Islam and Superstition, Part One and part three By: Syed Kamran Mirza

Sacrificer           Syed Kamran Mirza
Sacrifice code       wfor0263
Sacrifice date       July 4, 2004

Islam and Superstition #1

Islam and Superstition
Part One
By: Syed Kamran Mirza

(Translated into English from Bengali by Abul Kasem)

We are aware that superstition is a popular belief held by people without
any reason or logic; that is to say, it is an irrational belief system
without any proof practiced by the ignorant mass. This type of superstition
can be of two types, namely; Folklores-that are essentially fanciful,
irrational stories that are accepted by the population as such; so, there is
no problem with such fairy-tales. However, the other type of superstition is
the religious false notion that is firmly rooted in the belief of
supernatural divinity. The morbid fear of unknown, the thought of after-life
and a deep penchant for supernatural power are the main causes for the
growth of such religious mumbo-jumbo. Clearly, this uncontrolled fear for
life after death and its resultant irrational faith in it is the primary
reason for the birth of world religious beliefs. We see the abundant
presence of many such fanciful, irrational ingredients in almost all
religions practiced in to-day's world-no religion is free from such
ridiculousness, to say the least. For that matter Islam is no exception. In
fact, there are so many superstitions in Islam that one can safely surmise
that the entire edifice of Islam stands firmly on many such mythological
/supernatural narrations.

When one reads the fundamental scriptures of Islam, namely; the Qur'an and
many Ahadith, one is bound to find copious superstitious stories and
practices. The belief in such irrational and illogical stories and tales is
bound to give rise to many fanatical believers and this could be the root
cause of Islamic frenzy among its blind believers.

In Bangladesh, searching every nook and corner of the markets, bookstores,
Islamic libraries, even the foot path (Fatemolla aptly calls these books:
the Moons and the Stars of the foot path) of a city one is sure to find
thousands of such Islami Kitab (Islami Books) that shamelessly promotes such
ignorance and cock-and-bull stories. From among such famous and popular
books, let me name a few. These are: Behester Kunji (The Key to Paradise),
Beheshti Zewar (The Treasures of Paradise), Maqsudul Momeneen (The Destiny
of the Believers), Kissas-ul-Ambia (The Stories of the Prophets) and Neyamul
Qur'an etc. In a Muslim country like Bangladesh, these Islami books are in
such a great demand that the publishers have a tough time meeting this huge
demand even after they have run 30th or 40th edition for each of the above
books.

>From among the books cited above, I found it absolutely compelling to delve
in illustrating some of the contents of Kissas-ul-Ambia. This Islami Kitab
is considered to be distinctly different from any other Islami Book-in that,
this book is not about the exhortations of Islami teachings based on the
fanciful ideas of some Mullah. As the title of this book suggests, this book
narrates the stories of many Prophets mentioned in the holy Qur'an and
Ahadith and who were born in the Arabian Peninsula. This means that whatever
is written in this book conforms to the contents of the Qur'an and Ahadith,
and as such they are completely irrefutable. The version of this book that I
am using has been written by an impeccably educated Muslim writer-M.N.M.
Imdadullah (M.A., B.A. Hons. M.A). In look and size this book is quite
similar to the holy Qur'an and as such it commands a great reverence from
the Muslims. As a mark of respect the libraries and the devotees will store
this book at the uppermost shelve of bookshelves, positioning it just by the
side of the Qur'an.

This is also a pricey book-mind you, one translated volume is costlier than
the holy Qur'an!

An examination of this tome will reveal that its content is replete with
superstitious narrations-almost 90% of it, to be precise. Once the
simple-minded, faithful Muslims read/hear such irrational tales, they turn
to be more ardent believers, devoting more time and attention in prayer and
fasting. For the not-so-faithfuls, they will find such incredible,
irrational tales extremely hilarious and will definitely have hearty laugh
reading the book.

Nonetheless, such superstitious books are plenty in Bangladesh, and as said
before, one may find them in virtually every household-no joke. These are
the text books-the principal learning sources of Islam for the vast a
majority of the Muslims in Bangladesh. Most of what they believe and
practice in Islam actually emanates from these primary learning tools!
Needless to say, the influence of such books have created, among the Bengali
Muslims in Bangladesh, a thriving business for the saints, ascetics and the
friars by selling talisman and by practicing charms.

