Banner Advertiser

Monday, February 4, 2013

RE: [mukto-mona] Perception of God and Rituals of Prayers



Thank you, Hannan-Bhai. I am not sure what Atheists would think of such spiritual experiences. I am not talking about them. 


I am talking about people who do not follow ritualistic-religious traditions, but believe in God. I think there are millions of people like this. Those people also communicate with God directly. I know everybody has some sort of communication with some unknown spirit. I know I have done it many times in my life. 

 

During my post-doctoral research, I was working on a novel idea, and got stuck at a point. No one could help me in that situation. I had no idea also how to get pass that point. This was holding my entire project. This problem would bug me 24/7; I started to search for a solution in my dreams as well. Then, one day, while I was jogging, a trick suddenly came in my mind; it felt like somebody just delivered it in a flash. In another instance, a solution came to me during my subconscious sleep. I could not sleep rest of the night; I wanted to  try it. Next morning I tested it, it worked flawlessly.

 

Everybody has some experience like this. I believe these are communications with some unknown spirit, which we can call God. Therefore, in my world, anybody can establish contact with the spiritual God; all you need is resolve and intense concentration, called meditation. Rituals are distractions in the way of meditations. 

 

This morning I was watching a Bengali TV channel, where two pious men were discussing the benefit of "Salam" (i.e., Islamic-Greeting). They said - the person who will extend "Salam" would get more "Swab" (i.e., religious-currency) than the person who will receive it. It suddenly appeared to me that, in Islamic traditions, all religious rituals and activities do come with credit for certain amount of swab. Under this situation, there is little chance of getting rid of rituals, and little chance of spirituality. Then again, who is trying to get rid of rituals anyway?

 

These are just my personal observations only. I could be wrong.


Jiten Roy





--- On Mon, 2/4/13, SAHANNAN <sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com> wrote:

From: SAHANNAN <sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com>
Subject: RE: [mukto-mona] Perception of God and Rituals of Prayers
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, February 4, 2013, 9:08 AM

 

Respected Jiten sahib,

 

Regards. For a believer, all or most good inspirations are from God. In Islam it is called Ilqa that is inspiration other than revelation or Wahy. Wahy is in direct words of God communicated to Prophets by Zibril.Other inspirations are not in words but in spirit or essence.

I may mention that for an unbeliever or atheist these have no meaning

Shah Abdul Hannan

 


From: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com [mailto: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of Jiten Roy
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2013 1:41 AM
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Perception of God and Rituals of Prayers

 

 

Rabindra Nath used to tell people around him - when a song or a poem would come to his mind. He would ask his instrumentalists to get ready for a song. He would stop everything to write it, and set tunes to it right away. He could have claimed such phenomena as God ' s communication with him. To me, it was. I have no other way to explain the presence of countless unthinkable ensembles of verses in all his creations. 

 

I, therefore, have no hesitation to accept Prophet ' s claim of communication with God. My only agony is - he was unable to put them together in writing by himself, as Rabindra Nath did. So, I am afraid, world will never know exactly what the real communication was.

 

Mullahs ' obsession is on something other than divinity. They are much more interested in their own images, power, and politics. As a result, reference to seven heavens in the scripture is more important to them to authenticate everything they do, even though it is proven to be wrong, as you stated. That ' s why I think - world will never know about Prophet ' s real communication with God. This is true with most other religious scriptures also. None of them were written by original founders. That ' s a fact. 

 

My very limited knowledge of Quran gives me impression that - verses are put together like a secretarial dictation notes; they are out of sequence and perspectives. Someone, with better knowledge on the subject, may educate me, if I am wrong. However, this does not mean that - verses are not real. 

 

Jiten Roy

 

 

 

 

 

Jiten Roy

 



--- On Sat, 2/2/13, Kamal Das <kamalctgu@gmail.com> wrote:


From: Kamal Das <kamalctgu@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Perception of God and Rituals of Prayers
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, February 2, 2013, 10:37 PM

 

Mullahs are obsessed with the idea that Quranic knowledge had been revealed by God through the messenger angel named Gabriel.  The seven layers of heaven was a Pythagorean concept accommodating the seven planets, more or less discarded by the time of Aristotle to include two more layers, one for the stars and another for the unmoved mover named God.  But then over sixty five spots were found which apparently did not move making all such concepts outdated.

