. The media went crazy over this piece of information. Previously, I had posted so many other things on Twitter – about receiving awards and an honorary doctorate, giving a keynote speech, and receiving a standing ovation. The media is not interested in such news at all. The media has always been extremely eager to learn more about my boyfriend or husband.

I was feeling a kind of joy after posting the news of my 20-years-younger-than-me boyfriend on Twitter. Acting like men does not suit girls. So, I wanted to see what society said if I acted like a man, if I chose a companion who was younger than me. As usual, people got furious. On the other hand, beating me, the 67-year-old railway minister got married in a grand way to a girl who is almost 40 years younger than him.

Imagine the difference between 20 and 40 years! The younger guy is just my boyfriend. And the railway minister married the girl in a grand way by arranging a “gaye holud” ceremony, dressing up the bride with ornaments and a red Banarasi saree. He himself wore a turban.

Can a 67-year-old woman ever marry a 29-year-old guy in such a way? Will anyone celebrate the marriage of an almost 70-year-old lady with a guy in his 20s the way men and women celebrated the wedding of the minister?

Many will say that if a guy is rich and powerful, then it is possible for him to marry a much younger girl. My question is: Is it possible for a rich and powerful woman in Bangladesh to marry a much younger guy? It is not only impossible, but people would swear at her and call her a man-eating witch. They will isolate her. You never know, they might even slaughter her.

Love doesn’t care about age. We know that an adult of any age can fall in love. Then, why does the man have to be the older one in a romantic relationship? If love is the main basis of the relationship, then producing children might not be very important. Many people live together or get married on the condition that they won’t have children.

Recently, this agreement is becoming more and more popular. In that case, there is no scope for anyone to object to the love or marriage between a 67-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man. But, people do object to it. When a 67-year-old man gets married, he is applauded. When a 67-year-old woman does it, she is hated by society. This is a minor example of the appalling discrimination between men and women.

Islam has gradually taken away the independence women had in pre-Islamic Arabia. 1,400 years ago, 40-year-old widowed Khadija, mother of many children, chose a 25-year-old man to marry – the Prophet. In the present Arabia, modern Khadijas don’t have the same opportunity or the courage to do so.

After her death, the Prophet got married almost a dozen times. He even married a girl who was 50 years younger than him. The disciples of the Prophet are following this incidence of him marrying someone younger at an older age. The Prophet also married a widower who was 15 years older than him. No “true” Muslim has an interest in following that.

I guess the railway minister will depend much on sildenafil citrate or Viagra. There is a limit to taking Viagra. Viagra does not work on everybody. It is prohibited for people with heart, kidney, and liver problems. Our railway minister will play with the body of a young lady. He will play, even though he might not be an expert, because he is a man. He has the right to play with whoever he wants. The entire world is a playground for men.

The girl will suffer. She will suffer from extreme depression. But she will be forced to stay captive in the man’s cage known as marriage. It is because she is a toy, a sex toy – a decoration piece.

She will probably be forced to act like she is happy, even though she is not. Most girls have to do this. They are not happy, but they pretend that they are. Or, they think that sadness, regret, and oppression are happiness, achievement, and independence. They have learned to think like that from childhood.

It is probably not possible anymore for most of them to learn something new, something that is completely opposite to what they have been taught. What men have learned from their childhood is that they are the masters – the superiors. They know better and understand better. The society and the entire world exist for them. They will rule. They will consume. Most men refuse to learn anything that contradicts this.

Indonesia’s Miss World Muslimah beauty pageant was held quite recently. The participants of the pageant wore makeup, just like the Miss World or Miss Universe contestants. The difference is that this pageant reveals an especially narrow mindset.

In the Miss World or Miss Universe contests, the women can be from any country or religion, but in the Miss Muslimah pageant, the participants have to be Muslim, and are required to wear hijabs. This is a beauty contest among women who are required to have their bodies and heads covered, if you hadn’t guessed.

In Islam, the purpose of the hijab is to make sure that no physical beauty of a woman is on display. The Qur’an and Hadith strongly prohibit displaying female beauty, which is why Muslim extremists have always been against beauty pageants. But have they expressed outrage over their own Muslimah beauty pageant? Not to my knowledge.

These Muslims, who doll themselves up and shamelessly display their beauty in front of all the men in the world, are definitely disobedient towards Allah and the Prophet, right? Not so long ago, a new law had been passed in Saudi Arabia: Girls with beautiful eyes were to no longer go outside with their eyes unveiled, because men get sexually excited by looking at their eyes.

Since men don’t know how to control their excitement, women are the ones who have to cover themselves up head-to-toe, just so that men are not tempted to do something horrible. However, the participants of the Miss Muslimah pageant keep their eyes uncovered. The curves of their waists, breasts, and hips are also clearly visible through their clothes – anyone can guess how much this excites men.

After watching the Muslim beauties, I came to the conclusion that Muslims do not want to be deprived of anything pleasurable. A few years ago, some expatriate Muslims living in Europe were cursing at non-Muslims there, all the while praising the Muslims in Saudi Arabia. So I asked them: “Why are you living in a non-Muslim country? You can just go to Saudi Arabia – the land of Islam, the sacred country.” They listened to my suggestion, but didn’t express any desire to follow through.

Muslims might think Saudi Arabia is sacred, but not many of them actually want to live there. Anyone can find clips of Saudi government-endorsed beheadings on the Internet. The truth is, Muslims can never enjoy human rights in the Arab world the way they do in the countries of non-believers.

Islamic extremists today are freely preaching their religion on Twitter and Facebook. Religious terrorists are using modern technology to spread terror. Fanatics are carrying mobile phones – an invention of the non-believers. Non-believers or atheists are inventing new technologies, and Muslims are all over those inventions.

Pious Muslims don’t have any objections about enjoying such modern conveniences. At the same time, they do not have any objections about hating non-believers or atheists, cursing and swearing at them, or even executing them while screaming God’s name. I have never seen any other religious group embracing the positive aspects of science and the negative aspects of religion in this way.

People have not only become greedy, they have also become violent. Not too long ago, followers of the Prophet used to say: “Allah’s favourite Prophet loved everyone, he didn’t hate anyone. He didn’t want to harm anyone, and he never said we should kill non-believers.”

He, in fact, said: “Your religion is yours, and my religion is mine.’” And now, many devotees of the Prophet proudly announce: “Our Prophet killed men, we will do the same … We will also chop non-believers into pieces.”

If religion makes people intolerant and turns them into savages, then I question its relevance in modern society. A few days ago, Bangladeshi Muslims attacked a Rajshahi University professor, hacking him to death. His fault: He had told his female students to not wear burqas in class because of the difficulty it posed in recognising a student. After all, it could be someone else pretending to be a student, maybe even someone dangerous.