In the villages, in the suburbs, and even in the metropolitan cities of
Bangladesh numerous Islamic Jalsas (Islamic Preachings) are held almost on a
daily basis. These congregations are attended by thousands of ordinary,
illiterate, half-literate, ill-educated Muslims. The surprising fact is that
many educated, blind believers also attend these gathering and become
engrossed in listening to the exhortations of the Mullahs. The main theme of
such speeches is the narrations of Islamic mythological tales, irrational
and fanciful stories, and colourful anecdotes from Islamic history. The
principal source of such tales, of course, is none other than the incredible
Kissa-ul-Ambia, the implausible Islamic book. The simple-minded village
folks are so much imbued by these cock-and-bull and absurd stories, that in
no time they start believing such stories to be true. As a result of such
gullible faith in irrationality, they soon become victims of fear and
completely surrender to superstition and supernatural forces.

During my childhood, when I attended such gatherings, I used to wonder as to
where from these Mullahs obtain such coaxing stories and narrate them so
eloquently. I used to marvel at the level of their knowledge and
understanding. Now, I have no doubt in my mind that all those incredibly
irrational tales are actually from authentic Islamic books. In this
serialised article I shall quote, verbatim, a few sample passages from these
authentic Islamic books [Please note: these quotes are exact; nothing is
from me except that my personal views are included inside parenthesis]:

1. How Allah created this universe and everything in it!

Before creating anything, the almighty Allah created, from his glorious
light, the light of Muhammad (pbuh). Then Allah created all creatures from
this light of Muhammad. At first, Allah divided Muhammad's light in four
parts; Allah used one part to create the Supreme Throne, He made the writing
pen from the second part; and from the third part, he created the denizens
of souls (Lauhe Mahfooz). Then He again divided the fourth part into four
parts-the first part was used to create the angels bearing the throne, the
second part was made into His throne, and from the third part He created all
the angels (Farishta). The remaining fourth part, He divided it again into
another four parts-the first part went into creating the heavens, the second
part was used in creating the earth and from the third part He created
Paradise and Hell. Then again, he divided the remaining forth part into yet
another four parts-the first was used to create the radiance of the eyes of
the believers, the second part was used to create the light for the souls,
the third part was used to create the light of Kalema (La Ilah Illa Allah
Muhammad-ar-Rasul Allah). Through the last fourth part Allah created all the
rest of the materials on earth.

2. Why is the nib of a fountain pen Cracked?

Readers, have you ever wondered how the nib of a fountain pen was cracked?
If not, then please read on carefully. After finishing His creation, as
depicted in 1 above, Allah commanded his pen: "O pen, begin scribing Kalema
Tayeb; La Ilah Illa Allah Muhammad-ar-Rasul Allah." Then the pen scribed,
for four hundred years (some say four thousand years), "La Ilah, Illa Allah"
but on no occasion did the pen write the last part, i.e., Muhammad-ar-Rasul
Allah. Then Allah asked the pen: "Pen, what did you write so far?" The pen
obligingly showed Allah what it had written. An angry Allah said, "Why did
you not write the last part?" The pen replied," My Lord, I dared not
associate your name with anyone else." Then Allah said, "Indeed you have
committed a grave mistake by not writing the name of my dearest comrade.
Now, hasten to scribe my best friend's name." Observing the unpleasantness
in Allah, the pen became extremely frightened and started to shake; as a
result, its front part became cracked. Now, whenever you observe the crack
in the middle of a fountain pen you will surely recall the reason for such a
split! After this, the pen continued writing the name of Muhammad (pbuh),
the dearest buddy of Allah.

3. The extent of Allah's Throne and the shape of its carrying Angels:

In order to have an idea of the colossal extent of Allah's Throne, it was
raised on eighteen thousand pillars. The distance between one pillar of this
throne to the next is a journey of seven hundred years. Then Allah buried
those pillars under the seven layers of heaven. To carry His Throne, Allah
created four gigantic angels. These four angels have four distinct shapes.
The first one looks like a human being, the second one is in the shape of a
tiger, the third angel takes the figure of a vulture and the fourth one is
in the form of a cow. The sizes of these four angels are beyond one's
imagination. Their legs are so long that they reached the bottom of the
seven heavens. In one step these angels can travel a distance of seven
thousand years!