On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 7:27 AM, Azadm <mazadpa@yahoo.com> wrote:

 

If your scientific knowledge permits you to agree with that there are seven layer of skies i.e., ozone sphere is one of them, then that piece of knowledge came from the scripture name Quran.

Sent from my iPhone


On Feb 2, 2013, at 5:27 PM, Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com> wrote:

 

Thanks to Mesbah Uddin for giving us such a nice compilation of information that makes us think.  

 

I have no doubt in my mind that religion and religious doctrines are all concocted ideas from some people, and has very little to do with reality or divinity. Even if we believe that God communicated with some people, yet the fact that those people were illiterate and could not put together their instructions in writing should make us wonder about our scriptures, some of them were born hundreds of years after the fact. 

 

It appears to me that writers of some of those scriptures were not so confident about their writings, and needed insurances to establish their edicts. As a result, they needed many intimidating clauses, such as - if you disagree with any of these edicts, you are doomed to go straight to Hell. Ingenious thought of the writer, isn ' t it? This type of intimidation is only found in the scriptural-writings. In the real world, intimidation is only used for children, who are not capable of following logic and reasoning. Why scripture contains intimidations for grown-ups? It makes me wonder. 

 

Just think about rituals we do in the name of religion, without ever thinking about the logical reasoning behind them. We beg and cry to God for something, like a child. Usually, someone beg and cry for something only when they haven ' t earned it. 

How about asking for or, better yet, demanding for something from God, if you have earned it. Does it make sense?

 

When I think about God's rules, I think of them as perpetual and absolute, meaning scientific. Scientific knowledge does not need any intimidation to establish them. They are facts. I have no choice but to accept them. If I disagree, I am wrong. It's that plain and simple. Any rule that passes this litmus test is my God's rule. I just have to discover them. I wish scriptures could help me in that quest, but they can ' t, unfortunately.

 

Jiten Roy

 

 

--- On Sat, 2/2/13, Mesbah Uddin <mesbah_uddin@hotmail.com> wrote:


From: Mesbah Uddin <mesbah_uddin@hotmail.com>
Subject: [mukto-mona] Perception of God and Rituals of Prayers
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, February 2, 2013, 1:52 PM

 

                     Perception of God and Rituals of Prayers

                                               Mesbah Uddin

 

The most revered scripture of Judaism, covering the emergence of God, and His  laws, are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They are collectively known as the Torah.  According to Islamic belief, there were three more Prophets, prior to Muhammad. These Prophets' books are: Tawrat (Torah), Zabur (Psalms), Injil (Gospel), and Quran. These are the holy books that were revealed to Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad, respectively.

 

Besides Judaism, Torah is essentially common amongst the Catholic and Protestant segments of Christianity. The term "Old Testament" refers to those Divine Laws and orders, revealed to Moses before Christianity came into existence as one of the monotheistic religions. According to Islamic beliefs, the Quran (Furkan) was revealed to Muhammad as the "Last Testament". 

 

Here, in the Genesis we find God saying "Let there be light and there was light and God saw the light, that it was good" (Genesis 1: 3 & 4). "And on the seventh day God ended his works which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day ….. (Genesis 2:2).

The perception of God, outlined in these scenarios of Godly powers, portrays God as being dependent on another power to make him see and feel the light as "good". That's not the only glitch – God had to take rest on the seventh day. Surely, God taking rest is a mind boggling scenario! Who then makes him tired?

 

There are many references from the Old Testament in the Quran. Even then God is represented in the Quran as the supreme power, and not dependent on anything. He says "Kun Faiakun" meaning ' be and it is ' (Qur'an, Surah Al-Baqarah: 117). "His Throne (Knowledge and Authority) extends over the heavens and the earth; and the care of them burdens Him not; and He is the Supreme, the Greatest." (Qur'an, Surah Al-Baqarah: 255).

