Abul Kasem (former Muslim)
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[Letter from Abul Kasem to Ali Sina]
Why I left Islam
I have always questioned the necessity of religion in our lives and the inhuman and illogical practices in many religions including Islam. You might wonder what had triggered my distaste for religion. It all started in my schooldays when I witnessed the slaughter of a dear Hindu friend of mine (along with his entire family members) in Chandpur, Bangladesh. I can never erase that memory from my mind. That was a devastating experience, no doubt. But more shocking thing was that many Muslims were actually happy about that and even went further to support the idea that we (Muslims) should kill more Hindus because the Muslims in India are being slaughtered too. It was also declared by some Muslim clerics that killing of non-Muslims is an act of jihad and therefore, any one participating in jihad will be rewarded with heaven. At that tender age I knew very little of Islam and nothing about other religions. However, the little conscience inside me told me that what was being done and what was being practiced were not right. However, I had little power to change the course of events.
The other incident involves my life itself. I nearly died when the Pakistani soldiers and their fanatic supporters attacked the University residential halls on the dark night of 25th. March, 1971. I still do not know how I escaped the near death when most of my dear University friends were killed. There were bullets everywhere. Somehow or other I managed to cross the high walls which may be impossible for me to do now. There were many other incidents during that period and just prior to our liberation when I escaped near death from the fanatic followers of Islam. Any way, I do not want to burden you with those details. But all those incidents have spawned the seed of deep religious distrust in my mind. At that time many of my friends also shared the similar views with me. And naturally, I felt very happy that we have come to the end of religious tyranny.
But alas! As strange as it me seem now, many of those dear University friends of mine have really become fanatic followers of Islam. Many of them I met in my overseas life. They have spent a good part of their lives in the Middle East. They openly support some of the actions by the Pakistan army and their fanatic followers. They strongly support the forced conversion of the entire worlds population to Islam. Only then, they say, 'there will be peace'. Even in a country like Australia many of them dare to say 'we came to Australia to rid the people of their sinful activities and convert them to Islam'. One of their motto's is to build a mosque in every suburb of Australia. Of course, these are laughing matters in place like Australia. Whenever I meet these old pals it really breaks my heart. When I asked them what had caused such an opposite change in them; they readily admit that they were greatly influenced by the Arabs. Even though many of them really hate the cruel treatment of them (in many cases slave treatment) by the Arabs. But nevertheless, they feel very grateful to them (the Arabs) for giving them employment and good money. Many of these Bengali are proud to dress like Arabs. They have literally wiped out the memory of genocide in Bangladesh and some of them really justify the genocide to purify Islam. This had led me to conclude that Islam is nothing but the preservation of Arab hegemony and the enslavement of the poor people of countries such as Bangladesh.
The strange thing is that none of these Islamists really want to migrate to any Islamic country. None of them chose to live in an Islamic society. Why? The simple truth was that none of those Arab countries want them. These countries are for the Arabs only. Where is the Islamic brotherhood? The Arabs are very clever people. They have used Islam as a powerful bait to continue the age old tradition of slavery in the 21st Century format. My guess is that this will continue escalating while the oil price keeps soaring. These fanatics use the openness, fairness and the democratic institutions in countries like Australia to propagate their poisonous doctrines.
Surely you are disturbed and concerned about the hate mails that you have already received and you will surely continue to receive in future. Probably they (the fanatics) may even threaten your life. But these hate mails are a blessing in disguise. They confirm the real colour of the religion. The closing of your web site, if you really look from the positive point is a good one. It (the closing) clearly shows that the Islamists cannot ignore you any more, that you did create a great impact on the minds of rational thinkers for which many Mullahs really feel threatened. Please do not despair. You are not motivated by money; you are not motivated by honours and accolades, you are not motivated by a PhD, you are not motivated by leadership, you are not motivated by prestige. All we want is a fair go for humanity, a world free of religious bigotry, religious cruelty and religious unfairness.
I really do not know how to thank you and admire you for your death defying conviction. We are with you.
See Also
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