The Decrees of 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 , 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 , 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-, 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 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 by , the Islamic , 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 Zibrail () 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. .

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 ‘’ to 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 .

The faith of Islam rests upon five pillars. These are:

1. Kalema (profession of Islamic faith) 2. Nazam (Prayers) 3. Roja (fasting) 4. (Islamic charity tax) 5. 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 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 , 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 , 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 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 and the , 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. They will eat divine fruit and dishes. They will drink milk and wine flowing freely like rivers. Whatever they would eat and drink, everything would be completely digested; hence there would be no necessity to pass urine and stool, helping to maintain the most pleasant atmosphere.

Every dweller in paradise would never be older than 33 years in age; i.e., after attaining the age of 33, it will not increase further. Allah will provide every dweller of His paradise with 72 heavenly damsels of immaculate beauty called hoor (hourie). Their beauty would be such that their body-texture would be visible through seventy layers of garments; they would remain virgins eternally and never get older than sixteen. Allah will increase the sexual virility of every Muslim at least 100 times to cope with the situation. He will make every other effort to make the dwellers of paradise happy; by His unbounded grace, a coitus with a hourie would last 40 years.

Allah has made some practices unlawful for His favored people in this world, such as wearing garments made of silk, wearing gold ornaments, homo-sexuality, drinking wine and so on. But in the next life in paradise, He will make profuse arrangements to fulfil their unlimited lust and every other desire. Allah will provide each dweller of His paradise with at least 80,000 cup-bearing slave-boys like pearls, called (others claim only 28) for doing sodomy; they will always remain below 16.

Every Muslim in heaven will wear nothing other than garments made of the finest quality silk and have their implements made of only pure gold. The jubilant Muslims will praise Allah for endowing them with his unbounded bounties and pleasures in paradise.

Here lies the ultimate climax of this doctrine of hate: while Muslims would enjoy all concievable sensual pleasures and luxuries in Allah’s paradise, the kafirs would burn in the eternal hellfire. In it, Allah will roast them again and again; every time He will replace their skins with new ones so that they could suffer this inhuman torment in endless cycles.

Second Decree: ‘Dar-ul-Islam and dar-ul-harb’

The second decree of Islam tells that all nations on the earth can be broadly divided into two categories. Dar-ul-Islam, or House of Islam, includes those countries that have come under the domination (rule) of Islam. At present, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Syria, , and Lybia etc. are the examples of dar-ul-Islam. In these countries, Islamic governments, or the rule of Islam, has been firmly established and the kafirs have been turned into second grade citizens. Can a kafir enjoy the rights of livelihood in such a country? Islamic theologians have divided opinions in this matter. The Islamic law () also provides divided versions accordingly.

It should be said at the outset that Islamic judiciary divides non-Muslim population in such a country into two categories: zimmis and kafirs. The groups of monotheistic non-Muslims— having their own prophets and revealed books, such as Jews and Christians etc.—are called zimmis; the rest are kafirs. According to Islamic law, the zimmis in a dar-ul-Islam can earn the rights of safety of their lives and properties by paying poll-tax (). Are the kafirs entitled to enjoy such a right? Islamic law-givers are of divided opinion on this question. The Hanafi School approves such a right and allows kafirs in a dar-ul-Islam to earn the safety of their life and property by paying jizya. All other Schools forbid such a right; according to those schools, kafirs in a dar-ul-Islam have only two options: acceptance of Islam or death.

An example from history can be cited here to enlighten readers in this regard. The incident is recorded by Muslim historian and scholar Zia-ud- Barni in his Tarikh-I-Firozshahi. He narrates a dialogue between Sultan Alauddin Khilji (1296–1316) and a Qazi (Islamic judge), named Mughisuddin. One day the Sultan asked the Qazi: “How are the Hindus designated in the Islamic law, as payers of poll-tax (kharaj din) and the givers of tribute or land-tax (kharaz ghauzar)?” The Qazi replied,

“They are called payers of tribute. When the revenue officer demands silver from them, they should, without question and with all humility and respect, tender gold. If the officer throws dirt in their mouth, they must, without reluctance, open their mouth wide to receive it. The due subordination of the zimmis (the tribute payers) is exhibited by this throwing of dust in their mouth. The glorification of Islam is a duty. Allah holds them in contempt, for He says, “Keep them in subjection.” To keep the Hindus in abasement is especially a religious duty, because they are the most inveterate enemies of the Prophet and because the Prophet has commanded us to slay them, plunder them and make them, enslave them and spoil their wealth and property.” The great doctor (Abu Hanifa), to whose school we belong, has asserted to the imposition of zejya and 19 other disabilities on the Hindus. Doctors of other schools allow no other alternative but death or Islam”.

The passage vividly explains the role that Islam has played in India during the Islamic rule that lasted for more than 700 years, except the period of liberal rule of Akbar the Great.

The literal meaning of dar-ul-harb is "land of warfare". It refers to those countries not yet conquered by Islam or Islamic rule not established. Muslims are commanded to be in constant warfare with such lands in order to bring them under their control. That is the reason why these countries are called land of war, of violence and bloodshed. The ultimate aim of Islam is to turn the entire world into a dar-ul-Islam, to bring the entire world under the banner of Islam. So, it becomes evident that this goal would be reached only when every dar-ul-harb on the earth would be converted into a dar-ul-Islam. Hence the Koran says, “Go on fighting against them till the rule of Allah is not established [Koran 8:39].”

