THE IRRATIONAL MUSLIM MIND

The trouble is you are looking at Hudud based on life on earth. Muslims look at Hudud based on the Afterlife in heaven. So you are not on the same wavelength here. And when you are not on the same wavelength it would be impossible to understand one another.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I titled my article today ‘The irrational Muslim mind’ because I know those who suffer from Islamophobia would certainly click on it, for obvious reasons. And outraged Muslims who feel insulted would probably do the same.

Aiya, that is called marketing mah!

Anyway, there is a lot of truth in that — the irrational Muslim mind. Muslims are irrational — as are Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and all the rest. In short, everyone who believes in a God and/or a religion has to be irrational. You cannot but not be irrational to believe — and die for, kill for, spend all your money for, etc., — for something that cannot be proven.

And that is why religions are called faiths. It is religious faith and not religious evidence that makes you believe. If you had to base your beliefs on evidence you would not believe. And you would be what many would call a faithless person. You lack faith or are devoid of faith.

Hence it is not wrong to say that Muslims, plus all those from the other religions as well, are irrational. You need to be irrational to have faith in something that you do not know whether is true or not. It is something that you heard about. Someone told you. It is absolutely hearsay, which in court would be rejected as evidence.

So, now, you want to debate with Muslims about why you cannot accept Hudud. And you present your case well. You use rational arguments to explain why you think Hudud is not suitable for a country like Malaysia, and in these modern times.

Very intelligent arguments, I must say. Extremely rational reasons! But how do you rationalise something irrational? How do you use rational arguments against an irrational belief?

If rational arguments can be applied in matters of religion then I can offer you many rational reasons as to why Jesus could not be the Son of God and could not have died and then came back to life three days later. Will Christians accept my very intelligent argument and leave Christianity by the hundreds of millions?

So stop trying to use intelligent and rational arguments in explaining to Muslims why you cannot accept Hudud. If you want to do that then you might as well try to convince Muslims that they need not pray five times a day — because the decree to pray five times a day came from God when Prophet Muhammad made an overnight trip to heaven on a winged horse where he also met all the other Prophets such as Moses, Jesus, etc.

Does that story sound rational to you? Muhammad flying to heaven on a winged horse to meet God where he received the decree that all Muslims must pray five times a day?

To you that story might sound silly. To Muslims, however, they believe this and that is why Muslims pray five times a day. To you, is this rational or irrational? And if you agree that this sounds very far fetched but yet you agree that you respect the right of Muslims to believe this then why can’t you also accept the right of Muslims to believe in God’s laws called the Sharia, Hudud being just one aspect of the Sharia?

Some say that Hudud is not in the Qur’an. True! In fact, the Sharia is also not in the Qur’an if you wish to go down that road. And for that matter, the decree to pray five times a day and the manner in which these prayers are to be performed are also not in the Qur’an.

The Qur’an only states that you must pray when the sun rises, at noon, and when the sun sets. That makes only three times a day. And the Qur’an just says pray. It does not say how and what you utter during these prayers. Muslims, however, pray five times a day and strictly follow a set of rituals and verses in which they must recite. If not the prayers are nullified.

Hence Muslims do not just follow the Qur’an. They also follow the Hadith, Sunnah and opinions of scholars, the itjihad ulama’.

Ijtihad (Arabic اجتهاد) is a technical term of Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

Why do Muslims pray five times a day never mind where they happen to be in spite of the effort required to perform this your whole life? Because they want to avoid the wrath of God and to be rewarded with a perpetual life in heaven after they die.

And that is the same reason why Muslims do not do many forbidden things and perform all those mandatory things — to avoid the wrath of God and to be rewarded with a perpetual life in heaven after they die.

So, last question, why do Muslims want to implement Hudud? Well, for the same reason, of course. Because Muslims believe that this is God’s decree and mandatory upon Muslims and they want to do what God demands to avoid the wrath of God and to be rewarded with a perpetual life in heaven after they die.

But is this not cruel? Is not cutting off the hands of thieves or stoning an adulteress to death barbaric?

Maybe it would be ‘yes’ if you are not a Muslim but the answer would be ‘no’ to a Muslim. If the offender were not punished here on earth then the offender would suffer a punishment in hell once that person dies. And the punishment in hell is far worse than the punishment on earth. But if that person were already punished on earth then he or she would escape punishment in hell and instead receive his or her reward in heaven.

So how can Hudud be considered cruel or barbaric? Because you are subjected to Hudud you can now go to heaven. But if you were not subjected to Hudud you would go to hell. And hell would certainly be very cruel and barbaric whereas amputation or stoning to death is far better than going to hell. Nothing on earth, however bad, can compare to hell.

Does this sound rational or irrational? Of course it sounds irrational because religion itself is irrational. You cannot rationalise religion. You need to just believe. And you need to believe based on faith.

I mean would Muslim suicide bombers blow themselves up if they did not think they were going to heaven and that heaven is far better than earth and worth dying for?

The trouble is you are looking at Hudud based on life on earth. Muslims look at Hudud based on the Afterlife in heaven. So you are not on the same wavelength here. And when you are not on the same wavelength it would be impossible to understand one another.