A Call to the Muslims of the World
from a Group of Freethinkers and
Humanists of Muslim Origin


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www.annaqed.com
Dear Friends,

The tragic incidents of September 11 have shocked the world. It is
unthinkable that anyone could be so full of hate as to commit such
heinous acts and kill so many innocent people. We people of Muslim
origin are as much shaken as the rest of the world and yet we find
ourselves looked upon with suspicion and distrust by our neighbours and
fellow citizens. We want to cry out and tell the world that we are not
terrorists, and that those who perpetrate such despicable acts are
murderers and not part of us. But, in reality, because of our Muslim
origins we just cannot erase the "stigma of Islamic Terrorism" from our
identity!

What most Muslims will say:

"Islam would never support the killing of innocent people. Allah of the
Holy Qur'an never advocated killings. This is all the work of a few
misguided individuals at the fringes of society. The real Islam is
sanctified from violence. We denounce all violence. Islam means peace.
Islam means tolerance."

What knowledgeable Muslims should say:

That is what most Muslims think, but is it true? Does Islam really
preach peace, tolerance and non-violence? The Muslims who perpetrate
these crimes think differently. They believe that what they do is Jihad
(holy war). They say that killing unbelievers is mandatory for every
Muslim. They do not kill because they wish to break the laws of Islam
but because they think this is what true Muslims should do. Those who
blow-up their own bodies to kill more innocent people do so because
they think they will be rewarded in Paradise. They hope to be blessed
by Allah, eat celestial food, drink pure wine and enjoy the company of
divine consorts. Are they completely misguided? Where did they get this
distorted idea? How did they come to believe that killing innocent
people pleases God? Or is it that we are misguided? Does really Islam
preach violence? Does it call upon its believers to kill non-believers?
We denounce those who commit acts of violence and call them extremists.
But are they really extremists or are they following what the holy
book, the Qur'an tells them to do? What does the Qur'an teach? Have we
read the Qur'an? Do we know what kind of teachings are there? Let us go
through some of them and take a closer look at what Allah says.

What the Qur'an Teaches Us:

We have used the most widely available English text of the Qur'an and
readers are welcome to verify our quotes from the holy book. Please
have an open mind and read through these verses again and again. The
following quotes are taken from the most trusted Yusufali's translation
of the Qur'an.

The Qur'an tells us: "not to make friendship with Jews and Christians"
(5:51), "kill the disbelievers wherever we find them" (2:191), "murder
them and treat them harshly" (9:123), "fight and slay the Pagans, seize
them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem"
(9:5). The Qur'an demands that we fight the unbelievers, and promises
"If there are twenty amongst you, you will vanquish two hundred: if a
hundred, you will vanquish a thousand of them" (8:65).

Allah and his messenger want us to fight the Christians and the Jews
"until they pay the Jizya [a penalty tax for the non-Muslims living
under Islamic rules] with willing submission, and feel themselves
subdued" (9:29). Allah and his messenger announce that it is acceptable
to go back on our promises (treaties) and obligations with Pagans and
make war on them whenever we find ourselves strong enough to do so
(9:3). Our God tells us to "fight the unbelievers" and "He will punish
them by our hands, cover them with shame and help us (to victory) over
them" (9:14).

