Hearsay caricature of Islam

THE EDITOR: This is an open letter to Muslims. Because we have been negligent in our reading of our Holy Scripture, despite its being available in English translation for over a century, we have come to rely on the teachings of others for our hearsay knowledge of Islam.

We cannot blame our scholars for our abdication of responsibility in this regard. That they have seized the reins of interpretation by default has placed a great burden upon their heads now intoxicated with power, fully usurped. The legacy of Islam received from God is its scripture, the preservation of which its author has undertaken, along with its dissemination and elucidation, having collated it as promised. No administrator has been appointed to disburse this legacy. No executor has been given authority. The result of our negligence has been a virtual caricaturing of Islam, since the foundation of our faith has been altered and the rules premised upon that altered foundation do not lead to salvation but to heresy.

Perfected Islam has been dismantled and re-engineered into a clone of precedent deviance and this has been accomplished by the simple misapplication of one single word “Abrogated.”
By claiming falsely that there remain in the Qur’an several abrogated verses, our scholars have concluded that while Qur’an states explicitly that Jews and Christians are believers, they are in fact unbelievers.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that Christians and Jews are to follow the Scriptures that are with them, those Sacred Scriptures are now corrupted beyond acceptance.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that we are to believe in the prior Scriptures, we must now reject them as corrupt.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that life is sacred, Muslims may kill unbelievers and opponents as they please.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that the adulterer must be flogged, instead they must be stoned to death.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that there is no compulsion in religion, religion must be forcefully imposed.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that women have equal rights as those given over them, they are in fact inferior.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that only women guilty of lewdness must be confined, all women rightfully ought to be locked up in their homes.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that women should dress modestly and not unduly display their charms, in fact only their eyes should be visible.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that the food of the Christians and Jews are permissible for us, that is not quite correct.
That while Qur’an states explicitly that we may marry Christians and Jews, only men have that questionable privilege.That while Qur’an states explicitly that only God’s Words should be studied diligently, pre-revelation practices of the Messenger have been re-established.These are some of the deviances which have become accepted Muslim practice globally and which lead to hatred of Islam and what is virtually a new religion of Muhammadism, repugnant as that word is to all who fondly profess to be Muslims.

The remedy to this malady is for all to read the Qur’an for guidance which God has promised through it. Our scholars are already outraged that this voice has been raised. But they are not being blamed as they are equally blind followers of their teachers and their teachers in turn. They also need to employ their thinking faculties and revisit the Qur’an shorn of delusions of their own knowledge. The Qur’an is holistically perfect and there is not a single word which has been abrogated remaining in it. All abrogated laws and rules have been replaced and forgotten as it states explicitly. In it is perfect guidance, true and sure, pre-edited and proof-read by The Author Himself Who has Proclaimed and Assented to its Laws.

M F RAHMAN
Port-of-Spain