Politicians worldwide steadfastly maintain that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam and most liberal non-Muslims share this opinion. Several Muslims, too, express the same view. They label the terrorists ‘misguided youths’ but don’t seem to be interested who or what misguides them.
On the other hand, those who joined ISIS are clear: “We follow the true Islam”, they declare with full conviction and ridicule those who think otherwise.
Who is right?
Is it difficult to discover? Killing people who go peacefully about their daily lives clearly goes against human nature. So why do they do it? Apart from some pathological cases, the reason is that they are convinced that they do the right thing. Of course, these youths are misguided, but by whom or what?
To be fair – the Islamists are not the first to be misguided. Communists and Nazis were misguided by divisive ideologies, which made them believe that, if certain people are dead, a glorious future awaits them.
Christians were misguided by their baseless belief that heathen and heretics are an eyesore to their god and are better done away with if they refuse to join the “true faith.” Thanks to the pressure of a more enlightened civil society, they had to give up torturing and killing in the name of god a couple of centuries ago. Yet many Christians still wrongly believe that they have to convert the whole world to Christianity – if not by force, then by allurement and deceit.
Prime Minister David Cameron recently described the ISIS as “one of the biggest threats our world has faced”. So surely it is of utmost importance to understand what drives them. The German ‘SZ- Magazin’ (link below) carried an eye-opening interview with a would-be ISIS-Jihadi that gives insight into their mindset.
It is about Erhan, a handsome, almost shy youth of 22 years, of Turkish origin. Some of his friends are in Syria. He tried to join them but didn’t succeed on his first attempt. A few years ago, he became dissatisfied with the lukewarm “Euro-fake” Islam that his parents practice. His father doesn’t even pray, he rued, and his mother distorts the Quran so that it fits her interpretation. He wanted to follow the ‘real’ Islam and started to read the Quran. He grew a beard, prayed 5 times a day, went to the mosque and even wore a turban to school. His classmates asked him what happened, and he told them about the Quran. They never asked him again. “I had expected more criticism from them,” Erhan said.
He and his friends were banned from the local mosques in their Bavarian town because they kept lecturing the Muslims there that they don’t follow the Quran correctly and need to oppose democracy. However, the ban convinced them that they were on the right path, because “in the Quran is written that there will be opposition”.
Erhan is convinced that Islam is the only true religion, and he wants ISIS to create a state where “the Quran is lived as Allah wants it”. In his view, the present Islamic countries, like Turkey, are not really following what Allah wants. When the interviewer reminded him of ISIS’s brutality, he replied, “If one kills for a good cause, it is legitimate”.
One of Erhan’s friends, David, recently died fighting in Aleppo and another one, Philipp, became a suicide bomber after he was injured. “Were you sad?” he is asked. “At first a little, but I also envied them, because I know where they are”, he replied, but he strongly rebuked the notion that it is because of the virgins. “Honestly, if only women were to be gained, I would not do it. I do it for Allah.”
He comes across as a naïve young man who wanted to make his life meaningful and found guidance in the Quran. He connected with like-minded youngsters. They checked out several groups and became convinced that ISIS is the best to join because its goal is clearly in tune with the Quran: the goal to spread the Islamic State further and further till the whole world is for Allah.
“Oh believers, fight them until there is no more mischief and the Deen of Allah (way of life prescribed by Allah) is established completely” (Quran 8.39)
“Oh believers, fighting has been made obligatory for you much to your dislike. It is quite possible that what you dislike is good for you… Allah knows and you do not.” (Quran 2.216)
“Those believers who stay at home – having no physical disabilities – are not equal to those who make Jihad in the cause of Allah with their wealth and person. Allah has granted a higher rank to those who make Jihad… They have special higher ranks, forgiveness and mercy. Allah is forgiving, merciful” Quran 4.95/6
Could Erhan and his friends have any doubt what these and similar passages mean? Does it need an Islam expert to interpret them? If the experts had come to the conclusion that those passages were meant exclusively for the contemporaries of Mohammed and not for all time thereafter, they should have said this loud and clear long ago – too much blood has been shed over the last 14 centuries, much of it in India. But those experts kept quiet. Does it follow that the Quran exhorts Muslims to fight till the “Deen of Allah is established’?
The command to fight the enemy appeals to young men. Islam is far more successful than Christianity to make men stand by their religion. Christianity is seen as a religion for women and children. At least that was the impression I got in my youth. Men generally went to Sunday mass in small town Bavaria, but they made sure not to look pious. They considered it a social affair to meet friends. Only the clergy can afford to look pious. It is different in Islam.
A German police study which questioned 45,000 students between 14 and 16 years of age about their level of religiosity and their readiness to be violent, confirmed this:
Girls were more religious than boys in all religions except in Islam, where boys were more religious than girls. Further the study found that that those who considered themselves more religious were less inclined to be violent in all religions, except – again – in Islam. There the boys who considered themselves more religious were more inclined to be violent.
Even small boys like toy guns. Bigger boys want a good reason to fight. A divine command to fight those, who are evil, is the perfect reason for many youngsters. Further, there is the ‘divine promise’ that it will be a win-win situation: if one dies, one is guaranteed to enjoy paradise and if one lives, one may benefit from the wealth and the women of those killed.
There are many passages in the Quran where the unbelievers are portrayed as most despicable, for whom perdition and eternal hellfire are certain. Even the torture in hell is described in horrific detail:
“There are the two adversaries (the believers and disbelievers) who dispute with each other about their Rabb: as for the disbelievers, garments of Fire will be cut out for them, boiling water will be poured over their heads, which will not only melt their skins but also the inner parts of their bellies, and there will be maces of iron to lash them. Whenever, in their anguish, they cry to escape therefrom, they will be forced back therein, and will be told: “Taste the punishment of conflagration!” (Quran 22.19-22)
Do such passages explain the savagery of ISIS? Have the vivid images of hell over the centuries instigated the brutalities of the Christian Inquisition and of the Muslim invaders in India and elsewhere? Was there such brutality against civilians before the arrival of religions which claimed ‘eternal hellfire for unbelievers’?
If Erhan succeeds in going to Syria, he is ready to behead unbelievers and also Muslims who are not following what Allah really wants, he said. He does it for Allah, not for the virgins. Secondary incentives may exist. His friends in Syria share photos via Facebook. “They live in luxury, have computers, guns, snacks”, Erhan said.
This may sound attractive not only for young men, bored with the monotonous life in the west. For girls, too, it may be appealing to get ‘brave’ husbands and become part of a community of young people who have a genuine cause that is ordained by God himself as it were. Some German girls from a Christian background are also drawn to those intense, handsome men who are not shy to talk about Allah. “Only yesterday we converted a girl”, Erhan said.
It is difficult to see in him the ruthless terrorist. But he may turn out to become just that – a ruthless killer. He said that he would kill even his parents if they oppose the Islamic State. “In 20, 30 years the Islamic State will be in Germany and gradually will cover the whole planet”, he is sure.
Are we not responsible to stop these youngsters from destroying themselves and others? Yet is it possible as long as those passages are considered the word of Allah? Even if ISIS gets defeated in near future, new terror groups will continue to draw legitimacy from those passages, and powerbrokers can motivate youngsters for their own interests, making them believe that Allah will be pleased. Those passages have tremendous potential to mobilize youngsters for a cause that is worthwhile and just in their eyes. They don’t realize that they are used – like the US used the Taliban to fight the Russians in Afghanistan.
Erhan’s parents in Germany, his uncle in Turkey, imams of the local mosques – all tried to prevent him from turning radical. But what can they tell him? That he should not take the Quran seriously? That Allah didn’t mean what he said? Erhan considers those imams who are against ISIS as old, confused men. And logically he has a point, but it could also make him wonder why older Muslims, including imams, do not opt to become suicide bombers even if they have a serious illness. Are they not convinced that paradise is guaranteed by killing others?
“What can stop you”, the journalist asked him.
His answer: “Nobody can stop me.”
He is right. No outsider can stop him. If a Muslim tries to influence him, he will see in him a hypocrite who tests his faith in the ‘true’ Islam. And if an unbeliever tries to influence him, he is sure that he only wants him to leave the right path.
But there is one thing that can stop him: it is doubt. Once doubt springs up on its own, it is not possible to regain the former blind belief. I know this from own experience, as I also once believed in eternal hell and that God wants everyone to be Christian. If Erhan starts wondering whether the compassionate Allah really wants all this killing, he can easily come out of the grip that blind belief has on his mind.
