Apostate
Abul Kasem -  |
|
|
Abul wrote this testimony for
Ali Sina, to publish in his
FaithFreedom website. It is being reproduced
here by their permission.
Why I Left
Islam
I have always questioned the necessity of religion
in our lives and the inhuman and illogical practices
in many religions including Islam. You might
wonder what had triggered my distaste for religion.
It all started in my schooldays when I witnessed
the slaughter of a dear Hindu friend of mine
(along with his entire family members) in Chandpur,
Bangladesh. I can never erase that memory from
my mind. That was a devastating experience,
no doubt. But more shocking thing was that many
Muslims were actually happy about that and even
went further to support the idea that we (Muslims)
should kill more Hindus because the Muslims
in India are being slaughtered too. It was also
declared by some Muslim clerics that killing
of non-muslims is an act of jihad and therefore,
any one participating in jihad will be rewarded
with heaven. At that tender edge I knew very
little of Islam and nothing about other religions.
However, the little conscience inside me told
me that what was being done and what was being
practiced were not right. However, I had little
power to change the course of event.
|
|
|
The other incident involves my life itself. I nearly
died when the Pakistani soldiers and their fanatic supporters
attacked the University residential halls on the dark
night of 25th. March, 1971. I still do not know how
I escaped the near death when most of my dear Uni friends
were killed. There were bullets in every places. Somehow
or other I could cross the high walls which may be impossible
for me to do now. There were many other incidents during
that period and just prior to our liberation when I
escaped near death from the fanatic followers of Islam.
Any way, I do not want to burden you with those details.
But all those incidents have spawned the seed of deep
religious distrust in my mind. At that time many of
my friends also shared the similar views with me. And
naturally, I felt very happy that we have come to the
end of religious tyranny.
But alas! As strange as it me seem now, many of those
dear Uni friends of mine have really become fanatic
followers of Islam now. Many of them I met in my overseas
life. They have spent a good part of their lives in
the middle-east. They openly support some of the actions
by the Pakistan army and their fanatic followers. They
strongly support the forced conversion of the entire
world population to Islam. And only then, they say,
'there will be peace'. Even in a country like Australia
many of them dare to say 'we came to Australia to rid
the people of their sinful activities and convert them
to Islam'. One of their mottos is to build a mosque
in every suburb of Australia. Of course, these are laughing
matters in place like Australia. Whenever I meet these
old pals it really breaks my heart. When I asked them
what had caused such an opposite change in them; they
readily admit that they were greatly influenced by the
Arabs. Even though many of them really hate the cruel
treatment of them (in many cases slave treatment) by
the Arabs. But nevertheless, they feel very grateful
to them (the Arabs) for giving them employment and good
money. Many of these Bangali are proud to dress like
Arabs. They have literally wiped out the memory of genocide
in Bangladesh and some of them really justify the genocide
to purify Islam. This had led me to conclude that Islam
is nothing but the preservation of Arab haegemony and
the enslavement of the poor people of countries such
as Bangladesh.
The strange thing is that none of these Islamists really
want to migrate to any Islamic country. None of them
chose to live in an Islamic society. Why? The simple
truth was that none of those Arab countries want them.
These countries are for the Arabs only. Where is the
Islamic brotherhood? The Arabs are very clever people.
They have used Islam as a powerful bait to continue
the age old tradition of slavery in the 21st. century
format. My guess is that this will continue escalating
while the oil price keeps soaring. These fanatics use
the openness, fairness and the democratic institutions
in countries like Australia to propagate their poisonous
doctrines.
Surely you are disturbed and concerned about the hate
mails that you have already received and you will surely
continue to receive in future. Probably they (the fanatics)
may even threaten your life. But these hate mails are
a blessing in disguise. They confirm the real colour
of the religion. The closing of your web site, if you
really look from the positive point is a good one. It
(the closing) clearly shows that the Islamists cannot
ignore you any more, that you did create a great impact
on the minds of rational thinkers for which many Mullahs
really feel threatened. Please do not despair. You are
not motivated by money; you are not motivated by honours
and accolades, you are not motivated by a PhD, you are
not motivated by leadership, you are not motivated by
prestige. All we want is a fair go for humanity, a world
free of religious bigotry, religious cruelty and religious
unfairness.
I really do not know how to thank you and admire you
for your death defying conviction. We are with you.
Abul Kasem
|