The Qur'an takes away the freedom of belief from all humanity and
relegates those who disbelieve in Islam to hell (5:10), calls them
najis (filthy, untouchable, impure) (9:28), and orders its followers to
fight the unbelievers until no other religion except Islam is left
(2:193). It says that the "non-believers will go to hell and will drink
boiling water" (14:17). It asks the Muslims to "slay or crucify or cut
the hands and feet of the unbelievers, that they be expelled from the
land with disgrace and that they shall have a great punishment in world
hereafter" (5:34). And tells us that "for them (the unbelievers)
garments of fire shall be cut and there shall be poured over their
heads boiling water whereby whatever is in their bowels and skin shall
be dissolved and they will be punished with hooked iron rods"
(22:19-22) and that they not only will have "disgrace in this life, but
on the Day of Judgment He shall make them taste the Penalty of burning
(Fire)" (22:9). The Qur'an says that "those who invoke a god other than
Allah not only should meet punishment in this world but the Penalty on
the Day of Judgment will be doubled to them, and they will dwell
therein in ignominy" (25:68). For those who "believe not in Allah and
His Messenger, He has prepared, for those who reject Allah, a Blazing
Fire!" (48:13). Although we are asked to be compassionate amongst each
other, we have to be "harsh with unbelievers", our Christian, Jewish
and Atheist neighbours and colleagues (48:29). As for him who does not
believe in Islam, the Prophet announces with a "stern command": "Seize
ye him, and bind ye him, And burn ye him in the Blazing Fire. Further,
make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits! This
was he that would not believe in Allah Most High. And would not
encourage the feeding of the indigent! So no friend hath he here this
Day. Nor hath he any food except the corruption from the washing of
wounds, Which none do eat but those in sin." (69:30-37) The Qur'an
prohibits a Muslim from befriending a non-believer even if that
non-believer is the father or the brother of that Muslim (9:23),
(3:28). Our holy book asks us to be disobedient towards the
disbelievers and their governments and strive against the unbelievers
with great endeavour" (25:52) and be stern with them because they
belong to Hell (66:9). The holy Prophet prescribes fighting for us and
tells us that "it is good for us even if we dislike it" (2:216). Then
he advises us to "strike off the heads of the disbelievers"; and after
making a "wide slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining
captives" (47:4). Our God has promised to "instill terror into the
hearts of the unbelievers" and has ordered us to "smite above their
necks and smite all their finger-tips off them" (8:12). He also assures
us that when we kill in his name "it is not us who slay them but Allah,
in order that He might test the Believers by a gracious trial from
Himself" (8:17). He orders us "to strike terror into the hearts of the
enemies" (8:60). He has made the Jihad mandatory and warns us that
"Unless we go forth, (for Jihad) He will punish us with a grievous
penalty, and put others in our place" (9:39). Allah speaks to our Holy
Prophet and says "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and
the hypocrites, and be stern against them. Their abode is Hell - an
evil refuge indeed" (9:73).

He promises us that in the fight for His cause whether we slay or are
slain we return to the garden of Paradise (9:111). In Paradise he will
"wed us with Houris (celestial virgins) pure beautiful ones" (56:54),
and unite us with large-eyed beautiful ones while we recline on our
thrones set in lines (56:20). There we are promised to eat and drink
pleasantly for what we did (56:19). He also promises "boys like hidden
pearls" (56:24) and "youth never altering in age like scattered pearls"
(for those who have paedophiliac inclinations) (76:19). As you see,
Allah has promised all sorts or rewards, gluttony and unlimited sex to
Muslim men who kill unbelievers in his name. We will be admitted to
Paradise where we shall find "goodly things, beautiful ones, pure ones
confined to the pavilions that man has not touched them before nor
jinni" (56:67-71). In the West we enjoy freedom of belief but we are
not supposed to give such freedom to anyone else because it is written
"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah),
never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in
the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual good) (3:85). And He
orders us to fight them on until there is no more tumult and faith in
Allah is practiced everywhere (8:39).

As for women the book of Allah says that they are inferior to men and
their husbands have the right to scourge them if they are found
disobedient (4:34). It advises to "take a green branch and beat your
wife", because a green branch is more flexible and hurts more. (38:44).
It teaches that women will go to hell if they are disobedient to their
husbands (66:10). It maintains that men have an advantage over the
women (2:228). It not only denies the women's equal right to their
inheritance (4:11-12), it also regards them as imbeciles and decrees
that their witness is not admissible in the courts of law (2:282). This
means that a woman who is raped cannot accuse her rapist unless she can
produce a male witness. Our Holy Prophet allows us to marry up to four
wives and he licensed us to sleep with our slave maids and as many
'captive' women as we may have (4:3) even if those women are already
married. He himself did just that. This is why anytime a Muslim army
subdues another nation, they call them kafir and allow themselves to
rape their women. Pakistani soldiers allegedly raped up to 250,000
Bengali women in 1971 after they massacred 3,000,000 unarmed civilians
when their religious leader decreed that Bangladeshis are un-Islamic.
This is why the prison guards in Islamic regime of Iran rape the women
that in their opinion are apostates prior to killing them, as they
believe a virgin will not go to Hell.

