New Literature for a New Era

Who Is Counting the Spillover Salaam and the “Collateral Blessing”?

And I don’t think anyone is counting all that spillover Salaam when Muslims so generously invoke their blessings on a specific target by saying: “May the peace and blessings of God Almighty rain down on you!”

Can you tell me what you estimate to be the average radius of a common, run-of-the-mill Smart Salaam?

I mean what target area does your average Salaam cover? How many square inches, feet, yards, acres, hectares, kilometers or miles does it blanket and saturate?

And what about all the Collateral Blessing to the unintended “victims” of your Salaam and Blessing Blitz with which you continue to fill the world day and night?

Saturation Blessing vs. Saturation Bombing

Yes, it is fair to say that that is what the Muslims do. They fill God’s earth with Saturation Blessing, while some others may fill it with Saturation Bombing.

The Collateral Blessing that comes from the Saturation Blessing that Muslims unleash on earth is life, liberty, health, joy, peace and happiness, whereas the Collateral Damage resulting from the Saturation Bombing invoked by some others may include death, destruction, disease and unspeakable human misery.

Of course, the Muslims don’t often know or understand that that is what they are doing. Nor do too many non-Muslims.

And with good reason.

How would they know if nobody told them?

Muslims don’t know because they gave up the culture of knowledge, education, science, rational thought and diligent inquiry a long time ago?

And, of course, the non-Muslims don’t know in part because the Muslims forgot to tell them what it is that they really do. Who they really are.

Instead, the Muslims have been running around for some time now trying to tell anyone who would listen to them that “Islam is a peaceful religion!“

Whatever on earth that is supposed to mean.

And whatever the consequences and penalties that may come from God Almighty for mouthing a euphemism and a half-truth that its users know to be misleading, ill-thought-out and meaningless.

Certainly Not a Religion

What most Muslims don’t know, and consequently what the world does not know, is that Islam is not what the world calls a “religion.” At least not in the ordinary and usual sense of that expression.

First of all, Islam is not a man-made system – with or without inspiration from above. It is all direct revelation.

And it is all fully documented history, if you want to call it that. Except that Islam is more fully, rigorously and carefully sifted, verified, investigated and authenticated set of facts and data from the past than any history of any kind about any individual, place, time or culture.

This is not pious declaration of faith or speculation but a hard fact, rooted in cold reality. In the sense that Islam all goes back to the Qur’an and to the Hadith and to the Sunnat of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

That means everything about Islam is what came out of his mouth in the form of the Qur’an; it is what he said by way of his teachings – Hadith; and it is what he practiced in his daily life – Sunnah.

These are all extremely precise objective realities, carefully defined and established, and these are not the lose professions or assertions of a believer’s faith, piety or devotion.

Islam vs. “Religion“: Some More Distinctions

Second, Islam is for all times of day and night – twenty-four-seven, as people call it. Whereas “religion” is mostly for a few minutes or hours on a Sunday or some other selected day of the week.

Third, Islam is for all places on earth, space and everywhere else. Whereas “religion” is mostly to be done in certain specially designated and sanctified places and sanctums.

Fourth, Islam is for the individual as well as for groups and the entire society, and for the human race as a whole, to connect with God Almighty directly, as best as they can and as per the teachings of the Qur’an and the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. Whereas “religion” generally requires a “holy man” of some kind, such as a priest or a pundit, to do it.

Fifth, and to make the earlier point more clear, Islam is directly done by the individual – by all people, men as well women, old as well as young. Whereas “religion” is done by “Holy Men” for and in behalf of the individual and the people.

Sixth, Islam is for all of human life. That means it covers every single aspect of human existence on earth, from the most trivial to the most important and profound, and from the most private and intimate to the most public. Whereas “religion” is generally limited to certain specific aspects of human life.

Seventh, Islam is open and available to every individual human being to learn and to practice. In fact, Islam makes it the duty of all to learn Islam. That is why the very first commandment of Islam is to seek knowledge: to read. Whereas in “religion,“ it is the privilege and prerogative of certain designated “holy men” to learn it and to practice it for and in behalf of the regular and ordinary people - “lay people,” as they are called.