According to Islam, so long the kafirs are not wiped out from the face of the earth, they will have their own dar-ul-harb; war, confrontation and bloodshed (fitna-fasad) will continue. Once all the kafirs around the world are either eliminated or converted to Islam, creating a global dar-ul-Islam, only then lasting peace will be established in the world. That is the reason why some motivated or naive people try to associate the word "peace" with Islam.

Evidently, the path by which Islam intends to bring peace is horrifying, extremely bloody. Before Islamic peace comes, the entire world is to be turned into a killing field. Drenching the earth with the blood of kafirs is a prerequisite for setting up the stage for peaceful global .

Contrary to the prospect of pristine peace eventually in a global dar-ul-Islam as dangled by the Islamic creed, such a world-state, ruled by Islam, if ever be realized, would undoubtedly be no less horrifying. First, in such a situation, all wisdom—except the contents of Koran and Sunna, the divine encyclopedia of all true knowledge of the universe—would be despised and disbanded with all collections of books in the libraries throughout the world would be burnt to ashes. Most of the sports and games would be declared illegal, every male would have to grow beards and every woman would be covered with head-to-toe garments called burqa and forcefully confined to indoors. Education and participation in social activities would be illegal for women. Any artistic pursuit like painting, sculpting, and performing arts like singing, dancing and playing musical instruments would also be banned. Fanatic pious would grab power, run the governments and would establish autocratic regimes based on Koranic instructions. Democracy would go; people would be deprived of their fundamental rights. Peace would certainly prevail, if you call it so, on an earth, which would be nothing but one giant graveyard of progressive, creative, humane humanity.

The Decrees of Islam: Jihad by Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari

06 Jan, 2009

Jihad: The Third Decree of Islam

How to bring the entire world under the banner of Islam? How to convert each and every dar- ul-harb into a dar-ul-Islam? Here comes the third decree of Islam, namely “jihad”. English authors generally translate jihad as ‘holy war’.

In Hindu theolgy, the term, “dharma yuddha” or “righteous war” may represent some kind of equivalence for “jihad”. “Dharma yuddha” stands for a war waged by a civilized people against unjust aggressors or oppressors. The War at Kurukshetra in Mahabharata (~3000 BCE) is an example of “dharma yuddha”.

The War at Kurukshetra was fought between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, representing the forces of good and evil, respectively. Prior to the war, elderly Bhishma of the Pandava camp outlined a set of code-of-conducts, which the warriors had to follow. Verses 27–32 of the ‘Bhishma Parva’ narrate these laws, such as:

1. there will be no enmity after dusk when the battle is declared over, 2. one, who is engaged with oral combat, should be confronted orally, 3. a charioteer should fight with a charioteer, a horse-man with a horse-man, an elephant rider with an elephant rider and a foot-soldier with a foot-soldier alone, 4. one should fight with his counterpart who is equal in strength, skill, will, zeal and competency, 5. Before a combat starts, each warrior should make his opponent alert and warn about the consequences.

Those ordnances listed a set of people, who were not to be molested, injured or killed under any circumstances. A few of them are:

1. a soldier, who has casually gone out of the battle field, 2. a man, who is unprepared and incaution, 3. those, who has become overwhelmed or awestricken by observing the blood-shed, 4. those, who is engaged in fighting with another man, 5. those, who has already surrendered, 6. those, who is fleeing the battle-field showing his back, 7. those, whose sword has been broken and armour has been cut and so on.

In addition to that, no injury was to be inflicted to the driver of a chariot, carrier of weapons, drummers and conch-shell blowers etc. Noncombatants, like women, children and the elderly, never even enter the equation of Hindu warriors.

As concerns jihad, it is neither holy nor righteous; instead, it is the most barbaric incitement to commit indiscriminate and large-scale homicide. Jihad stands for the indiscriminate killing of kafirs, enslaving their women and children, raping the women and keeping as sex-slaves, plundering their wealth, confiscating properties, and occupying their land by sword, fire or whatever means possible. In fact, Islam was born with the sole intention of creating global empire. It, therefore, puts greatest virtue in its military component: jihad or fighting the kafirs with the intent of eliminating them from the face of the earth, eventually. Allah has proclaimed that whatever wealth and riches that exist on the earth belong to Allah and His Messenger and Islam inspires its followers to wage a war against the kafirs, the unlawful occupiers of those wealth and riches, for bringing them to Muslim hands, the legal owners. So, for a Muslim, launching a jihad or war against the kafirs, is the highest virtue—higher even than a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). So says the Koran:

Fighting against the kafirs is beyond one’s personal likings and dislikings as Allah has commanded to fight the pagans and all those who ascribe partners () with Allah (2:216).

A Muslim, participating in Jihad, is called a mujahid (pl. mujahidin). Allah’s ultimate intention is to raise and establish His religion to reign supreme over all people and places on the earth with the help of mujahidin. Allah aims to defeat the enemies of His creed, the , with mujahidin’s help. So the Koran says:

“That you believe in Allah and His Messenger and that you strive hard and fight in the cause of Allah with your wealth and lives” (61:11). “Jihad is better for you than your sitting back at home and if you do so, He will forgive you your sins, your foulest deeds and admit you into the gardens of eternity (paradise)” (61:12).

