Islam is one of the major Monotheist religions in the world, originally having its roots in Judaism. Islam in the modern world has become a subject of aggressive criticism for its involvement in various kinds of terrorism. Surprisingly, the main historical source of terrorism, Judaism, hardly becomes a subject of criticism by the politicians and scholars of the modern world. May it is because of the holocaust of the twentieth-century stops them to remind the world that the originators of religious terrorism were none but Jews. suicide terrorism too is a sad gift of Judaism to the world.
Anyway, we will deal with this later sometime; at the present let us focus on Islam and its roots those have made Muslims of the World violently vindictive towards non-Muslims.
Arabia before Islam
As Jews were pagan before they enveloped themselves in monotheism, Arabs too were pagan, worshiping a variety of nature Gods. Every Arabian tribe had its own God or unique symbol to worship. Mecca was the main pilgrimage center of their religion where they would assemble once in the year to pay respect to their family deities/symbols those were kept at Mecca. They were about 360 in numbers. It is believed that some Hindu deities too were kept there among Arab deities at Mecca because Hindu traders too were frequent visitors to Arabia. Arabians this way were tolerant and secular people in those times.
The Arabians in a way were stone worshipers. Every clan having its own symbol as a deity to worship! “El”, hailing from pre-Judaism pagan religion too was worshiped by Arabians as a supreme God "Allah"!
Hazrat Mohammed
It is not known clearly that why Hajrat Mohammed wanted to establish a new religion. It is said that the revelations by an angel to Paigambar who have made present Koran is the main source of Islam. Rationally it is hard to digest. This is because most of the basic principles of Islam are directly or indirectly seems to have been borrowed from Judaism and Christianity. Not only this, Hajrat acknowledged Jesus and Moses being previous Prophets and he is the last in the tradition.
This way there is theologically nothing new in Koran except the doctrine of social regulatory directions. Initially, as history suggests, Hajrat was quite hopeful that Jews will be more inclined towards his new founded religion and will acknowledge him as the Prophet. May be that for this very reason he had linked bloodline of the Arab's to Moses through his new religion. In the beginning, Namajh, as instructed by Hajarat, was being performed facing the direction of Jerusalem…a holy direction. It seems this was done by Hajrat to entice Jews towards his religion.
But Jews didn't fall to the promise of the new self-declared Prophet. Indeed they remained engaged in the conflict against Christians, their sworn enemy and thoroughly neglected the eager Prophet.
Hajrat, thus enraged against Jews and their Holy Jerusalem, he changed the direction of performing Namaj towards Mecca, the holy city of the Arabians. Meanwhile, thousands of the Jews were slain at his army’s hands. Still, he believed in Mary and Christ. But Christians too stood as a great hurdle, not accepting Him as a Holy Prophet.
Thus, neither Jews nor Christians accepting him as a Prophet, what another way he had to accomplish His goals but to convert Arabians to his religion?
His raid on Mecca was an outcome of his desperation to spread a religion of whom he was self-declared Prophet! He had to destroy the ancient faiths to restore new ones as commanded by him.
Still, this was not an easy affair. In this course, from experience maybe, he knew ancient faiths are too difficult to eliminate.
Thus he did the following things:
1. Mecca that was already a holy place for all and one Arabian tribe was acknowledged as Holy center of Islam!
2. The sacred stone-slab of Kaaba, that had been the pinnacle of faith for all the Arabians from ancient times was declared to be the highest sacrosanct central place of Islam.
3. “Allah” a Holy word addressed to the Lord by all the Arabians, borrowed from pre-Judaism “El” (Al) was elevated to the only beneficent Lord, thus keeping the tradition alive in the new religion.
4. Allat, Al Ujha and Mannat, as described in Satanic Verses, were maintained in the new religion.
To be brief, Islam became a mixture of the Pagan and monotheist religions. In fact, there is no monotheist religion on this earth as the traditions hardly can be thrown away by the masses in entirety. Pagan elements can be easily detected in every monotheist religion.
So, when I think of Islam, I find nothing new in it as far theology is concerned. Philosophy is confused. some parts seem to be borrowed from the ancient tradition. The ideology is based upon the foundation of hatred against Christianity and Judaism and others who are idol worshipers.
This may sound strange when there is no slightest originality in a religion that totally breaths upon borrowed concepts claiming to be supreme over the religions of which it is offshoot!
I think maybe Hajrat too knew the contradictions he had seeded in his religion.
Now, when one doesn’t want to be questioned of such contradictions, the only way remains, make the things holiest of holiest and close all the doors for questioning to not only adherents of the religion but others as well!.
I think Islam did the same. Hajrat followed the path of his previous Prophets…compounding all elements of paganism in monotheism making a new package.
The seeds of religious terrorism were already sowed and sprouting between Judaism and Christianity…a A new party joined the struggle for religious supremacy and that was Islam!
Terrorism
When we talk of western religions, their unending strife for supremacy over others, today's terrorism is an inevitable outcome of it. If we study carefully, none of the religions can claim independent thought and origin of their religion. Some countries, because of their military and economic prowess, are in an attempt to crush the countries ruled by enemy religions. The countries that cannot face the calamities in open battlefields have resorted to terrorism. The history of Abrahamic religions is filled up with the gory and vindictive episodes. In a way, Islamic terrorism has become moreover reactive because at least for the present Christian countries are far more powerful and are in a constant process of exploiting and undermining the countries of their enemy religions.
The legacy still continues.
But to me, there are very simple questions that always remain unanswered.
1. Whether there was any need to Hajrat to form a Religion which was not at all made out of indigenous theological concepts?
2. Wouldn’t be people of Arabia could have lived more peacefully with their ancient Pagan religion?
3. And wasn’t it meaningless to retain, no matter how few of Pagan elements, if at all a monotheist religion was in making?
Indeed the similar questions can be asked to all Abrahamic religions.
In the world, at the present, and in the past so-called monotheist religions have been the main source of terrorism. The bloodbath still continues. one tolerant and secular Arab's gradually embraced to the intolerance and hatred is a fact that is a sad story of mankind!
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