In an article titled "Religious Supremacy is the Root of the Problem," Saudi writer Mamduh Fulatah pointed out that each religion claims to be the only true faith and the only path to Paradise, and its followers consider themselves to be God's chosen and superior to all other people. This sense of superiority, he argued, is the chief source of conflict in the world, and must be done away with.
The following are translated excerpts from his article, which appeared on the liberal Arab website Aafaq.[1]
"I Got my Religion from My Parents... So Why Should I Be Better than Others Who Got Their Religion from Their Parents in the Same Way?"
"All people who have a religion maintain that their religion is the most perfect, that their prophet is the truest [prophet], and that the only way to Paradise is through their door. The Muslims say that their religion abrogates all the religions that preceded it, and that they are the best nation that has been given to mankind. The Christians maintain that Muhammad is a false prophet, while Christ [represents] the true path. Likewise, the Jews claim that they are God's chosen people, whom God picked out and preferred over all of humanity.
"I felt some confusion when I thought about the expression 'Praise be to Allah, who guided us to Islam.' I asked myself, why does Allah guide one group of people by making them followers of one religion, and lead others astray by making them followers of some other religion, [thereby] ultimately leading them to hellfire? With time, I discovered that the Christians and Jews also praise their god for leading them to the religion they embrace. I got my religion from my parents, and that is the case with most people, in any religion. So why should I be better than others who got their religion from their parents in the same way? This essential question, for which I have yet to find an answer, has caused me to deny all religions and to laugh at anyone who attempts to advertise his own, which he inherited from his parents, by persuading me that his is the true religion.
"I believe that the sense of religious supremacy is the fundamental cause of conflicts in various parts of the world. It is most certainly the reason that interfaith dialogue fails, achieving no more than handshakes and mutual smiles in front of the camera. [Interfaith dialogue is nothing but] an attempt to persuade people, through lies and hypocrisy, that the message of all religions is the same."
"When Those Who Claim to Preach Moderate Islam Say that Islam Honors [All] Human Beings... Regardless of Their Religion – They are Lying"
"When those who claim to preach moderate Islam say that Islam honors [all] human beings simply for being human, regardless of their religion – they are lying. As evidence of this claim, they usually cite the Koranic verse, 'Therefore, we prescribed for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a person, except as punishment for murder or spreading corruption, it is as though he has killed all of mankind; and whoever saves a person's life, it is as though he has saved all of mankind. [Koran 5:32].' [However,] this verse speaks about the life of a believer, and a believer is a Muslim, not a Christian or a Jew, to whom Islam does not accord equal rights. They [i.e. Christians and Jews] not only have to pay the jizya [i.e., poll tax], but must pay it while in a state of humiliation, as a clear sign of their inferior position. As for heretics and atheists, they have no place [at all] in the Islamic state: their life is forfeited and they are to be put to death.
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"The argument put forth by some Muslims that the second Caliph 'Umar bin Al-Khattab showed tolerance toward the Christians when he conquered Palestine by not praying in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is a silly one. [Is it tolerance] when a person breaks into your home and loots everything in it, entering all the rooms except one? [Besides,] Islamic history demonstrates [that this was not the usual custom]. The Church of St. John the Baptist in Syria was converted into an Umayyad Mosque, as was Turkey's largest church, the Hagia Sophia. This is clear proof that Muslims do not respect the rituals and holy places of non-Muslims, and consider their religion superior.
"I once made this point to a group of Muslims that included professors and graduate students, and they replied that those decisions [to turn churches into mosques] had been justified. They saw no transgression or aggression in conquering lands and then taking over the most holy sites of other [religions] and converting them into mosques. And why should this surprise us? According to [the Koran], 'the [true] religion with Allah is Islam [Koran 3:19],' and 'whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers [Koran 3:85].' Furthermore, one [member of the group] cited a hadith in which Muhammad prophesies the conquest of Turkey by [the Ottoman sultan] Muhammad the Conqueror, and praises him, saying, 'You shall conquer Constantinople, and the best of princes is its prince, and the best of conquerors is its conqueror.'"
