Kalima a Death Warrant?

A group of four Islamic terrorists brutally murdered 27 innocent persons at Pahalgam, in Kashmir, for their inability to recite Kalima, the basic Islamic declaration of faith which, reaffirms the unconditional obedience to the almighty Allah and the acceptance of Mohammad as the last and final prophet of God. Recital of Kalima has been approved as the official confirmation of the religious identity of a person by the Islamic faith through out it’s history.Since, the ill fated 27 human beings were believers in different religious faith, they could not recite the Kalima because, their religions have nothing to do with Kalima. This unfortunate incident paved the way for the discourses on the concept “Islamic terror” in public domain. As expected, the spokespersons of Islam have come out with a dissent note explaining that the act of terror has nothing to do with the practice of Islamic religion because, Islam never believes in violence.This has been the age old consolatory explanation offered to the victims by the Muslim religious leaders as and when a terror act occurs in the name of Islam. The public figures, including political leaders, used to subscribe the same opinion as a matter of diplomacy to keep up their secular credentials in public life. This diplomatic attitude of the religious leaders, socio-political and cultural heads is nothing but an act of perfuming on the ulcer to project a fake comfortable picture concealing the real contextual gravity. If someone wants to cure the ulcer then, a through process of diagnosis is essential before the beginning of medication.

Islam has often been accused of waging terror against the other faiths, in the name of the almighty Allah and the contextual application of his teachings. The Islamic academia as well as the clergy, have been trying hard, through out in the course of history of the religion, to prove their projected claims that, Islam preaches peace, love, non-violence and harmony rather than war from the day one of its origin. But unfortunately, their claims can’t be substantiated by facts and logic because, prophet Mohammad who established the religion had engaged in sixty-two battles and wars during the period of thirty three years of his prophetic life. How can a person, who describes the other as enemies and wages wars against them, whenever he gets a chance, be considered an apostle of peace is question deserves answer. Moreover, the Quran, the infallible text, narrates war strategy, in detail, as revealed by the almighty Allah, and advices the men of Islam on what should be the do’s and don’ts to be adopted to ensure victory over their enemies in a war. How such a text can be read as the source of peace and non-violence deserves debate.

Islam, the youngest among the prophetic religions, can claim a history of fourteen hundred and forty six years, while the other religious practices, observing multiple systems of rituals and customs, can claim millions of years of history. Islam keeps a clear cut dichotomy between the God and man and all the Muslims are expected to lay unconditional faith in the only one omnipotent God who can’t be known by sense organs and grasped by the mind. After fulfilling this primary condition, they have to believe in the last day of judgment by the God, in the QurAn, the text, which is believed as the compilation of utterances revealed by God, the angel Gabriel and prophet Mohammad as the last in the series of prophets send by God. They also believe that Islam is the only Halal (the most pure and perfect)religion and all other religions are Haram, which means, impure, imperfect and obselete. The text commands the Muslims to do jihad, which means the holy war in the name of God, to replace all impure ,imperfect and obselete religions by the Halal religion. The prophet, it is believed by all the Muslims, is only a faithful slave of the God, whom he has not seen directly but he heard about him indirectly through the angel. No Muslim would never get a chance to get further clarification on the utterances of God, If they need, because, according to Islamic faith the God never speaks directly to man but he reveals his words only through a prophet and Mohammed, the last prophet has already come and gone.

Therefore, whatever is written in the Quran is written for ever and that constitute the ultimate will of God. The ultimate will of God reminds every Muslim that ” Fighting is prescribed for you” and assures that “Fighting is good for you “.(S.ll .216) Again, God has given the guarantee to the messenger that, “This contains sure guidance, without doubt, those who fear God”(Sll, 2). Prophet Mohammad was in direct contact with Jews, Christians and Pagans and he preached that, those religions should be replaced by Islam and the text warned that, “Never will the Jews or Christians be satisfied with thee unless you follow their form of religion” (S.II, 120) and reminded that “They shall reap the fruits of what they did”(S II 134).

According to Islamic faith, religions, all over the world other than Islam, are imperfect because ,they challenge the authority of the Supreme God either equating the other imperfect deities with the almighty God or conceiving him as a perceivable entity. Both actions amount to blasphemy and death sentence is the minimum punishment for blasphemy, according to Islamic religion.

Then, Quran said:”So if they believe as you believe they are indeed on the right path; but if they turn back, it is they who are in schism; but God well suffice you against them.” (S II, 137) This aphorism,specifically declares that, Islam alone is the right religion and those who follow Islam alone are moving on the right path. The non-Islamic people creates sharp division in society and the Islamic God ensures that the Islamic people would get sufficient power to move against the opponents. Again, it reaffirms that, “And your God is one God. There is no God but he” (S ll 163) Since, the God infuses sufficient power in you, the Quran commands Muslims to “Fight in the cause of God” (Sll 190) “And slay them wherever you catch them” (S ll 191) Here, they means the Jews, Christians, and idol worshipers. The command is that such people should be finished then and there. The Islamic God, according to Quran, terrorises when he declares: ” Those who reject faith I will punish them with terrible agony” (S lll56″). Who deserves terrible punishment? He who violate the command “That we worship none but God. That we associate no partners with him” (S lll, 64) .

Again, the Quran cursed those who embrace any religion other than Islam:”If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, he will be in the ranks of those who have lost all spiritual good ” (S lll 85) .Then, it issues a commanding order: “Let those fight in the cause of God, who sell the life of this world for the hereafter.Whether he is slain or gets victory soon shall we give him rewards of great value ” (S lV 74).
Further Clarification has been given: “Take no friends from the ranks of those who rejected faith. If , they are true renegades seize them and slay them whenever you find them.
(S V 51) Hence, it commands ” Take not the Christians and Jews for your friends and protectors ” (S V 57). If, by chance,
someone takes a Jew or a Christian as a friend what would be the result? “Take neither Jews nor Christians as friends.
Whoever does so will be counted as one of them.” (S V 51) That is a Muslim takes a non-Muslim as his friend would also be killed. Moreover, the Quranic God said: ” I will instil terror into the hearts of the unbelievers ” (S Vlll 12).

How such a religion can claim that it preaches peace and non-violence? The religion that established enmity against those who believe in other religions is unfit to engage in meaningful dialogue in a democratic polity. A God who instil terror in the hearts of those who refuse to believe in him is dangerous. Any person who claims that I and my religion are only the true entities is moving to dictatorship because, at the next step, he would usurp himself as the supreme commander. As, every dictator is a lunatic, knowingly or unknowingly, Islam spreads theocratic lunacy in our society. It propagates the idea that to do Jihad, that is, waging war against the one who dissents with you, is the natural right of a Muslim is a dangerous concept. All the Islamic fanatics, irrespective of their origin and affiliation, used Kalima as tool either for mass killing of those who refused to embrace Islam or for mass conversion of the non-Muslims to Islam.The history of “Darul Islam” has been filled with the annals of persons who are intoxicated with Islamic Jihad. None among them ever refused to use Kalima as a death warrant against their religious enemies. The genocide in Pahalgam has been originated from the aftereffects of a theology that propagated exclusion and separatism.