Dear fellow Muslims:

Is this the Islam you believe in? Is this your Most Merciful, Most
Compassionate Allah whom you worship daily? Could Allah incite you to
kill other peoples? Please understand that there is no terrorist gene -
but there could be a terrorist mindset. That mindset finds its most
fertile ground in the tenets of Islam. Denying it, and presenting Islam
to the lay public as a religion of peace similar to Buddhism, is to
suppress the truth. The history of Islam between the 7th and 14th
centuries is riddled with violence, fratricide and wars of aggression,
starting right from the death of the Prophet and during the so-called
'pure' or orthodox caliphate. And Muhammad himself hoisted the standard
of killing, looting, massacres and bloodshed. How can we deny the
entire history? The behaviour of our Holy Prophet as recorded in
authentic Islamic sources is quite questionable from a modern
viewpoint. The Prophet was a charismatic man but he had few virtues.
Imitating him in all aspects of life (following the Sunnah) is both
impossible and dangerous in the 21st century. Why are we so helplessly
in denial over this simple issue?

When the Prophet was in Mecca and he was still not powerful enough he
called for tolerance. He said "To you be your religion, and to me my
religion" (109:6). This famous quote is often misused to prove that the
general principle of Qur'an is tolerance. He advised his follower to
speak good to their enemies (2: 83), exhorted them to be patient
(20:103) and said that "there is no compulsion in religion" (2:256).
But that all changed drastically when he came to power. Then killing
and slaying unbelievers with harshness and without mercy was justified
in innumerable verses. The verses quoted to prove Islam's tolerance
ignore many other verses that bear no trace of tolerance or
forgiveness. Where is tolerance in this well-known verse "Alarzu
Lillah, Walhukmu Lillah." (The Earth belongs to Allah and thus only
Allah's rule should prevail all over the earth.).

Is it normal that a book revealed by God should have so many serious
contradictions? The Prophet himself set the example of unleashing
violence by invading the Jewish settlements, breaking treaties he had
signed with them and banishing some of them after confiscating their
belongings, massacring others and taking their wives and children as
slaves. He inspected the youngsters and massacred all those who had
pubic hair along with the men. Those who were younger he kept as
slaves. He distributed the women captured in his raids among his
soldiers keeping the prettiest for himself (33:50). He made sexual
advances on Safiyah, a Jewish girl on the same day he captured her town
Kheibar and killed her father, her husband and many of her relatives.
Reyhana was another Jewish girl of Bani Quriza whom he used as a sex
slave after killing all her male relatives. In the last ten years of
his life he accumulated two scores of wives, concubines and sex slaves
including the 9 year old Ayesha. These are not stories but records from
authentic Islamic history and the Hadiths. It can be argued that this
kind of behaviour was not unknown or unusual for the conquerors and
leaders of the mediaeval world but these are not the activities
befitting of a peaceful saint and certainly not someone who claimed to
be the Mercy of God for all creation. There were known assassinations
of adversaries during the Prophet's time, which he had knowledge of and
had supported. Among them there was a 120 year old man, Abu 'Afak whose
only crime was to compose a lyric satirical of the Prophet. (by Ibn
Sa'd Kitab al Tabaqat al Kabir, Volume 2, page 32) Then when a poetess,
a mother of 5 small children 'Asma' Bint Marwan wrote a poetry cursing
the Arabs for letting Muhammad assassinate an old man, our Holy Prophet
ordered her to be assassinated too in the middle of the night while her
youngest child was suckling from her breast. (Sirat Rasul Allah (A.
Guillaume's translation "The Life of Muhammad") page 675, 676).