The golden boys of my golden Bangladesh want to cover the girls in black garb. The burqa is an Arabian attire; is it mandatory to accept the culture of Saudi Arabia as your own to be a Muslim, or can you accept your own culture and also be a Muslim? This is something I’ve pondered for years.

My mother was very religious; going to Saudi Arabia was a dream of hers, and she did eventually go. However, when she came back, I noticed that she wasn’t very fond of the country anymore. Maybe her idea of Saudia Arabia did not match the reality. Her love for that country was gone, and as long as she lived, she lived as a Bengali. It was her love and affection for people that made her great, not her religion – that is how she expressed her piety.

When I was looking at the various fashionable hijabs in the Muslimah beauty pageant, it seemed like the hijab was no longer a part of Islam. Eye-catching hijabs of various colours are sold in shops now, and hijabi girls are busy showing off their beauty in different ways, which is why special catwalks had to be arranged for them.

Groups of Muslims are taking part in a sexual jihad. These girls travel for miles to reach the desserts of Iraq and Syria, so that they can sexually please some unknown men. This is something that is impossible to imagine even for someone with no religion and no shame.

I often hear the phrase “ghomtar tolay khemta nache,” this time I am witnessing it myself. If Muslim extremists can slaughter people in the name of Allah, Muslim girls can also sleep with them for the same reason. It’s a good thing that my mother is not alive anymore. If she were here to see these things, who knows what would’ve happened to her faith.

Do you remember the Delhi bus gangrape case? A girl was gangraped and an iron rod was inserted to intestine through her vagina, just for fun. Indian people, for the first time, take to the streets to protest against rape! You remember. Don’t you think the gangrapists in the jail are regretting and crying for their crimes? They realized they were wrong! They promised they would never commit crimes again!

Do you know what Mukesh Singh, one of the gang rapists, said?

Mukesh Singh said: “Women who went out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of gangs of male molesters. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy.”

He claimed that had Jyoti, the victim, and her friend not tried to fight back, the gang would not have not have inflicted the savage beating, which led her to die from her injuries two weeks later.

He said, “When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back. She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they’d have dropped her off after ‘doing her’, and only hit the boy.”

He said, “You can’t clap with one hand – it takes two hands. A decent girl won’t roam around at 9 o’clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. Boy and girl are not equal. Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. About 20 per cent of girls are good.”

Said, “The death penalty will make things even more dangerous for girls. Before, they would rape and say, ‘Leave her, she won’t tell anyone.’ Now when they rape, especially the criminal types, they will just kill the girl. Death.”

His lawyer AP Singh said, “If my daughter or sister engaged in pre-marital activities and disgraced herself and allowed herself to lose face and character by doing such things, I would most certainly take this sort of sister or daughter to my farmhouse, and in front of my entire family, I would put petrol on her and set her alight.”

In the BBC documentary, he adds that his stance has not changed: “This is my stand. I still today stand on that reply.”

Another lawyer ML Sharma said, “In our society, we never allow our girls to come out from the house after 6:30 or 7.30 or 8.30 in the evening with any unknown person.”

Can you believe it? You may not believe it, but I do.
They became misogynists while growing up in a patriarchal society. No imprisonment, not even death penalty can change their misogynistic mindset.

Avijit was a good father. He loved his daughter. He was very proud of his daughter. He was a step father but more loving and caring than many biological fathers.

After getting the news of her father’s death, she wrote:

The Islamic butchers used sharp machetes to kill Dr. Avijit Roy, the well known blogger. ISIS terrorists use sharp knives to behead people. They have a preference for knives because Muhammad used knives to kill nonbelievers. Islamist leaders convince fellow Islamists to kill nonbelievers for the sake of Islam. Allah himself, apparently, advised people to kill. There are many Islamic organisations in Bangladesh working to indoctrinate young people with Islam. The leaders of those organisations insist that people to believe in the Quran, the words of Allah and the Hadith, and the words of Muhammad. Governments and almost all established organisations encourage people to believe in Allah the God and Muhammad the messenger.

If you are a Muslim, you have to believe in the Quran and Hadith. And if you believe in the Quran and Hadith, you have to agree with Allah that atheists should be brutally murdered. These are the texts that inspired Islamists to kill people like Avijit Roy, the atheist who wrote books and blogs about the universe, evolution, philosophy, and criticised all religions, including Islam. These are the texts that inspire ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab etc. to kill infidels and non-Muslims.

Read some divine texts.

From the Quran:

Quran (2:191-193) – And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers. And if they cease, then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Fight them until there is no [more] fitnah and [until] worship is [acknowledged to be] for Allah . But if they cease, then there is to be no aggression except against the oppressors.

Quran (2:244) – “Then fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah Heareth and knoweth all things.”

Quran (2:216) – “Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”

Quran (3:56) – “As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help.”

Quran (3:151) – “Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority”.

Quran (4:74) – “Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.”

Quran (4:76) – “Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…”

Quran (4:89) – “They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks.”

Quran (4:95) – “Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight Hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,-”

Quran (4:104) – “And be not weak heart-ed in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain…”

Quran (5:33) – “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement”

Quran (8:12) – “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.”

Quran (8:15) – “O ye who believe! When ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. (16)Whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey’s end.”

Quran (8:39) – “And fight with them until there is no more fitna (unbelief) and religion should be only for Allah”

Quran (8:57) – “If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember.”

Quran (8:67) – “It is not for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he had made a great slaughter in the land…”

Quran (8:59-60) – “And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah’s Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape. Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy.”

Quran (8:65) – “O Prophet, exhort the believers to fight…”

Quran (9:5) – “So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them.”

Quran (9:14) – “Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people.”

Quran (9:20) – “Those who believe, and have left their homes and striven with their wealth and their lives in Allah’s way are of much greater worth in Allah’s sight. These are they who are triumphant.”

Quran (9:29) – “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”

Quran (9:30) – “And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!”

Quran (9:38-39) – “O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place.” This is a warning to those who refuse to fight, that they will be punished with Hell.

Quran (9:41) – “Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew.”

Quran (9:73) – “O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.”

Quran (9:88) – “But the Messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and it is they who will prosper.”

Quran (9:111) – “Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Quran: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.”

Quran (9:123) – “O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness.”

Quran (17:16) – “And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.”

Quran (21:44) – “We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long for them; See they not that We gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? Is it then they who will win?”

Quran (25:52) – “Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness…”

Quran (33:60-62) – “If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, and the alarmists in the city do not cease, We verily shall urge thee on against them, then they will be your neighbors in it but a little while. Accursed, they will be seized wherever found and slain with a (fierce) slaughter.”