4. How the faithfuls of the last Prophet were bestowed with mercy of Allah:

When Allah finished the making the Lauhe Mahfuz (denizens of souls) from the
blessings of the last Prophet, He ordered the pen, "Beginning from the first
man (i.e., Adam) scribe in Lauhe Mahfuz the unseen stories of all the
twenty-four thousand Prophets." Accordingly, starting from Prophet Adam, the
pen wrote, in details, descriptions of all the children of him (i.e., Adam)
and the followers of all other Prophets. The writing included such matters
as, those who are obedient to Allah will be admitted in Paradise; those
doing reverse will be sent to Hell. The pen was about to enumerate the
similar accounts for the believers of the last Prophet, when an instant
stern message from Allah said, "O pen, refrain from writing such account
now." The pen, utterly frightened, tremulously adjured Allah, saying, "My
Lord! Please instruct me what to scribe." Allah said, "Write Ummatu
Muhammadin-a-Rabbun Gafur." This meant: even if there were some sinners in
the rank of the believers of the last Prophet, Allah may, at His own will,
let many of them go scot-free (most likely, because of this provision for
the Muslims there is such profound dishonesty and corruption in their
societies-simply because Allah will forgive the thieves and bandits who are
Muslim).

5. How the provision of five prayers were ordained:

>From the light of Muhammad, Allah created a peacock and placed it atop a
Sajaratul Yaakin tree. Sitting atop this tree, the peacock prayed to Allah
for seventy-thousand years using rosary beads. Then Allah constructed a
mirror of shame and stationed that mirror in front of the peacock. The
peacock was overjoyed witnessing its extraordinary beauty, so much so, that
it prostrated to Allah for five times. This example, later, became the
tradition of compulsory five prayers among the faithfuls of Muhammad (pbuh).

References:
Kissas-ul-Ambia
The Holy Qur'an; translated in Bengali by Maulana Muhiuddin Khan and
published from Saudi Arabia
Maksudul Momeneen
Beheshti Zewar

To be continued

Islam and Superstition-3

Part Three

By: Syed Kamran Mirza

July 4, 2004

(Translated into English from Bengali by Abul Kasem)

[A request to the readers: Those who had already read the Part One of this
series may skip the introductory part of this essay as this section will be the
same for all the remaining parts, although, there might be some slight changes
for Part Two. Needless to say, those readers who did not read Part One, the
Introductory part is a must-read. In the subsequent parts I shall simply
include, in serial numbers more amazing, queer, and cock-and-bull stories from
Islami Books]

INTRODUCTION

We are aware that superstition is a popular belief held by people without any
reason or logic; that is to say, it is an irrational belief system without any
proof practiced by the ignorant mass. This type of superstition can be of two
types, namely; Folklores-that are essentially fanciful, irrational stories that
are accepted by the population as such; so, there is no problem with such
fairy-tales. However, the other type of superstition is the religious false
notion that is firmly rooted in the belief of supernatural divinity. The morbid
fear of unknown, the thought of after-life and a deep penchant for supernatural
power are the main causes for the growth of such religious mumbo-jumbo. Clearly,
this uncontrolled fear for life after death and its resultant irrational faith
in it is the primary reason for the birth of world religious beliefs. We see the
abundant presence of many such fanciful, irrational ingredients in almost all
religions practiced in to-day's world-no religion is free from such
ridiculousness, to say the least. For that matter Islam is no exception. In
fact, there are so many superstitions in Islam that one can safely surmise that
the entire edifice of Islam stands firmly on many such mythological
/supernatural narrations.

When one reads the fundamental scriptures of Islam, namely; the Qur'an and many
Ahadith, one is bound to find copious superstitious stories and practices. The
belief in such irrational and illogical stories and tales is bound to give rise
to many fanatical believers and this could be the root cause of Islamic frenzy
among its blind believers.

In Bangladesh, searching every nook and corner of the markets, bookstores,
Islamic libraries, even the foot path (Fatemolla aptly calls these books: the
Moons and the Stars of the foot path) of a city one is sure to find thousands of
such Islami Kitab (Islami Books) that shamelessly promotes such ignorance and
cock-and-bull stories. From among such famous and popular books, let me name a
few. These are: Behester Kunji (The Key to Paradise), Beheshti Zewar (The
Treasures of Paradise), Maqsudul Momeneen (The Destiny of the Believers),
Kissas-ul-Ambia (The Stories of the Prophets) and Neyamul Qur'an etc. In a
Muslim country like Bangladesh, these Islami books are in such a great demand
that the publishers have a tough time meeting this huge demand even after they
have run 30th or 40th edition for each of the above books.

