Islam and Human Rights

The following is an excerpt from a book called "ISLAM" by an ex Muslim Anwar Shaikh.

"The propagandists will have us believe that an Islamic government is the custodian of human rights. How much truth is there in this assertion? The reality can be revealed by the examination of Islam and the way it is practiced in Muslim countries. What is Islam? It means complete surrender to Allah (and Muhammad). As Allah is the Master and Sovereign, a true Muslim must dedicate himself to building Islamic government where the law of the Koran reigns supreme.

The implications of this rule could be fatal to human rights. It applies to both non-Muslims and Muslims living in the Islamic State. Let us take the non-Muslims first. (a) In an Islamic State, the non-Muslims are second class citizens. In fact, they are condemned as ac- cursed people and, therefore, not entitled to any rights whatsoever because, according to Islamic teachings, "Allah is an enemy to the unbelievers" (The Cow: 98). Also "God has cursed the unbelievers, and prepared for them a blazing Hell" (The Confederates : 65) Because of this ideology, the Koran commands: "Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends; whosoever does that belongs not to God" (The House of Imran : 60). Surely, it must be clear that in a State, where non- Muslims are not to be befriended by Muslims, they cannot have equal rights of justice. This is specially true when there is a dispute between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. For example, a Jew has no remedy in law against a Muslim if the latter hits the former in a temper. Again, a Muslim cannot be executed for the murder of a non-Muslim.

In obedience to the Koranic injunction (Repentance: 29), non-Muslims living in Muslim State are subject to Jazya (Poll Tax) which is an imposition or penalty for being a non-Muslim. (b) Having viewed the rights of non-Muslim in a Muslim State, now I turn to the human rights of a Muslim. Allah, the Islamic (god, does not allow a Muslim to exercise his free will which is the foundation of humanity. He must obey the commandments of Allah which He revealed 1400 years ago, regardless of their unsuitability to modern times. Is it not strange that almost all the Muslim nations are backward and find it hard to manufacture even push-bikes, whereas non- Muslims have been able to build spacecraft and send men to the moon with satellites to carry world-wide communications, used willingly by the Muslim States? In fact, Muslim countries owe practically all of their scientific, medical, engineering and oven entertainment establishments to the West.

Almost every- thing they have taken from the West conflicts with Islamic principles. Yet, they put the Islamic stamp on them and pretend that non-Muslim have stolen these phenomena from the Koran which, they claim, contains instructions on every- thing such as physics, medicine, engineering, accountancy, law, history, spacecraft, literature and in fact everything that is or will be. What a tragedy it is that Islam ever reached the Indian sub-continent. There is no doubt that it shook Hinduism, but it is equally true that the Hindu culture beat it out of shape along with its ethos.

The Pakistani Mullahism states that once a person has confirmed his belief in the prophet Mohammed by reciting the Shahada (Kalma Sharif), he inevitably goes to paradise where Houris (beautiful young women) and hand- some youths wait impatiently for him to render their services. These misguided presentations of belief do not, help the cause of Islam. Are the ruling classes of Pakistan Muslims believers) or hypocrites (unbelievers)? I was one of those ardent advocates of Pakistan in 1947 and shouted like others : Pakistan ka matlab kya? La Ilahaila Allah. It ineans that the purpose of partitioning India is to create Pakistan for establishing the government of Allah (Islamic theocracy).

This promise involved the massacres of ten Lakh (one million ) Muslims and displacement of another ten million through forced migration. Despite suffering this calamity of horrific proportions, the people of Pakistan have been waiting for the enforcement of the Islamic Law but it has not come as yet. Why? The truth is that what is projected as the Islamic Law is not comprehensive enough to facilitate the formation of a government because there are less than eighty verses in the Koran which express legal concerns. When they are stretched, they lose their relationship with Islam.

For example, the agrarian system of Islam is feudalistic but the mullah and the Politician pretend that it is socialistic. Again, they claim that the Islamic government is democratic whereas the truth is exactly the opposite. These attitudes are a fine example of hypocrisy and they demonstrate the apostasy of the Pakistani religious and political leadership. Islamic Law requires four eye-witnesses to prove rape! Needless to say, for this type of offence it is ni'arly always impossible to produce such witnesses. Usually, when a com plaint of rape is made, the offender counter-accuses the. woman of being a whore and of destroying his faith (eeman) through temptation . This is all the Pakistani police officer needs to hear; he sets the accused man free and locks up the woman where there is a strong likelihood that she will be abused by the Police officers. According to some newspaper reports, this, lustful pursuit of the police can become sadistic when the officers force the woman to strip and dance to amuse them. The national character introduced by the Theo-Fascis ruling classes of Pakistan has resulted in the practice of Kuf (faithlessness) in the guise of eeman (faith). Not only individually , but also collectively, they have become anti-Islamic.

