The Nefarious Merchants of Religion
20 May, 2008
- (Translated from Bengali into English by Abul Kasem)
Despite the increase in literacy around the globe, it is abysmally distressing to note that nothing has changed in superstitious belief. In Asia, in the Indian Sub-Continent, and around the world, the practice of superstition, including the voodoo of Africa and the Black Art of other regions flourishes unabated, centuries after centuries.
In the past, due to very little legal restrictions, had led to the flourishing business in superstitions. Today, because of strict enforcement of law, the practice appears to have abated. Nonetheless, theses irrational rituals are alive and well, albeit under concealment.
Amazingly, even today, many people hasten to the pirs (mendicants) and dervishes (saints) to receive their blessings to have children, to conduct successful businesses, or for love and marriages. One such famous pir of Bangladesh (anonymous, for obvious reason) requests the victim’s wife to spend a night with him, if the wife seeks his blessing due to her barrenness. During this one-night stand, he claims to be able to exorcise the woman, such that her barrenness is removed, and she becomes fertile. The knowledge of this odious act by these merchants of religion has now become wide-spread. Despite this knowledge, there is un-ending, crowed queue to receive such blessings from these pirs. These gullible people believe that showing disrespect to these saints and pirs is akin to disparaging the religion (Islam). Sadly, more educated people indulge in such superstitious belief than the un-educated.
To receive such blessings from deities, pirs, and anchorites huge sums of money are spent in mosques and temples. It is a shame that not even half of this amount is donated to alleviate the misery of the poor and the distressed children.
For the last few days my child was sick, unable to attend school. I lost count of the time I had spend attending to her illness. Even in such a hurry, I could not resist a news item published in the Prothom Alo (a Bangladesh daily) on July 10, 2007. The news headline read:
Salma Akhter becomes a victim of acid-terror at her own house in Banik Para of Sarail (a village in Bangladesh).
According to the news, Syed Jahangir, a purported saint, perpetrated this crime on Salma Akhter when she protested against his immoral activities. This news took prominence on July 11 and 12, and also during the composition of this article on July 15. It was reported that the police investigation was on way. A human chain was organized to protest this crime.
Previously, we have heard that this acid-terror was perpetrated by the jilted lovers of women or by the husband for the non-payment of dowry by wife’s parents. Now these saints are included in the religious business. Most likely, such incidents are wide-spread in rural areas. Needless to say, only a minute amount makes it to the newspaper headline; most of them go unreported.
The most disturbing aspect of this incident was that when the woman refused to be the disciple (victim) of the pir, her own relatives assisted in meting out such horrendous punishment on her. They construed it as a curse of Allah on her. The police arrested them and the conscientious people demonstrated silent protest by constructing a human chain. Reportedly, the woman is now fighting for her life.
In this connection, I remembered an old incident; most probably the Prothom Alo reported this news last year. A youth sacrificed himself in a Kali Mandir (the temple of the Hindu goddess Kali) by cutting off his tongue by himself. According to the news, a few days prior to this, the youth ostensibly received this order in a dream that he could get anything he wanted, money, a house, a car, a beautiful woman, if he cut off his tongue for Kali; or perhaps he was influenced by a leaflet to this effect circulated by dishonest people. He became the victim of blind faith. His blood soaked body is now in the hospital. Surprisingly, similar event had occurred in the same temple before, according to the report. I guess the readers should gauge the severity of this, so no comment.
What I have written about men, women, religion, and corruption are old tales, there is hardly anything new here. Many readers might be vexed at these old tales. They might quip, ‘These are old stories, we have heard many times. Let us hear something new.”
To them my answer will be: these incidences run from the past to the present, and then from the present to the future. All these incidences take place due to the abuse of religion for the self-aggrandizement. How long should we remain blind?
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Name: Beowulf
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 05:04:38 -0700
Comment
Disturbing, but what does it have to do with Islam?
Name: GoodNewsforIslam
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 07:34:16 -0700
Comment
Yes, In this modern age most of the educated muslim people too believe that pirs and darvishes stands after allah and muhammad, they shows so respect (blind faith) that they even give up their daughter, daughter-in-law, wife and sister for one night stand. shame! shame!! shame!!! A similar thing was happened in our area some day before. A Kaji asked newly married bride to sleep with him before first night for a bright, healthy and blessed future.
Name: Tanstaafl
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 07:35:00 -0700
Comment
In order for a religion to be valid, it must reflective the current times that its proponents live in. In this case (and many others), it would appear that education and progress are the enemy of such religious con men. No wonder "religious" education has become a recent addition to older faiths.
Name: Islam-Watch is destroying jobs!
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 09:16:13 -0700
Comment
It´s a shame! All the poor Mullahs, Muftis and Ulemas will become unemployed! Who is going to pay them if nobody believes in this Hula Bula clot-faith any more!? You are so cruel! And so ruthless and inconsiderate!
Name: Challenge to all infidels from Akhter
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 09:34:44 -0700
Comment
Produce a verse like a quranic verse .
Name: Re: Challenge to all infidels from Akhter
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 10:36:36 -0700
Comment
Here you have it: "Oh, believers, who were made from clot derived from sperm gushed out from the backbones of your fathers! Kill the infidels wherever you find them and say praise to Allah, the allmighty and all-merciful, the one who knows all things and who created the earth in 7 days and the skies in heaven from blue plumpudding ...." I could go on with this lengthy, endless waffle but it is enough. It is a waste of time. It is easier and much more convenient to repair broken glass with glue than to talk to muslim-fools!
