I really do not know how or where to start but the fact is that I am really and truly confused with regards to my identity.. I have been born and bred in a typical Sunni Muslim household.. I have always considered myself a very moderate Muslim or rather a liberal one.. I have had boyfriends and relationships.. I have tons of Non Muslim friends who I adore and trust much more than their Muslim counterparts. I have never ever discriminated anyone based on their religious background. I treat people on the basis of their nature and their moral character rather than on their religious beliefs. I do not have any prejudice for any religion, NO actually that is not true.. I do hate those so called Muslim fundamentalists who kill innnocent people in the name of God.. Ever since 9/11, I have been having some doubts but I was too cowards to face them or even acknowledge them until recently when I came accross Daniel Pipes and thru him, I came to know about you..

I am really confused and going thru an identity crisis.. Pleas help me..

 

Shakila

 

 

Dear Shakila,

There is no confusion about your identity. You are a human.  This is the identity we all share.  Thanks heaves you are a decent human.  Our beliefs are not our identity. They, like our clothing, can be changed. What you believe does not define who you are any more than your coat does.

Do you really believe in the same things you believed ten or twenty years ago or when you were a child?  Of course not! You see the world differently and your perception of reality has changed.

We don’t identify ourselves by our clothing, uniforms or costumes, so why should we identify ourselves by our transient beliefs?

This is the root of all problems. People forget that they are humans first and foremost and seek their identity in spurious things such as their religion, nationality, color of skin, caste, etc.  These are the things that separate us. But they are superficial and meaningless.

We can have several identities, as long as they are not in opposition. For example you can be a cop and a gardener. But you can’t be a cop and a thief.  Likewise you can be a human and a Christian or a Hindu or a Buddhist. They are not in contradition. But when you assume a Muslim identity, your humanity is reduced to the extent that you believe and practice Islam.   Those who are complete followers of Islam, like the terroritsts and many imams, have no humanity left in them.

What will happen if we don’t see ourselves as Muslim, Christian, Hindu, white or black, etc., but as humans? That would be a major shift of paradigm.  It is just sheer incidence that you were born into a Sunni Muslim family.  We must not focus on what is incidental but on what is essential. In essence,  you, along with other seven billion people sharing this planet are a human.  Through this shift of paradigm we can see our oneness and our sameness.

Ideologies that divide mankind should be discarded.  To some extent all ideologies divide mankind. But some ideologies are decisively divisive. They divide people between “us” and “them,” and promote hatred and distrust of the other.  Sigmund Freud, said, “It is always possible to bind together a considerable number of people in love, so long as there are other people left over to receive the manifestations of their aggression.”

Racism, fascism, communism, Islam, and some other less known ideologies use hatred of the other to bind their members together.  They need enemies to survive. Hatred fuels these ideologies. Take the hatred of non-believers away and Islam ceases to exist.

The problem with these ideologies is that the more we identify ourselves with them the less becomes our human identity. Our human identity brings us closer together. When I focus on my humanity, I see the same in you and in all other humans. We are just one people, share the same genes, have the same feelings, the same hopes and fears. We love the same way and cry the same way.  There is no difference between us. Unlike most species, like dogs, goats, and horses, which have many races, we humans have only one race.  We have thousands of ethnicities, but we belong to one race.  This is our identity.

Any ideology that diminishes this identity is evil.  We must not tolerate it.  We must not tolerate fascism, communism, racism, sexism, and Islam.  Anything that divides mankind, under the pretext of race, gender, class, or religion must be opposed and eliminated.

We must respect people’s right to believe even in things we don’t believe.  I am an atheist but I am not promoting my belief. It is just my choice because so far it makes more sense to me.  I respect your choice to believe in anything you want, but not if you believe in things that divide mankind, promote hatred and cause division.   That is why I fight to eradicate Islam – not because I believe it is false. I believe all religions are false. I oppose Islam because it is divisive. It diminishes our human identity.

You say you don’t discriminate against anyone for their religion and treat people on the basis of their nature and their moral character rather than their faith.  In that case you are violating the teachings of the Quran that says only Muslims are brother to each other, don’t take as friends and allies (awlia) your own father and brother if they like disbelief and don’t befriend the unbelievers, strive against them, and kill them wherever you find them.   None of the things you do is Islamic.  So why do you call yourself a Muslim?

The problem is that when people like you call themselves Muslim they give legitimacy to Islam, but Islam is evil.  You become like the sugar that sweetens the poison.   People look at you and say we know Shahkila. She is a good person and she is a Muslim so Islam must be a good religion.  But there lies the deception. You are a good person because you don’t follow Islam. You are a good human because you are a bad Muslim.  Good Muslims are dangerous and evil. They are full of hate, like Muhammad.

Your identity is the same as it has always been – a good human. You thought Islam is a good faith. We all did, but we did not know the truth. Now that we see the truth we must throw Islam away.   The more we become Muslim the less human we become.  Any religion or ideology that divides mankind must be discarded and opposed.  Collectively we must not accept evil beliefs.  Banning racism, fascism, communism or Islam is not a violation of human rights. It is the defense of human rights.  It is our duty to oppose these divisive doctrines and eradicate them.   No human has a right to promote hatred.  The world will be a better place without these doctrines of hate.

I know you are a good person and most Muslims are just like you.  But as a Muslim you are a carrier of this disease.  There are people who are HIV positive but do not show any sign of AIDS.  This does not mean HIV is harmless.  You may have good resistance but someone else can catch this virus from you and get AIDS.   Likewise most Muslims have good resistance to Islamic disease.  They are infected by it but don’t show any sign of madness. However, they transmit this disease to others and to their children and millions of innocent people catch the disease of Islam and are transformed into monsters.

If I am HIV positive and sleep around, I am just an immoral person, but if I know I have HIV and still sleep around, I am a criminal.

So far you did not know that Islam is evil, but now you know. From now on it is criminal to call yourself a Muslim.  I have more respect for the suicide bomber than I have for shameless deceivers such as Zuhdi Yasser, Irshad Manji, Tarik Fatah and others like them who denounce everything Islam teaches and say Islam is not this.  They are deceiving the people.  And they will continue deceiving as long as they find an audience.

 

Update: You might be interested to know that Shakila left Islam and now has her own blog http://liberatednow.blogspot.com/

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