To inspire Muslims for jihad, Koran continues, “There is nothing in the sight of Allah which may be equated to jihad.” (9:19) and “No equal are those believers who sit at home (except those who are old and disabled) and those who strive hard and fight with their wealth and lives in the cause of Allah” (4:95). “That is because they (who sit back at home) suffer neither thirst, nor fatigue, nor hunger in the cause of Allah. …Nor they raise the anger of the disbelievers or inflict any injury (killing, robbing or taking captive) upon the enemy” (9:20). “Anyone whose feet get covered with dust in Allah’s cause will be forbidden from the hell- fire” (Bukhari: 4:66). Allah rebukes those who sit back at home for their cowardice and threatens them with cruel punishments as says the Koran, “If you march not forth (for jihad), I will punish you with painful torment and will replace you with other people” (9:39).

Allah loves military discipline and rank and rows (surat-us-saff) during jihad and says, “Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in rows and ranks as if they were a solid mass” (61:4). Discipline comes only when every one serves allegiance to a single commander; hence, the Koran says: “Verily, those who are serving allegiance to you (O Mohammad), they are in fact serving allegiance to Allah” (48:10).

Allah promises divine assistance and guarantees victory for Muslims and says, “As a divine assistance, Allah will provide five thousand angles as fighters and victory for the Muslims” (3:124–125). “So don’t become weak and be not sad and you are superior if you are indeed believers. …Allah helps those who remain steadfast” (3:139–142). Allah also says, “Those who believe, fight in the cause of Allah and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of , ever feeble indeed is the plot of Satan” (4:76). “Oh you who believe; when you meet the enemy force, take a firm stand against them and mention the name of Allah both with the tongue and mind, so that you may be successful” (8:45). “If Allah helps you, none can overcome you and if He forsakes you, who is there after Him that can help you?” (3:160). Allah adds: “…a thousand believers will overpower two thousand non-believers” (8:66); and if they are properly inspired, “twenty believers will overpower two hundred and a hundred believers will overpower one thousand non-believers” (8:65).

On the other and, fleeing from the enemy during jihad is one of the gravest sins; Allah warns such believers with crushing punishment in saying, “O you believers, when you meet those who disbelieve in a battle field, never turn your back to them. And whosoever is found to do so would incur wrath of Allah. His abode will be the Hell, indeed an evil destination” (8:15– 16).

Jihad offers Muslims a two-ways benefit; there is not way they can be a loser. Firstly, if they win a victory and remain alive, they will become the honorable ghazi and enjoy the booty earned in the jihad; secondly, if they die, they will become martyrs (shahid), whom Allah will reward with an instantaneous and direct landing in paradise, the dreamland of Muslims filled with celestial prostitutes and profuse enjoyments. Allah commanded to reserve one fifth of spoil as the ‘holy khums’ or ‘sacred booty’ for the Prophet during his lifetime and to divide the rest equally amongst the mujahidin. So He says, “Every soul should be paid in full what it (jihad) has earned. And no one shall be dealt unjustly” (3:161). Allah says, “Invade in the name of Allah and kill them who disbelieve in Allah. … Collect the booty and do good as Allah loves the good doers”. It may be mentioned here that, according to the Koran, kafir women and children are also war-booty. Allah permits Muslims to commit sexual assault on them (Koran 33:50); He commands them to massacre all the male kafir prisoners-of-war (8:71).

It has been said earlier that the martyrs will be Allah’s most exalted guests in paradise. He says in this regard: “Think not of those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive with their Lord and they have provisions” (3:169). “Allah will bestow on a martyr a greater reward” (4:74). This martyrdom in jihad is so beneficial for Muslims that a mujahid will say: “I would love to be martyred in Allah’s cause and then get resurrected to be a martyr, and then resurrected to be martyred, and then get resurrected to be martyred” (Bukhari 4:54). Regarding the benefits of martyrdom, the Prophet said:

(1) the soul of the martyrs live in bodies of green birds dwelling in paradise and fly where they like,

(2) all their sins and foul deeds are forgiven,

(3) a martyr will be able to intercede with Allah on the day of for seventy of his relatives and friends,

(4) he will come secure on the day of Last Judgment from great terror,

(5) he will not feel the agony and the distress of death,

(6) he will not be horrified by the great gathering on the and he will feel pain of killing kafirs except that of a pinch.

It is needless to say that this doctrine of martyrdom has been inspiring hundreds of Palestinian, Arabian and Pakistani jihadis to explode themselves as suicide bombers, that this doctrine inspired the hijackers who crashed the airplanes on September 11 (2001). It has been stated earlier that Allah forbids Muslim women from entering paradise. The only means by which Muslim woman can enter Allah’s paradise is by becoming a martyr in jihad. For this reason, more and more Palestinian, Iranian, Iraqi women are offering themselves as suicide bombers.

It should be mentioned here that, during the early weak phase of Muhammad’s prophetic mission in Mecca, fighting was forbidden for Muslims. But after his migration (hijrat) to , when the Muslim community had become secure and powerful, Allah at first gave them permission to fight and subsequently made fighting obligatory for every able Muslim (2:190,217, 22:39). So Allah said, “Hence when you meet them who disbelieve, smite them on their necks till when you have killed or wounded many of them” (47:4).