Curiously, this option of doubting the doctrine is not considered even by western ‘unbelievers’ who are portrayed so badly in it. Why? I can only guess that there is too much at stake for the powers that be. If Islam comes under a cloud as not being the only true religion, Christianity will also come under a cloud, because both religions have a lot in common. The Abrahamic God will need to be questioned whether he can possibly be true. This will be a major earthquake.
For centuries both religions have violently enforced their version of “the only truth” and demanded unquestionable respect. How can they allow their dogmas to be questioned? They managed to hold on to them for so long. They managed to get altogether over 3 billion people into their fold. How can they admit that dogmatic religions generally do not make human beings better, but on many occasions worse? They managed to successfully demean those traditions that are closer to the truth, especially India’s tradition. How can they let all this go waste?
So what is their solution? Put the head into the sand and declare: “ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. Terror has no religion” and continue to hit out at those who are in a position to question your truth, so that they become defensive and won’t dare to challenge you for a debate.
The viciousness with which Christianity and Islam attack ‘Hindu fundamentalists’ almost seems to indicate that both consider Hindus a greater enemy than ISIS and other equally violent groups. To some extent they are right. India’s wisdom can expose the weak basis of their belief systems. This seems to be a great fear for them. The religions who claim to be the only true religions fear a genuine debate on what the truth is. The don’t want to hear that truth cannot possibly be linked to only one name and only one concept, and that truth cannot possibly be dependent on some ‘correct’ thoughts in human heads. It is the eternal, indivisible, one consciousness in all.
By Maria Wirth
Link to the interview in the magazine http://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/42259/Ich-glaub-das-steht-irgendwo-im-Koran
88 Comments
Astoundingly honest and lucid Maria. Thank you.
Sponsors of the evil ideology wants to push the world communities into a war of attrition,hoping to realise their delusional dream of a ‘grand Islamic nation’.
“Sponsors of the evil ideology wants to push the world communities into a war of attrition”
Evangelicals want the same thing…for the second coming of Jesus to end the world.
The Abrahamic faiths ideologies are pure evil. Albeit the vast majority of Christians and Muslims are regular reasonable folks cause they are humans.. and humans are innately good. Not born as sinners.
http://www.desicontrarian.com/
Excellent Maria. Yes, the western establishment will never acknowledge the history of India or Bharat and the atrocities committed by these religions on her for centuries. Personally, I know innumerable muslims and christians who are very good people, and have grown up with them. Individuals like Erhaan become a pawn in a power game based on religion played by establishments. As you say, science has reformed christians to a large extent; yet science does not teach one to look at deeper Self for peace and salvation. It remains to be seen what will bring that kind of change in muslim world. Until then others have to keep fighting these deadly forces that was unleashed on humanity. Such were the rule of Kamsa, Ravana, Duryodhana, Hiranyakashipu, etc, and more recently of kings like Aurangzeb, Khilji and others.
Brave article, Maria. And thought provoking. Thank you!.
Good you raised this issue Maria. No religion preaches killing. It is the followers who misinterpret the basic tenets of religion and then propagate wrongly for their vested interests and the new generation feels that they are religious only when they follow these followers’ interpretation. Alas, this jihad…terrorism and what not
Bingo.
I appreciate and agree with your analysis on the ISIS psyche of engaging themselves in self-destruction all the time believing that they are the true guardians of their religious faith! They are like the fireflies that seek fire mistaking it as light and destroy themselves. I am reminded of the court case against ISKCON in Russia where a public interest petition accused the Hindu organization of promoting violence through the preaching of Sri.Krishna in Bhagavad Gita. Finally the case was won only after the truth in the Lord’s preaching has been explained in the proper perspective. So, it is the duty of the Muslim clergy to properly educate its followers in understanding the true purpose of life found the preaching through Quran than engaging themselves in discarding other religions as false and advocating coercive methods to bring faith in Islam.
It is very difficult, if one were to value integrity, to separate Islam from violence. This is because except for a few Muslim thinkers ( who are considered as un-Islamic and fit only to be shot or slit in their throat) Muslim thought and practice consider that the Quran and the Hadiths are non-negotiable and can not be interpreted to accommodate changes in human thought. As Maria rightly points out, Quran neatly divides humanity in to “believers” and “infidels”, the latter to be either converted or killed. Maria brings fresh thinking in her article when she says that the Christian West is insincere in declaring that ISIS is different from Islam ( incidentally who are they to declare so when ISIS says it represents true Islam), because dogma-wise Christianity is little different from Islam and violence in practice is as much in Christianity as in Islam, perhaps, in greater sophistication in the recent times. The truth is what Maria logically brings out, namely, for the Abrahamic religions, it is Hinduism that is to be eliminated because it is so much against all kinds of dogma and is so open-minded and inclusive. The concept of “infidel” or “non-believing sinner to be saved” is so foreign to Hindu Dharma that unless it is destroyed victory can not be declared by the Abrahamic religions.
ISIS however must be seen in a historical perspective–mindless violence is not new in Islam over the centuries.
R.Venkatanarayanan
Awesome…an eye opener….
Radhika, if the “holy scripture” of a religion contains the above passages, is it really the fault of the followers if they follow it to the letter? is it not rather the fault of those who codified, wrote down the scripture, enforced belief in it mostly by violence and prevented followers so gained from leaving?
simply by calling an ideology “religion” should not mean that we all have to fold our hands and take everything as true. we should be allowed to probe its tenets – finding out which are beneficial and which are harmful.
Yet Christianity and Islam are allergic to this, because their basis is blind belief and therefore shaky.
Excellent write up!!! At one side Germens are showing such uncomfortable truths about this so called religion of peace and on the other hand they show Hindus/Hinduism in very bad light on their national television. last week there was a series of dokumentaries on India on channel called Arte.
As one could expect from these biased journalists, they showed only lies and things which are more than exaggerate, and distorted facts. Ironically they named this dokumentary: “Indien: Gewalt im Lande Gandhis” in english which means “India: Violence in the Land of Gandhi” It showed how women are oppressed, raped, rights of so called muslim “minorities” are being trampled, false interpretation of Karma, Dalits persecution etc. Everything was blamed on Hinduism!!! All without any counterargument.
The people or so called experts, who were interviewed, were…Christians, leftist and some of well-known anti India/Hindu morons like…Teesta Setalwad, who has been shown as messiah of muslim victims of 2002 riots!!! They compare Modi and RSS with Nazis!!! It was all grey, gloomy, cruel and horrible depiction!
There is hardly any Film or Report which shows Indias glorious past, Spirituality, contribution of Sanatan Dharm and its Philosophy in almost every field, killings of millions of Hindus in the hands of abrahamic religions in past as well in present.
Whenever I discuss Hinduism with Germans they seem to be SO ignorant. Their knowledge on Hinduism is only limited to castes, cows and many Gods.
Here I m sharing Link below on above mentioned dokumentary, but it is available only in German and French. It is my humble request to Maria Wirth to try to write a rebuttal on this dirty propaganda if possible, being a european/german yourself who is the knower of Sanatan Dharm can try to give them real sense of situation regarding Sanatan Dharm/Hindus and the present situation in India. I am also trying to write something in protest against this negative portrayal of my lovely and beautiful culture called SANATAN DHARM.
http://www.arte.tv/guide/de/050500-000/indien-gewalt-im-lande-gandhis?autoplay=1
I just want to say sorry for quality of my English, which is quite bad, but i tried to convey my message as much as i could, but at the same time I am proud of the fact that I can communicate very well in Hindi and my native dialect 🙂
Namaste
Ganesh
Oh God, this is too much. i know that media is anti India/Hindu, but such insinuations is unacceptable. i saw only the beginning, but “India a land of unjustice – worldwide the most inhuman of all systems – the caste system”
Wonder who is Villoo Patell. she says “a wman is from a certain age a saint, before that a harlet”
Colin Gonzales “torture and murder are part of daily life of Indian women… a typical male will rather save his cow than to protect his wife… women are commodities one buys and sells them, uses them and rapes them”
i tweeted to Arte just now, will tweet more. the Indians who play into their hands, shouldalso be exposed.
thanks for your comment.
by the way i am always happy when Indians are not perfect in English. it means they are more rooted in their culture. i also took very long (20 years in India) before i dared to write in English.
