The Decrees of Islam by Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari 31 Dec, 2008 Introduction After the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre and the sequence of events that followed—the war in Afghanistan, the terrorist attacks on the Indian Parliament House in Delhi and on the American Centre in Kolkata, and the burning of about 60 people alive at Godhra (that triggered the Gujarat massacre)—the people of India, especially the Hindus, have become curious about the religion of Islam. They are trying to know more about it. But a group of motivated intellectuals, mostly from the so-called secular camp, have come forward to present a distorted image of Islam with a sinister design to confuse non-Muslims, the Hindus included. They say that the true meaning of Islam is ‘peace’, that Islam is an extremely tolerant and peaceful religion; it has nothing to do with terrorism. They add that no religion teaches killing of innocent people, that terrorists—who kill innocent people—are only transgressing the teachings of Islam and that they have no religion and so on. Above all, they are telling lies that the Koran does not preach bloodshed or violence. This essay highlights the fundamental aspects of Islam, which will help enlighten non-Muslims about the aims and objectives of the Islam faith that originated in Arabia fourteen centuries ago. The Koran and Sunnah (Hadis or Prophet’s Tradition) are the fundamental source-books of Islamic theology. The Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by Allah, the Islamic God, Himself; its content is, therefore, indisputable. Among many compilations of Hadis, Muslims considers two of them—those of Bukhari and Muslim—as flawless and most trustworthy (sahih hayen or truthful twin); these are respected next to the Koran. In fact, Muslims believe that the contents of both the Koran and Hadis are revealed by Allah Himself, albeit differing only in the style of revelation; hence, they are equally honourable. The message of the Koran was read out to Muhammad by the angel Zibrail (Gabriel) from its divine edition. On the contrary, the message of Hadis was inspired by Allah to be manifested in the sayings and deeds of the Prophet. Whatever it may be, the contents of the Koran and the Hadis form the basis of Islam and contain three fundamental decrees of the faith. These are: 1. Millat and kufr 2. Dar-ul-Islam and dar-ul-harb 3. Jihad. Millat and Kufr The word millat stands for brotherhood; in Islamic sense, it denotes brotherhood amongst Muslims. It says that every Muslim in this world is a brother of every other Muslim, irrespective of his other identities: nationality, race, mother tongue and so on (Koran 3:103; 8:62-63; 47:22-25; 49:10 etc.). In his ‘Farewell Pilgrimage’ to Mecca in 631 CE, Prophet Muhammad allegedly delivered a speech in the valley of Arafat to explain the fundamental principles of Islam. In that famous speech, known as the Farewell Address, he explained the concept of millat, which forms the basis of today’s international Islamic brotherhood or Islamic Umma. The word kufr, on the other hand, means to disbelieve or to oppose. In Islamic sense, those, who refuses to believe in the Koran and the prophethood of Muhammad, commit kufr; they are kafirs. The faith of Islam rests upon five pillars. These are: 1. Kalema (profession of Islamic faith) 2. Nazam (Prayers) 3. Roja (fasting) 4. Zakat (Islamic charity tax) 5. Hajj or pilgrimmage to Mecca. The first pillar, kalema, includes six sentences of oath to the Islamic creed; out of these, the first—the kalema taiab—is most important, the 'soul of Islam'. It reads: La Ilaha Illalla, Mohammadur Rasululla; that is, there is God other than Allah (to be worshipped) and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah. Islam bestows so much importance on this kalema that a slight disbelief in it turns even a devout Muslim into a kafir instantly. It should be mentioned here that the real meaning of Islam is "submission" or "surrender", not "peace". In Islamic sense, it means surrender to Allah: His Koran and His Prophet. Those, who surrender to the Koran and Prophet Muhammad, are imandar Mussalmans (faithful Muslims); those, who do not, are the kafirs—the most despicable in the animal kingdom. So, according to Islamic theology, each and every non-Muslim is a kafir. Presently some Muslim authors and journalists are trying to propagate the view that the word kafir stands for an atheist in an attempt to mislead non-Muslims. Had it been true, Islamic militants in Kashmir could not have killed innocent Hindus, who are not atheists but believe in the Hindu God. The Palestinian suicide-bombers could not have killed innocent