Allah says he is capable of punishing the nonbelievers whenever He likes, but He wants to punish them with the hands of the mujahidin in order to test their allegiance to Allah. So He says, “but, if had it not been Allah’s will, he certainly could have punished them. But to test you, some with others. But those who were killed in the way of Allah, He will never let their deeds to go waste” (47:4). So each and every Muslim should thank Allah for providing them with such a unique opportunity to express their allegiance to Him by killing non-Muslims; they should say, “Praise be to Allah, who has ordained ‘Al-jihad’ (to fight in Allah’s cause), with the heart, with the hand and with the tongue, with the reward of a place in the gardens of paradise”.

All Islamic scholars unanimously agree that jihad is the highest virtue in Islam—superior, to prayer, fasting and even pilgrimage to Mecca. It comprises all kinds of worships, both hidden and open, including one’s great love for Allah, one’s sincerity to Him and one’s trust in Him. In fact, jihad is a very wide gate: there is no deed equal to Jihad, whose reward and blessing is as great as Jihad’s. Therefore, it is the best thing a Muslim can volunteer for. Jihad shows one’s patience and devotion to Islam, to Allah; it is the best form of worship in Islam.

The reader should not miss the point that the ultimate aim of Islam is to turn the entire world into an empire of Islam, to turn the globe into an Arab imperial state, so that “Allah’s religion reigns supreme” (8:39). And jihad is Allah’s military instrument that must be applied by Muslims to achieve Allah’s ultimate goal. That is the reason why Allah repose the highest merit on it and incites Muslims to participate in jihad with the allurement of booty and sex with kafir women in this world, and, in the next, all sorts of sensual pleasures and comfort of paradise. So the Koran says, “Allah promises to such of you who believe and do good work (jihad), that He will cause them to succeed the nonbelievers in the earth. …He will establish for them their religion. …And will change their fear into security” (24:55). Allah adds, “My servants the righteous shall inherit the earth” (21:105) as “They are the best” (3:110).

The Decrees of Islam: Jihad in India by Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari

12 Jan, 2008

Jihad in India

As soon as Islamic invaders set their foot in India, the brutality of jihad began to take place: harrowing acts of cruelty, mass-massacre and bloodshed ensued. A few examples will be sufficient for the reader to understand the horridness of those acts. In 1194 AD, Mohammad Ghori launched a military campaign against Raja Jaichand of Benaras. On their way to Benaras, they occupied the fortress at Koll and to describe the Incident, Hassan Nizami in his Taj-ul Ma'asir writes,

“By the edge of the sword they (more than 50,000 Hindus) were despatched to the fire of Hell. Three bastions were raised, as high as heaven, with their (slain) heads and their carcasses became the food of the beasts of prey. …They destroyed nearly one thousand temples and raised on their foundations”.[1]

In 1196 AD, Kutubuddin Aibak invaded the fort at Gwalior. To describe the incident, Minhaz Siraj in his Tabakat-I-Nasiri writes, “In compliance with the divine (i.e. Koranic) injunction of holy war (jihad), they drew out their blood-thirsty swords before the enemies of religion (i.e. Hindus)”.[2] Hassan Nizami describe the same incident as,

“The army of Islam was completely victorious and one lacks Hindus were swiftly dispatched to the hell of fire. … He (Kutubuddin) destroyed the pillars and foundations of idol temples and built their stead mosques, colleges and precepts of Islam”.[3]

In 1197, Kutubuddin invaded the fort at Naharwala in Gujrat. On the way, a battle was fought with the king Karan Singh. Describing the incident, Minhaj Siraj writes, “Nearly fifty thousand infidels (Hindus) were dispatched to the hell by the sword and from the heaps of the slain, hills and the plain became one level”.[4] Regarding the capture of the Kalinjar Fort by Kutubuddin in 1202, Minhaz notes, “… fifty thousand men came under the collar of and the plain became as black as pitch with the blood of Hindus”.[5]

After capturing the fort of Chittor in 1568, Emperor Akbar ordered a general massacre. Vincent Smith writes of the incident that “The eight thousand Rajput soldiers, who formed the regular garrison, having been jealously helped, during the siege, by forty thousand peasants, the emperor ordered general massacre, which resulted in the death of 30,000”.[6] Abul Fazl in his Ain-I-Akbari wrote that on that day 40,000 Hindus were killed. But it was an impossible task to count the dead-bodies and hence to ascertain the exact number of victims. So the emperor commanded his soldiers to collect the scared threads of the dead Hindus. When the sacred threads were accumulated they weighed 74 and 1/2 maunds (nearly 2.8 metric tons). So it becomes evident that more than 200,000 Hindus were massacred on that day.

Ulugh Khan (later on Sultan Ghiasuddin Balban), when he was serving sultan Nassiruddin (brother of Sultana Rizia) as a commander, went to the Gahrwal and promised his men that he would reward them with one rupee for bringing the head of a slain Hindu and two rupees for bringing a Hindu alive. Like hungry dogs his army set out for the hunt of kafir Hindus. The massacre went on for three long weeks and several hundreds of thousands of Hindus were slain. Ulugh Khan then built high-rise bastions with the heads of the slain Hindus. In 1360 AD, Firoz Shah Tughlaq invaded Orissa and desecrated the temple of Lord Jagannath and threw the idol in the Bay of Bengal. On his return journey, when he was passing through Jajnagar, it was brought to his knowledge that nearly 120,000 Hindus had taken shelter at an offshore island. Firoz Shah then went to that island with his men and butchered those 120,000 Hindus in a single day.