Namaste
Maria
did you see this, an antidote to the arti docu, but i can’t get it into mainstream. not even in India. therefore the blog.
https://mariawirthblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/why-this-focus-on-rapes-in-india-by-world-media/
Just want to mention that the same TV channel (ARTE) has broadcasted and added in its archive “Mediathek” a documentary titled INDIEN – LAND MIT ZUKUNFT (India – Land of the future), going beyond the existing cliches…
Bravo!!
Om Swastiastu,
I am a Balinese Hindu living as minority in Indonesia. I have been following your blog for few years and, sorry, this is my first comment. Your writings have always been priceless sources for me to have a better insight of Sanatana Dharma. Five-star writing as usual, Mariaji.
As you know, Bali, the island of Hindus, the jewel of Indonesia, had suffered from acts of such fanatics. Here you offer rare different perspective which I hope from now on the mankind will take it as a clue to correctly deal with this acute global problem.
Love your ‘major earthquake’ phrase.
Satyameva jayate.
Om Santi, Santi, Santi, Om.
Nice to know. thank u.
From the time of my studies, i have an Indonesian friend. she and her husband were recently in Bali. She wrote that she was surpised to find an article by me (she didn’ write which one) in a Bali magazine. I am happy when these thoughts spread
India can learn a lot from Balinese on preservation of Dharma.
This uncovers the truth of Christianity more than that of Islam. You are one of the honest voices.
Thank You.
http://www.desicontrarian.com/?p=1
DECONSTRUCTING WENDY DONIGER
Wendy Doniger’s (The alleged Hindu expert) hatred of the classical Hinduism and Brahmins is not very different than the 1930’s christian’s hatred of the Jews and Judaism
Nice article Madam Maria!! Very good articulation! You have pin pointed an important aspect that clergy is unable to convince the islamic youth who would want islamic state in reality. May be we have to brainwash the clergy (remote chance, though!!) that quran teachings (like: Allah has granted a higher rank to those who make Jihad) are for inward evolution of human being, upon achieving such bliss, he would be in paradise of bliss…just loud thinking…
I too saw one of the so-called documentaries on ARTE, where the history of Indian independence was depicted and it ended in a bleak note without a note about the change of government at the centre. One must deduce that the anti-Hindu brigade is more successful in propaganda abroad. They are a minority but are winning the media war.
Radhika, No misinterpretation at all. Islam has this jihad as a basic doctrine of its construct right from the beginning. From Mohammed to Babur and Humayun had followed the same and genocided christians, jews and hindus for centuries. They savagely attack to kill all men, enslave women and convert their children. They plundered hindu mandirs. Kashi visvanath temple was looted and raged 7 times, it stood up seven times but got weaker each time. Muslims say, ” initially it looks hard (the forcible conversion) but over the time things get better (so we should continue this Jihad)’ . Apologists are aplenty all over the planet but truth is out there for all of us to see. Their scriptures clearly promote violence as a measure to convert or subjugate kaffirs and moderates respectively. These fanatics kill even their own sects: Sunnis kill shia and vice versa, both kill Ahmedias and sufis. Hindu women fall prey to this propaganda. As a woman you must oppose Islam as it treats woman as half the worth of a man.
Strange, under the link which Ganesh sent for the TV docu and which i watched partly earlier, there is now only the trailer left. the quotes i noted down don’t show up anymore.
i had tweeted also to the German Ambassador in India – what distorted view of India is presented to Germans (as truth..)
Did they take it down?
So, what is the truth, according to Hinduism?
The absolute truth according to Hinduism is eternal knowledge,bliss and peaceful co-existence with fellow beings!
excellent , perfect summation !
another term is sat-chit-ananda
I’d read a highly illuminating article on The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/), which argued that how the ISIS were more Islamic than people were willing to admit.
This post of yours is similarly illuminating. You may not be a professional journalist/investigator but through sheer weight of experience and insight, you have come up with something that could well be labelled as essential reading.
Thank you very much, all over again!
Reblogged this on analyseabhishek and commented:
A must read for those trying to understand ISIS.
For further reading, another good (and long!) article is this one- http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/
True, i am not a professional journalist nor a scholar. yet often common sense and maybe occasional inspired thinking is enough: just leafing through the Quran leaves no doubt. Problem is, that hardly anyone looks into it. Well, and then of course there is also another reason why people don’t want to say it out loud, even if they know….
Who needs professional journalists who most of them become brainwashed or sold to the media they work for? The quality of your writings and the clarity on the exposition of the ideas reflects lots of investigation and the same clarity of mind that is missing in many of the professionals.
Now the point of this article, do you mean two reasons, “appeasament” and “fear”?
Mariaji, I think western n arabs fears that if their religion is debated then they will be exposed & many of their believers will leave their faith.So to avoid this they are applying strategy of attack is the best defence & hence they r attacking hindus in the hope that if they r successful in convincing their believers that hindus are not good then they will not leave their present faith.But I m sure truth will prevail.
I have hope in us educated crowd dumping church mosques and fake Hindu gurus they are the ones who will find truth from their own pangs like u have I just request all powers be to teach nameless Vedas and yog from early age. I came to know of learn that by knowing which everything is known at age 45 being a Hindu. A wasted life but I now know it is possible. Thank you all life struggles means much less than this not knowing
Curious to know which reason do you have in mind- is it really ‘appeasement’ or ‘fear’ as the poster below mentions? 🙂
Agree with large parts of the article, but will comment on a few things:
Quotes from Quran serving as the root of dogma: I think this usually serves little purpose. It is not difficult to bring out quotes from Agamas too which can show dogma, e.g. if you don’t do this or this, then you will attain to darkness, or you do just this much then will attain moksha etc. Classical Vedanta commentators have almost always explained them as metaphors to drill the importance of the respective things and not as absolutes. Therein probably starts the major difference. How the stalwarts of tradition have interpreted teachings, what they have preached and how they have lived teachings especially when it relates to such dogma (e.g. my way is the only true one while rest are false or inferior). The ideals as set forth by the original proponents of a philosophy as well as their successors by their actions. As you rightly point out, Church was forced to give up the same approach a couple of centuries ago under increasing pressure from (more mature) materialistic philosophy based on modern science, but not so for Muslims.
Quoting the article:
“Once doubt springs up on its own, it is not possible to regain the former blind belief.”
Unfortunately this happens only in a very small percentage of people. While both the “external guru” as well as “internal guru” guide us, such a “special favour” from “internal guru” would be seen in only a few who have perhaps reached a certain stage as is evidenced in real life.
I think the way forward here is a consistent intellectual pressure from other philosophies (rooted in sincerity and Truth) over Islam, much like what modern science did to Christianity. Then in a few decades or century we will perhaps see the tide gradually turning. We can learn much from the approach of Galileo/Newton and others in this respect (which may have been borne from their own genuine beliefs neverthless).
The current media frenzy and shallow critiques worldwide are only serving the opposite purpose: of enforcing the belief that “Islam is in danger” and that it needs to fight out violently to survive which is probably the biggest initial driving factor now (Quran etc forming the philosophical underpinnings only later). This should change to a silent “need to adapt teachings of Quran in face of tough questions borne from simple logic and observations”.
Of course, this may all be vain imaginings while Time plays its own hand resolving things in novel ways again and again.
Quoting the article:
“It is the eternal, indivisible, one consciousness in all.”
You must be aware of the various nuances in different schools of philosophies in Vedanta, and only a few of them accept this in toto. While all Vedanta philosophies do accept all pervasiveness of Brahm, few accept that a Jiva is the same as Brahm. Only one among the three major classical schools of Vedanta accepts this as such, though that is the most popular one in current times especially among the Hindu intelligentsia and general talks. Other philosophies consider Jiva as a distinct eternal entity from Brahm (though tied eternally and having deep connection to latter defined in different ways in different philosophies). Point being that such a generalization of Vedanta or drawn from it, would not be accurate.
It is quite true that in every religion the Sidhantas are prone to interpretations by the philosophers of different times having significant variance. This observation is true in the three different vedantic philosophies too. But these variations are owing to the differences in the perception of Brahman, the relationship of soul and the Brahman and the means to salvation of the soul. The karmic cycle of birth and death, reward and punishment for the good deeds and sin etc.are not contested. It is important to note that despite the differences in their philosophies, no one recommends violence for punishing the non-believers and death to those not towing their line of thinking. Vedas and Upanishads do not talk about anything other than enunciating the cosmic truth and the methods of worshiping Brahman. In ‘Hinduism’ atheism is allowed to co-exist as the followers firmly believe and understand that God is the only rewarding and punishing agency. This aspect of it is clearly conveyed by god Himself in Bhagavad Gita explaining His timing of incarnations!
