The Search for Meaning in the Muslim World
Today, 3 Islamic detainees in Guantanamo Bay committed suicide. They were originally captured by US troops after the defeat of the Taliban regime of Afghanistan in 2001. Since their capture, they have been kept in solitary cells with no contact with the outside world. The US did not consider them prisoners of war so it denied them all their basic legal rights. Rumsfeld also claimed that the Geneva Convention does not apply to them and refused to allow the UN to supervise the way they are treated. After 4 years of being locked up alone, 3 of them finally cracked up and killed themselves. Their death raises a significant question about the mentality of Islamic militants. They are supposedly religious people who should not end their lives according to Islamic teachings, yet they did it today. They did not do it the traditional Muslim way by killing others along with themselves. They just did it to themselves, only themselves. How can we explain that act? I believe that religious extremism is a form of self destruction. It led people to lose touch with reality and become preoccupied with feelings of grandiosity and superiority. Extremists detach from others and think and believe that they know the big truth. They then become disenchanted when their beliefs are tested and refuted. When everything fell apart for these detainees, they realized that their Allah did not help them. They lost hope in life and became extremely helpless. They asked their Allah for help but he was busy upstairs with virgins. Despite the tragic way with which these young men lost their lives, there may be a strong message involved. Stop being so absorbed in a religious belief to the extent that you isolate yourself and your experience from reality and others. Stop being too religious to the extent that you think you are better than anyone. Stop being too religious to the extent that you think everyone around you is wrong. I am not urging anyone to give up their faith; actually, faith always makes us strong. I am asking that we step out of our beliefs and see if they help us or not live a fuller life. The problem with the Islamic belief is that it is ridden with violence and hate. It teaches hate and dishonesty. It advocates polygamy and child abuse. It urges Muslims to fight and kill for Islam. True Muslims end up like Zarkway and the 3 that killed themselves today
posted by maged salamah at 6:08 PM
4 Comments:
I think that most of the suicide bombers do what they do because they want to be special and unique. They are not doing it for the good of their people because they end up bringing more pain to their countries and relatives. They do it for their own "glory." It is really sad when people call them martyrs. The suicide of those detainees proves my point.
I wounder, how long is it going to take till muslims realise that, they are being fooled by their religious leaders?
Only in Islam, I see people blowing themselves and others up? I still to see a siekh or a buddest or a jew or a christian or anyother religion blowing them selves and others up? Only followers of Islam do it. And it seems to increase, therefore one must assume that, they are encouraged to do so by their religious leaders.
When will they start to teach "love one onother" "brotherly love to all humanity" and respect every human as you would like to be respected?
Can any one comment please????
mo7eb. I think you are right. I watched the tapes they had before they commit their murders and you can see how narcissistic they sounded. They used the word "I" many times and did not use the word "we."
Anonymous,
Nice post, but I want to clarify something. The mess that Muslims have is not the fault of their religious leaders. It is the fault of the destructive ideology of islam. If someone is obsessed with a faith that tells them to kill and fight in the name of their God, you would not find a place for brotherly love or humaity.
You shouldnt blame them.
its the way thay were brought up.
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