 

In general, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are known as monotheistic religions. Surprisingly, the monotheism of Christianity is not comparable to Judaism or Islam. Jesus is regarded as God in Christian faith and as such this perception of God deviates from the belief of one unseen God, the essential principle of monotheism. Besides, there are quite a few cultural edicts in Islam that are Identical to Judaism. Prohibition of consuming pork; performing circumcision; wearing headgear during prayer; are just a few to exemplify. 

 

Jesus Christ, though born in Bethlehem , a city neighboring Jerusalem , but Christianity of today, was born 325 years later in Nicaea of Turkey which is a small town across the Bosporus and in the neighbourhood of Istanbul . Here King Constantine presided over the first Ecumenical Council, held in the year 325, to put an end to the controversy as to the true nature of Jesus. Finally, after several passionate debates and chaotic brawls between two bishops, (Arius and Athenaeums), both from Egypt , the Council declared that Jesus is a composite of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. This is the fundamental root of Trinity.

 

Jesus spoke in Aramaic and not in Hebrew. At the ninth hour of his crucifixions, Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means in Aramaic, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). This text of the New Testament raises a mind boggling question. If Jesus were the God then whom did he address as "My God, my God"?

Since then, the Catholic Churches started worshiping the statue of Jesus even though worshipping any statue is prohibited in the Old Testament: "…neither shall you setup any image of stones in your land to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God" (Leviticus 26:1)

 

The Christianity of these days places far more importance on Santa Clause to symbolize Christianity. Christian children, almost all over the world, are exposed to their religion through Santa Clause, despite the fact that Santa had nothing to do with Christianity. Actually, the name Santa Clause is derived from Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop around fourth century of Byzantine Turkey. He was known as being generous in giving gifts to the poor children during Christmas time.

 

The prevailing Islam, though free from the inconsistencies of Judaism and Christianity in the perception of God, it is not free from veering away from its main holy book - the Quran.  Most Muslims revere the Quran with such sacredness in mind that they keep the Quran up above shelves and beyond any touch of anybody prior to performing Wadu (Ambulation). As a result, most Muslims, despite possessing a book of the Quran in their chosen languages, hardly have the scope to know what it contains. Their knowledge of Islam is pivoted on those ill-educated Mullahs who are prone to pronouncing 'Fatwa' and arousing the fear of hell-fire when they face to answer any question beyond the capacity of their limited knowledge on Islam.

 

How the Islamic prayer ritual came into practice in the Islamic world? It may be a simple question but it is annoying to most Muslims. Anyone, who had read the Quran, would find the full details of Wadu which is just a requirement prior to prayer. But strikingly, not a single word about how to perform ' Salat ' (prayer), known as Namaz in the Indo-Iranian part of the world.

 Most answers, however, direct the finger on the Hadith of Bukhari (810–870). In reality, Hadith is a collection of sayings and doings of Muhammad and not the messages that are believed to have been revealed to him by God for the believers of Islamic faith. More to the point, Bukhari was from Bukhara of Uzbekistan and not an Arab from Mecca or Medina , where from Muhammad preached Islam. Even if Bukhari were an Arab, the difference of age between Muhammad and Bukhari would have been 240 years. Does it then mean that the prayer rituals, that the Muslims believe and have been following for generations, were not in practice for about 240 years after the death of Muhammad?

 

The sayings and doings of Muhammad are Sunnah, which consists of what he believed, implied, or tacitly approved as opposed to Fard which is compulsion as ordained in the Qur'an.  Apparently the Islamic prayer methods came into Islamic model after Muhammad ' s time and only after Bukhari compiled his Hadith literature?

 

History tells us that Al-Mamun (786 – 833), the son of Harun ar-Rashid ' s Persian wife, was the governor of Khorasan in Persia . After hearing about his father ' s death, Al-Mamun rushed to Baghdad from Khorasan. To pave his way to the throne, he killed his step-brother Al-Amin. Immediately after this incident, he sensed an imminent revolt from the Arab territories of Harun ar-Rashid ' s Empire. Finding no alternatives, Al-Mamun then had to import a huge number of army from Turkey who were then mostly Nestorian Christians. The presence of Islam in Turkey dates back to the latter half of the 11th century and not during what is known as the Islamic empires. Even today, a vast majority of Turkish people are nominally Muslim.