When Maharana Sangram Singh was defeated in the battle of Khanau, Babar ordered general massacre, and his chief commander Mohammadi and other commanders massacred 1,00,000 Rajput prisoners of war and another 1,00,000 civilian Hindus. Such killings of Hindus wet on unabated during the entire period of Muslim rule that lasted for about 700 years.

Regarding these killings of Hindus, Swami Vivekananda writes, “When the Muslims first came to India, there were, according to their historical records, 60 crores (600 million) Hindus in India. This calculation suffers from under estimation than exaggeration; for lots of people perished slowly through the persecution of the Muslims. Therefore, it is obvious that the number of Hindus was even more than 60 crores—in no account less than that. But today the same Hindus have dwindled into 20 crores (in 1897-98)”.[7] So, according to the estimate of Vivekananda, the brutal Muslim invaders wiped out 40 crore Hindus during their period of rule. Not only that, we have to add the number of Hindus who were born within that period.

When the Muslim invaders came to India, our Hindu rulers took into account their military might alone. To fight this new enemy they followed the same strategy their ancestors used to follow---the eternal rules and traditions handed down to them from the days of Mahabharata, and they failed to discover the element of jihad, the kafir-killing motives of Islamic invaders. Being guided by their age-old civilized tradition that the prisoners of war were to be set free and not to be harmed, Hindu kings after winning a victory over the Muslim army, used to set the prisoners free. But on the contrary, victorious Muslim rulers, being guided by their kafir- killing doctrine of jihad, used to massacre the entire regiment of Hindu prisoners of war.

As opposed to Indian civilization values and tradition as it was, Indian kings were astonished to see killings of civilians, innocent farmers, burning villages and standing crops by the Muslims invaders; they were more shocked by horror act of enslaving the women and children and dishonoring the women. There are many instances where their age-old civilized code of war was the cause of their defeats in many wars. For example, Prithviraj Chauhan took Mohammad Ghori prisoner when the latter attacked India in 1191; but he set the aggressor free in accordance to Hindu tradition of dealing with prisoners. Mohammad Ghori regrouped and attacked Prithviraj again and defeated the Hindu monarch in a treacherous night-time attack. The civilized codes of war brought Prithviraj's defeat and death.

Allah versus Hindu God

Besides the three decrees of Islam as mentioned above, a few other aspects of Islam deserve a discussion here. Hindus have composed the song, “Ishwara Allah Tere Naam”; as if, there is no difference between the Hindu God and Allah. But those Hindus do not know that, there are profound differences between Ishwara (Hindu God) and Allah. The true Ishwara (God), the creator of this universe and everything within it, should treat every human being equally. The Hindu God lord Krishna, for example, says, “In my eye, every human being is equal—no one is my favourite and no one is detestable to Me”. (Bhagavad-gita 9.29).

But in the eyes of Allah, all human beings are not equal. He is kind (Rahamanir-Rahim) to Muslims alone; to the non-Muslims, he is an extremely cruel despot, a cruel brute. Allah undoubtedly is extremely biased to His children, unfitting of a true God. Swami Dayananda Saraswati in his Satyartha Prakash rightly says, “ If the God of had been the protector of all creatures and dispenser of forgiveness and mercy to all, He would not have commanded the Muslims to kill the people of other religions”. This factor led him to the natural conclusion that “The Quran does not appear to have been made by God”.(Ch. XIV).

It is doubtless that Allah is a God only for the Muslims and not for the entire humanity. A closer look at the word Allah, indeed, reveals such as case. It has been derived from two words, ‘al’ stands for ‘the’ and ‘ilah’ for a local God in Arabia at the time of Muhammad. The word 'Allah', therefore, literally stands for a local god of Arabia, not for creator of the Universe. The behavioral pattern of Allah, as reflected in the Koran, reveals Him as a partisan Deity, similar to a mafia don or the leader of a criminal gang, who seeks to gain control over the entire world to establish Himself as its sole ruler through bloodshed and terror.

Namaz, a Regular Military Exercise

Many kafirs, including Hindus, admire Muslims for their regular prayers, five times a day. They consider this prayer (namaz) by Muslims as their sincere, humble and devotional submission to God. In this context, it should be mentioned that the ultimate spiritual attainment for Muslims is their entry into Allah’s paradise and it has been pointed out earlier that for the sheer merit of taking the oath through the ‘LA Ilaha Illallah’ kalema each and every Muslim, even the most vile ones, would be allowed to enter Allah’s paradise. Why then Muslims pray five times a day and observe fasting (roja) for a whole month in an ostentatious display? To find an answer, we have to delve into the matter a bit.

Hindus believe in praying to God in solitary privacy away from crowds. But Islamic theology demands ostentatious display of their piety in order to earn real merit; praying in congregations in full view of the public earns them much greater merit. The merit of a prayer in a grand of congregation at Islam's holiest shrine, the Ka'ba at Mecca (Masjid-ul-), is 100,000 times higher than praying in privacy.