Quran (47:3-4) – “Those who disbelieve follow falsehood, while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord… So, when you meet , those who disbelieve smite at their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them, i.e. take them as captives)… If it had been Allah’s Will, He Himself could certainly have punished them (without you). But (He lets you fight), in order to test you, some with others. But those who are killed in the Way of Allah, He will never let their deeds be lost.”

Quran (47:35) – “Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost for Allah is with you,”

Quran (48:17) – “There is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to war). And whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a painful doom.”

Quran (48:29) – “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves”

Quran (61:4) – “Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way” (61:9): “He it is who has sent His Messenger (Mohammed) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam) to make it victorious over all religions even though the infidels may resist.”

Quran (61:10-12) – “O You who believe! Shall I guide you to a commerce that will save you from a painful torment. That you believe in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad ), and that you strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know! (If you do so) He will forgive you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow, and pleasant dwelling in Gardens of ‘Adn – Eternity [‘Adn (Edn) Paradise], that is indeed the great success.”

Quran (66:9) – “O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey’s end.”

From the Hadith:

Bukhari (52:177) – Allah’s Apostle said, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. “O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.”

Bukhari (52:256) – The Prophet… was asked whether it was permissible to attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their women and children to danger. The Prophet replied, “They (i.e. women and children) are from them (i.e. pagans).”

Bukhari (52:65) – The Prophet said, ‘He who fights that Allah’s Word, Islam, should be superior, fights in Allah’s Cause. Muhammad’s words are the basis for offensive Jihad – spreading Islam by force. This is how it was understood by his companions, and by the terrorists of today.

Bukhari (52:220) – Allah’s Apostle said… ‘I have been made victorious with terror’

Abu Dawud (14:2526) – The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, “There is no god but Allah” and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal.

Abu Dawud (14:2527) – The Prophet said: Striving in the path of Allah (jihad) is incumbent on you along with every ruler, whether he is pious or impious

Muslim (1:33) – The Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

Bukhari (8:387) – Allah’s Apostle said, “I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah’. And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally.”

Muslim (1:30) – “The Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah.”

Bukhari (52:73) – “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘Know that Paradise is under the shades of swords’.”

Bukhari (11:626) – [Muhammad said:] “I decided to order a man to lead the prayer and then take a flame to burn all those, who had not left their houses for the prayer, burning them alive inside their homes.”

Muslim (1:149) – “Abu Dharr reported: I said: Messenger of Allah, which of the deeds is the best? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Belief in Allah and Jihad in His cause…”

Muslim (20:4645) – “…He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said: There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa’id) said: What is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!”

Muslim (20:4696) – “the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: ‘One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihad died the death of a hypocrite.'”

Muslim (19:4321-4323) – Three separate hadith in which Muhammad shrugs over the news that innocent children were killed in a raid by his men against unbelievers. His response: “They are of them (meaning the enemy).”

Muslim (19:4294) – “When the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him… He would say: Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war… When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them… If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them.”

Bukhari 1:35 “The person who participates in (Holy Battles) in Allah’s cause and nothing compels him do so except belief in Allah and His Apostle, will be recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty ( if he survives) or will be admitted to Paradise ( if he is killed).”

Tabari 7:97 The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, “Kill any Jew who falls under your power.” Ashraf was a poet, killed by Muhammad’s men because he insulted Islam. Here, Muhammad widens the scope of his orders to kill. An innocent Jewish businessman was then slain by his Muslim partner, merely for being non-Muslim.

Tabari 9:69 “Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us” The words of Muhammad, prophet of Islam.

Tabari 17:187 “‘By God, our religion (din) from which we have departed is better and more correct than that which these people follow. Their religion does not stop them from shedding blood, terrifying the roads, and seizing properties.’ And they returned to their former religion.” The words of a group of Christians who had converted to Islam, but realized their error after being shocked by the violence and looting committed in the name of Allah. The price of their decision to return to a religion of peace was that the men were beheaded and the woman and children enslaved by the caliph Ali.

Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 484: – “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.’”

Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 990: – Lest anyone think that cutting off someone’s head while screaming ‘Allah Akbar!’ is a modern creation, here is an account of that very practice under Muhammad, who seems to approve.

Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 992: – “Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah.” Muhammad’s instructions to his men prior to a military raid.

Ameen.

Super-Scientific Religious Scriptures!

[“Listen, O uninformed, a man has the ability to write a book, the book does not have any ability to create a man” –Nazrul] [1]

Part I

My response to a very innocuous e-mail impelled me to write this fastidious essay. Let me first elaborate on this. Just about four years ago, I set on my overseas sojourn from my native Bangladesh to a foreign university. In the beginning, it was really difficult to ignore the immense enthusiasm that I enjoyed browsing free Internet provided by this university. You may literally compare my situation similar to a frog used to live in a well, suddenly let in a big ocean. This academic place was abound with immense free-flow of knowledge. It was in such a profound milieu of scholastic freedom that I truly became obsessed with—even to the extent of forgetting my food to the cyber world! I skimmed and skimmed—in search of knowledge; almost like exploring an ocean. While searching the net in this fashion, I suddenly received an e-mail from Mr. Jamal Hasan; along with it, the address of the website www.bangladesh-web.com/news, an on-line newspaper; News From Bangladesh (NFB). At first, I was not that keen on this website being a bit skeptical about the quality. Then, when I really visited the website, I was simply amazed and perplexed. After reading a few informative, high-quality articles, I was extremely flabbergasted. That many Bangladeshi Muslims, a rather very conservative society, wrote those high caliber, rational and secular essays was quite unthinkable to me. Indeed, it was a great surprise to me, to say the least. I still remember very clearly one such essay, entitled, ‘The Qur’anic Folklore—Who Was Zulkernain?’ When I read that article, I was simply dumbfounded—no exaggeration. Even the names of the authors were also pretty odd :Syed Kamran Mirza, Fatemolla—no, never did I hear such names in my life, I swear.

That was the beginning. Gradually, I came know about Abul Kasem, Aparthib Zaman, Narayan Gupta, Sabbir Ahmed, Dr.Jaffor Ullah, Jahed Ahmed, Dr Ali Sina, Dr Kaushik Sen, Bishnu Dey, Paramanab, Shabnam Nadiya and many others. Each of them was like a spark of fire. A little later, I set up ‘Mukto-Mona’ (http://www.mukto-mona.com ), a progressive, secular and humanist Internet forum for the people mainly of Bengali origin. This forum is very much in the know to many overseas Bangladeshis familiar with various Internet forums. Mukto-Mona has always put forwarded opinion contrary to the prevalent views—an exception, you might say. That is why Mukto-Mona has become famous; expressing the voice of the dissents and the unconventional–to explain further. In a world replete with religious bigotry and communalism, Mukto-Mona stands out as a beacon of a progressive, guiding light, that will enlighten many a soul groping in darkness.

