Genie power and the speed of heaven (590 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.66 on 11 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by partisan (View user info) at 2004-05-16 15:57:04 EDT
Question: What the hell is wrong with Islam?
Answer: Its stuck in the 14th century.
There you have it, as simple as that.
You may not know this, but right up until the 14th century, Islam was by far the most advanced, most progressive of the major world religions. The Muslim world was the envy of the rest of the world for its prosperity and scientific advencement. Muslims discovered algebra, optics, were ahead of their time medically, and built great libraries in their cities. Muslims were the first to begin exploring subsaharan africa, and Islam was by far the most humane religion around in those days.
The first truly multicultural society was Moorish Spain, under muslim rulers. Jewish and Christian scientists mingled with their muslim counterparts in Baghdad and Jerusalem. While it cannot be claimed that they lived in perfect equality, Muslim kingdoms were much more tolerant religiously than any part of Europe (for example, when the crusaders reconquered Jerusalem, they slaughtered all the christians living there, as well as the jews and muslims).
So where did it all go wrong?
Like I said, in the 14th century. That's when the fundamentalist clerics took over from the more enlightened rulers of the 7th-13th centuries. Prayer and religious devotion were placed above scientific or social progress as goals. One Islamic cleric of the time even declared maths to be 'un-Islamic'. Can you believe that? The search for knowledge was declared 'unislamic'. Unbelievable. And that's where Islam began to stagnate.
The Islamic 'sharia' law that is upholded in many muslim countries, is in fact a carbon copy of the ideas of six or seven 13th century islamic jurors. Their legal decisions have not been challenged or questioned for 800 years. Islamic law has simply not evolved since the dark ages.
It is such a shame that a religion with such a promising early history should have suffered such a disappointing fate.
On a lighter note, but equally relevant as a sign of what is seriously wrong with Islam today, is the fact that, in recent years, some physicists at the University of Islamabad in Pakistan have devoted their time and resources to a project which aims to find a solution to Pakistan's power shortages by harnessing the power of genies. Or there is the example of another Pakistani physicist whos thesis was about calculating the speed of heaven using a mixture of Einstein's theories and Koranic verse. He 'discovered' that heaven is moving away from the earth at a speed of one meter per second less than the speed of light.
The conclusion i draw from all this is that it is not Islam, but religion in general, which is causing the rot.
Western Europe started to develop technologically and morally (in terms of humanism) with the advent of scientific, liberal capitalism. (don't get me wrong, i'm very much a socialist, but i agree that capitalism was definitely a step forward from feudalism and the iron grip of the church).
Islamic science was suffocated by religion, very much in the same way that, had the Catholic church had its way with Galileo, we'd all believe that the sun went round the Earth and we'd probably be living like buttcake amish people.
I realise that i have rambled on a bit too long, and that this is nothing but a rant, so hopefully this will make up for it.
User Reviews
Submitted by euripidestrousers (user info) at 2004-05-17 13:43:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2004-05-16 20:20:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by seanfogy (user info) at 2004-05-16 16:22:30 (#)
Ranking: 1
Yeah, and when genie power is found to be the missing link to cold fusion, I bet you wished you never wrote this.
------------------------------
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Submitted by runninginplace (user info) at 2004-05-16 20:11:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Islam: from first to worst
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-05-16 17:33:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Main Entry: so·cial·ism
Pronunciation: 'sO-sh&-"li-z&m
Function: noun
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done
I'm curious, which one, if any, of these definitions do you adhere to as a "socialist"?
Do you not own any private property, or are you just content with insanely high tax rates and no incentive to work?
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2004-05-16 17:06:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This reminds me of the Christian argument of how many angels can fit onto the head of a pin.
Submitted by Falconer (user info) at 2004-05-16 16:53:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Siren (user info) at 2004-05-16 16:25:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Thanks. I was wondering. See, religion ruins everything!!!
Submitted by seanfogy (user info) at 2004-05-16 16:22:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Yeah, and when genie power is found to be the missing link to cold fusion, I bet you wished you never wrote this.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2004-05-16 16:08:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It's not all bad -
look up Abdus Salam, a Nobel Prize and two wives.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2004-05-16 16:04:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Damn Wahabbi
Submitted by partisan (user info) at 2004-05-16 16:00:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Jesus, did i really write 'upholded'. What the fuck is wrong with me right now?