What a craft these people have developed to flout Islam in the name of Islam! If this is not enough, look at the license brothels in Pakistan. This is an open invitation to Zana and i carries the Islamic punishment of death by stoning. The rulers of Pakistan today have been making, mockery of Islam. The real culprits are the mullahs and the politicians who have brainwashed the ordinary people in the name of Islam for the purpose of driving them in those direc- tions that suit the ruling classes only. It is a tragedy that the so-called 'guidance' of the reli- gious and political leadership of Pakistan is really a gross misdirection. If there is any Kafir in the world of Islam, these people are the ones. The simple truth is that there is no such thing as an Islamic government.

This has been true for the past 1400 years. So why pick upon the Indian sub-continent to pretend that such a government can be established? It is simply because those who sought complete power for themselves in one part of the large continent of diverse religions found it easier to misguide and manipulate people in the name of the prophet Mohammed. The promise of a paradise full of beautiful women and pretty boys was declared to be the reward of those who supported the division of the continent that left both sides weaker in the larger world. The same promise of paradise is the reason why the poor people of Pakistan are prepared to tolerate the hell on earth that their political and religious leaders have created.

What a confidence trick it is that has been played upon the aspirations of the poor people f Pakistan as they await the only relief of their suffering through death and the passage to Paradise. The mullahs are not doing their duty as the ambassadors of Islam. The Mullah has a Koranic duty to raise is voice against a wicked government and all those who deride Islam in the name of Islam. He must bring such a government down and replace it with a righteous administration. But in Paki- stan, he has no intention of doing his duty. This is what makes him a hypocrite. Says the Koran: "A hypocrite is an unbeliever" (Women 140). Again : "The hypocrites bid to dishonor and forbid honour. God has promised them the fire of hell. God has cursed them" (Repentance: 65). And again : "Cursed they (the hypo- crites) shall be, and whosoever they are come upon, they shall be seized and slaughtered all". (The Confederates: 60). There is no secular punishment for apostasy. It is rtrlctly a matter between God and man. but the Pakistani mullahs have tried to act as Allah by prescribing 'murder for relegation'. Religion is the bread and butter of the mullah. Without it, he is sure to starve.

It is also a source of dignity for him but it pays him better when he acts as the stooge of the Politicians. It is his favourite trick to pronounce Fatwas' against innocent people to divert public attention from government atrocities which are committed in pursuit of power. Just look at the Pakistani Blasphemy Act of 1981. The perpetration of deception, deviation and dev- ilishness through the misrepresentation of Islam has become an effective tradition in the Indian subconti nent. It is a highly paying business for the mullah and the most enticing net for the politician to trap votes. Shatim-e-Rasool, or insulter of the Prophet Muhammad. is such a device in Pakistan. There is no command in the Koran that legitimises the killing of one who insults the Prophet. This is strictly a device of the Pakistani authorities at the instigation of the mullahs.

Whenever the mullahs are challenged to identify the particular Koranic verse advocating the murder of the Shatim-Rasool (swearer of the Prophet), they cannot do so and resort to lies instead. When questioned on the issue, one mullah declared in the Daily Jang (London, August 5th 1994) that it is mentioned in verses in "The Apartment": 57,61-62. It would appear that this particular mullah has never read the Koran because "The Apartment" has only 18 verses! It reminds one of a hadith (saying of the Prophet): "Time will come when Islam will exist in name only and the Koran will be just a collection of words.

The mosques will be full but completely unguided. During that period the mullahs shall be the worst of creatures under the sky; they will be the source of mischief'. (Muskat, Vol. 1, Mtab-ul-ilm, Ch. 3, p. 76). was to write and publish ETERNITY which is a philosophical work. They did not read the book. Those who claim to have read it do not possess the intellectual capacity to understand it. Take another couple of examples. Miss Tasleema Nasreen of Bangladesh is reported to have said that the contents of the Koran should be modified to meet the needs of the times. Instead of advancing counter-arguments to demonstrate the perfection of the Koran, the mullahs whipped up a public hysteria. Another woman, Mrs. Tansu Cillier, Prime Minister of Turkey, also stated in June 1994 that the Koran should be re- interpreted to suit the needs of the times.

As a result, the Turkish Government's Department of Religious Affairs issued instructions to the country's fifty universities to help prepare a new exposition of the Koran. This task is being undertaken seriously by the Turkish Muslim scholars today. This is exactly the same attitude as that of Tasleema Nasreen; yet nobody has raised a finger at the Turkish Prime Minister. It shows the hypocrisy of the mullah. Having been one of the enthusiastic creators of Pakistan in 1947, I can honestly say that I am frustrated and infuriated by what is going on in Pakistan today. It represents exactly the opposite of my dreams regarding an Islamic State."