I leave the topic of Mukto-Mona for a while; not forgetting that the history of Mukto-Mona is very unique, no doubt. I deliberately brought out the affairs of Mukto-Mona, as I am quite sure that it (Mukto-Mona) is now essentially intertwined with the theme of this essay.

Let me be back to NFB, once again. I noticed that not all writers of NFB had unchained the shackles of religion to pen their essays. I do remember a distinguished Western educated university professor; always unrelenting in finding science in a specific ancient religious scripture. Now a day, it is a trend that has immensely engulfed a good number of educated Bangladeshi Muslims—a sort of fashion, we may say. Their main motivation has sprouted from the ‘shattering’ works of two Occidental charlatan scientists–Dr Maurice Bucaille and Dr Keith Moore. They blithely discovered in Qur’an, ‘Big-Bang’, ‘expansion of the universe’, ‘theory of evolution of human species’, science of ‘atoms and molecules’, ‘milky-way, ‘constellation’, ‘white dwarf’, ‘black-holes, ‘embryology’, ‘theory of relativity’, ‘theory of super string’…and what not. Now, our distinguished professor, mentioned before, imbued with such inspiring discoveries, was writing endless article in NFB to prove how ‘super scientific’ the Qur’an is! Enough was enough! Finally, I decided to protest against his non-stop ranting. I wrote, ‘why try to find ‘Big-Bang’ in Qur’anic verses, thousands of years old’? There are plenty of books on Astrophysics dealing with ‘Big-Bang’. Why not consult those books instead? ‘For example’, I explained – ‘if we want to learn about the solution of differential equations then we invariably have to refer to books on Mathematics’. Can we find the solution of differential equations in the Qur’an? I questioned him. After reading my audacious essay, the gentleman exploded—like a freshly set bomb. In his next epic sized essay, he spared no pain to exhort the utter shortcomings of my understanding of science and Islam. How stupid and foolish I was, he had no hesitation in surmising. Citing examples after examples from innumerable sources, he was hell bent in proving only fact—that is, all modern science is absolutely indicated in the Qur’an. Qur’an is definitely a ‘Book of Science’, he was very adamant.

When his obdurate, obstinate and bigoted approach pushed me to my limit, I was compelled to write this essay. My contention was quite simple: if we read carefully, we surely note that those ancient religious scriptures were composed at a time when the humanity had a very limited understanding of scientific knowledge. One cannot legitimately expect to find the complex theories of ‘Big-Bang’, ‘Super String’, ‘Relativity’ etc. in the pages of those dated Holy Books. In reality, the contents of those primitive books reflected the sheer backwardness prevalent in the contemporary society; their thoughts, belief, hopes and despair; nothing more than that and nothing less. Let me illustrate with an example: when the holy Qur’an was composed (a better word is compiled, I should emphasize), the eminent scientists like Galileo, Bruno, Copernicus, et.al were not even born. How could the people of that primeval period even think of an earth, revolving around our sun? Nay, they could never comprehend this, as they were familiar only with the sun rising in the east and then setting in the west; the rising of the moon at the onset of night. These are the phenomena they have observed since their birth. God controls these heavenly objects, they thought. That certain laws of physics govern the progress of these celestial bodies, they could never comprehend. This is what is accurately reflected in many verses of the Qur’an, Hadis, Vedas and the Bible. Consider this verse from Sura Luqman (31:29) from the holy Qur’an [15]:

Hast thou not seen how Allah causeth the night to pass into the day and causeth the day to pass into the night, and hath subdued the sun and the moon (to do their work), each running unto an appointed term; and that Allah is Informed of what ye do?

In this verse Allah clearly says that he is the one who converts the day into night and vice versa; subjected the sun and the moon to follow a fixed orbit. We find many similar verses elsewhere in the Qur’an as well. Here are a few samples: Sura Ya-Sin (36:38), Sura Az-Zumar (39:5), Sura Al-Rad (13:2), Sura Al-Anbiya (21:33), Sura Al-Baqara (2:258), Sura Al-Kahf (18:86), Sura Ta-Ha (20:130), just to name a few. However, even a thorough, painstaking search of the entire Qur’an does not show a single verse anywhere in it that supports the scientific reality of the rotation of earth. According to Allah, the earth is motionless, completely static. Period.

In Sura An-Naml (27:61) it is stated clearly:

Is not He (best) Who made the earth a fixed abode, and placed rivers in the folds thereof, and placed firm hills therein, and hath set a barrier between the two seas? Is there any Allah beside Allah? Nay, but most of them know not!

In the same vein, Sura Al-Rum (30:25), Sura Fatir (35:41), Sura Luqman (31:10), Sura Al-Baqara (2:22), Sura An-Nahl (16:15) exhorts the Allah’s decree that the earth is completely immovable.

Since the previously mentioned scholar was absolutely certain that the Qur’an contains all the scientific principles, with due respect, I earnestly requested him to show me a verse, just a single verse in the Qur’an that states that the earth moves round the sun; or that the earth rotates on its own axis, at the least. ‘I shall accept all your contentions, for sure, if you can show me such a verse’, I wrote. The Arabic word for earth is ‘Ard’ and the Arabic word for rotation is ‘Falak’. ‘Please show a just a single verse in the Qur’an that uses the two words ‘Ard’ and ‘Falak’ side by side’, I insisted.

He could not show me a single verse to that effect.

Of course, he could never succeed; I knew this from the very beginning. How could he succeed when it is totally certain that there is no such verse/s in the Qur’an as I had already elaborated? People of that era did not have the knowledge to calculate the speeds and periods of diurnal and annual rotations of the earth. The transition from the ‘Geo-Centric’ concept of the earth of Ptolemy to Copernicus’ ‘Helio-Centric’ universe took a long time to hold. People during Muhammad’s time had the slightest clue as to the mystery ‘where do the sun go at night?’ They had no idea on sun’s movement, to say the least. The sun really proceeds to a far-off place to take rest—this was their notion about the setting of the sun. The learned readers will have no trouble in finding this truth out by simply gleaning through the Sura dealing with Zul-Karnain (18:86):

Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a people thereabout. We said: O Dhu’l-Qarneyn! Either punish or show them kindness.

How is it possible for Allah to commit such a humongous blunder—come to think of it! Have our learned Islamic scholars, searching endlessly for ‘Big-Bang’, ‘Super String’, etc. in the Qur’an has ever seriously pondered on it? How could Allah think that the sun must have a resting place of its own! How could we accept the Qur’an as a ‘Book of Sciene’? Shall we not consider it a book of comic, instead?