Any one who says “No religion preaches killing” is not well informed about the scriptures of Abrahamic faiths. (Hope you have not missed the MESSAGE of this article.) What do the verses (Quran 8.39 and others) quoted by this very author then mean? [Why should god incite his followers to cause bloodshed at all, and not doing it himself if he is omnipotent, or he can eliminate them with no blood spilled? If he is omnipotent why not, in the first place, he create the entire humankind as his followers only, leaving no scope for bloodshed/elimination? – Erhan needs to be deftly questioned on these lines to rid him of his delusions] There are umpteen number of hate-verses in Quran in which Allah spews venom ‘ad nauseam’ on those who do not submit to him. Bringing Allah’s rule all over the world through whatever means is the core ideology of Islam (minus this ideology Islam is bound to crumble). It is often claimed Islam means peace; however, the true meaning of Islam is ‘submission’ implying one attains ‘peace’ through submission (to Allah). Only in that sense Islam is peace.
Almost all the left liberals in India talk like Obama and his ilk because they have hardly ever cared to probe the ‘god-sent(?) books’. They just take whole hog whatever the apologists (of these faiths) mouth, switching off their questioning faculty. But when it comes to Indian wisdom of inclusiveness they just brush it aside as junk, never even ready to listen to the point of view on its behalf.
If you really want to have a real peep in to Quran to start with, visit : http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/QuRan/ , and may cross check with : http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/koran/browse.html
Mind you i write this as one not carrying the burden of belief, nor the anxiety of afterlife; still i am not hounded for it by my (non practicing) ‘religion’ (Hindu) by birth. But our ultra-pseudo-seculars may hound me for whatever i have said here.
A riveting account on the tenets of Islam through the eyes of an ISIS supporter and what could unfold. I always, from the time I came to know through reading and naive researching, felt that Quran needs to be overhauled for the benefit of mankind. O thee, bring yourselves on, in some form or shape to make that happen. If ever there is a prayer from an apatheist like the leaving this comment, this would be the one. As an Indian that ‘sees’ history, science and art from the (g)olden treasures of my soil, rather than the religious philosophy, I must appreciate that this piece of writing needs to be read and understood by generations of at least a few centuries to come. Huge applause!!!
It may be somewhat tangential to go into such details, nevertheless would mention a few points just to clarify that things are not straightforward especially in Vedic thought considering its long and rich history which has given rise to host of different philosophies based on extensive and many a times complex rationale.
Quoting: “karmic cycle of birth and death”
While it is true that karmic cycle is accepted in all branches, but there is a huge difference when it comes to its cause. Two of the major schools just accept it as an “anadi” fact not attributing any definite cause for the “start” of it (so to speak), while the third namely dvaita, traces it down to the intrinsic nature of Jiva itself. This difference constitutes one of the cornerstones of dvaita and often cited by dvaita school as a major weakness in other schools that are unable to clearly explain the origin of karmic bondage, “problem of evil” etc since the theory of karma just by itself suffers from the defect of infinite dependence (i.e. why am I tied in karmic bondage; answer is due to previous karma; then how previous karmic bondage; its previous to previous and so on). Perhaps dvaita is the only major philosophy that tackles these difficult questions head-on even though some may find the answers a bit unpalatable.
Quoting: “followers firmly believe and understand that God is the only rewarding and punishing agency”
Not true. Rule of law has been given in Hindu texts, and ruling authorities have the responsibility to punish/reward citizens as per actions (not micro-level though). Its not all left to happen by God’s will or something otherwise society will collapse.
Quoting: “It is important to note that despite the differences in their philosophies, no one recommends violence for punishing the non-believers”
Here is perhaps the crux of discussion. While “non-believers” would be very vague owing to differences in interpretations by schools of thought themselves, it is not true that it was considered that anyone can have any belief without repercussions. For instance verses like Bhagavad Gita 16.8 (demonaic think world is unreal, without controller etc), 16.11-12 (sense gratification as primary aim), and descent of such into hells or hellish births (16.16, 16.19) coupled with inability to achieve moksha (16.20). Now clearly the first trait can refer to kevala Advaita and has been explained such by some other schools, while the second clearly refers to charvakas and similar.
So first point is that a sincere reading would show that various schools of thought have considered most others as being ignorant and leading to downward spiral (even Shankaracharya for other philosophies of his time like Buddhism, Pashupata, Jaina etc)
Likewise there are many other verses that talk about punishing e.g. in the Sati episode she says (when her father slandered Shiva) that when the Lord is being reviled one should forcibly cut off the slanderous tongue, or else should give up life. Or the hot axe fire ordeal for thief in Chandogya (while this is not about believers, still it will be considered barbaric if taken literally as some modern Indologists have done)
The underlying point is that it is not too difficult to find verses and references in the vast Vedic literature that talk about violence (esp in direct literal sense) in different ways for those violating “dharma” where the latter is subject to interpretation of different schools. Yet the biggest difference is the actual behaviour of stalwarts and those in authority since ages. For instance, in reality the “cut off tongue” can be seen to be applied in practise by silencing the opponents by arguments in the highly precise shastraartha. Likewise throughout history even atheist philosophies found a place because in practise the real opposition to them was intellectual and not persecution which could have been the case if rulers or those considered mahajans, for example, would have acted thus.
Quoting:”Two of the major schools just accept it as an “anadi” fact not attributing any definite cause for the “start” of it (so to speak), while the third namely dvaita, traces it down to the intrinsic nature of Jiva itself.”
The created Universe is the one that is under Karmic influence and is susceptible to annihilation by god while the permanent spiritual universe is the eternal abode of God in which karma is not operational. Jivas are of three types -Nityas, Muktas and Baddhas. Only Baddha Jivas who emenated from Maha Vishnu (Sriman Narayana’s expansion) in the created universe (Leela Vibhuthi) are going through the Karmic cycle owing to their own indifference towards the prescribed codes-shastras prescribd by god- for living. Those who live abiding the shastras get releived from bondage and become Muktas (liberated souls) and reach the spiritual, eternal universe and join the Nityas who have been existing (emanated from Sriman Narayana) there only without any Karmic bondage ever. After reaching the spiritual universe no soul returns to the Leela Vibhuthi as a Karmic soul (Baddha Jiva). So, the description of “Anadi Karma” for the conditioned soul (Baddha Jiva) is thus clearly explained in the Visishta Advaitic School as an attribute by default in the created universe rather than a karma “start” occurring anytime. As the Swaroopa Nirupaka Dharma of all the three categories of Jivas are identical, explanation by Dvaita philosophy associating Karma as the intrinsic nature of all the Jivas is not tenable.
Quoting: “Rule of law has been given in Hindu texts, and ruling authorities have the responsibility to punish/reward citizens as per actions (not micro-level though). Its not all left to happen by God’s will or something otherwise society will collapse.”
In the Karmic system designed by god, the Baddha jivas are the ‘doers’ of both good and evil karmas as they have a free will given by god to carry on with their lives though the code of conduct rules are prescribed in shastras. The shastras do indicate the rewards and punishments in following or transgressing the codes. So, god is not pre-determining the fate of Baddha jivas and instead, the responsibility of facing the consequences of one’s actions squarely rests with themselves. So, the society will not collapse by any system insufficiency.
Quoting: “While “non-believers” would be very vague owing to differences in interpretations by schools of thought themselves, it is not true that it was considered that anyone can have any belief without repercussions”…….” The underlying point is that it is not too difficult to find verses and references in the vast Vedic literature that talk about violence (esp in direct literal sense) in different ways for those violating “dharma” where the latter is subject to interpretation of different schools”
The stalwarts of different schools may interpret the Vedas and Upanishads differently in accordance to their own Siddhantas. If at all any violence is traced to the injunctions of Vedas & Upanishads, it is NOT the fault of the scriptures, it is again owing to ignorance, inadequacy or sadistic human intelligence that creates conflicts.
Finally, it is evident that Vedic religion gives the most unbiased, intelligent description of the absolute truth and its relationship with the sentient and the insentient beings.
Well, my hesitation in previous comment about being tangential turned out to be well-founded after all 🙂 Nevertheless will reply to some of the comments but will try to keep it short.