Name: How stupid.. this site doesnt rank anywhere as it claims
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 11:22:42 -0700
Comment
Ignorant people, u cannot run this site by pasting up lies about Islam.. who has seen, met or even spoken to anyone who claims that he/she has left Islam? Any proof that these people even exist?. On the contrary just search online/read magazines/look at U.N figures about the fastest growing religion and there you'l get your answers. every body knoes that the quaran is not corrupted, changed or reprinted every year like the bible with edited stuff. Talk about your own religion first. The catholic society has paid upto $700 million in damages to people exploited by cloak wearing idiots who carry irrelevant bibles in their hands. Event the pope, has expressed grief about these incidents. If so much is known, then imagine how much is unknown. dont just write BS, like "incest,adultery,terrorism" is permitted in Islam an think people will believe it. I think its better to have a religion which emphasizes only one God, and not a one where there is the creator, his son, the holy ghost bla bla bla blah blah blah.... its so crappy... confess in front of a real peadophile like fathers in churches and he washes your sins away by acquiring sexual favours. what non sense.
Name: Ananda
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 12:34:56 -0700
Comment
(-1-) I am surprised there are still Kali Mandirs in Bangladesh (-2-) Bangali Hindus admire female goddesses Kali & Durga more than male gods (-3-) According to Hindu mythology, there was a long period of war when the males (sons, parents, husbands)were annihilating each other (-4-) Kali, the leader of "Matri Gan" started annihilating the males with the aim of getting rid of all males (-5-) She wore a garland made out of heads of males she killed (-6-) She was finally stopped from her rampage when god Siva laid down on the ground along her path and she stepped on his breast (-7-) The reason this Bangladeshi Hindu went to Kali Mandir and cut his tongue must be the bloody Muslims trying to convert him to the horrible Islam by force. (-8-) In 1971 Bangladesh had 39% Hindus, now less than 8% (-9-) I hope Bangladesh goes to hell.
Name: yousaf
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 13:03:55 -0700
Comment
Thousands of years off hinduism, a cult organised by the elite to control the poor masses through the evil cast system,full of myths and superstitions, where the poor are slaved and made to believe to submit to the priests and the powerful landlords Islam brought them the chance to get rid of these evil practises, which a lot of people did do,but the superstitions still stayed in their minds,thousands of years of brainwashing takes time. pir in Islam is a pious person who has a great knowledge of islam,whose purpose is to pass the knowledge on , for which the pir is thus respected,but not worshiped, how ever there are cases of some bogus ones who take advantage of the poor uneducated.
Name: Re: How stupid ...
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 13:15:15 -0700
Comment
You mentioned that the catholic church paid 700 Million $ and that even the pope expressed grief about it. So what else do you want? Mistakes were made and now they were corrected. I think we all must accept that a world without crime is impossible. To kill every criminal is not the solution. Are there no criminals in islamic countries? Does islam improve anything? I don´t think so. Not at all.
Name: Gabrielle
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 16:37:31 -0700
Comment
When I visited Indonesia recently, I was told by women academics at a leading university that the huge secret of Islam -- domestic violence and father/daughter incest was just starting to break open. In the West, it was the women of Germany who first broke the silence. It will always be the women who will speak first, because they suffer most under repressive religiosity
Name: Frustrated
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 19:22:14 -0700
Comment
In Indonesia, there is a widespread teaching that Allah opens a special heaven door only for women who give permission to her husband to take another wife. Polygamy is openly encouraged, there is even a highly popular movie Ayat Ayat Cinta which describes the "beauty" of polygamy (i.e., how polygamy can solve a difficult problem). Indonesia is a country with the largest blind-folded, brainwashed community called Islamic population.
Name: Ananda
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 19:32:27 -0700
Comment
To Yousaf : Islam, Hinduism, or any other system must be judged by its fruit. Given the long history of these systems, there is absolute certainty now that Islam is a Poison Tree whose fruits are highly poisonous. It is an evil cult. Hinduism is based on individual spiritualism and tolerant of other systems. In its current stage of development, caste is history.
Name: ALL RELIGION IS A DISEASE AND TRUTH THE ONLY CURE
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 23:28:18 -0700
Comment
NO FAKE GOD/ALLAH CREATED MAN...MAN EVOLVED BY NATRUE FROM 1 CELLED ORGANISMS AND THE PROOF IS IN OUR DNA. SO NEED TO WORSHIP FALSE GOD/ALLAH. WORSHIP TRUTH,HUMANITY AND EQUALITY FOR ALL. ELSE NUKE WORLD WAR 3 WILL KILL US ALL.
Name: vbv
Date: Tuesday May 20, 2008
Time: 23:52:14 -0700
Comment
Religions , just all of them, by the very nature of its belief in a super man called God? allah? Yahweh? the creator , promotes superstition, ignorance and fear. But what distinguishes Islam from others is that it is based on Deep Hatred of everything except its own amoral and barbaric self. Islam thrives in instigating its adherents to deadly violence to destroy everything in its wake. Tolerance and understanding are words not found in the dictionery of the Islamic Cult. It is sheer bigotry and destruction of all human values of a civilized world. The author would have done well to expose Islam and its violent past and present in the light of History than merely giving anecdotes. The likes of Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussain, Gaddafi, etc can be found only with the likes of the notorious tyrants in History like Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Mussolini, Genghis Khan, Atilla the Hun, etc. All Barbarians , including the present regimes in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, etc. Civilized and humane existence in Islamic countries is an exception than a rule!
Name: to Akhter, challenge to all infidels from akhter.
Date: Wednesday May 21, 2008
Time: 19:35:47 -0700
Comment
Please awake Akhter. Open your eyes. The world will be far more beautiful without your Quran.