Israelis, who strongly believe in their God Yaweh; Osama bin Laden could not have given the call to kill American citizens, who believe in the biblical God. When brutal Muslim invaders came to India, they identified Hindus as kafirs: not only as simple kafir, but of the worst kind. It is because, they were idol worshippers. They considered killing Hindus, the vilest of kafirs, as their most sacred religious duty. There are many instances in which tens, even hundreds, of thousands of Hindus were massacred in a single day, because they were staunch believers in Hindu God and refused to embrace Islam; they were not atheists. Muslim invaders found them fit to be killed for the only fault that they refused to believe in the Koran, the prophethood of Muhammad and pronounce the ‘kalema taiab’. For the same reason, Hindus are identified even today as kafirs; they are routinely persecuted, even killed, in Pakistan and Bangladesh. So, it becomes evident that the concept of ‘millat and kufr’, the first decree of Islam, aims to divide humanity sharply into two camps: (1) Muslims or Momens and (2) non-Muslim kafirs. In the eyes of Allah, these kafirs are worst of animals [Koran 8:55]; He instructs Muslims to mount any kind of torture and atrocities on them: kill them, burn them and their houses, take their women and children as captives and rape their women and so on [Koran 2:190-193; 9:1- 37 etc.]. So the Koran says: “We have created, for hell, many genii (races) of men, ….and they are like brute beasts” (7.179) “Verily, those who disbelieve our signs, we will surely cast them to be broiled in the hell-fire, so often as their skins shall be well burnt, We will give them new skins in exchange, so that they may taste the sharper torment” (4.56) “Whosoever followeth any religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted of him in this life, and in the next life he shall be of those who perish” (3.85) “I will cast a dread into the hearts of the unbelievers” (8..12) “Therefore cut off their heads, and strike off all the ends of the fingers. This shall they suffer because they have opposed Allah and His Prophet, and whosoever shall oppose Allah and His Prophet, verily Allah will be severe in punishing them” (8.13) “...moreover, as for the non-believers, I will punish them with grievous punishments in this world, and in the world is to come” (3.56); “Allah loves not the unbelievers” (3.57); “ they shall suffer a grievous punishment” (3.77). So, it is not difficult to understand that Islam is a doctrine of intense hatred of non-Muslims. Allah Himself hates nonbelievers and incites His followers to do the same. In fact, Allah has empowered every Muslim to mount any kind of all kinds of atrocities on the kafirs: to loot their riches and wealth, to occupy their land and property, to kill them as and when situation demands, to take their women and children as captives and rape them or sell them as slaves and so on. Allah has commanded to strike terror into the heart of kafirs; to comply with this command, Muslims cut kafirs into pieces, rape their women in front of their kinfolk and smash the skulls of kafir children on stones. Those, who commit such atrocities on kafirs, will be richly rewarded by Allah on the day Judgement. Those, who are lucky enough to kill at least one kafir, will be honoured with the title of Ghazi; in Allah’s paradise, they will be treated as honoured guests and chosen to live for eternity in jannat-I-Firdause, the most exalted place in paradise. In fact, each and every Muslim, for their merit of believing in the Koran and accepting the true religion of Muhammad, will be favoured with various rewards by Allah on the day of Judgement. Only for believing in the 'kalema taiab', Allah will forgive their every sin and foulest deeds; even the most wretched, the most fallen, Mussalman will eventually be rewarded with an entry into Allah’s paradise. It may be pointed out here that, mostly the male Muslims will enjoy all these favours; the overwhelming majority of Muslim women will be thrown into the pit of hell. For the kafirs, the all-wise Allah has created seven hells having fire of varying intensities and flames of varying heights to cause burning pains of different degrees. The idolatrous Hindus will be thrown into the hell called Habhia, where the fire would be 70 times more intense than ordinary fire and the height of the flames would touch one’s scalp. The Jews and the Christians, for not being idolatrous, would find shelter in less painful hells. In sum, all Muslims (men), by the grace of Allah, will find a place in paradise, where they will be provided with every sensual pleasure, including celestial virgins, to satiate their lust.