The Attack On Salman Rushdie Is Symptomatic Of The Malady Of Intolerance Islam Suffers From

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 13 August 2022 Islam Cannot Tolerate Criticism Esp. Coming From Those Who're Non-Muslims And An Apatheist To Boot ----- Rushdie is tended to after he was attacked during a lecture, on Friday, August 12 | AP ----- " The Abolition Of All Organized Religions Has Become Imperative. This Must Start With Islam, Followed By All Religions And Their Gods." Salman Rushdie, immediately after the fatwa in 1989 75-year-old, arguably the greatest living novelist Salman Rushdie was brutally attacked by a 24-year-old Shia Muslim extremist, Hadi Matar, in New York. Ironically, this stabbing incident vindicated his own words that, " The memory of religious fanatics lingers on and their hatred for the man who insulted their religion and god remains implacable. This rabid hatred is particularly obvious among Muslims for whom forgiveness for a sacrilegious act is a foreign word. " So chillingly and prophetically true! Even after thirty three years, Muslims haven't forgiven him for insulting Islam and Muhammad in his book ' The Satanic Verses.' The biggest joke is that in spite of a series of regular religious and blasphemous killings across the globe since the inception of Islam, the apologists and followers of this desert faith will still try to convince you that Islam is the religion of peace! My foot! Yours truly has been getting threats from MUSLIM zealots for many years. I lost the first phalanx of the middle finger of my right hand while saving my face from a knife-wielding Muslim zealot in Hyderabad, Deccan. Every day, I find my Inbox filled with hate mails mostly from Muslims from all parts of the world, who threaten to sever my head. Agreed, Hindu nationalists also dislike me. But I'm sure, they'll beat me but perhaps spare my life. And they did exactly that a few years ago! But if a fanatic Muslim assaults, my life will not be spared. Now the eternally unanswered question is: What makes Muslims so hardcore and why don't they believe in the dictum of let bygone, be bygone? Islam conditions its followers and benumbs their thinking. It's the only religion that institutionalises hatred against the followers of other faiths. It legitimises violence in the name of religion, Allah and its Messenger. Islam indoctrinates its followers in a way that they become forever convinced that it's the only true faith and all other faiths are false. What an obnoxious example of religious assertiveness, nay, monomania! Islam cannot tolerate criticism esp. coming from those who're non-Muslims and an apatheist to boot. That’s why, I'm an eyesore to most of the Muslims on this forum. They call me an Islamophobic atheist, one gentleman subtly suggests, why an atheist like me is invited to write on Islamic subjects as if writing on Islam is the fiefdom of only Muslims. Someone says that I spread deliberate lies against Islam with a hidden agenda. Why should that be their headache when a surprisingly sane, sensible and level-headed Muslim editor allows and pays me to write for his website? Do these fanatics patronize this website? Why can't a non-Muslim criticise Islam? That apart, coming back to Salman Rushdie episode, it's time, the whole world must realize that Islam has become a potential threat to the civilized world and the sane voices from this primitive and prehistoric faith must come together to reach a solution as to how to reform and revamp the whole religion, delete horrendous verses from the Quran and rein in the wayward zealots. Islam has already earned a very bad name for itself. Kill me if you want. To quote a poet from Aurangabad, "Patthar Ka Meri Simt Aana Zaroor Tha/ Main Hi Gunhagaaron Mein Ek Beqasoor Tha " (The stone was destined to be hurled at me/ As I was the only innocent among a posse of sinners). ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/rushdie-malady-intolerance-islam-suffers-/d/127705 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism