Until the advent of materialism and 19th c. dogma, Western Civilisation was superior to anything Islam had developed. Islam has not aided in the development of the modern world; in fact civilisation has only been created in spite of Islam. Proof of this resides in the 'modern' world and the unending political-economic and spiritual poverty of Muslim states and regions. Squatting on richer civilisations is not 'progress'. Islam is pagan, totalitarian, and irrational.
Suffering through the Koran – Sura 13 named 'The Thunder'.
Fun, happy, optimistic, charitable, loving, exhalting free will – ha ha - sorry you must be mad, this is the Koran after all.
by Ferdinand III
After a hard day on the 'Arab and Muslim street', there is nothing more refreshing than sitting back with a cup of strong tea, datura opiates, and a copy of your favorite Koran. Reclining, smiling and enjoying the varied and unintelligible verses of the Arab 'bible' – nothing is finer for the average devotee of Islam – which is why it helps to be high whilst reading it. Chapter or Sura 13 about the Thunder of the moon thing Allah, must be particularly pleasing to the reclining Arab and Muslim since it details the majestic greatness of the Arab moon cult deity and the destruction of those who oppose it. How spiritual !
Sura 13 which is a small diatribe about how Allah or the Meccan moon cult deity is all-powerful, is of course almost impossible to read. It is not put into any context, does not follow logically any form of argument, and is a repetitive rant of rash claims – sentence upon sentence of why this moon-deity controls the world and your worthless human life. There is no theme, no ideas, no concepts of spirituality – just submit to this Allah because he has told us, through the illiterate pagan warlord Mohammmed that he rules the universe. That is it.
Witness the madness of this oft-repeated claim:
2. ;He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law)
3. ..He draws the night as a veil over the day
15. Whatever being there are in the heavens and the earth do prostrate themselves to Allah (acknowledging subjection)
40. - your duty is to make (the Message) reach them: it is Our part to call them to account.
Such ideas litter every verse and page of the incomprehensible Koran. Allah controls all. A Muslim's duty is to spread this message. Allah and the leading Muslims will decide if and how, the 'Unbelievers' should be punished. But you the pious Muslim just spread the word of Allah's ominiscient greatness. That is your job.
For 'Unbelievers' and Kuffars the end is nigh. If the apostate or impious devil, deny that this Allah – whatever it is supposed to be – is not the all-powerful and great animating force within the universe, than slavery, death and hell is your reward. How very spiritual:
5. They are those who deny their Lord! They are those round whose necks will be yokes (of servitude): they will be Companions of the Fire, to dwell therein (for ever)!
11. But when (once) Allah wills a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect.
[Notice the incoherence of the last verse – 'besides Him, any to protect'. What the rabid writer wants to say, is that only Allah can protect people, nothing else in the universe can protect a people or a person from the great Allah's pre-destined, and arbitrary vengeance.]
31. But the Unbelievers, -never will disaster cease to seize them for their (ill) deeds, or to settle cloes to their homes, until the promises of Allah come to pass, for, verily, Allah will not fail in His promise.
32. ....and finally I punished them: then how (terrible) was My requital
If however you submit yourself like a good slave to this Allah, revoke your free will, deny your own individuality, and refuse to use rationality, and you are 'good' in following Islamic ritual; than of course the all-knowing moon deity Allah might give you a reward – if he feels like it:
23. Gardens of perpetual bliss; they shall enter there, as well as the righteous among their fathers, their spouses, and their offspring....
24. “Peace unto you for that you persevered in patience! Now how excellent is the final home!”
39. Allah blots out or confirms what He pleases: with Him is the Mother of the Book.
Of course no one – except the all-knowing Muslim perhaps – understands what is the 'Mother of the Book'. Does it reference a being, a book, an idea or Mother earth ? Who knows. In any event it is the thing Allah which has this book, all knowledge, all power and all insights. You the human are worthless. Submit, grovel, obey and spread the word, and if you find unbelievers than Allah and the ruling Muslims caste will decide what to do.
This Sura contains not one single verse of intelligible prose, written to a standard explaining higher ethics, morality, spiritual development and how humans should behave in a civilized manner. Nothing. It is another mindless rage about this Allah – never defined, and never clarified – and how he or it, controls your life and the world. Your only function is to obey what he or it says. Thinking, feeling, acting, inventing, trying, failing, and the joys of free-will are damned.
Obeisance is the theme of the Koran. Slavery and submission the rules. No wonder the Arab and Muslim world have been so backwards for 500 years. After squatting and pillaging richer territories the fundamentalist totalitarianism that is the Koran and Sharia Law finally expunged whatever ingenuity and human motive was left. Unsurprisingly.
[Note: This sura is taken from 'The Holy Quran', translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, reprinted in 1995, Goodword Books. Regarded as one of the best translations from Arabic to English of the Koran.]