Dear Dr Fernandes,
You're mistaken if you think I hold a grudge against Islam or that I am an apologist for any other faith. I am just being objective and realistic in my analyses. Open persecution of those who subscribe to other ideas of God is explicitly urged in Islam and mind you these are not verses taken at random. The entire tone of the Quran is one of discrimination by pitting its own pet theories against those of others. The language and intent are explicit, so the question of me reading the verses in isolation just doesn't arise. It all begins with the declaration that the world is divided into "believers" (Muslims) and "infidels" (non-believers). This sets the tone for confrontation. The meaning is patently clear when the Quran says: No other religion is acceptable to Allah except Islam or Strive against the unbelievers until religion is only for Allah or that idolaters (symbolists) are filthy/unclean and as such they'll burn in hell and should not be permitted to enter the Kaaba or when it says fight the non-believers until they submit or pay the tax (Jiziya) or do not make friends with infidels and much more. As such I think we ought to take a hard look at its teachings and see if this is the seed cause behind Islamic terrorism and also find out whether Muslims are actually putting these foul teachings into practice. Certainly, this is the inspiration behind the persecution of religious minorities, apostates, atheists and free thinkers in Islamic theocracies. Why can't people (Muslims) be left free to choose the way they worship or to remain atheists when ideas of the extra-cosmic God who creates out of nothing, sensual heavens, grotesque devils, invisible angels conveying ignorant messages and torturous hells belong to the realms of unverifiable fantasies that lack a factual as well as rational basis? But here we have a faith (Islam) that imposes its infantile theories on its followers and prescribes severe punishments for those questioning its tall claims, quitting it (apostates), or staying atheist and advocates the converting of the whole of humaity to its pet hallucinations. Futher, what we discover is that the struggle in Kashmir though it has assumed apparent geo-political tones is actually a Jihad being waged against the so-called Kafirs (Hindus) so as to liberate the Muslim dominated territory of Kashmir from Indian rule and to establish a benighted Islamic theocracy. The armed struggle has acquired explict communal overtones which even a fool can understand. The Kashmiri pandits were killed in large numbers and ultimately driven out of the state and scores of temples destroyed or desecrated as the Jihadis wanted Kashmir to belong exclusively to the Muslims. The recent Amarnath controvery was also inspired by Islamist supremacist ideas. Most Muslims in mainland India (as well as those in the Ummah elsewhere) seek the liberation of Kashmir and are covert sympathizers. If at all Kashmir separates from India in the near future, mind you overnight an Islamic Republic with the draconian Sharia guiding its objectives will be installed and taking this as a sign from Allah that Islam has won the emboldened Jihadis will next target other parts of India to liberate Muslim dominated areas and finally they would wish to subjugate the whole of India and bring it under Islamic rule as it was under during the medieval period. Why even Maulana Madoodi and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, both alumni of the rabid Deoband Seminary, expressed these aims and worked for it. The fundamentalist Muslim objective (and the vast majority of Muslims are fundamentalist as they wholly subscribe to the teachings and aims of the Quran) is to establish a pan-Islamic republic sans borders as the Quran preaches preaches that the whole world should worship the extra-cosmic god (Allah) who creates out of nothing and Islam being the true faith should be the only faith everywhere. Natural Justice has already thwarted Islam and relegated the Muslim Ummah to the bottom of the heap in every constructive endeavour. All that the Muslims are left with are the Quran and Hadiths that preach something as absurd that an invisible, extra-cosmic god (Allah) who has no causal connection with anything yet somehow or the other managed to create the cosmos out of nothing by saying "Be" and that in the afterlife the believers will frolic in some sensual extra-cosmic heaven amidst fruit trees, rivers of honey, wine and milk and dancing houris and ghilmans while the kafirs will be roasted or have boiling water poured down their naked backs for all eternity in an extra-cosmic hell. Wow ! This is the intellectual nadir the Muslim psyche has sunk to that it naively accepts anything as absolute truth without reasoning things out or questioning the scriptural claims. PS: The Old Testament contains bigoted messages directed against heathens but modern Jews and Christians, at least these days, are reluctant to stress or put into practice these crude ideas which is why a thorough separation of the church and state has taken place in the West where all beliefs and dissent are welcomed. Skepticism of scriptural teachings is rampant in the West and Israel where Christians and Jews are simply not willing to buy the numerous cock and bull tales from the Bible and are turning atheist, humanist, rationalist or seek refuge in the highly mystico-rational teachings of Eastern Mysticism. This is a good sign. Taking advantage of these liberal values, fundamentalist Muslims in the West are busy multiplying their numbers and awaiting the day when the flag of Islam will flutter atop Western capitals and the whole West is converted to its pet dogmas. This is the same attitude that most Indian Muslims have which is why they're opposed to family planning, view the non-Muslims with derision, take pride in Arab culture and increasingly getting radicalized. Yes, this is the reality. This atavistic, degenerative and sinister mindset of the highly in-bred and hypogamous Muslims has to disappear if humanity has to progress and live in harmony or else I am certain that a mega civilization clash awaits the world in the near future and as for India well several partitions are inevitable. Best Regards, Dr A K Isaacs