So it becomes evident that the ultimate purpose of namaz is not an humble submission to Allah, but to gather people as much as possible with the aim of forming a regiment. The view gains ground when one observes the method by which a prayer is conducted in a . First of all every Muslim has to stand in perfect rows and ranks and they should stand up and sit down at the same time according to the command of the Imam (who conducts namaz). All these gestures show that Islamic prayers is more like a military exercise. Congregational Namaz also aims to enhance intimacy and bonding amongst Muslims to strengthen their regimentation. That is why Prophet Muhammad always held a congregational prayer just before launching a Jihad attack on the kafirs in Arabia. Such raids often took place just after the completion of the early morning (fazar) prayer to catch the enemy unawares, Muhammad's attack of in 629 being an example. This Sunnah is being practised by Muslims even today. Whenever they organise a communal riot against the kafirs, they normally begin it just after completing a congregational prayer, usually the congregation mid- day prayer on Fridays (Jumma). In Indian context, it may be recalled here that the ‘Great Calcutta Killing’ in 16th August, 1946—that kicked off the Muslim Jihad for creating Pakistan—took place on Friday; Muslims started massacring the Hindus just after the mid- day prayer.

The Muslim prayers, therefore, has an obvious military importance, it is intimately connected to organization of jihad against the infidels; it is not so much about personal devotion to their God. In this context, a few other aspects of the namaz deserves special attention. As Muslims stand shoulder to shoulder for a congregational prayer like a military, the Imam—starting with Surah Fateha (the First Chapter) from the Koran—progressively recite three more verses, usually choose violence-inciting chapters of the Koran. This normally follows the Imam's violence-inciting sermons (khutba). So a portion of the khutba, which Imams deliver on the day of Id-ul-fitr, the holiest day of Islam, is quoted below:

“…Oh Allah, make your religion and your faithful followers always victorious and bring defeat for the unruly, ill-behaved and disobedient kafirs. Oh Allah, the servant who is obedient to you, whether he is a son of a king, or slave of a slave father, or the lord of two oceans, if he is a servant of Mecca and Medina or a warrior in the cause of Allah, if he is a Muslim king, Oh Allah, protect his kingdom, make him and his Muslim subjects prosperous. O Allah, bring slavery for the kafirs, ruin their states and bring disunity among their unity”.

It shouldn't be difficult for readers to grasp why Muslims can easily be roused to Jihadi violence against the kafirs following congregational prayers. Furthermore, Muslim boys are to be taught how to pray when he is seven. One can easily imagine the kind of anti-Kafir feeling Muslims would harbor if given such lessons violence-inciting lessons five times a day from his childhood.

In addition, one should take into account of the animal-killing ritual (Korban) on Bakr-Id (Eid al-Ajha, on the 10th day of Arabic month Jilhijja). While namaz provides psychological training, the sacrifice of animals acts as a kind of practical training for shedding the bloods of living beings. According to the psychologists, if a man is taught such lessons day after day, year after year, he loses his thinking power and acts according to said teachings instantly, which they call the ‘motor action’. That is why, Muslim can be roused to violence against the kafirs so easily. The practise of animal killing, widely prevalent in Muslim societies, also condition them into shedding blood of animals, which can easily extend to human beings, who are being portrayed as their enemies in sacred Islamic scriptures. The fact that the Quran teaches killing of unbelievers in the name of Jihad as a most meritorious act, deserving of gaining Paradise, Muslims can most easily engage in cruelty and violence against the Kafir utter nonchalance; this is so evident amongst global community of Muslims. For this reason, a peaceful, timid , after converting to Islam, can instantly turn to kafir-killing Jihad; we have seen many example of it in recent years.

Interestingly, like the namaz, the other major Islamic ritual, the fasting in (roja), also carries jihad significance. Prophet Muhammad carried out his major Jihad expeditions in Arabia—from the famous (624) to the (630)—in the fasting month of Ramadan. Incidentally, the major 20th-century Jihad in the subcontinent, the violent movement for creating Pakistan, was purposefully inaugurated by Jinnah-led Muslim League on 16 August 1947: it was the 18th day of Ramadan, the same day, the most significant Jihadi battle of Badr took placed in 624.

References:

(1) H. M. Elliot and J. Dowson, The History of India : As Told by its Own Historians (in 8 Volumes, Low Price Publications, Delhi (1996), II, 224. (2) H. M. Elliot and J. Dowson (ibid), II, 227. (3) H. M. Elliot and J. Dowson (ibid), II, 215. (4) H. M. Elliot and J. Dowson (ibid), II, 230. (5) H. M. Elliot and J. Dowson (ibid), II, 231. (6) V.A. Smith, Akbar The Great Mogul, Oxford Clarendon Press, 76. (7) Rules and Regulations of Ramkrishna Math (1987-98), 19-20.

The Decrees of Islam: Two Faces of the Koran by Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari

19 Dec, 2008

Two Faces of the Koran

It is a common practice amongst Muslims to fool Hindus and other non-Muslims by various means. They say that Islam means peace, kafir means an atheist, jihad means a war between forces of good and evil and so on. They also deceive the kafirs in another ingenious way: they quote those few verses of the Koran, which are not violent, but tolerant and innocent in spirit. A few such verse are:

“Allah does not love the oppressors” (3.140),

“Allah has prepared painful punishments for the oppressors” (14.22),

“Allah does not love them who creates indiscipline” (5.64),

“Allah does not like jealousy and aggressiveness” (57.23),

“Allah loves patience and forgiveness” (42.43),

“Your religion (is dear) to you and my religion (is dear) to me” (109.6),

“The Prophet has no other duty but to propagate the message of Allah” (5.99)

When these verses are parroted before the kafirs, including Hindus, many are fooled and admit that the Koran has tolerant, humane and innocent verses too. In this context, it is very pertinent to mention that Muslims quote the verse, “Your religion to you and my religion to me”, most frequently to fool the naive infidels.