Many readers may not be aware that the ‘Muslim World’ considers Muhammad to be the greatest scientist, thinker and philosopher that Allah ever created. Now, think about the funny answer, this ‘greatest’ creator of science gave when people questioned him: Where does the sun hang about at night? In a conversation with one of his companions (Abu Dhar), Muhammad claimed that the sun ‘prostrates’ under the throne of Allah for the entire night and seeks His permission to go to its usual work in the morning! Let us read this hadis [15]:

Volume 6, Book 60, Number 326:

Narrated Abu Dharr:

Once I was with the Prophet in the mosque at the time of sunset. The Prophet said, “O Abu Dharr! Do you know where the sun sets?” I replied, “Allah and His Apostle know best.” He said, “It goes and prostrates underneath (Allah’s) Throne; and that is Allah’s Statement:–

‘And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (decreed). And that is the decree of All-Mighty, the All-Knowing….’ (36.38)

It will be foolhardy to assume that those erudite scholars making desperate attempts to demonstrate science in ancient scriptures are not aware of those laughable verses. Surely, they are very much aware of them (verses). With full knowledge, they deliberately confuse the gullible people. This is exactly where I have severe objection. My response to this Islamic scholar did create some stir among many readers. Many progressive web-sites duly published my essay and even one threw a challenge to the fundamentalist Mullahs under the heading, ‘Avijit Roy challenges the fundamentalists.’ This challenge still stands in the cyber world [2]. So far, no Islamic scholar could refute my assertions by citing the appropriate verses from the Qur’an.

Let me elaborate more on this particular word, “Challenge.” Many people consider this word (Challenge) to be a very crude and impolite. But those who are long-term practitioners of Rationalism and Skepticism know rather well that a challenge could really be a lethal weapon. There are many rationalists who have issued ‘earth shattering’ challenges on many topics. Some of them have challenged the divine and spiritual ‘gurus’; some have challenged the Astrologers about their fortune telling; some challenged the medical practices of the so- called Faith Healers while many others have challenged the infallibility of Holy Scriptures. I can cite the example of challenge by the ‘Amazing’ Randi, the founding fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). He had issued a challenge of one million dollars to the practitioners of supernatural power. Dr Abraham Kovoor, a life-long fighter against superstitions, has also thrown similar challenge. Prabir Ghosh, a Bengali Rationalist has issued a challenge of fifty thousand Indian Rupees to the powerful clique of Astrologers. The Bangladeshi magician, Jewel Aich has also proclaimed a challenge to prove the existence of the genies (Jinns) and ghosts. Those who consider the Qur’an to be the infallible words of Allah, Dr Ali Sina, a member of Mukto-Mona and the co-founder of Faith Freedom International, has a challenge for them. The truth is: challenge is an important phase of movement of rationalism by the freethinkers. Being in tune with Prabir Ghosh [3], I would also like to announce, “Those cows who have been elevated to such lofty positions through advertisement and media, let us bring them down to earth to graze there by issuing challenges to them. A challenge may not be ‘nice’ to the vacillators, the opportunists and the envious people, but it (the challenge) does expose the truth. A popular and logical question is: If you are so sure to prove your claims, then why not accept the challenge?”

Lest you misunderstand me: I must clarify that, just because I cited the Qur’an on the immovability of the earth, does not at all mean that other religious scriptures are blameless. In actuality, we invariably come across with many similar verses in the Bible and the Vedas too.

Let me illustrate from the Bible the very concept of stationary earth [Bible]:

Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved. (1Chronicles, 16/30)

The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, [wherewith] he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. (Psalms 93/1)

Say among the heathen [that] the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. (Psalms 96/10)

[Who] laid the foundations of the earth, [that] it should not be removed for ever. (Psalms 104/5)

Likewise, we read in the Vedas [15]:

From the Rig Vedas (Book10, 173/4):

Firm is the sky and firm the earth, and stedfast also are these hills.
Stedfast is all this living world, and stedfast is this King of men.

In another verse of the Rig Vedas (Book10, 149/1), it is stated:

SAVITAR fixed the earth with bands to bind it, and made heaven stedfast where no prop supported.
Savitar milked, as ’twere a restless courser, air, sea bound fast to what no foot had trodden.

The above verse is especially important for a very specific reason. This verse clearly informs us that, in the Vedic period, the people believed not only in a stationary earth, but also considered the sky as the roof of the earth! They used to think that the almighty God had suspended this roof above us without any support. This was possible, only because God possessed an incredible supreme power. We read an uncannily similar verse in Sura Luqman of the Qur’an (31:10):

He hath created the heavens without supports that ye can see, and hath cast into the earth firm hills, so that it quake not with you; and He hath dispersed therein all kinds of beasts. And We send down water from the sky and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.

Due to advancement in scientific knowledge, we of course, know for certain, that the sky is not the roof of the earth. The truth is: there is absolutely no such object called ‘sky.’ In reality, the ‘sky’ is actually our limit of vision. The blue in the sky we see is nothing but scattered blue light only due to the presence of the atmosphere surrounding our planet. Take the example of the ‘sky’ of the moon; it is absolutely black. Why? Because there is no atmosphere around our moon! However, the trouble is: we do not find any such scientifically correct explanation in the so-called ‘super scientific’ religious books! Sometimes, I wonder how long will it take us, the human to be enlightened! When will the common folks reject the so-called Holy Scriptures and come to comprehend the real meaning of ‘sky?’

In this connection, I recall a few very meaningful lines from one of my favorite Bangla poetry ‘Standing Under a Tree’ of Sunil. Here are those memorable lines [4]:

So many centuries have gone by but men remained an infant
They could not fathom out the meaning of the word – ‘sky’
Which one could see in Chottogram or in Bakura.
The word “man” cannot be enveloped by barbed wire.
No one named Eshwar (God) – a big boss – is running the show in this mortal world
Religions, nothing more than some folklore
They won’t hear the cry of neighbor’s baby smothered with dust
They love spewing slogans that lacks harmony
A few man who wanted to make us grow old tried so hard
We hung their portraits but no one seems to care….

Part II

As soon as this essay was published in NFB, a load of criticism was hurled at me. A rather pious lady friend of mine sent an e-mail, writing: It may be true that The Qur’an does not directly mention about the rotation of the earth; however, bear in mind that nothing in the Qur’an is that straight forward. For example, nowhere in the Qur’an one will find that the earth is round. But this does not necessarily means that the Qur’an talks about a flat earth.