From among the books cited above, I found it absolutely compelling to delve in
illustrating some of the contents of Kissas-ul-Ambia. This Islami Kitab is
considered to be distinctly different from any other Islami Book-in that, this
book is not about the exhortations of Islami teachings based on the fanciful
ideas of some Mullah. As the title of this book suggests, this book narrates the
stories of many Prophets mentioned in the holy Qur'an and Ahadith and who were
born in the Arabian Peninsula. This means that whatever is written in this book
conforms to the contents of the Qur'an and Ahadith, and as such they are
completely irrefutable. The version of this book that I am using has been
written by an impeccably educated Muslim writer-M.N.M. Imdadullah (M.A., B.A.

Hons. M.A). In look and size this book is quite similar to the holy Qur'an and
as such it commands a great reverence from the Muslims. As a mark of respect the
libraries and the devotees will store this book at the uppermost shelve of
bookshelves, positioning it just by the side of the Qur'an.

This is also a pricey book-mind you, one translated volume is costlier than the
holy Qur'an!

An examination of this tome will reveal that its content is replete with
superstitious narrations-almost 90% of it, to be precise. Once the
simple-minded, faithful Muslims read/hear such irrational tales, they turn to be
more ardent believers, devoting more time and attention in prayer and fasting.
For the not-so-faithfuls, they will find such incredible, irrational tales
extremely hilarious and will definitely have hearty laugh reading the book.

Nonetheless, such superstitious books are plenty in Bangladesh and, as said
before, one may find them in virtually every household-no joke. These are the
text books-the principal learning sources of Islam for the vast a majority of
the Muslims in Bangladesh. Most of what they believe and practice in Islam
actually emanate from these primary learning tools! Many Maulanas (Islamic
priests) recorded these 'cock and bull' stories in the audio-cassettes which are
readily available in Bangladesh to the gullible Muslims. For some unscrupulous
Maulanas this cassette selling is a booming business that is simply nothing but
only to plunder the hard-earned wealth from poor public. Needless to say, the
influence of such books, and the audio-cassettes have created, among the Bengali
Muslims in Bangladesh, a thriving business for the saints, ascetics and the
friars by selling talisman and by practicing charms.

In the villages, in the suburbs, and even in the metropolitan cities of
Bangladesh numerous Islamic Jalsas (Islamic Preachings) are held almost on a
daily basis. These congregations are attended by thousands of ordinary,
illiterate, half-literate, ill-educated Muslims. The surprising fact is that
many educated, blind believers also attend these gathering and become engrossed
in listening to the exhortations of the Mullahs. The main theme of such speeches
is the narrations of Islamic mythological tales, irrational and fanciful
stories, and colourful anecdotes from Islamic history. The principal source of
such tales, of course, is none other than the incredible Kissa-ul-Ambia, the
implausible Islamic book. The simple-minded village folks are so much imbued by
these cock-and-bull and absurd stories, that in no time they start believing
such stories to be true and many of those ardent believers even start weeping.
As a result of such gullible faith in irrationality, they soon become victims of
fear and completely surrender to superstition and supernatural forces.

During my childhood, when I attended such gatherings, I used to wonder as to
where from these Mullahs obtained such coaxing stories and narrate them so
eloquently. I used to marvel at the level of their knowledge and understanding.
Now, I have no doubt in my mind that all those incredibly irrational tales are
actually from authentic Islamic books. In this serialised article I shall quote,
verbatim, a few sample passages from those authentic Islamic books mentioned
above. [Please note: these quotes are exact; nothing is from me, except that my
personal views are included inside parenthesis]:

Please note: Items 6 to 11 were published in Part 2

12. Allah created the seven heavens, the earth, and the entire universe in six days

In the beginning, on a Sunday, Allah created His Supreme throne and all the
objects surrounding it. On Monday, He created the seven heavens; on Tuesday, He
created the seven layers of the earth; on Wednesday, he created the dark empty
space, on Thursday, He made all the objects between heaven and earth; then on
Friday, He created the Moon, the Sun, the stars, the planets and the satellites.
Having had done all those in six days Allah decided to take a rest on Saturday,
the seventh day. [I wonder why Allah preferred to take a break on Saturday, the
Sabbath day of the Kafirs and not on a Friday, that is the Sacred Day for the
believers.]