> Quoting: owing to their own indifference towards the prescribed codes-shastras
Which is fine to explain continuation of karmic bondage but does nothing to explain the cause of the bondage itself.
> Quoting: So, the description of “Anadi Karma” for the conditioned soul (Baddha Jiva) is thus clearly explained in the Visishta Advaitic School as an attribute by default in the created universe rather than a karma “start” occurring anytime.
Which is exactly what I said, that “anadi karma” is not attributed any definite cause (“an attribute by default” as you state).
> Quoting: explanation by Dvaita philosophy associating Karma as the intrinsic nature of all the Jivas is not tenable
I have always found this assertion to be completely incoherent coming from a philosophy that itself has at least two-fold eternal division between jivas namely “nitya-suris” who have never been subject to bondage vs others (who are either baddhas or muktas) as you yourself have stated. What is this difference since anadi attributed to? Random chance? Difference of origin? Even if latter, it immediately implies some basic difference in their nature that caused them to move to different states (even if eventually they might end up at same place). Even in moksha it follows that this eternal difference will remain namely one set of jivas who were never subject to ignorance, bondage and all, while others who were subject to it for essentially an infinite period of time.
Even direct observation lends itself clearly to tattvavada’s explanation given that we see huge differences in gunas of humans on this plane which blows up the assertion that swaroopa of all is essentially same (else how would jivas partake of so much of tamo, rajo gunas in the first place, or how the radically different course of progression for nitya-suris vs others came to be). Will avoid going into details of scriptural evidence on this for there is not much there save different interpretations IMO, and what matters in end analysis is overall cohesiveness of theory and congruence with direct observation & logic. However, I do have a hesitation in accepting dvaita’s explanation which has nothing to do with all the available evidences rather my own imaginations of how one would like Truth to be.
Anyway regardless of the finer points above, my original point stands which your reply also concedes, namely there are huge differences in the three schools in the way karmic cycle is explained, whether it be origin, or ways to break the cycle, or even the final state after breaking. Even what constitutes dharma/adharma, karma/akarma is quite different in many places when one goes into the details.
> Quoting: So, the society will not collapse by any system insufficiency.
Human societies will and have collapsed many times in our past (recorded) history for lack of order and other reasons. This does not have any bearing on karmic cycle which continues unabated and without any hindrance, so linking the two is completely besides the point.
> Quoting: If at all any violence is traced to the injunctions of Vedas & Upanishads, it is NOT the fault of the scriptures, it is again owing to ignorance, inadequacy or sadistic human intelligence that creates conflicts.
This is incorrect and without basis. All over the scriptures, it is stated how and why adharma should be punished. Do you mean to say that Vedic scriptures intended to create a society with zero regulations, no rule of law etc? You really need to revisit the entire pantheon of Vedic literature if you really think so (starting perhaps with the conflict as detailed in Mahabharata).
Besides, the original discussion was vis-a-vis violence against followers of other faiths, not “violence” in general. In that aspect, as I stated, there are verses that talk about punishment to those revile the Lord, for example (and it is an open secret that missionaries in India regularly talk of our Deities as work of satan etc). There, as I have said repeatedly, what matters is how our stalwarts and others have treated people of other faiths more than a literal understanding of some of those verses.
Radhika wrote, “Good you raised this issue Maria. No religion preaches killing. It is the followers who misinterpret the basic tenets of religion . . . ”
Radhika, did you actually read what Maria wrote? If you did, I recommend that you take a course in remedial reading.
No religion preaches killing? After Maria quoted chapter and verse of the Quran (Koran) which preaches the wholesale murder of nonbelievers, you still claim “no religion preaches killing”? For you it is all about “misunderstanders” of Islam, isn’t it?
You need to seriously consider a reading comprehension course.
Amazing analysis… The way you have mentioned about creating the doubt on legitimacy of actions, in the minds of these blind followers has to come soon.. how? Not sure.
Hello maam, great article. Whenever I think on why such things go on and on, my mind goes back to our mythology and history. If you remember Hiranyakashyapu, even he opposed everyone who worshipped Lord Vishnu and wanted everyone to worship only him. This is the same kind of thinking that is prevalent in Islam and Christianity today. The difference is we find it more severe because we are living it in this era. Maybe the subjects of Hiranyakashyapu also felt like we do. But when I feel anxious about this, I think of it this way – When there were Hiranyakashyapu and his followers, still there were rishis and Pralhad living in the same era. Whenever there was Ravana, there was also a Vibhishan. Whenevr there was a Kansa, there was also a Vasudev. Whenevrr there was Aurangzeb, there was a Shivaji and a Dara Shuko.
It is the custom of Abrahamic religions to instil the fear of apocalypse. But we know that there is no such thing. We know that it is a cycle. Our dharma today is to oppose ISIS in whichever way possible for us even if it means by writing such articles. That is what Pralhad’s guru did. That is the greatness of our history and mythology. I believe reading our stories again will give us a new perspective of the current affairs.
I may have digressed from the topic. Please forgive me for that.
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[…] Can we be honest about the motive of ISIS terrorists?. […]
Could not agree more on this. Yes, we find the same oppression in every era and we have Bhagwaan’s promise “paritraanaya sadhunaam and vinaashayacha dushkrutaam” . For every moghul oppressor starting from Babur and ending with Aurangzeb, we had our 10 Sikh gurus who appeared to protect Dharma and even sacrificed their lives. In the most oppressive days of British Raj, we had Sri. Aurobindo, and many more who were walking and talking the path of Dharma.
pls see also my latest post on “Has terror a connection to religion”
https://mariawirthblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/has-terror-a-connection-to-religion/
[…] https://mariawirthblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/can-we-be-honest-about-the-motive-of-isis-terrorists… […]
Dear Madame Wirth,
There’s absolutely nothing to worry regarding ISIS. In my personal opinion, the current ruling members of India (as well as Pakistan) might well be a party to them and not at all their target(s). Very similar to how there’s no need to worry about the virtually non-existent “Hindu terrorism” which in itself is an oxymoron.
I got one clue from it when ISIS killed Palestinians and not even 1 Israeli. Most of their victims are Muslims. Israel and Russia benefit a lot due to ISIS. Israel (which utilizes US taxpayers’ money) gets to seize the Golan Heights water reserve from Syria citing instability, while Russia gains monopoly over the European oil/energy market as Syria and even Iran are crippled. And that’s why Iran alone is now propping up Assad.
The biggest losers due to ISIS are Iran, Syria and the USA. Iran loses an ally. Syria gets destabilized. And the USA is handicapped as Europe is now dependent on Russian oil. That’s how Russia and Israel also joined together and razed down the Ukraine earlier last year.
India being a spineless and/or deceitful country (indeed, if you ask me, I will provide evidence to prove India is very much a failed version of the USSR, now even worse than North Korea) can never bring peace and stability anywhere. The current PM is one of the dumbest leaders on earth. 1.23 billion people couldn’t get just one wise patriot to rule them. Any surprise that a few thousand British soldiers ruled over the entire subcontinent for centuries together? People can’t get a smart leader and then blame everybody else but themselves for it. And no one has the guts to take up responsibility. Passing the buck is a national pastime.
Back to ISIS. Now I believe India’s hand is behind ISIS because of India’s new camaraderie with the Zionist state of Israel. India’s blindness to Yazidi suffering gave me a clue. And I became more sure of it when Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar blamed Pakistan of aiding the ISIS with WMDs upon the hint of Canadian Toronto Sun Columnist and Journalist, Fatso Tarek Fatah. The Indian Government as of today sends 2 kinds of signals:
1. That it’s absolutely spineless. High chance.
2. That it’s a razor sharp co-conspirator (along with Saudi Arabia and Israel) in the entire ISIS fiasco. Considerable chance.
That’s the same way Israel blamed Saddam Hussein and Iraq of aiding al-Qa’ida with WMDs. The parallels are disturbingly similar. My instincts tell me Israel (with the help of India) is going to trigger World War III. The only thing we need to worry about is if the deceptive Israelis and/or their dumb/equally deceptive Indian patsies (the ruling central government) are going to trigger nuclear World War III, not fake ISIS.
Om Namah: Shivay!
http://www.muktinath.org/images/hinduismfolder/shiva.jpg
Regards.
One of the Vigilant Sons of a Fading/Dying Mother.
Hello Justforgetitnow, you are of course entitled to your, in my view strange, opinion, but why not write under your name?
It is again a question of existence of the spine —“Justforgetit for Ever”!