The Prophet did develop a 'Robin Hood' image that justified raiding
merchant caravans attacking cities and towns, killing people and
looting their belongings in the name of social justice. Usama Bin Laden
is also trying to create the same image. But Robin Hood didn't claim to
be a prophet or a pacifist nor did he care for apologist arguments. He
did not massacre innocent people indiscriminately nor did he profit by
reducing free people to slaves and then trading them.

With the known and documented violent legacy of Islam, how can we
suddenly rediscover it as a religion of peace in the free world in the
21st century? Isn't this the perpetuation of a lie by a few ambitious
leaders in order to gain political control of the huge and ignorant
Muslim population? They are creating a polished version of Islam by
completely ignoring history. They are propagating the same old dogma
for simple believing people in a crisp new modern package. Their aim:
to gain political power in today's high-tension world. They want to use
the confrontational power of the original Islam to catalyse new
conflicts and control new circles of power.

Dear conscientious Muslims, please question yourselves. Isn't this
compulsive following of a man who lived 1400 years ago leading us to
doom in a changing world? Do the followers of any other religion follow
one man in such an all-encompassing way? Who are we deceiving, them or
ourselves? Dear brothers and sisters, see how our Umma (people) has
sunk into poverty and how it lags behind the rest of the world. Isn't
it because we are following a religion that is outdated and
impractical? In this crucial moment of history, when a great
catastrophe has befallen us and a much bigger one is lying ahead,
should not we wake up from our 1400 years of slumber and see where
things have gone wrong?

Hatred has filled the air and the world is bracing itself for its
doomsday. Should we not ask ourselves whether we have contributed,
wittingly or unwittingly, to this tragedy and whether we can stop the
great disaster from happening?

Unfortunately the answer to the first question is yes. Yes we have
contributed to the rise of fundamentalism by merely claiming Islam is a
religion of peace, by simply being a Muslim and by saying our shahada
(testimony that Allah is the only God and Muhammad is his messenger).
By our shahada we have recognized Muhammad as a true messenger of God
and his book as the words of God. But as you saw above those words are
anything but from God. They call for killing, they are prescriptions
for hate and they foment intolerance. And when the ignorant among us
read those hate-laden verses, they act on them and the result is the
infamous September 11, human bombs in Israel, massacres in East Timor
and Bangladesh, kidnappings and killings in the Philippines, slavery in
the Sudan, honour killings in Pakistan and Jordan, torture in Iran,
stoning and maiming in Afghanistan and Iran, violence in Algeria,
terrorism in Palestine and misery and death in every Islamic country.
We are responsible because we endorse Islam and hail it as a religion
of God. And we are as guilty as those who put into practice what the
Qur'an preaches - and ironically we are the main victims too. If we are
not terrorists, if we love peace, if we cried with the rest of the word
for what happened in New York, then why are we supporting the Qur'an
that preaches killing, that advocates holy war, that calls for the
murder of non-Muslims? It is not the extremists who have misunderstood
Islam. They do literally what the Qur'an asks them to do. It is we who
misunderstand Islam. We are the ones who are confused. We are the ones
who wrongly assume that Islam is the religion of peace. Islam is not a
religion of peace. In its so-called "pure" form it can very well be
interpreted as a doctrine of hate. Terrorists are doing just that and
we the intellectual apologists of Islam are justifying it. We can stop
this madness. Yes, we can avert the disaster that is hovering over our
heads. Yes, we can denounce the doctrines that promote hate. Yes, we
can embrace the rest of humanity with love. Yes, we can become part of
a united world, members of one human family, flowers of one garden. We
can dump the claim of infallibility of our Book, and the questionable
legacy of our Prophet.