 

Within a short time, Al-Mamun found himself exiled to Samarra , a small city, about 80 miles north of Baghdad .  Eventually, Baghdad turned into a city ruled by those military Generals, most of whom were Nestorian Christians. Strikingly, the Muslims' prayer rituals have substantial body movement with disciplined structure of words and orders. Though the Jihadi Muslims would find it uncomfortable, could it be that those Nestorian's military exercise eventually structured the existing ' Salat ' rituals that the Muslims perform these days? The readers should bear in mind that Islam was still then in its infancy during Al-Mamun's time. The trendsetters were the ones who held the power.

 

It is interesting to know that the existing Turkish alphabet, based on Latin script, was introduced by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic . Besides alphabets, Ataturk also introduced Western legal codes, dress, calendar and many other reforms including emancipation of women, the abolition of all self-styled Islamic institutions.

 

Sources:

The Holy Bible (King James Version), The Holy Quran (translated by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall), The Outline of History - by H. G. Wells, Classical Islam - by G.E. Von Grunebaum

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mesbah Uddin is a researcher and a freelance writer. mesbah_uddin@hotmail.com

 

 

 



__._,_.___


****************************************************
Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration: 
Call For Articles:

http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68

http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] Jamaat-Shibir gives flowers to police



http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=267877

 

Jamaat-Shibir gives flowers to police

To everyone's surprise, the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir presented flowers to on-duty police men in the city yesterday as they brought out a procession without resistance from the law enforcers.

They did it as it was the first time in two and a half years the party was officially allowed hold a rally, Jamaat's Sylhet city Assistant Secretary Fakhrul Islam told The Daily Star.

The party applied for the court point area but was given the registry maidan.

About 2,000 Jamaat and Shibir activists brought out a procession following the rally and handed over Rajanigandha sticks (tuberose) to the police men who were guarding the road on a one-and-a-half-kilometre stretch up to Ambarkhana.

PS.In Dhaka also the Jamaat and Shibir did the same..

 



__._,_.___


****************************************************
Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration: 
Call For Articles:

http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68

http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] আপরাধ ট্রাইব্যুনালের বিচার স্বচ্ছ হচ্ছে না : বিএনপি



http://www.dailynayadiganta.com/new/?p=109084

 