13. How Allah created the Hell

Once Almighty Allah finished the task of creating the heavens and the earth, He
directed His attention towards creating the Hell. According to Hazrat Abdullah
Ibn Abbas, the Hell is founded under a gigantic stone called Shaara. Then Allah
appointed Malik, the archangel as the principal supervisor for care and
maintenance of Hell. Under Malik, there are further twenty-nine angels
(Farishta) engaged in this job. Each of these angels has seventy thousand hands
and, in total, there are one hundred and forty thousand (140, 000) hands (?).
Each hand has seventy thousand (70,000) palms in it and each palm has seventy
thousand (70,000) fingers in it. On every finger there is a python and on the
head of the python there is a serpent. This serpent is so long that its length
is the distance of a journey of seventy thousand years. Each of these serpents
carries on its head a deadly poisonous scorpion. Once these scorpions smite a
denizen of Hell he will become restless and fidget in utter pain. [There is no
doubt that Allah is perverted, cruel and a sadist.]

14. The location of Allah's Hell and a taste of Hellfire

Abu Huraira narrated that for one thousand years Allah increased greatly the
intensity of ordinary fire to turn it into a red inferno. Then Allah intensified
further the glow of this inferno, so much so, that it turned into black-and to
remain like that for eternity. A huge stone covers the mouth of this raging dark
fire. This Hell of inferno is placed on the head of an angel; this angel is
standing on the back of a mosquito; this mosquito is sitting tight on a lump of
wet clay, and this clay lump is on the head of a cow with seventy thousand horns
on its head. This humongous cow is standing on the back of a fish that is so
huge that its tail touches the legs of Allah's Throne. In order for the cow to
remain still at its position Allah placed a dreadful mosquito right in front of
it. Due to the fear of this mosquito the cow remains stand-still without making
the slightest movent. Now behold the glory of Allah! If by chance this mosquito
made any movement then this world would have simply perished. Subhan Allah.

15. The distribution of sinners in Hell

Gabriel has disclosed that there are seven types of Hell, namely Jahim,
Jehannam, Sakhar, Sayer, Lazza, Havia and Hutama. The Hujura-e-Pak (i.e.,
Muhammad) said to Gabriel, " O Gabriel, please tell me who will go to which
Hell?" Gabriel answered, "Havia Hell is for the hypocrites (Munafiks); Kafirs,
Mushriks (infidels) and the idolaters will be in Jehannam; the fire worshippers,
the Jews and the Christians will be housed in Sakhar Hell; the worshippers of
devil will be in Lazza Hell; Hutama Hell is reserved only for those who take
bribe; the polytheists will be in Sayer Hell and the Muslim sinners will be in
Jahim Hell.

16. The story of the origin of Satan

Long before Allah created the human being, He created the Jinns solely for the
purpose of worshipping Him alone. But the species of Jinns, having been on
earth, fully indulged themselves in fun and amusement, and completely forgot
Allah. An angry Allah then sent a troop of angels to destroy the errant Jinns.
The angles descended on earth with various weapons and started slaughtering the
Jinns. When they finished killing almost all the Jinns, they found a very young
and handsome Jinn boy. The angels became very compassionate towards this boy and implored Allah's kindness towards him to save his life. The angles also sought
Allah's permission to bring this boy back to the Heaven to rear him under their
care. Allah approved the request of the angels and said to them: "O my angels,
bring forth this boy and rear him amongst you." The angels them named this
beautiful boy 'Iblis.' He was only one thousand years old when the angels took
him to Heaven.

17. What is the genealogy of Iblis?

Khabis was the father of Iblis. Khabis' father was the king of the Jinns, and
his name was Hanmus. Khabis looked like a dreadful lion and his nature too was
like that of a lion. On one hand he had the titanic power in him, while, on the
other hand he was out and out a sly. He was the supreme leader of all the wicked
Jinns. Iblis' mother was Nilbis. She was the daughter of Hanmus, the fifth
leader of the Jinns. She appeared like a wolf. Iblis was conceived when Nilbis
and Khabis had sexual intercourse in the inferno of Hell. [No wonder, having
absolute control on all affairs on earth, Satan is so powerful in this world.
Truly, Iblis, the son of Khabis is a terrific creation of Allah. It is because
even when living in the towering inferno of Hell, Khabis, the father of Iblis
was adroit in engaging in sexual copulation.]

References:

Kissas-ul-Ambia

The Holy Qur'an; translated in Bengali by Maulana Muhiuddin Khan and published from Saudi Arabia

Maksudul Momeneen

Beheshti Zewar

To be continued

***