Author:
Publication: Secularislam.org
Date: December 7, 2004
Kuwaiti Progressive Scholar: 'All
the Good is in Secular Thought, All the Evil in Religious Thought'
The Kuwaiti progressive scholar
Ahmad Al-Baghdadi, a political science lecturer at Kuwait University,
recently published several articles in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa,
denouncing religious thought and praising secularism. The following
are excerpts from the articles:
'Muslims Have no Future as Long
as They are Subjected to Religious Thought'
In an article titled 'Secularism
and Life,' Al-Baghdadi claimed that only a society free of religion
could make progress and develop, arguing that Islamic religious thought
prevents progress and development:
". Secularism as a [world] view
and as a way of life was not formed in a vacuum, but is the outcome
of the painful life experience of human beings which has continued
for close to a millennium and in the course of which the religious
thought of the Church, devised by the religious clergy, was abolished.
During this experience, Western man lived in intellectual darkness
and [endured] devastating wars in a period called 'the Dark Middle
Ages.'
"For the person educated in sciences,
industry, finances, politics, and culture there was only one solution,
which constitutes a refuge for the poor societies. That [solution]
is: distancing the man of the cloth from life. From that moment on,
the Western world became the only world to develop, progress, and
flourish in all spheres of life.
"In order [to avoid] being accused
of subjectivity against the religious way of thought, let us present
examples from the reality of life in the Muslim and Arab countries:
"1. Religious thought is the only
way of thought nowadays that refuses to accept the 'Universal Declaration
of Human Rights' on religious grounds, and this constitutes an obstacle
to [the realization of] these rights in the Islamic countries, not
only in the matter of inheritance, but also in matters such as equality,
freedom of thought, and freedom of speech.
"2. Islamic religious thought is
the only way of thought nowadays to persist in [accusations] of ridda
[apostasy]. Unfortunately, this persistence [leads to] the killing
of human beings, even without trial.
"3. Religious thought objects to
freedom of thought and freedom of speech when religion is criticized.
Moreover, religious thought reveres things that religion itself does
not instruct [us] to revere. Thus, for example, regarding [the immunity
from criticism of] the Prophet's companions, who are not considered
part of the principles of religion or of the roots of belief. Religious
thought does not distinguish between religion and its believers.
"4. Religious thought is still anti-woman
even if the religious clerics claim otherwise.
"5. Religious thought is opposed
to human health in matters of treatment and medicine. The prohibition
of including alcohol in most medicines leads to their reduced effectiveness.
[Moreover,] the Muslim doctor nowadays does not dare to instruct
a patient not to fast [during the month of Ramadhan], and the hospitals
therefore become full of patients who fasted.
"6. Religious thought supports political
tyranny, because it opposes democracy and the constitution. [For
example,] in Kuwait [some] strive to destroy the constitution and
the constitutional state, and in Saudi Arabia there is complete opposition
to democracy.
"7. If we were to imagine that an
[Arab] regime adopted a certain religious school of thought, what
could happen to the other schools of thought?
"8. Religious thought opposes the
Other, accuses him of heresy, and objects to living by his side.
Proof of this are the supplications and appeals [to Allah] that we
hear in the mosques to destroy all non-Muslims and harm them, rather
than requesting guidance for them on the straight path, [as would
have occurred] had there been an ounce of human tolerance.
"9. Religious thought is the main
reason for the production of terror, because of the negative interpretations
of the [Quranic] verses regarding Jihad.
"10. Religious thought opposes any
kind of creativity and art.
"The West did not make progress
until it became free of this way of thinking. This is the only solution
facing the Muslims. They have no future as long as they are subjected
to religious thought." [1]
'Muslim Countries cannot Adopt Secularism
because its Principles Contradict Tyranny, Oppression, Backwardness,
and Anarchy'
In an article published two days
later in Al-Siyassa, titled 'The Good in Secularism and the Bad in
You,' Al-Baghdadi explained the differences between secular and Islamic
countries:
"There is no Islamic country in
which a Christian or a Jew could reveal a cross or a skullcap, and
get away with it peacefully. In addition, members of [other] human
religions, like Buddhism and Hinduism, are prohibited from conducting
their ceremonies in public, even with governmental approval, without
people harming them, as happened at the Hindu place of worship in
Kuwait. In contrast to this religious persecution [in Islamic countries,]
of which the [Islamic] religious stream boasts, there is no secular
country that prohibits the construction of mosques, even in the event
that the government does not finance them. Moreover, there is no
secular country that prevents the Muslim from praying in public.
"There is no church in the secular
Christian world in which a priest stands and curses anyone who disagrees
with his religion or prays for trouble and disaster to befall them,
as do the preachers in our Friday sermons. [Moreover,] our religious
thought has no parallel to the message recently pronounced by the
present Pope regarding the importance of peace for all. Contrary
to the ease with which a mosque is built in secular Europe and America,
the construction of a church [in a Moslem country] is carried out
only with the approval of the country's president, [and even then]
it is rare.
"There is no non-Muslim religious
institute that teaches its students to hate the Other, claiming that
he is considered an infidel, doomed to hell, regardless of whether
he was of any use to mankind. This hatred is present in the curricula
of the Islamic religion.
"Throughout [Muslim] history there
has not been one Muslim judge who strived to attain justice for a
non-Muslim who was wronged, whereas the U.S. and Europe have saved
many peoples from oppression, while sacrificing human life and property
in order to save other [peoples.] [In this context] one cannot but
note the benevolence of the secular toward the Kuwaitis when they
decided to liberate Kuwait and reinstate the honor of its government
and its people.
"In the secular world the author,
the intellectual, and the journalist are not sent to jail for their
opinions - with the exception of the European laws concerning the
denial of the Holocaust that annihilated the Jews of Europe, because
this is a fact from which the European conscience still suffers.
[Even in such a case, the Holocaust denier] is not imprisoned, but
is merely fined. They do not consider him a murtadd [apostate], and
do not seek his death, try to assassinate him, harm his livelihood,
or separate him from his wife and children. In contrast, the extremist
Muslims and the Islamic clerics often adopt ideological terror, issuing
calls for killing, and accusations of ridda [apostasy].
"Those in the religious stream cannot
avoid admitting that all the good is in the secular thought, and
all the evil is in the religious thought, for they take advantage
of religion in order to harm not only people but religion itself,
to the point that Muslims no longer respect their religion, and they
start to exploit it for financial gain by selling Islamic books and
drink.
"Do you know why Allah helps the
secular country? Because it is just. Why doesn't He help countries
that build mosques every day? Because these countries are oppressive.
"The Muslim countries cannot adopt
secularism for a simple reason: the principles of secularism contradict
the outlook of these countries, which are based on tyranny, oppression,
aggression, backwardness, and anarchy. Moreover, these countries
exploit religious thought in order to impose their legitimacy. Thus
you find that they are the most avid supporters of the religious
groups, knowing that these groups include those who support terrorism
and harm society. For the religious groups do not support rights
and justice as much as they support oppression and tyranny, whereas
secularism [acts] in the opposite manner." [2]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Al-Siyassa (Kuwait), November
14, 2004.
[2] Al-Siyassa (Kuwait), November
16-17, 2004.