In my reply, I mentioned that the Qur’an, does, indeed talk of a flat earth. In support of my contention I cited the following verses:

And the earth have We spread out, and placed therein firm hills, and caused each seemly thing to grow therein…(Sura Al-Hijr 15:19)

Who hath appointed the earth as a bed and hath threaded roads for you therein and hath sent down water from the sky and thereby We have brought forth divers kinds of vegetation,…(Sura Ta Ha 20:53)

Who made the earth a resting-place for you, and placed roads for you therein, that haply ye may find your way;…(Sura Az-Zukhruf 43:10)

And the earth have We spread out, and have flung firm hills therein, and have caused of every lovely kind to grow thereon, …(Sura Qaf 50:7)

And Allah hath made the earth a wide expanse for you…(Sura Nooh 71:19)

It is certainly palpable from those verses that there is no accord between the Qur’anic motionless, flat earth and the modern physicist’s concept of a round-shaped earth. Please read the previously mentioned verse 18:86 once again. This verse states that a faithful servant of Allah, did actually saw the sun to set on a certain muddy place. Verse 18:90 (of the same Sura), even describes a particular place where the sun rises. Naturally, one would not hesitate to ask: why did Allah think that the sun must have a definite abode for its rise and a definite abode for it to set or to take rest? Only one conclusion can be made from such an idea, and that is; in Allah’s sight, the earth is surely a flat surface.

We can definitely deduce from the fixed prayer times that the ancient people were quite accustomed to the notion of a flat earth. Aroj Ali Matubbar [5], the peasant-philosopher of Bengal has further elaborated on this idea of flat earth in his book ‘The Quest for Truth’ Let us take this opportunity to examine his elaboration.

In Islam, it is compulsory to offer prayers five times a day. Preset times are appointed for these prayers. Offering of prayers apart from these set times are forbidden. For example, a Muslim cannot pray at sunrise, at sunset or at midday. We know from the diurnal rotation of earth that, at any fixed time, the sun is seen at any position on earth and as such, a prayer can be offered at any site on the earth. What does this mean? Consider the following fact. When the sun is rising at Barisal (a district in Bangladesh), it has still not risen at Calcutta (in West Bengal, India). However, in Chittagong (another port city in Bangladeh), the sun is already up. So, when offering prayer at Barisal is haram (forbidden), it is not haram at Calcutta or at Chittagong. Thus, can we find any justification for imposing a ban on offering of prayers at some other times apart from the set times of prayers? Aroj Ali Matbor, the rationalist, in his book mentioned before has posed a very interesting question: Suppose, a Muslim, after offering the Zuhr prayer at 1:30 PM, leaves for Mecca. Arriving in Mecca, he will be surprised to note that it is yet not noon there. So, shall he offer another Zuhr prayer at Mecca too? The answer to this enigma is actually contained in the question itself. Aroj Ali, himself has answered this question in a rational way. According to him, there was a time when the concept of earth as stationary and flat was very much in vogue. From this perception, the idea of fixed times for prayers emerged—he opines. Nonetheless, this old concept is now dead; instead, the modern science has proved that the earth is round and in motion. That is why complications have arisen while trying to fit the modern day life-style with age-old religious doctrines. These complications will definitely keep increasing in future, no doubt. Here is a very compelling illustration: if an astronaut or an aircraft pilot flies at a speed of 1041.67 miles an hour from the west, he will find the sun to be motionless, still. This means that, for the air-passengers there will be no such time as morning, noon or evening—as if the sun is standstill at one position only! What would happen to prayer and fasting—come to think of it? If in future, human habitation is established in the North Pole, there will be more problems. There is approximately six month of days and six months of nights at this forlorn place. Will it be possible to strictly follow the rules of fasting as well the dictums of five prayers a day between sunrise and sunset there? Please ponder closely on this issue and you will surely discover that the root cause of this problem is the erroneous idea of a flat and motionless earth.

Let us search history. A famous Arabic scientist of the twelfth century did think that the earth is not really flat but round. As soon as his idea became known, all his works were declared as blasphemous, his books confiscated and burnt. Just a few years ago, the supreme religious authority of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdel Aziz ibn Baaz issued a fatwa (Islamic edict) in this fashion:

‘The earth is indeed flat. Those who do not accept this are atheist—they deserve to be punished.’ In his book ‘The Demon-Haunted World’, Karl Sagan has enunciated this fatwa in detail.

The Hindu scriptures are also similar. A vivid description has been cited in page 169 of Narasingha Mythology. That is why, Jambbudipa, an organisation at Baroda, Gujrat is working relentlessly to prove ‘scientifically’ the infallibility of Vedic ‘flat’ earth belief.

In September 15, 1999, Tim Miller, professor and chair of religious studies at Kansas University, claimed that “The Bible says the Earth has four corners,” said and added that he believes the Earth is either a square or a tetrahedron, a solid figure with four triangular faces. It is quite amazing to observe that, based on the erroneous idea, some people, even in this twenty-first century still upholds that the earth not round– rather flat. They even have formed societies, named International Flat Earth Society (http://www.1hup.edu/~dsimanek/fe-scidi.htm) and ‘The International Square Earth Society’ (http://pwi.net.com/~rogermw/square_earth.html). These are all laughable organizations; their main aim is to prove that the earth is actually flat, no matter what science says!

Thanks to Bucaille and Moor, we repeatedly return to the topic of divine power of the Qura’an. Let us face squarely—Is the Qur’an’ really celestial, supernatural and a ‘great book of science’—flawless and spiritual in content? To paraphrase from the Bengali singer Suman Chatterjee (who borrowed from Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the wind”), I must write, “The questions are easy; the answers, too are known.” The answer is that Qur’an can never be a miraculous, heavenly book. Just like any other ancient religious scripture, the Qur’an is also littered with downright errors, sheer antiquated beliefs, absolute scientific blunders and numerous ambiguities, to say the least. In actuality, there is no ‘Big-Bang’, no theory of Relativity, no Black Holes, not even the concept of atom-molecule in the entire Qur’an. What we find in the name of ‘Big-Bang’ and Relativity is the cunning and deceptive manner in which certain Qur’anic verses are interpreted. Here is an example.

Consider the following verse from Sura Al-Ambia (21:30)

Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them, and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe?

It is quite astonishing that the so-called ‘erudite’ science experts discover ‘Big-Bang’ in this verse! Is there an iota of ‘Big-Bang’ in this verse? Think carefully with a rational mind. Let us examine up-close this verse and the verses immediately following this:

21:30 Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them, and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe?

21:31 And We have placed in the earth firm hills lest it quake with them, and We have placed therein ravines as roads that haply they may find their way.

21:32 And we have made the sky a roof withheld (from them). Yet they turn away from its portents.

For further clarification let us also quote verse from Sura Al-Rad (13:2)

Allah it is Who raised up the heavens without visible supports, then mounted the Throne, and compelled the sun and the moon to be of service, each runneth unto an appointed term; He ordereth the course; He detaileth the revelations, that haply ye may be certain of the meeting with your Lord.