Sorry madame,
I wish to remain anonymous because I’m afraid I’ll be exterminated if identified. MM Kalburgi’s murder scares me. Moreover, Maharashtra CM Fadnavis has recently made criticism of the central and state governments a seditious crime. Hindu religion is the greatest on earth, but too many closed minded bigots prowling around especially on the Internet.
My views are strange and have a “conspiracy theory” atmosphere, but those are my personal observations over the years.
I mean that I’m not bothered with ISIS at all, I’m more afraid India and/or Israel will trigger nuclear WW III.
My observations regarding ISIS are based primarily upon how other parties like Israel, Russia, India, etc. deal with it, and as far as I’ve observed, seems that they are all trying to extract benefit from the instability created by ISIS in both Iraq and Syria.
1. Israel will use the pretext of instability to grab the Golan Heights from Syria.
2. Russia will use the instability in Syria to make Europe 100% dependent on Russian oil.
3. India will use ISIS to establish their presence in the Middle East (my own guessing).
4. Pakistan will use it to radicalize youngsters into jihad against India/Afghanistan.
As far as rag-tag terrorist groups like al-Qa’ida, ISIS, etc. are concerned, they are all funded, aided and abetted by global powers for their selfish ends. More instability, more pretext to invade and plunder. This is imperialism, in a brand new altar, and is not restricted to any particular race.
Throughout the 20th Century, it was Communism, and now it’s Islamic terrorism.
And the similarity between both phenomena is that Israel is the least affected. Now that made me very suspicious. And that’s why I’m saying this.
India’s camaraderie with Israel might very well mean that India itself is a party to ISIS and not its target as we’re made to believe. Like I said before, India’s inactivity to Yazidi suffering gave me the first clue. And the central government’s rapid acts to reduce/suppress the voice of the opposition is making things more clearer as days go by. The day won’t be long before I confirm that India is very much behind ISIS as Israel and Russia are.
The losers due to this Syrian instability:
1. Iran loses an ally in Assad.
2. Syria gets taken over by pro-Israeli anti-Christian/anti-Yazidi Islamist forces who will never affect Israel.
3. The biggest loser is the USA which loses its taxpayers’ money funding Israel and also its credibility gets damaged further.
4. Europe becomes totally dependent on Russian oil/energy as Iran and Syria get crippled. And Russia can use this advantage to cripple NATO during war.
Just taking a careful look at all news and other factors not covered by news agencies will itself give us the full picture. ISIS is not the target, it’s a tool. It’s just a drone for vested forces.
Regards.
Vigilant Son of a Dying Mother.
And FYI, I’m not spineless. Those are just my personal observations. Try making your own if you don’t mind, instead of slandering others. Thanks.
Vigilant Son of a Dying Mother.
Almost forgot to mention: Europe is now facing a collective refugee crisis. And the Muslim nations have no compassion to take in the Muslims who flee Syria and Iraq due to instability created by Muslim terrorists. But now even they are waking up to the hypocrisy of Muslims and seeing that they do not care for them.
The large number of immigrants in Europe will create a crisis for the European race in the not-too-far future.
Why I say this is because neither Arabs nor Persians held any grudge against Europeans in the ancient past. Turks, yes, they invaded a lot, but not Arabs. In almost all cases, it was the Jews who held more grudge against ethnic Europeans. Shakespeare’s story “The Merchant of Venice” proves this. Even today, Swedish Jew BARBARA LERNER SPECTRE wanted to wipe out the Swedes. This proves beyond doubt that they are very much involved.
Vigilant Son of a Dying Mother.
Very honest post. Liked it.
Checkout my insight about ISIS and terrorism in the below post link
https://pavanmedheramitla.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/the-wake-up-call-for-humanity/?preview=true
It is strikingly candid revelation of true face of religion that Islam is.
Reblogged this on daithilife.
I agree with Surya. Maria article is to be understood in totality. This is better explained by Indian PM by Vasudeva Kudumbagam-meaning all humanity is a big family.
Each verse of Quran has several interpretation, the word jihad means” fighting for your religion when its in danger to establish dharma. And the ISIS has got it completely wrong, attacking innocents is not true Islam, and Quran condems killing of innocents, and you are trying to say that we he is saying is correct?, prophet Mohammed waged wars during his time, but for what? , to establish dharma(the right path), if you want to know what true Islam is just read about imam Hussain who sacrificed himself just to establish Islam, and because of him Islam is alive today. Same thing happened in mahabharat where war was waged just to establish dharma, just to prove that what is wrong is wrong,lord Krishna knew the outcome of the mahabharat war , but still he allowed people killing each other just to establish dharma(the right thing,the truth) , and what Isis is doing is just opposite, disturbing a peaceful society in the name of religion, but they have got it completely wrong , their interpretation of Quran is wrong, so their ideology is wrong, and when ideologies are wrong bad things always happen. And any person can say that Isis , al Qaeda ,Taliban form only 0.003% of the total Muslim population, so don’t spread hatred towards a particular religion author.
Reblogged this on umeshsajjanar and commented:
Absolutely a brilliant article: Know the known, known the hidden known, accept the truth for a better world sooner
Absolutely a brilliant article: “Know the known, known the hidden known, accept the truth for a better world sooner”. This is what I could infer from this article from a self-realized person: sheer brilliance. One can’t expect more than the truth from a self-realized person and this article exactly does that and is a sheer brilliance. Pranams _/_
Maria plain speaking thought provoking article there is no place for violence in any religion your views on Christianity conversions is true even today. I would pose a question why is that no Islamic Nation is welcoming the refugees who gate crash into Europe? Or why are these refugees not going to any of the close by Islamic Nations any reasons for this?
Sir,
Bharath maa will never be a Dying mother but I may accept it as wounded mother.
As Shri Krishna Bhagawan has said, he will come down to earth each time when the atrocities become uncontrolled. Acharya Chanakya, Shivaji Maharaja stand as a testimony for this and many which I am unware of and the same in future will happen.
Regarding the theory of India’s hand behind ISIS, will be proved false very soon as the current govt unlike the previous foolish govt (which was putting every secret intelligence info into public), this govt doesn’t get any intel info in public but does the work and the work will be made public eventually just like the no of terrorists being slain everyday now and for that matter even maoists are not spared.
Waiting for the time to put to rest all the conspiracies behind such claims!!
> Each verse of Quran has several interpretation
How about providing “good” interpretations for the verses quoted in the article like Quran 8.39, Quran 2.216 etc. Then also provide references to standard accepted interpretations that do provide such “good” interpretations. Otherwise your entire post is nothing more than empty rhetoric.
> And the ISIS has got it completely wrong,
This is precisely the question that this article raises at the very start (and answers subsequently). Quoting:
“Of course, these youths are misguided, but by whom or what?”
> Quran condems killing of innocents
Again references for the same will help in proving your point. Assuming such a verse exists, how is that verse reconciled with others listed in the article (again many like 8.39, 2.216 etc). Does the Muslim scholarship provide a framework for reconciling contradictory verses? If so, how do some of the standard Muslim schools of thought actually reconcile the verses in question. References for answers to these questions will be a decent start.
> Mohammed waged wars during his time, but for what? , to establish dharma(the right path),
Hmm, well that is quite difficult to see how leading an army to capture towns full of civilians, killings and all constitutes establishing a right path. Then how does a simple expulsion from a country justifies all these actions etc. There is no comparison with Mahabharata for anyone who has done even a slight reading of it.
In any case a discussion along these lines will not lead to much apart from back and forth on how Mohammed’s actions were good or not. Better will be to restrict to interpretation of verses from Quran some of which are referred in the article which ISIS followers use as the very basis for their actions.
> what Isis is doing is just opposite, disturbing a peaceful society in the name of religion, but they have got it completely wrong , their interpretation of Quran is wrong, so their ideology is wrong
Here is where the problem lies. The followers of ISIS believe that their actions closely mirror those of Mohammed and others. It is through persistent education by all other Muslim leaders that this notion can be dispelled among Muslims themselves by rational argument alone and not empty rhetoric.
> don’t spread hatred towards a particular religion author
And this is the problem with “moderate” Muslims. They just turn away their eyes from the real problem and just keep repeating “Islam is religion of peace” and such irrelevant stuff. Unless these issues are taken head-on, and such verses from Quran rejected or replaced, there is no moving forward for Islam.