Dear friends, there is no time to waste. Let us put an end to this lie.
Let us not fool ourselves. Islam is not a religion of peace, of
tolerance, of equality or of unity of humankind. Let us read the
Qur'an. Let us face the truth even if it is painful. As long as we keep
this lie alive, as long as we hide our head in the sands of Arabia we
are feeding terrorism. As long as you and I keep calling Qur'an the
unchangeable book of God, we cannot blame those who follow the
teachings therein. As long as we pay our Khums and Zakat our money goes
to promote Islamic expansionism and that means terrorism, Jihad and
war. Islam divides the world in two. Darul Harb (land of war) and Darul
Islam (land of Islam). Darul Harb is the land of the infidels, Muslims
are required to infiltrate those lands, proselytize and procreate until
their numbers increase and then start the war and fight and kill the
people and impose the religion of Islam on them and convert that land
into Darul Islam. In all fairness we denounce this betrayal. This is
abuse of the trust. How can we make war in the countries that have
sheltered us? How can we kill those who have befriended us? Yet
willingly or unwillingly we have become pawns in this Islamic
Imperialism. Let us see what great Islamic scholars have had to say in
this respect.

Dr. M. Khan the translator of Sahih Bukhari and the Qur'an into English
wrote: "Allah revealed in Sura Bara'at (Repentance, IX) the order to
discard (all) obligations (covenants, etc), and commanded the Muslims
to fight against all the Pagans as well as against the people of the
Scriptures (Jews and Christians) if they do not embrace Islam, till
they pay the Jizia (a tax levied on the Jews and Christians) with
willing submission and feel themselves subdued (as it is revealed in
9:29). So the Muslims were not permitted to abandon "the fighting"
against them (Pagans, Jews and Christians) and to reconcile with them
and to suspend hostilities against them for an unlimited period while
they are strong and have the ability to fight against them. So at first
"the fighting" was forbidden, then it was permitted, and after that it
was made obligatory" [Introduction to English translation of Sahih
Bukhari, p.xxiv.]

Dr. Sobhy as-Saleh, a contemporary Islamic academician quoted Imam
Suyuti the author of Itqan Fi 'Ulum al- Qur'an who wrote: "The command
to fight the infidels was delayed until the Muslims become strong, but
when they were weak they were commanded to endure and be patient". [
Sobhy as_Saleh, Mabaheth Fi 'Ulum al- Qur'an, Dar al-'Ilm Lel-Malayeen,
Beirut, 1983, p. 269.]

Dr. Sobhy, in a footnote, commends the opinion of a scholar named
Zarkashi who said: "Allah the most high and wise revealed to Mohammad
in his weak condition what suited the situation, because of his mercy
to him and his followers. For if He gave them the command to fight
while they were weak it would have been embarrassing and most
difficult, but when the most high made Islam victorious He commanded
him with what suited the situation, that is asking the people of the
Book to become Muslims or to pay the levied tax, and the infidels to
become Muslims or face death. These two options, to fight or to have
peace return according to the strength or the weakness of the Muslims."
[ibid p. 270]

Other Islamic scholars (Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi, Ga'far ar-Razi, Rabi' Ibn
'Ons, 'Abil-'Aliyah, Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Zayd Ibn 'Aslam, etc.) agree
that the verse "Slay the idolaters wherever you find them" (9:5)
cancelled those few earlier verses that called for tolerance in the
Qur'an and were revealed when Islam was weak. Can you still say that
Islam is the religion of peace?

We propose a solution.

We know too well that it is not easy to denounce our faith because it
means denouncing a part of ourselves. We are a group of freethinkers
and humanists with Islamic roots. Discovering the truth and leaving the
religion of our fathers and forefathers was a painful experience. But
after learning what Islam stands for we had no choice but to leave it.
After becoming familiar with the Qur'an the choice became clear: It is
either Islam or humanity. If Islam thrives, then humanity will die. We
decided to side with humanity. Culturally we are still Muslims but we
no longer believe in Islam as the true religion of God. We are
humanists. We love humanity. We work for the unity of humankind. We
work for equality between men and women. We strive for the
secularization of Islamic countries, for democracy and freedom of
thought, belief and expression. We decided to live no longer in
self-deception but to embrace humanity, and to enter into the new
millennium hand in hand with people of other cultures and beliefs in
amity and in peace.

We denounce the violence that is eulogized in the Qur'an as holy war
(Jihad). We condemn killing in the name of God. We believe in the
sanctity of human life, not in the inviolability of beliefs and
religions. We invite you to join us and the rest of humanity and become
part of the family of humankind - in love, camaraderie and peace.

End