ISLAM'S CODE OF CONDUCT
BY
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
All human groups live by codes of conduct and beliefs. The codes are far from uniform, either in context or formality. Yet they all serve the critical function of being a prescription of behaviors that enhance the welfare of the group and proscribe those that undermine it. In tandem with the emergence of the code of conduct is the practice of rituals. While the code of conduct secures order within the group, rituals give it a sense of identity, essential for the solidarity of the “in-group” against the ever-present threats of the “out-group.”
Over time, the code of conduct and rituals merge, to various degrees, to serve the group. Some examples are religious ceremonies, secular observances, and a mixture of the two.
A code of conduct requires enforcement. The physically strong, and perhaps more cunning, emerge as group leaders and enforcers — Chiefs, Sheiks, Earls, Lords, and Kings are continuations of this line of authority. Yet all along there was a realization that an authority or authorities with much greater powers transcends that of human beings. The ancient Greeks’ various gods and the pre-Islamic idolaters of the Arabian Peninsula represent this line of thinking.
Among some human groupings, the utilitarian value of prescriptions and proscriptions for the group evolved in the belief of opposing superhuman powers. Good things, such as bountiful rain, great harvests, and plentiful game, for instance, were seen as the offerings of the benevolent superhuman, while famine, earthquakes, plagues and so forth were attributed to the actions of the malevolent superhuman. The Zoroastrians concept of Ahuramazda, the god of good, and Ahriman,the lord of evil, represents this line of belief.
At some point, monotheism appeared on the scene. The Abrahamic religions represent this line of development. One Supreme Being was posited as the all-powerful, all-everything author of the universe. It simplified things greatly. No need to supplicate many gods, or please one and antagonize another. This Supreme Being communicated with humans through intermediaries of his choosing, or so some claimed. And through these intermediaries, he prescribed laws and ordinances.
Obedience to his laws attracted his blessings and disobedience incurred his wrath, often administered by human agencies in this world, with more to come in the purported next world.
The God of the monotheist is a hands-on God. And Islam’s Allah is extremely hands-on. He leaves virtually no room for anything or anyone to do anything without his full knowledge and authorization.
Sigmund Freud
In more recent times, another form of evolution appeared on the scene. The work of Sigmund Freud represents this line of development. God was marginalized. God was reduced to a hypothetical father figure, a figment of man’s imagination, who would reward or punish his children depending on their actions. And the duality superhuman dual deity of Ahuramazda and Ahriman were personalized within each person. The Id, a version of Ahriman, was posited as representing the impulsive, the ungoverned by the code of conduct, the amoral, devoted exclusively to self-gratification. The Superego, a version of Ahuramazda, was invoked as the law-abiding, the moral, and care for others.
As I studied philosophy, religion and delved more deeply into these subjects, I became deeply attracted to the inexhaustible treasure of Iran’s exquisite history, fine arts, and poetry. Along the way, I learned about and revered Cyrus the Great and a host of other Iranians who personified all that is good and in line with the great benevolent God, Ahuromazda. The more I learned and witnessed Islam, the more it repelled me, for it is much more in accord with that of the agent of evil, Ahriman.
Islam’s effect
Islam glorifies death by calling its killers soldiers of Allah. Islam preaches superiority of the in-group, and the inferiority of the “other.” It is a creed steeped in superstition that demands blind obedience to authority and prohibits just about every form of freedom — the very precious gift of the Creator Ahuramazda that makes us human. Everything in Islam is black and white. One is either Muslim — good — or non-Muslim — evil. Men are superior, women are subservient. This life is worthless and should be offered for the pleasure of Allah as defined by the clergy.
I could not believe that this life is worthless. The Creator did not create anything worthless. Every last one of his creations, down to subatomic particles, are worthy in the grand scheme of things. To me, the idea of human life as worthless made the claim itself worthless.
The more I studied Islam, the more I became convinced that Islam is a creed of ignorant people in a primitive age. It is fixated in time and place; it harbors the ambition of taking the 21st century world back fourteen centuries and ruling it by its dogma of intolerance, injustice and death. Yet Islam is not only an obsolete vestige of a defunct era, but itself is an infinitely fractured belief that can hardly put its own house in order. The numerous Islamic sects are at each other’s throats. Subsects and schools despise one another as much as they hate non-Muslims. Hatred, not love, drives Islam.
I came to the realization that the root cause of all Muslims’ degradation and suffering is Islam itself. It is distressing to witness Islam making headway in traditionally non-Islamic lands. Masses of brainwashed faithful semi-literate Muslims, badly underserved in their own native lands, are moving to countries where “infidels” welcome them with material benefits denied them in their own homeland, as well as the liberty to subvert the very societies that provide refuge.
Even more distressing are those good-hearted simpleton non-Muslims who are up in arms defending the rights of Muslims to practice their religion in free societies such as the United States of America. These well-meaning, badly misguided folks don’t realize that practicing Islam fully requires subverting and destroying any and all non-Islamic beliefs and practices. All one needs to see this deadly aspect of Islam is to examine how Islam is practiced in places such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, and even the so-called more moderate Islamic states such as Egypt.
There is considerable allure in submission to a powerful god that is willing and able to take care of the person. It is not a bad arrangement. The problem is that all past claimants have invariably been proven to be either frauds or failures in honoring their part of the bargain. Islam is no exception. A cursory glance is enough to show the condition of Muhammad’s flock. In spite of huge material wealth, Muslims in the oil-rich countries are imprisoned in the paralyzing mentality of submission and all the terrible ancillaries that go with it.