FYI see this excellent set of tweets (by a Muslim though that should not be relevant in normal case): https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/664111571757469696
When majority of Muslims understand this then the true way forward will emerge.
Mam,
A very good article indeed. I wish to add something.
One of the most important crises the humanity is facing is that related to an individual’s spiritual needs. A search for a meaning of his life, his purpose in the world, his role in the grand scheme are some the questions that the present generation faces. The basic needs of food water and shelter being met the individual seeks to fulfill this spiritual need. Western materialism doesn’t account for and isn’t able to satisfy these things because it has always seen individuals as purely rational beings with solely materialistic greeds.
That is why we see people from the west giving up their possessions for social causes or to lead a life of hermit or go on to seek spirituality.
The other side is that sometimes in lack of such moral/spiritual support the individual seeks avenues. Probably that’s where the brainwashers come in. Providing them a divine purpose, a meaning, a perverse view is what some clerics do.
India has a big role to play in this regard. Not only the quest for spirituality here is individual, but also the acceptance of religion as a personal way of life. One man’s purpose isn’t others.
Acceptance of this fact makes Indian way of living unique.
So are we ready for this challenge, to serve individual spiritual needs, to guide?
That is a question which i don’t think I have an answer for. Being a “Spiritual Guru” for world till then is still a pipe dream. I would like to know your views in this regard.
fully agree with you. only yesterday, while responding to a feminist, I said this very point. I add it here
The main reason I feel is that bigger questions are missing from the discourse, like what is the meaning of life, who am I, etc. If these questions come again to the forefront, there is a good chance that the society is healthy without constantly demanding “equality” and “rights”. In the west we don’t have answers to these questions, but India’s wisdom has.
however, brainwashing into hateful dectrine needs to be stopped. brainwashing kids is indeed effective and brainwashing in madrasas is extremely harmful
Good one Atanu. It is because of people like Radhika and their numbskullness to comprehend the danger that lurks we are in this situation.
This is the honesty of the samvaad of Bharata….anyone irrespective of their origin can elucidate what honest ‘truth’ is all about…in the full spirit of bharatiyata!
Kudos…. We pray that your tribe multiply manifold. Yes, the spineless politicos have to be taught to confront reality and not fudge around
Om Shanti
[…] By: Maria Wirth (Blog Link) […]
You are real genius. But are you taking your side with Hinduism. I am also a Hindu. But please donot believe blindly Hinduism also.
Excellent article Maria…so beyond banning religion, or just that one (which would be impossible currently, but something I’d sign up for any day, we’re fucked. I don’t think kids should be encouraged from birth to belief in fairy tales, it’s beyond cruel, nothing more than legalised brainwashing, the powers that be only have themselves to blame, yet we suffer.
Very exhaustive & covering almost many aspects still mentioning of Caliphate & expansionist nature thereby implementing Gaea e Hind & therefore Islam can never be a religion for peace & brotherhood needs more weightage.
Dear Rajesh ·
Your posting ” Quote You are real genius. But are you taking your side with Hinduism. I am also a Hindu. But please donot believe blindly Hinduism also.” .Unquote This is the beauty of Hinduism it allows for debate & accommodates persons like you the same cannot be expressed in Christianity or Islam because the individual will be blacklisted.
Maria is not taking sides she is sharing her experience her views it is nothing but facts from Vedas
Regards
It is really great that maria wirth could create much more misguidance about and animosity towards Islam, ever expected by herself when writing this article. it is really funny, that, the ignorant and islamophobic ones among the Hindus who commented here, just minimalized this wholesome article about the ‘so-called’ violence of all religions, especially the Abrahamic faiths, into just an article that supports the nationally widespread hatemongering, taboos and islamophobic doctrines extracted, produced or assumed by a lot (off course, not all) of the Brahmins of India, the enemies of total humanity who are the most discriminating people world has ever known.
I am damn sure that much of the Europeans know this or would search for the history, unlike the ridiculous fellow Bharatians of mine who are generally ignorant on the lessons of history especially those regarding Muslims even though they have been living here with their fellow Hindus like two eyes of a man, since much before the advent of different Sultanates of Delhi. My these fellow Bharatians, who could be scientists of the pioneer labs of the world, software factories enjoying their life in all sense in US with many, many of them having a ‘beef eating’ American citizenship-even though blaming Muslims for being anti-national, pro-Pakistani and ‘beef eater’ in order to conduct lynchings like that of Akhlaq, Pehlu Khan, Junaid or Rapes for the sake of saving Hindu religion like what happened in Haryana some months ago as well as that which happened very recently in which two teenage Muslim girls were brutally reaped by 10 Gau-Rakshaks, and much more in the past with the number is still counting-or at least students of Yale or Oxford with scholarship, but will be believing that the world that we live, is actually about the Indian sub-continent, all human beings were created from either of the four parts of the god, and that all those four casts (DON’T misunderstand with category or section; NO, this is CAST) have specific duties, where, simply, the duty of the fourth category is JUST to serve the top three categories beyond them, the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas.
This SERVING is written with actual letters in the holy book of Manu Smriti, but no serious argument on banning, or stone pelting it’s writer, Prime times or so of the TV channels or hundreds of thousands of social media activities, at least to declare that book as to be edited, seriously? (I don’t want to ban it, but just pass on by these facts) Every average citizen of India known that many of the Brahmins enjoyed the unused VAGINAS of the newly wed women, before her husband even touches her, not on any other day but on the same day as she would walk directly into or be kidnapped if not obeyed by this Brahmin landlord’s home despite that of her official husband; and this is JUST ONE among the hundreds of utmost cruelties, ranging from psychological, physical, financial to social ones, continued to be done for more that two millennia(!!!) over whomever they could overpower, may it be Shudras, Dalits or Adivasis, in addition to Muslims…
Every average Indian, even if he or she is a Hindu, knows this but doesn’t remember-because he or she cannot just spell a word on this and he would either lose his job if so politely, or charged with fabricated cases and then killed in fake-encounters conducted by the specialists of that art among the Indian police force, or be forced to leave the country, just like Sanal Idamaruk or MF Hussein fled the country (I don’t support what MF Hussein did in this particular case, which he could have definitely avoided)-except a Brahmanist who has been practicing, and would continue to practice, but, shamelessly and without courage to fight in any manner to any opposition, would refuse publicly that he or she is cherishing that culture which begins with social discrimination and passes through rape, murder, lynching, social boycotts and ends with massacring those sections or casts which have been discriminated like what happened in Gujarat in 2002, which is one among the thousand lot, but will practice personally all these things without any guilty feeling. For those who don’t know, a Brahmin is someone who belongs to that cast and can be good or bad like any other person from any category of mankind, while a Brahminist or Brahmanist is someone who is either from that cast itself or not, but necessarily believes in the religiously authentic and therefore essential, absolute, eternal and legitimate hegemony of Brahmanist over all other CASTS, sections, groups, races, ethnicities, religions, territories, languages other than the most recent and comparatively much less beautiful but politically promoted Hindi-please DON’T misunderstand with ancient Hindustani, the indigenous Bhojpuri, or even the comparatively new Urdu born after Hindi but absorbed words and phrases from Turkish, Pashtu, Persian and Arabic, and the became the language of Gazal-except the fact, that without any shame, they will still preach on HUMANITY, SECULARISM and COEXISTENSE.
The British Raj in India, like always they did in Egypt, Palestine or anywhere else, supported all these Brahmanical atrocities, along with adding a one more full fledged tax system, in addition to the already prevailing huge taxes to be paid, at first by the peasants and then by themselves as well as those who took these lands for lease, to our Brahmanical landlords. this worsened the country, and that’s why the majority of Hindus fought along with Muslims against the British, even after all those mass conversions by Aurangzeb and his predecessors, repeated looting of the Hindu temples (exclusively by the Muslim kings of India-seriously?), the partition of India for which all the Muslims along with just the Muslim political leaders of those times were responsible, and what else…
I don’t hate any person (and, like 90% of Indians, I too have many, many Hindu friends, not to kill them or try to kill them very easily because they trust me during a Muslim sponsored riot-which is something in the ninth cloud!!), except the Brahmanists and Zionists,
because unlike Maria wirth and many more even from Muslims themselves, I have and do read Quran with translations of it’s verses, and learning them ALONG WITH THEIR CONTEXTS. That’s why more and more people embrace Islam day by day, especially from Europe which has the most Muslim terrorism hit countries!! It will continue forever, even Modi kills Zakir Naik, or Isreal destroys Kaaba or anything else…
You fell for the ploy of missionaries, which was spread to kids in schools all over the world, to malign the Vedic tradition, because they realised that the ‘truth’ of Christianity would collapse when questioned in the light of the Vedas. Since the Brahmins were the torchbearers and it is thanks to them that we still have knowledge of those ancient texts, maligning them was foremost.
