Testimony
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Introduction
It is no surprise that a simple name won’t attract much criticism or analysis. A complicated one does. It is the nature of things. The more attributes you mention, the more analysis and comparisons may arise between the different attributes. In Islam, the name of its divine entity, Allah, has ninety nine names. Each name raises issues of attributes on its own and in comparison with other attributes. In this article, I will show that such attributes pose difficult problems for Muslim believers on the theological level.
Allah’s list of names
Analysis of some of Allah’s attributes
Here are some of the associated problems with such a complicated concept:
- One of Allah’s attributes is “The Inheritor” (Al-Warith). Now, to inherit is to inherit from someone, usually after his/her death. We know that Allah owns the universe and all its objects, including man. We know, also, that He has the attribute “The Eternal” (As-Samad). So, no one was before him to inherit things from. He is also “The Creator” (Al-Khaliq) of all things. Is Allah the inheritor of himself? He created every object in this universe. So, is He going to inherit what is legally His?
- Allah is “The Eternal”(As-Samad). Many of his other attributes involve temporality, or presence in-time. I am thinking of attributes like “Inheritor”,”Patient”, “Responsive”. How to reconcile Allah’s “Eternality” and attributes that involve Allah’s “Temporality” is an issue that is very problematic. Muslim theologians will have to try to explain how Allah is Eternal (outside of time-limits) and “Does” things in the temporal world. One may think this is not a problem. In fact it is a very big problem. How can Allah act in-time when he is outside time.
- How can Allah be “The Pardoner” and “The Avenger” at the same time? If He pardon, then He pardons to the ultimate limit. But this won’t allow him to be the Avenger. And, if he is the avenger, then He is not infinitely pardoner. Those two infinite attribute seem to cancel each other out. If one is given to allah, the other falls short of Allah’s infinite attribute.
- How can Allah be “The Subduer” and “The Merciful” at the same time? If Allah is infinitely Subduer, He cannot be infinitely Merciful. If Allah is infinitely Merciful, there is no way for him to be infinitely Subduer. Muslims will have to show genuine reconciliation between attributes of Allah that seem in the way of each other, instead of guaranteeing the fullness of Allah
- How can Allah be “The Distresser” and “The Preventor” of distress at the same time? Again, this dilemma is similar to the oner I raised in points 3 and 4.
Allah’s 100th name
In Islam, Allah has only 99 names according to traditional Islam. In fact this is false. Muslims need to be aware that Allah has 100 names. There is an attribute of Allah in the Qur’an not included in his 99 names. Allah in the Qur’an is a Deceiver. Not only that, but He is the Best of Deceivers (Kheir-ul-Makireen). Qur’an states:
The verse came down showing that Christians lied about Jesus being crucified when he was not. The word “Makir” in Arabic speaks about a trickery person who cannot be at peace with his own mind when he wants to kill innocent people. It is an evil verse indeed said by Moroccan Arab convert to Christianity.
Conclusive Summary
There are Multiplicity of issues, sometimes contradictions, sometimes very problematic, that arise from a complicated concept like “Allah”. I mentioned some of them above. There are many similar ones. Muslims will have to show us that the concept of “Allah” makes sense; if any at all.
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Egypt Independent has published a testimony of former Muslim Brotherhood member and writer Osama Dorra of how he has resolved to desert Islam as religion from his life:
I decided to deactivate my practice of Islam as a religion because the “cognitive dissonance” between some of its details and what I think is rational, just and logical has reached a limit that is beyond my comprehension.
I have resolved to reduce the status of Islam to a “cultural reference” that sets the tone for my morals, until I find another reference, or adopt it again as a religion.
The Arab Spring has shaken our confidence in what we were like before revolutions. It has become clear that the assumptions upon which we built our lives were not all sound, the institutions that led us were not all efficient or honest, and the people we thought highly of were not all worthy of that praise.
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- Written by Ahmed
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An ex-Muslim, named Ahmed, wrote the following letter to Ali Sina, founder of faithfreedom.org:
Dear Mr Ali Sina,
I am Ahmed. I am writing to you from my friends email id. I thank the power of whatever is ruling this earth that I landed on your website in search of the truth.
I was a God fearing Muslim. As early as when I was 20 years old I had so many questions regarding my religion. Questions like:
a) Why is music not allowed?
b) Why shouldn’t we laugh loudly?
c) Why will Non-Muslims (even very good ones) not be ALLOWED in Heaven and will continue to burn in Hell forever? Aren’t all humans God’s creation? Any creator will love his creation and not discriminate.
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The following is a letter from a Muslim (Saeed) to Ali Sina:
Mr Ali Sina,
I have been following and reading your website since a year now. I honestly don’t know what to think of you. Initially just like every other born Muslim, my faith was based on blind imitation and I followed Islam moderately without much knowledge of it other than what is required to know as the basic tenets of Islam. I was brought up in Pakistan with religious grandparents who always instilled the thought that there shouldn’t be any “why” when religion is concerned. Everything should be followed to the letter as described by Prophet Muhammad through his Hadiths and the Quran and we are not supposed to question it. Thus questions such as “who created god?”, “why is God invisible?”, “what gender he has” shouldn’t even be attempted to ponder on because human logic is fallible, and god didn’t impart us with the brain to comprehend his existence. Islam as taught in school, madrassa’s, and by the society was always portrayed in one dimensional version where the “good” parts were largely emphasized and most of the eye brow raising things (polygamy, double standards, beating of wife, Aisha’s age, killing of non-believers, prophet marriages, muta, discrimination of women, keeping slaves, sex with slaves and captives of war, Prophet's wars with Jews and treatments of prisoners of war) were either totally ignored or were presented in a sugar-coated version.
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Testimony of TechiSafi, a Bangladeshi Muslim, aged 17 years. He left Islam when he was only 15 years old. (wiki islam)
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I was born and raised in a Sunni-Muslim family. I did not leave Islam all of a sudden. I was a firm believer until I started reading scientific,philosophical books-articles etc. I began questioning about God and his nature.
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When I went on in further reading of the sirat written by Ibn Ishaq and ahadith, I felt more and more uncomfortable with all the atrocities and insane absurdities I found in them...
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- Written by Dr. K. A.
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Dear Mr Sina and others,
I am thankful to you for opening my eyes to see the real Islam. I had almost apostatised from Islam after reading Mr Ali Sina's debate with Mr Ghamdi (Pakistani scholar). I felt Islam was indefensible, all along I knew about issues like sex slaves and slavery, polygyny , subjugated women etc. I tried to keep my faith but all my doubts were like punctures in a big balloon which was patched up with half convincing answers to keep my faith afloat. When I read the realities of Islam, which were supported by Sahih Hadith, my faith bubble burst leaving me shattered.
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- Written by Ali Sina
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This damage is being healed but some scars will never fade. I may have left Islam but a part of Islam will never leave me.
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- Written by Zahid R Khan
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I can not thank you and writers like Dr. Ali Sina enough, who helped me attain liberty from the clutches of deadly evil called Islam...
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- Written by Yagmur Dursun
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A Turkish Muslim woman tells the tragic "love story" of her sister, who, upon advice from local Imams, was stoned to death along with her unborn child.
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- Written by Ex-Muslim Atheist Woman
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An Arab-American ex-Muslim woman has put up a nice blog -- Ex-Muslim Blog -- for revealing the truths of, and troubles with, Islam. Below is her enlightening story.
