I have never shared a lot of personal things about myself on this blog, but due to some recent happenings I couldn’t stop myself from sharing some things.

I was born and raised in a Muslim family. My mother is a strict religious person and she never even likes to hear anything against Islam even if inside she knows it’s true and that’s why we end up having lot of arguments. I know now that I cannot change her and likewise I cannot change the strong headed people who are living like these puppets since birth.

Absolute Power

The sect to which I belong has many idiotic customs which I fail to comprehend many times. Among those one such absurd custom is for everyone who earns, to pay a share of their earnings to the religious leaders which they like to call as Zakat. One day while having my tea, I asked my mother – “Ma, why do we need to pay to those leaders, why cannot we directly pay to poor people the way Quran says?” My ma is very naïve, she had no answer but she believed that whatever these maulvis were saying was the truth so she asked me to keep quiet and do as I was told to do.

Now from what I have read about various religions around the world, Islam is one which strongly promotes public charity. According to me, public charity means rich families generously giving money for the welfare of the community. It’s good, right. Unfortunately, the religious leaders in our sect think otherwise. They believe that we all should stop giving money to poor and instead we should give money to them and they will then decide whom to give as and when they please. Not to mention that they would take a huge share from that money as a service fee. I think these private acts of charity are a threat to these leaders and they wouldn’t let common people such as ourselves to steal the limelight and help people. When they would give money people will think that the leaders are so generous without even thinking that actually this money is coming from us only.

I have no issues with these authorities, but I have issues in following their autocracy. We do need some authority to bind everyone together, just like a country needs a government. But if they tell us to make them God and forget what Allah says, then it’s not correct.

This is not the end, the worst part is that we are forbidden to understand what was written in Quran as it was in Arabic and most of us didn’t know that language. They said, you come to us and we will tell you what is written coz only we can know the real meaning. Are they indirectly trying to tell us, forget what is written, you need to know and learn only what we tell you.

I believe in Islam, I also believe in Allah, but my heart never is able to believe in these religious leaders who only want to rule and create an army of robots who are willing to even jump in fire if they say so.

The True Essence

Does that mean that we all should run as free birds and not follow religious preaching? No, one should differentiate between the fundamental principles of religion and the other secondary matters. The fundamental principles are belief in the Prophet, believe in Zakat, etc. The secondary matters are to do with the law, social relations and our daily affairs. What these leaders are trying to do is take us away from the principles and dictate us the laws for these secondary matters.

There is only one essential message of Quran, justice and equality of all human beings. There is just one Al-Mighty. Unfortunately, after Prophet’s death the message has been forgotten. After him the community is still in a war within itself fighting over sects and leadership. I don’t think Prophet would have wanted to have any such leader who would rather run for money instead of betterment of community.

People have been dumbed-down over the years, they have been made to think like puppets. It’s not easy to come out of this spider web of the authorities. The only solution is that everyone needs to educate themselves and start thinking radically. But it’s easier said than done, I’m afraid most of the people are so deep into these leader-induced hypnosis that they will not wake up soon.

I know if I start questioning and start writing names, I will be shunned by my own community. Isn’t it ironic, Christians started renaissance movement centuries ago and got free from the authority of Church, and we who are their brothers still live in the dark ages!