So, the list of distinctions and differences between Islam and “religion” goes on and on forever.

How Peaceful Is Peaceful?

And then there is the question of characterizing Islam as “peaceful” and doing so under duress. That is, when you are being pursued and hounded by people who brand you as totally irrational and uncontrollably violent.

So, you have a knee-jerk reaction, purely defensive and purely self-protective and blurt out that you are a “peaceful religion.”

And you are absolutely and one hundred percent right in saying that. For, Islam is all about peace and truth and justice and kindness and compassion.

But that is not what your accusers and tormenters are saying. They are pointing to all the violence that is going on in different parts of the Muslim world, violence in which Muslims are involved in one way or another, and saying that it is all Islam’s fault.

But what some of these people conveniently forget is that there are all kinds of background factors and conditions that lead to violence in individuals, groups, nations and societies.

They forget that peace is one state of human life and reality. Another is strife and conflict. A third reality of human life is force.

Peace is the ideal state to which we all aspire and toward which we all work. Strife is the sad and gloomy reality in which human life is all too often mired.

Legitimate, lawful and societally sanctioned force is the instrument that human beings have devised for minimizing and controlling strife and for maximizing peace.

The foundation of true and lasting peace on earth and in any society is justice, love, safety, security, compassion, integrity, truth, reasonableness and sound morality.

Where this foundation is absent or weak, and where people’s most basic needs and legitimate rights and aspirations are not met, and are persistently and blatantly denied, chances of stable and lasting peace are minimized or jeopardized.

All too often, then, those who have been systematically denied their basic and legitimate rights, and who are not allowed by nations, societies and governments any rightful recourse to the redress of their lawful grievances, begin to resort to force and violence as an instrument of resistance to their domination, subjugation and exploitation by others and for the amelioration of their situation.

There are all kinds of university books, full of all kinds of theories, that explain why and how people develop violent tendencies and behavior.

For example, extreme poverty, deprivation, hopelessness, oppression, marginalization, cruelty and systematic discrimination, exclusion and abuse may potentially move people toward violence. So also may serious perceptions of injustice, usurpation of property, abuse of power, violation of basic rights and deeply held values such as honor, personal dignity and the life, honor and dignity of family members.

Colonization, mass enslavement, social and political tyranny, occupation of lands, exploitation and stealing of resources will all make nations and societies rise up in revolt.

This has been the history of the world. And everyone knows that.

Next Article: Muslims’ Abuse of Islamic Culture

Previous Article: Allah’s Boundaries: What a Glorious Concept!

Home | Writings | Audio | Quote of the Day

Related:

1. Islam Gave the World the Gift of Liberty
2. Islam the “Peaceful Religion”
3. A Time to Pray and A Time to Act
4. This Baqr Eid, a Wish, a Prayer [Quote of the Day - 317]
5. Qur’an: Key to World Peace
6. Drive-by Experts on Islam
7. Unveiling the Truth behind the Veil
8. Muhammad: The Living Miracle of Peace and Blessings – Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam!
9. Hate and Prejudice [Quote of the Day - 319]
10. [My Log - 1] Talking Gender Neutrality – with Liars-Liars-Pants-on-Fires
11. This Eidul Adha – Festival of Sacrifice – Ask: What Are You Sacrificing [Quote of the Day - 203]
12. Want Next World to Be Good for You? Work to Make This World Better for All! [Quote of the Day - 193]
13. Female vs. Male Illiteracy and Education – in Afghanistan or Anywhere Else [Quote of the Day - 160]
14. When Society Loses Free Media, Democracy and Islam Follow in Short Order [Quote of the Day – 114]
15. Truth Is a Fundamental Requirement for Life, Liberty and Equality [Quote of the Day – 78]
16. Just Inventory All the Ways Muslims Today Defy God’s Laws [Quote of the Day – 54]
17. Muslim Oil
18. SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 – THE Muslim Story and A strategy for Coping – Part One
19. A Five-Point Plan of Self-Protection against Crime
20. Salah or Namaz: A Paragon of “Professional” Conduct [Quote of the Day - 327]

Home | Writings | Audio | Quote of the Day