The Koran contains over 6 thousands verses (ayats) under 114 chapters (suras). These verses can be broadly divided into two categories: Makki and Madani verses. Those verses, revealed in the early phase of Mohammad's prophetic mission at Mecca, are called Makki verses. The remainder, revealed after his migration to Medina, are called Madani verses. Before his migration (hijrat) to Medina, the Prophet was a humble servant of Allah and a good husband to his only wealthy wife Khadija; his community was weak; he had no economic, political or military power. Understandably to suit the circumstances, Allah revealed tolerant and innocent verses during this period.

After his migration to Medina, the Prophet became the Chief administrator, powerful military commander of his Jihadi Muslim army; he became the supreme dictator of Medina. Having acquired such power, the idea of spreading Islam by the sword came to his mind and Allah complied by inventing the doctrine of jihad.

Thus, so long Muhammad lived in Mecca as a weak community, Allah refrained from commanding Muslims to engage in Jihadi war. But after the hijrat to Medina, Allah could read the mind of the Prophet and gave Muslims the permission to fight and, subsequently, made fighting obligatory for every able Muslim. From that time onwards, Allah began to reveal cruel, violence inciting verses of jihad, the verses of bloodshed for wiping out the kafirs to establish an empire of Islam in the Arab Peninsula.

That is the reason why the Muslims, whenever talk about Islam in a civilized forum, they, to hide the bloody sword of Islam, always utter the Makki verses of the Koran. It should be pointed out here that, after the September 11 attacks, many television channels broadcast interviews with Muslim reporters, intellectuals and religious leaders. The print-media also published similar interviews. On these platforms, Muslim journalists, clerics and political leaders, to fool the unsuspecting kafirs, quote the Makki verses alone: "Your religion to you and my religion to me" is the most quoted one.

In countries, where Muslims are still a minority, they always make use of the Makki verses. But as soon as they become the majority or strong in military power, they chuck the Makki verses in the junkyard and turn to the Madani verses—the verse of violent jihad. In India, when Muslims come to Hindu areas, they never utter a Madani verse, but in Muslim- dominated areas, they propagate the Madani verses, such as from mosques, often with the help of loud-speakers, to scare the minority Hindus out. Thus, even today, Muslims make use of the Makki or Madani verses as circumstances permit as did Muhammad-Allah duo in the 7th-century Arabia.

Mandir (Temple) versus Masjid (Mosque) in India

Most Hindus, when they undertake a religious discussion, usually utter mandir-masjid (temple-mosque) in the same breath, as if, there is no difference between the two. Broad minded Hindus generally think that mandirs are abode of the Hindu God as masjids are abode of Muslim God, Allah. To them, there is no difference between Allah and the Hindu God; so they hold the abodes of the two respective , mandir and masjid, in the same light. In reality, there is a gulf of difference between the two. Presently, a common difference is that Islamic terrorists, such as in Kashmir and elsewhere, make masjids their shelter, their hiding- place. Hindus have no terrorist gangs like do Muslims everywhere, nor any necessity of hiding in a temple.

As mentioned already that Islam is unlike what Hindus consider Dharma (religion). In fact, Islam is a political institution that aims to establish an Islamic empire globally and the masjids play the role of branch-offices of the political party, called "Islam". As said already that Islam wants to conquer the world by means of jihad, and that many masjids act as centers, where the jihadis or mujahids prepare blueprints for jihad. Additionally, masjids often function as armories of weapons to be used in jihadi wars.

During the days of Mohammad, these weapons included swords, daggers, , spears, shields and so on. Today, there has been modernization in this weaponry: you will find AK- 47 rifles, machine-guns, rocket launchers, grenades, dangerous explosives like RDX and so on. According to intelligence reports, some masjids along the Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Pak borders, as well as the Indo-Nepal border, are presently being loaded with such weapons. Even in Kolkata, the police reports say that there are 14 main masjids where automatic weapons and explosives have been dumped in huge quantities. However, there is no record anywhere in the world that Hindus have stocked up weapons in temples or used them for military purposes.

When Mohammad became the supreme military commander and administrator of Medina after immigrating there in 622 CE, he used to discharge all his duties, including his planning and operations of Jihadi wars, from his masjid at Medina. The prophet's masjid at Medina, therefore, was his chief administrative office, military headquarter and the apex court. Hindus have never used a temple for any such political purposes. The Prophet lived 10 years in Medina before he died. During those 10 years, he organized 82 raids (ghazwa); the blueprints of all those raids were prepared in his masjid in Medina.

Mohammad loved absolute power and never tolerated any criticism. There were many eminent people in Medina, mainly poets, who earned ire of the Prophet for criticizing his creed and activities. To avoid the foiling of assassination bids if conducted in broad daylight, he sent his assassins to dispatch his critics in the darkness of night: poetess Asma, poet Adu Afak and Kaab-bin-Asraf were amongst such victims. These poets served the of journalists of today by criticizing, in their writings, the inequalities and murderous activities of Muhammad and his militant community.