The above verses actually depict a very obscure and ancient idea of the universe. Don’t you think that the concept of support-less roof and the placement of mountains for the earth not to shake is very much akin to the use of a heavy paper-weight on a piece of paper so that it is not blown away by the wind? And what did Allah do to prevent the ‘sky’ from falling on heads? Yes, He supported the ‘sky’ on unseen pillars! How could one pass these as twentieth century science? Still more strange is this part of verse 21:30:…the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then we parted them, …..’ If these few words are really the proof of ‘Big-Bang’, then one may legitimately ask; where is the mention of the huge explosion? The word ‘Big-Bang’, itself, is very significant here. Where do we find the sign of that famous ‘Bang?’

Furthermore, in Physics, the ‘Big-Bang’ is related with space-time singularity, not with matter per se. The earth did not even exist when the ‘Big-Bang’ took place—the earth having been born billion years after the ‘Big-Bang’! The above verses are clearly referring to earth and sky being “joined” (which doesn’t even have a common sense or scientific meaning) together and then being split apart (again meaningless as per science), and that is all. Of course, from scientific point of view this is a complete nonsense—not to talk of ‘Big-Bang’.

Therefore, simply using a few jargons and playing with words in the above verse (21:30), in no way expresses scientifically, the ‘Big-Bang’ incidence. We learn from Quantum Physics that, just after the ‘Great’ explosion, the four forces of nature, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, electro-magnetic force and the gravitational force existed as a unified ‘super force.’ Where in the above verse one can find this scientific truth? How could one calculate the Hubble Constant from the above verse? How can we compute the Doppler effect? There is, of course, no answer on these questions.

If there is no answer of those scientific enquiries, how can one make himself convince that those verses actually describing big bang, not the partition of an egg before making an omelet ? On this matter, the readers with an open mind on the exegesis of the Qur’an, may refer to the essay, ‘10 top-most scientific myths about Qur’an’ kept in the archives of Mukto-Mona website.

One important issue must be bear in mind: due to my debate with the exegetes of the Qur’an one must never assume that the ‘experts’ of other Holy scriptures are free from blame. In reality, they are all same and akin to the other side of the coin, and that is all. There are a number of Hindu ‘divine’ philosophers who will insist that the world-vision shown to Arjuna by Lord Krishna as mentioned in the epic, Mahabharata was nothing less than ‘Big-Bang’. Mr. Mrinal Dasgupta, a prominent scientist of National Indian Academy of Science, insists that the ancient sages already knew about the constant new discoveries of theories of science of today—the Vedas are quite clear on this, he is adamant. According to him, even a scientist of the calibre of Openheimer was so much impressed by the scientific content of the Geeta that when the intense power of atom dazzled him, he recited the hymns in Sanskrit from the Geeta [6]:

“Dibi shurjushohosro vabed jugpoduthiita.
Jodi vah shodrishi sa syad vashshosh mohatmano.”

Many Hindu scientists are quite certain that the discoveries of modern science are nothing but the repetition of the scientific knowledge scribed in the Hindu scriptures eons ago. The communalistic organization like Ramkrishana Mission is preaching that the existence of ‘Black Holes’ is nothing new—the Hindus knew about them a long time ago. How? One may ask. Their answer is the famous words uttered by the supreme Lord Brahmma: ‘One moment of Brahmma is one thousand years for earth’. Some Hindus will even stretch their believe to bizarre extreme saying that the mythological war of Kurkshetra was nothing but an Atomic War. One popular Indian writer, Prasanata Pramanic, in his Bengali book ‘Modern Science in Indian Philosophy’ has stretched his imagination even to the extent of Mohenjodaro. In page 6 of his book he wrote, “It is most likely that an ally of Durjodhan (a character in Mahabharata) was annihilated in a nuclear holocaust in Mohenjodaro [7].” These ‘Veda-addicted’ utopians will, unhesitatingly claim that the modern ‘test tube baby’ and ‘surrogate mother’, though attributed to modern science is nothing new to Hindu civilization. They will invariably cite examples of the mythological births of Dhrone-Dhroni, Kripa-Kripi etc. Even the recently used Scud and Patriot missiles in the Gulf war are ascribed to the likes of ‘Barun Baan’ and ‘Agni Baan’ of Hindu mythology. These ‘scientists’ will, invariably find similarities between modern science and Hinduism in practically everything. Such was the case with the eminent Indian magazine, The Desh: Hrishikesh Sen, the author of the article, ‘Science and God’ published in the The Desh on April 22, 1995, found the similarity between the modern model of the universe and the ‘spider’ described in the Vedas. Strange comparison, indeed.

Aparthib Zaman, a prominent member of Mukto-Mona severely criticized this futile attempt to search science in religious scriptures. In an article on this topic he succinctly wrote:

‘ I see an attempt here to link planetary nebulae with a religious verse. This is a flawed attempt that is often made by apologetics of all religions, some more than others. If one likes to see science in anything they can see it anywhere. Some Joe may have said “All is relative” before Einstein’s theory of relativity. By this stretch of imagination that Joe can legitimately claim that he already knew about relativity and claim originality. Any vague phrase, pun, quote etc by humans, scriptures etc can be customized and made to fit any scientific principle which also have been phrased in a very general way for popular consumption hiding the underlying precise sense of these principles. Its an insult to science and the scientists whose painstaking research has helped unravel the complex workings of the laws of nature and reality. None of these scientific revelations were inspired from, dependent on, or utilized any of the religious revelations. If religious revelations could not and did not lead to any of these scientific truths in a stand alone way then by any criterion and logic they cannot be used to corroborate science. There are many unanswered questions in the basic understanding of the universe. Why can’t the verses of scripture throw any light on them? For example we don’t at this time know for sure if the universe is closed, open or flat. No body dares to make a prediction based on any revelation. But if it is ever found out by science I am sure one can dig out some vague words of a verse from some book of some religion and claim to “see” the answer that science has finally managed to find. Its always AFTER the fact that these semblances are found. It has never been found BEFORE the scientific discovery. Is that a coincidence?’

Realizing this sheer nonsensical game of the religionists, Probir Ghosh, in his book, ‘Why I don’t believe in God’ has mentioned a very interesting analogy [8] . Let us ask a drunken person about the model of this universe. At first, the drunkard may simply look at the questioner with baffling eyes; pick up the bottle from the street and drink more. Then he will throw the empty bottle in the street and start walking. If we wished, we could easily liken the whole episode to the affairs of the universe. We may compare the full bottle as the expanding universe, the drinking and emptying the bottle means the drunkard was saying that at a certain time this expansion (of the universe) will come to a stop and then contraction will ensue. Then, when the drunkard cast away the empty bottle he wanted to imply that before the contraction of the universe starts, all creations will be annihilated, leading to the point of singularity. Shall we accept this explanation as plausible?