আপরাধ ট্রাইব্যুনালের বিচার স্বচ্ছ হচ্ছে না : বিএনপি

নিজস্ব প্রতিবেদক

আান্তজার্তিক মানবাধিকার সংস্থা হিউম্যান রাইটস ওয়াচ (এইচআরডব্লিউ)-এর মতো বিএনপিও মনে করে আন্তর্জাতিক আন্তর্জাতিক অপরাধ ট্রাইব্যুনালের বিচার স্বচ্ছ হচ্ছে না। এই বিচার প্রক্রিয়া স্বচ্ছ জবাবদিহিমূলক করার দাবি জানিয়েছে বিএনপি।
আজ সোমবার সকালে নয়া পল্টনে দলের কেন্দ্রীয় কার্যালয়ে সংবাদ সম্মেলনে বিএনপি স্থায়ী কমিটির সদস্য দলের সমন্বয়ক তরিকুল ইসলাম এই কথা জানান।
তরিকুল ইসলাম বলেন, 'সব সময় বলে আসছি, আমরা যুদ্ধাপরাধের বিচার চাই। তবে সেই বিচার বিশ্বাসযোগ্য হতে হবে। তা আন্তর্জাতিক মানের এবং স্বচ্ছ হতে হবে। দলীয় এজেন্ডা বাস্তবায়নের বিচার হলে চলবে না।'
তিনি বলেন, 'আন্তর্জাতিক মানবাধিকার সংস্থা হিউম্যান রাইটস ওয়াচ বলেছে, এই বিচার প্রক্রিয়া বির্তকিত। আমরাও বলছি, এই বিচার স্বচ্ছ জবাবদিহিমূলক হোক। স্বচ্ছ হচ্ছে না বলেই তো আমরা স্বচ্ছতার কথা বলছি।'
তরিকুল অভিযোগ করে বলেন, ছাত্রলীগের হামলায় ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের ছাত্রদলের রফিকুল ইসলাম রয়েল গুরুতর আহত হয়েছেন। তিনি বাঁচবেন কিনা আল্লাহ জানেন। ছাত্রলীগের এরকম নির্মমতা কি মানবতা বিরোধী অপরাধ নয়?
তিনি বলেন, স্বাধীনতার পর থেকে সব মানবতাবিরোধী অপরাধের বিচারও করতে হবে।
সাংবাদিকদের এক প্রশ্নের জবাবে তিনি বলেন, 'আমি স্পষ্টভাষায় বলতে চাই- আন্তর্জাতিক যুদ্ধাপরাধ ট্রাইব্যুনাল বাতিল যুদ্ধাপরাধীর বিচারের জামায়াতের দাবির সাথে আমাদের আদর্শিক সর্ম্পক নেই। আমরা ওই দাবির সাথে একমত নই। '
গত ৩১ জানুয়ারি জামায়াতে ইসলামীর ডাকা দেশব্যাপী সকাল-সন্ধ্যা হরতালে সমর্থন প্রসঙ্গে প্রশ্ন করা হলে তরিকুল ইসলাম বলেন, ' জামায়াতকে সমাবেশ করতে না দেয়ার প্রতিবাদে আমরা তাদের হরতালে সমর্থন দিয়েছি। কারণ বিএনপি মনে করে, একটি রাজনৈতিক দলের সভা-সমাবেশ করার গণতান্ত্রিক সাংবিধানিক অধিকার রয়েছে। আমরা কেনো সমর্থন দিয়েছি, তা বিবৃতি দিয়ে বলেছি। আমরা পক্ষে দলের যুগ্ম মহাসচিব রুহুল কবির রিজভী বিবৃতি দিয়েছেন।'
১৮ দলীয় জোট ভাঙার ষড়যন্ত্র প্রসঙ্গ
সংশ্লিষ্ট প্রশ্নের জবাবে তরিকুল ইসলাম বলেন, ' আমরা তিনবার ক্ষমতায় ছিলাম। রাষ্ট্রক্ষমতায় আবারও যেতে চাই। সেজন্য আন্দোলনের পাশাপাশি নির্বাচনের প্রস্তুতিও আমাদের রয়েছে। নির্বাচনকে সামনে রেখে সরকার জোট দলের মধ্যে ভাঙন সৃষ্টি করতে পারে। জোটের দুই-একটি শরিক দলকে নিয়ে গেলে বিএনপির কোনো ক্ষতি হবে না। বঙ্গোপসাগর থেকে / বালতি পানি তুলে নিলে সমুদ্রের যেমন ক্ষতি হয় না। বিএনপিরও এতে কোনো ক্ষতি হবে না।'
তিনি বলেন, 'জোট বা দল থেকে কেউ চলে গেলে তাতে আমাদের কিছু এসে যায় না। '
অন্য এক প্রশ্নের জবাবে তিনি বলেন, জামায়াত ১৮ দলীয় জোটের সাথে আছে, থাকবে।
তরিকুল ইসলাম সময় সাংবাদিকদের পাল্টা প্রশ্ন করে বলেন, '১৮ দলীয় জোটের ভাঙনের কথা বলছেন কেনো। এমনও তো হতে পারে ক্ষমতাসীন মহাজোটও ভেঙ্গে যেতে পারে। সেই জোট থেকেও / টি দল বেরয়ে আসতে পারে। সময়ই তা বলে দেবে।'
তিনি বলেন, ১৯৮৬ সালে এরশাদের শাসনামলে এবং ২০০৭ সালে ফখরুদ্দিন আহমেদের তত্ত্বাবধায়ক সরকার আমলে বিএনপিকে ভাঙার ষড়যন্ত্র হয়েছিল। ষড়যন্ত্র করে কোনো লাভ হয়নি। বিএনপি আরও শক্তিশালী হয়েছে

 

 

 

 

 

v



__._,_.___


****************************************************
Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration: 
Call For Articles:

http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68

http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___