And the blueprints of all these murders were prepared in the Prophet's masjid of Medina. Moreover, the Prophet used to see his assassins off from his masjid and greeted them in it after they returned from committing the crime. Most importantly, Muslims, even today, use masjids for such criminal activities to emulate the Holy Sunna (Tradition) of the Prophet. A prominent example being the President Musharraf's Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad when Jihadis had made it the head-quarter of their operation in 2008. Hindus have never used a temple for such mean purposes.

It has been said earlier that Muslims began the Great Calcutta Riots from the masjids of Kolkata after completing the Friday congregational prayer. In Islam, the Prophet is the supreme guide and every Muslim has to follow him without any question. The Prophet used to lick his fingers after taking meals and every Muslim should ideally lick his fingers in like manner for the eternity. The Prophet disliked dogs; so Muslims hate dogs; they are not permitted to have dogs as pet. The Prophet used to shave moustaches and keep beards as did his followers, so that they could be easily identified and distinguished from the kafirs of Arabia; Muslims throughout the world blindly follow the custom. Allah repeated commanded to “follow Allah and his Prophet”. So Muslims worldwide are replicating the deeds of the Prophet, including what he used do in his masjid in Medina.

The Imams of masjids are pronouncing fatwas, indoctrinating young Muslims for recruitment to Jihad, preparing plans for Jihad attacks on kafirs, including for the occupation of kafirs' homes and lands and plunder their wealth and other riches. Friday congregation prayers have becomes the major event when Jihad operations are launched from mosques from all over the world. Not only that, there are umpteen instances, in which Imams of masjids Bangladesh and Pakistan brought false allegations against innocent housewives for not complying with their dirty proposals, accused them of committing adultery and pronounced fatwas to kill them by pelting stones (rajam). Hindus have never used their temples or for organizing such reprehensible, vile acts.

Evidently, there is a huge gulf between a mandir and masjid. The Prophet used his masjid in Medina for another unique purpose. After a jihad raid, the war-booty were dumped in the courtyard of his masjid and divided among the mujahidin; the Prophet used to acquire one- fifth share of the booty as sacred khum. The captured kafir women, considered God- sanctioned war-booty, were also assembled there and the Prophet used to choose the most beautiful and charming catches of women for himself. The Hindus would never contemplate on committing such foul deeds within a temple compound. They use temples for offering devotion to God and perform puja rituals for what they see as spiritual uplift, never for criminal or foul activities.

Conclusion

From this discussions, it becomes evident that Islam as a religion is quite opposite to what Hindu Dharma (Hinduism) stands for. Islam is evidently an inhumane political institution based on savage violence and brutal criminality. Islam, in reality, is an asylum for criminals, who can used Islam's fundamental precepts to validate their criminal aims. Islam is a dreaded enemy of all non-Muslims and the most dreaded for the idolaters, such as Hindus as well as their civilization and culture. So those, who, knowingly or not, propagate the view that Islam is a peace-loving faith, that the Koran does not inspire violence, are committing an serious crime against humanity.

If Muslims gain political supremacy in India, they will, most likely, pull down all temples and other non-Muslim places of worship, or convert them into mosques, burn books that does not agree with the Koran as Muslim rulers and invaders did in the past. Humanity will evaporate from this land, which had distinguished itself as a civilization for its tolerance and humanity over the ages; it will be turned into a land for the cruelty and oppression of its non- Muslim population. It is, therefore, essential for Hindus to understand these fundamental aspects of Islam, particularly its creed of aggressive and kafir-killing Jihad. Only then, they will be able to build an effective defense to neutralize the impending treat of Islam against their life, culture and Dharma.

Likewise, the global community of non-Muslims should understand that the present upsurge in Islamic extremism is not only a threat to Hindu India or America alone, it is a threat to entire civilized world, to all non-Muslims. The war launched by America against , therefore, should not be seen as America's war alone; it is a war of the civilized humanity against a brutal creed, with 1.3 billion blind-folded followers, hell-bent on creating a global Islamic kingdom at the expense of all else. If Islam wins this war, it will be catastrophic for the progressive, civilized humanity. Hence, every sensible government and individual, who believe in humanity, progress and prosperity, should extend his moral and material support and do their part in this battle brought upon by the dark forces of Islam upon the human race. They must do every thing, they can, to strike a mortal blow at the root of this conflict, the creed of Islam, which turns otherwise good people into mass-murderers like bin- Laden.

Let me conclude this essay by quoting the opinions of two eminent authorities on Islam. Sir Jadunath Sarkar in his History of Aurangzib (Orient Longman, 1972, III, p. 168) writes,

The murder of infidels is counted as merit in a Muslim. It is not necessary that he should tame his own passions or mortify his flesh; it is not necessary for him to grow a rich growth of spirituality. He has only to slay a certain (non-Muslim) class of his fellow beings or plunder their lands and wealth, and that act in itself raises his soul to (Islam) whose followers are taught to regard robbery and murder as a religious duty, is incompatible with the progress of mankind or with the peace of the world.

Sir William Muir in his The Life of Mahomet (Voice of India, New Delhi, 1992, p. 522) writes,

The sword of Mohammad, and the Kor’an are the most stubborn enemies of Civilization, Liberty, and Truth which the world has yet known.