Of course, the above explanation is absolutely nonsense, to say the least. For the last few years, we see with dismay, this game of sheer stupidity is being played in Bangladesh. This is exactly similar to the futile attempt of elucidation of the universe through the drunkard’s behavior cited above. Books, such as, ‘Gyaner kotha’ (Of knowledge), ‘Lojja’ (Shame) are readily banned on the lame excuse of hurting the ‘religious sensitivity’ of the public. Even a freedom fighter like Mr Wahab is shamed by parading around his village with shoe ‘necklace’ around his shoulder [11] for the simple ‘crime’ of reading books such as ‘ The Quest for Truth’ by Aroj Ali Matbor and ‘Je golper shesh Nei’ (The never-ending Story) by Devi Prasad Chatterjee; Taslima Nasrin [12] is exiled from her motherland [13]; Ahmed Sharif [14], Ali Asghar, Kabir Chowdhury are declared as Murtads (apostates) for exercising their right of free-speech. On the other hand, with the generous patronage from the Government, the Islamic Foundation publishes the pseudo-science book, like ‘Scientific Identification in Holy Qur’an’. With the blessing of the blind faithfuls and the fatalist believers, the likes of Bucaille and Moore have a great feast with the huge circulation of their ‘great’ scientific books. The entire Bangladesh is now flooded with books such as ‘Al-Qur’an the greatest Bangla book of science,’ Space and the challenge of the Qu’ran’, ’Qur’an or Science’, ‘Science and Al-Qur’an’, just to name a few. Last year, while celebrating the first anniversary of the founding of Mukto-Mona, Dr Ajoy Roy, a Professor of Dhaka University wrote in his essay, ‘Scientific Mind and Building of a Society Based on Science Oriented Thought’ [9]:

If the holy books are the only source of knowledge, then stagnation will result in the society, the society would turn into a static state in its conscience and thinking, creativity would be replaced by superstition, unproductiveness, narrow-looking attitude, illiteracy and foolishness. That type of society would be retrogressive and backward looking. What we see in our society? Superstition and fruits of technology mutually co-exist. We don’t want the reason of science; we want only its fruits in our material life; side by side we will nourish blind faith and submission to fate. We decorate our drawing with a colored TV and watch satellite program, send our hysterical daughter to the abode of a peer (religious guru) instead of taking to medical center.- this kind of contradiction is possible only in our society. In this society it is possible for a microbiologist to carry on higher research biochemistry , at the same time kissing the feet of a famous peer. It is in our society possible for a learned political scientist to a research monograph on secular political system at the same time to rush to a half educated spiritual peer for begging his blessings to have a lucrative coveted post of administration. This is the typical panoramic view of our society we are used to see.

Indeed, today, this is the reality of our society—a society that is on a journey riding a strange camel to fit with religion! In this age of supreme advancement of science, when the chain of religion is gradually being loosened elsewhere, when the humanity has every doubt and skepticism about religion, a relentless effort is mounted to perpetuate the religion-based sheer exploitation of the gullible devotees by brainwashing them. It is a very clever strategy, no doubt—repackaging religion in modern science. It is a kind of drug and many people are hooked on it. Under the morbid influence of such a powerful narcotic, people have really started to believe that the 1400 years old scripture do augment the theory of ‘‘Big-Bang’’ or the concept of time dilation is really contained in some verses of those ancient scriptures. What a pity! What a catastrophe! Who will free this nation obsessed with religion?

As I was pondering deeply with this sorry affairs of my native land, an answer came to my mind. It was Omar Khayyam [10] who wrote these few lines:

” If Madrasahs of those drunks Became the educational institutes Of teaching philosophy of Epicures, Plato and Aristotle;

If Abode and Mazars of Peer and Drabesh Is turned into research institutes,

If men instead of following blind faith of religion Should have cultivated ethics,

If the abode of worships were turned into Centers of learning of all academic activities,

If instead of studying religion, men Would have devoted to develop mathematics – algebra,

If logic of science would have occupied the place of Sufism, faith and superstition,

Religion that divides human beings Would have replaced by humanism, ….

Then world would have turned into haven, The world on other side then would have extinguished, The world would then become full of Love-affection-freedom-joy,

And there is no doubt about it.”

How astonishingly the state of affairs in Bangladesh matches with the sayings of this famous bard, come to think of it! In unison with the voice of Dr Ajoy Roy, we also wish to say, ‘Dear Omar, please hasten to see us—witness how deeply immersed we are in superstition, ignorance—we need you very very desperately in this land of fatwabaj (religious diction)’.

27/07/2009 .

[1] Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976), A famous poet of Bengal; popularly known as rebel poet (Biidrohi Kabi).

[2] http://www.humanists.net; http://rationalthinking.humanists.net/; http://www.faithfreedom.org;

[3] Prabir Ghosh, General secretary, Science and Rationalist Association of India. http://www.humanists.net/avijit/prabir

[4] Sunil Ganguli, one of the most contemporary prominent literary figures in India. His famous poem “Standing under a tree” (ekta gaachtoly daariye) has been translated by Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah: http://humanists.net/avijit/kobita/standing_beneath_a_shady_tree.htm

[5] “MohaGuru” Aroj Ali Matubbar – a truly homegrown philosopher of Bangladesh: http://mohaguru.humanists.net

[6] Prabir Ghosh, “Why I don’t believe in God” (Aami keno Iswarey Bishwash kori na) Calcutta: Dej Publishing, 1996, p. 132.

[7] Mohenjodaro was a city of the valley of Indus. This was one of the earliest known civilization in India.

[8] Prabir Ghosh, “Why I don’t believe in God” (Aami keno Iswarey Bishwash kori na) Calcutta: Dej Publishing, 1996, p. 136.

[9] Professor Ajoy K. Roy, “Scientific Mind and Building of a Society based on Science oriented thought”, http://www.mukto-mona.com/rationalism/index.htm

[10] Omar Khayyam (1048 -1131), one of the greatest mathematicians, astronomers, and poets of Iran whose Ruba’iyat (quatrains) are translated into most of the languages of the world.

[11] The Victim of ‘Fatwa’ is now a Man; http://www.humanists.net/avijit/article/news/wahab_1.htm

[12] Taslima Nasrin – Author, poet, physician, refugee under fatwa. http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/taslima/index.htm

[13] One Brave Woman vs. Religious Fundamentalism, Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 19, Number 1. http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/nasrin_19_1.html

[14] Dr. Ahmed Sharif (1921 -1999)- A consummate rational humanist, prominent freethinker and an outspoken scholar, renowned researcher of Bengali literature. http://www.mukto-mona.com/personalities/ahmed_sharif.htm

[15] Please note:

All Qur’an translation is by Marmaduke Pickthal and are cited from the website: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/

Sahi Bukhari translation is by Dr Muhammad Muhsin Khan and are cited from the website: http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/

All Vedas translation is by Ralph T.H. Griffith and are cited from the website: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm

All quotes from the Bible are extracted from the website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/

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