"The Muslims' Sense of Supremacy over Others is Not Confined to People of Other Religions, but [Applies] Even to Members of Other Muslim Sects"
"The Muslims' sense of supremacy over others is not confined to people of other religions, but [applies] even to members of other Muslim sects. Thus, Iran does not grant the Sunnis freedom of worship because the Shi'ites believe that they are the most worthy sect. And the Saudis, who are Wahhabi Sunnis, prevent the Shi'ites from building places of worship and schools in which to instruct their children in their own creed. This too is a manifestation of this sense of supremacy. The fatwas issued by Sunni clerics against the Shi'ites and their beliefs, and the use of various [negative] terms to describe them, is yet another manifestation of the same attitude.
"On a well-known American TV channel, I once saw some activist speak about human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. When he started speaking, I asked a friend of mine to follow the dialogue, and his first reaction was, '[That man] is a Shi'ite!' On the face of it, his statement seems ordinary and innocent, without particular significance. But [the fact is that] this is a culturally loaded term suggesting that, being a Shi'ite, the [man must be] deceitful, depraved, devious, and the fruit of promiscuous relations. The same goes for calling a person a Jew. The literal meaning is that he is of the Jewish faith, but the cultural connotation is that he is stingy, greedy, and malicious, a murderer of prophets and a descendant of apes and pigs. To call someone a Jew is an unforgivable insult.
"If you are a Christian or Jew living in an Islamic state, you will certainly feel this Islamic [sense of] superiority, because the Muslims will remind you repeatedly, five times a day, through the loudspeakers [of their mosques], that their God is greater than yours, since the Muslim call to prayer begins with the words 'Allahu akbar' [Allah is greater]. Greater than whom? The answer is greater than all the gods worshipped by non-Muslims.
"[If you attend a mosque] you will hear the imam reciting Koranic verses such as, 'Whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him [Koran 3:85]'; or 'They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three, when there is no God except for the One God. If they do not desist from saying so, a painful punishment will befall those of them who disbelieve [Koran 5:75]'; or 'The Jews say [that] 'Uzair[2] is the son of Allah, and the Christians say [that] the Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before them. May Allah fight them. How they are deluded with lies! [Koran 9:30]'; or 'Certainly you will find that the people most hateful to those who believe are the Jews [Koran 5:82]'; and other verses which insult you and your God, but which you have no right to protest – because reciting the Koran is worship... Prophetic hadiths speaking about the superiority of Islam and Muslims are many. But I cannot find one clearer than the hadith that states, 'Islam surmounts and cannot be surmounted.' This hadith openly confirms the notion of religious supremacy."
"The Jews' [Claims of Religious] Superiority Are No Different than the Muslims'"
"The Jews' [claims of] superiority are no different than the Muslims'. Thus, in the blessing on the wine [Kiddush], which is performed every Friday night in order to sanctify the Sabbath, Jews worship their God by saying, 'Because it is us whom You chose and us whom You sanctified, out of all nations, and with love and intent You invested us with Your Holy Sabbath. Blessed are You, Sanctifier of the Sabbath.'
"Muslim advocates of interfaith dialogue lie when they claim that Islam respects the followers of other religions and protects their rights, and Jews also [lie] when they attempt to claim that a text referring specifically to Jews [actually] applies to everyone, by omitting the word 'Jewish.' There is a saying by the Jewish sages, which states: 'Whoever saves the life of a Jewish person, it is as though he has saved the whole world.' The life referred to here is a Jewish life, and when [Jewish] advocates of interfaith dialogue interpret it to include all of mankind – they are simply lying.
"Just as the Muslims consider themselves to be 'the best nation that has been given to mankind,' the Jews maintain that they are 'God's chosen people.' One of the stories in Jewish tradition states that God offered the Law to all the nations, but they rejected it because of the commandments 'thou shall not kill,' 'thou shall not commit adultery,' and 'thou shall not bear false witness.' However, when he offered it to the Jews, they did not hesitate even for a moment before accepting it and answering their God, 'We will we do [it] and be obedient.'
"As mentioned at the beginning of this article, [a sense of] religious superiority is at the root of [many] conflicts, for everyone believes that his god is greater, as though the gods compete with each other like humans do. I believe that all these attempts to give preference [to one god over the other] is a fantasy invented by clerics…
"If the advocates of interfaith dialogue are really sincere, they should call to omit from religious books everything that is offensive to the other [religions], instead of lying, deceiving and squandering money. They should simply recognize that we are all human beings before we are followers of this or that religion, and that the world would be a better place without these religions that spread divisiveness and hatred among people in the name of God."