Yes, every society has a structure, whether you call it caste or class. And everywhere some people think they are higher than others due to what they do. This has nothing to do with religion but with human weakness. and Brahmins surely were not worse than upper class people anywhere else, rather better as they had a strict sadhana to follow and they were not allowed to amass wealth.
Maybe you know that the founders of modern physics all studied the Vedas which gave them the direction and explanation where to search. I just read a talk (given in 1839) of a Professor of a German University, where he praised a gift given by a missionary of 11 volumes of handwritten Sanskrit texts. He calls those texts the ‘ornament; of the university. Yet Indians were told that their tradition is not worth anything…. Please see through the agendas.
Kindly read https://mariawirthblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/27/how-do-christianity-islam-and-hinduism-compare/
Maria Wirth
[…] (This article is originally published HERE) […]
Reblogged this on npnayar and commented:
Excellent expressions and honest too.Congrats.!
Well written. Islam is an ideology and will only be beaten by a clearer ideology.
It can be easily explained by a born n practising Hindu that the war between Devas and Asuras are taking place. The humans always suffered. Why Asuras killed Sadhus and others and also created mayhem in the world? It is their inborn nature but they are also under control of Shriman Narayan.
Another brilliant essay by Maria. This essay must be publicised to the fullest extenct
It may work with kids
Will this Chinese strategy to :re-educate” muslims work or backfire, I wonder? https://newint.org/features/2018/09/14/china-detaining-million-uyghur-muslims
Namaste
@Wayan Aksara
Nice, Pleasant to know that you are Hindu from Indonesia, and still a Hindu…….thats so great
I can only say have FAITH on Shri Krishn, Shiv, Shri Ram , and always remember
“KALIYUG” is all about what is going on currently.
Just have Patience and Comply your duty of DHARM
Remember “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah” meaning “Dharm Saves those who Save (Perform) their Dharm ( Duty )..”
Hari Om
Can Human Beings Co-Exist with Such Criminals who have AGENDA of LOOTING, MURDERING?
“Islam is not any RELIGION, but a Gang of Criminals, Plunderers, Murderers, Rapists, Pedos :
And the Most Common : TERRORISTS :
1 – TERRORISM IS PART OF ISLAM : Anyone who kills an infidel is guaranteed Paradise. (Abu Dawud 2.2489, p.690; also see Abu Dawud vol. 2, footnote 1843, p.691 /
2 – TERRORISM IS PART OF ISLAM : “”…you should know that Paradise is under the shade of swords.”” (Abu Dawud 2.2625, p.727) /””
3 – TERRORISM IS PART OF ISLAM : Narrated Abu Huraira: A man came to Allah’s Apostle and said, “Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward).” He replied, “I do not find such a deed.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari 4:44) /””
4. TERRORISM IS PART OF ISLAM : “”””I HAVE BEEN MADE VICTORIOUS BY TERROR. MUHAMMAD ( SAHIH BUKHARI 4:52:220)
: http://ptbooks.info/205-2 (http://ptbooks.info/205-2) Peter Townsend on Twitter (http://pic.twitter.com/fHdU9LNlil) /””
5. TERRORISM IS PART OF ISLAM : #Islam Allah the mutilator – freel the “”””peace”””” ‘Allah the Mutilator’. Feeling the ‘Peace’ Yet? (https://petertownsend.info/mutilation) /””
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[…] (This article is borrowed with thanks from HERE) […]
YES OUR CHILDREN SUFFERED, WERE TARGETED YESour story, our goalsexcellent thanks bestwishesworlddramastageSEEKING SUITABLEBRIDES FOROUR SONS, Kaviraj&Shilpi OURGOAL ENABLE REACHfullPOTENTIAL,FUTURE POTUS MeJOBLOST bigshock family,India wife&sons worked lowlevel hardwork promoted,CHILDREN SUFFERED
2019 June 15
Me: Beautiful.
ps:
Although in severe shock and great stress, we have faced the challenges and moved forward crossing the barriers, biases, impediments etc that came before us, … it was tough, not easy, for my wife and sons and the others also … I brought up my two sons Kaviraj and Shilpi as future presidents of usa, with that attitude/ outlook/ mindset, supporting and encouraging the leadership nature already in them. They are born in usa, grew up in usa and consider themselves as Americans. The country, the people and the whole world including India where we parents are originally from will need their leadership and contributions to go forward towards better future vision in true spirit of America. It is the nature of truth, nature of nature, nature of humanity. It is the only way. There is no other choice. Actually, we do not need a different choice. Because, it is also the best way. Perfect for America and the whole world. Nothing else can be better, however you may look at it. Best wishes. Aummmm….we are seeking suitable brides for our two sons… any help, efforts etc much appreciatedThe world is dramastage weare actors Our life is what we do OUR ACT, our daily living is our daily acting role, acting finished means life finished. WE ARE SEEKING SUITABLE BRIDES FOR OUR TWO SONS, OUR GOAL IS TO ENABLE THEM REACH FULL TRUE HIGHER POTENTIAL, FUTURE PRESIDENTS OF USA. I was fired from AT&T Bell Labs in 1992 scientist engineer, it was big shock for whole family, in India too. interviews for new jobs blocked. although in shock wife worked from low level hard work later promoted, children targeted.
my email trhalemane in gmail
mobile 17329389686
also please feel free to visit my public instagram is thirumalaraya and many posts since 2016 or so
Fwd
2020 September 23
Me: Ravi, my assessment/ guesses below =
King of the East = Japan,
King of the North = Norway,
King of the South = Saudi Arabia,
King of the West = United Kingdom,
Others are being used and/ or helping them directly and/ or indirectly, along with their interests and ideologies, China also included. Nature of the Deep state is involved in various strong ways, including the nature of the different religions and their associated deep states, some extremely very strong… for many others, individuals also, it is just survival under whatever conditions exist for them…
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On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 Thirumala Raya Halemane wrote:
actually, hindus need to reclaim all the temples that were destroyed, forcibly taken over,
(not just the three that BJP / RSS wanted, mostly for political reasons, vote-banking, otherwise they did not care initially)
and all the other indians, including muslims, have to understand and accept that.
it is not their (muslim’s) private property anyway, so they should not worry / have hatred towards hindus in india
(any allowance of alternate land, is out of sympathetic considerations only)..
you are forgetting the power of hindu temples, for inspiration etc, when you write like below, that it is less important.
i disagree.
in fact, everything depends on it (the recovery of the temples), we might say
WE ARE SEEKING SUITABLE BRIDES FOR OUR TWO SONS KAVIRAJ AND SHILPI, FUTURE PRESIDENTS OF USA. THE WORLD IS A DRAMA STAGE AND WE ARE ACTORS. IN THE FUTURE, THE LEADERSHIP AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF OUR SONS WILL BE NEEDED BY USA AND ITS PEOPLE, ALSO BY THE WHOLE WORLD, THAT IS EAST-WEST-NORTH-SOUTH … I WAS FIRED FROM AT&T BELL LABS IN NEW JERSEY IN 1992.. IT WAS BIG SHOCK TO US, WIFE & CHILDREN, ALSO FAMILY ON BOTH MY SIDE AND WIFE’S SIDE, INCLUDING IN INDIA, SINCE EVERYBODY EXPECTED ME TO GO HIGHER UP IN JOB. I WAS NOT EVEN GETTING INTERVIEWS FOR OTHER JOBS. LATER GOT A FEW SMALLER JOBS. MY WIFE WORKED, FROM LOW LEVEL, HARD WORK, LATER PROMOTED. FORCES BEHIND THE SCENES TRYING TO PULL US DOWN. CONNECTED WITH THE EVIL PARTS OF THE GLOBAL POWER STRUCTURE. OUR SONS WERE ALSO TARGETED AND HAD TO FACE CHALLENGES. WE HAVE FACED THEM POSITIVELY AND MOVED FORWARD. THEY ARE WORKING NOW. BOY AND GIRL HAVE TO LIKE EACH OTHER ETC THEN WE BLESS. THANKS VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP. BEST WISHES AUMMM…