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Under the heading “The Misery of Islam,” Lars Gule makes a wholehearted attempt to analyze Islam and its disadvantages. The result is less impressive.
Qadr, or destiny, is one of the areas that has received considerable attention from Muslim scholars throughout history. It can be difficult to keep one’s tongue straight on this issue, as Lars Gule fully demonstrates. The effect of this is intellectual confusion that is wrongly attributed to Islam. For Muslims, the debate about qadr is a purely theological-philosophical discussion that has little to do with their everyday lives. It does not, therefore, govern the lives of Muslims, as Lars Gule seems to believe.
In this debate, it is necessary to explain the Islamic view. God was a hidden treasure that would be recognized. Creation was realized. The angels, without free will, were created from light. Then the Jinn (spirit creatures), with free will, were created from fire. One of these beings, Iblis, was so good at worshipping God that he was allowed to live with the angels in heaven. As the crowning glory of creation, Adam was created, and the angels were asked to kneel before him.
Everyone knelt, except Iblis. He used his free will and refused to obey God’s command. When asked why he would not kneel before Adam, the answer was: should I [who is of fire] kneel before Adam [who is of clay]? Consequently, Iblis was expelled from Paradise, but prayed to God: give me time until the Day of Judgment to mislead this creature. The answer he received was that he could, but those who were God’s people would not be misled. This is the test on earth: is free will used to follow the Creator’s command or to follow the misguidance of Satan (Iblis)?
Lars Gule is wrong when he says that man is absolved of responsibility for his actions. Here are a few, among many verses in the Quran that show this:
Allah does not ask of anyone more than he can bear. He is credited with what he has earned and charged with what he has earned. (2:286)
Say: “The truth is from your Lord. So let him who will believe, and let him who will disbelieve.” (18:29)
Furthermore: if man does not have free will, why did God send thousands of prophets and what role did they play?
Lars Gule further points to the behavior of drivers in Muslim countries as evidence for his claim about the fatalism of Islam. An academic approach would have led to the following factors, among others, having to be considered: driver training, traffic safety measures, the standard of cars and roads, poor car and road maintenance, the correct load on the car and signage, to name a few. How Gule manages to skip over all these factors and conclude that it is Islam that is the cause of accidents is incomprehensible. A man with a doctorate and a teaching position at a university simply cannot make such a serious mistake.
Lars Gule also mentions that Muslims do not take their meeting appointments seriously. This is a gross generalization. To the extent that it occurs, it is completely unacceptable in Islam:
O you who believe, why do you say what you do not do? It is abomination to God that you say what you do not do! (Quran, 61:2-3)
According to a hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Three are the signs of a hypocrite: When he speaks, he lies, when he makes a promise, he breaks it, and when he is trusted, he breaks the trust.”
An explanation, not an excuse, may be that the more developed a country is, the greater the need for precision. The most important factor in the requirement for accuracy (in time) is communication and necessary interaction. Many Muslim countries are developing countries with large groups that live off primary industries. In addition, the need to be precise is not so intrusive in the big cities either. The reason is that there are no consequences for being a little late.
The communications also do not always have precise departures. You line up at the stop and wait for a bus to arrive. Sometimes you wait a short while, other times you have to wait a long time. In short, many Muslims lack training in being punctual.
Gule is also familiar with Arabic grammar. InshaAllah becomes in Gule’s language inshe Allah. And the translation is if God had willed. The word is three-part: in – sha – Allah. If you say sha Allah, you have to agree with Gule. It describes the past and means God willed. But when you add in before the word itself, the past becomes the future. The correct translation is then: if Allah wills. An example: Dja’a Ali means Ali came. But in dja’a Ali means if Ali comes.
The biggest mistake Gule makes at the end of his post is “…this religion is perfectly suited to legitimizing established social privileges and gender and class oppression.” If there is one thing Islam has not done, it is to legitimize established social privileges and gender and class oppression.
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) began to receive his revelations from God in the 7th century, the situation was very difficult for his followers. After several years of untenable conditions, the Muslims were forced to flee Mecca to save their lives and the little they had of possessions. The main reason why the lives of the Muslims became worse and worse was precisely that Islam threatened the established hierarchy of power.
Since the resistance to the “power structures” did not disappear, every means were used to make life difficult for the Muslims. The resistance to the new religion increased after the new converts advocated other principles. Principles that would sweep the old structures aside and replace them with sustainable principles for social organization and the distribution of power and welfare. Wherever Islam has gradually gained followers, society has undergone major changes:
• no people are given priority because of their power, status, ethnicity, gender
• welfare should be distributed through alms
• women are empowered – baby girls are not left to die
• everyone has their rights according to the Quran and Sunnah – no transgression is tolerated
These are just a few examples of why Islam was and is perceived as a threat. It does not bow to societal norms that are contrary to Islamic principles such as freedom, equality and solidarity. Not as these principles are given content by humans, but as these principles are given content by the Creator, God.
A prerequisite for a fruitful discussion is that it is based on reality, and not a scare story that contradicts what is completely obvious. It is a shame that Lars Gule has fallen for the temptation.
