Are Moslems in the Verge of the Enlightenment Era?

Lately; I was busy with my brother and his wife who came to visit, and later a friend of mine who is a devout theist joined in. The sad impressions, about political and social situation, were palpable in their faces and voices every time the subject of religion was aroused. They all seemed to agree that the wave of political religiosity is backfiring on the new generation. They said that atheism is spreading in Kuwait as a result of the extreme measures of conservatism being imposed lately on the society. They also said that homosexuality is on the rise as a result of renouncing faith; they are worried about their own children, my friend mentioned that her daughter even had fits with her about praying, calling it nonsense.

Another friend also visited from Kuwait for a short period of time, not at the same time as others though. This friend is highly religious, she visited last year and we were about to lose our lifetime friendship because of our differences in religious matters, and therefore we decided not to bring the subject again, for we valued our relationship much dearer than to lose it over unnecessary arguments. This year though; she showed much leniency in discussing religion, and it was she who brought the subject and asked me for references to do her own reading and research, saying that knowing me, she knows that I would not believe in anything without thorough examination.

More friends e-mailed me asking for some books written by known atheist authors that were banned in Kuwait, some of which I never thought that they would even consider reading about atheism.

It is even evident on the Internet with the new bloggers, even some old one, that some had lost their faith in God, so what could be the reason?

Although I believe that there is some truth to the causes of renouncing religion being the consequence of extreme conservatism imposed on the society, yet, this reason alone does not suffice. No study can be considered sufficient without considering all the elements involved. Eextremism could be the first spark that ignited the mind to question one’s faith, and criticize it, after losing trust in its practitioners and its clerics. If the clerics are wrong in their opinion and interpretation when they are considered the most knowledgeable it its fields, then who is right? Finding excuses for religion by pinpointing deficiency to Moslems and to errors in its practice, rather than searching the bases and the roots of religion itself does not seem logical when the vast majority of Moslem countries abide to the Fatwas (legal opinion) of its clerics, bearing in mind the fact that those people are considered the trustworthy in the society and that they enjoy a respectful status among Moslems. And when religious clerks fail to provide convincing answers to many questions, people tend to rely on their own searches, accusing those of deforming their beliefs, and searching for what may strengthen their stand within the roots, or just simply dismissing everything and relying on the positive information they received from their previous education, and those are the majorities. Most (like me) would even get shocked to the fact that everything they learned throughout their lives was just half-truths, and therefore feel betrayed by their own kin and societies. When this happens, renouncing or changing religion becomes inevitable, but not atheism, for atheism (i.e. not believing in God or any supernatural force) is a stage that comes much later after renouncing religion, and it may never come.

A person is then torn between different choices; either he keeps his newly acquired belief a secret and therefore practice a double-standard strategy in his society to avoid clashes with his kin, or announces it publicly and be subject to ostracism by his society as its lesser punishment, and execution at its worst. Or he may announce it under anonymity, and the Internet provides him the tool to do that for it is but a window through which the volume of its spread is projected. He does that just to reach out and get in touch with his likeminds, because denouncing religion is a dire decision that one could never take lightly, and finding the people who share his opinion keeps the reassurance that what he is doing is not an exception, but a norm, and if we are expecting those to disappear and hide, we would be making a grave mistake.

To be continued

النسخه العربيه:٠

لقد انشغلت في المده الاخيره بزياره اخي و زوجته، و كذلك صديقه متدينه من الكويت و التي اتت لزياره قصيره. و كانت علامات الحزن ظاهره علي وجوههم و نبره صوتهم كلما اخذنا الحديث عن الوضع الاجتماعي و السياسي في الكويت. و كانوا متفقين علي ان موجه الاسلام السياسي و التي اجتاحت الكويت في الآونه الاخيره كان لها رد فعل سلبي علي الجيل الجديد. و قالوا ان الالحاد في تزايد مستمر بين هذه الفئه كنيجه للتعصب الزائد المفروض علي المجتمع مؤخرا، و ان الشذوذ الجنسي بلغ مداه بسبب ترك الدين؛ و كانوا متوجسين علي مستقبل ابنائهم، و ذكرت صديقتي ان ابنتها وصلت لدرجه المشاجره معها عندما امرتها بالصلاه، قائله لها انه كلام فارغ٠

صديقه اخري زارتني ايضا لمده قصيره، ليس في نفس الوقت. هذه الصديقه متدينه جدا، و لقد زارتني في الصيف الماضي و كان من الممكن ان نفقد صداقه العمر لاختلافاتنا الفكريه فيما يتعلق بالدين، و لذا فقررنا الا ندخل في مواضيع من شآنها ان تفرقنا، فالعلاقه بيننا اقوي و اعز من ان نفرطها بالمشاجرات غير الضروريه. و لكن الغريب ان هذه السنه احسست بليونه من ناحيتها في مناقشه الدين، و كانت هي من اثار الموضوع و طلبت مني بعض المصادر للقراءه و البحث، حيث ذكرت انها تعرفني تماما، و تعرف انني لا يمكن ان آخذ باي اعتقاد ما لم اوفيه حقه من الدراسه و التمحيص٠

هنالك ايضا من راسلني من الاصدقاء يطلبون ارسال بعض الكتب الممنوعه في الكويت و معروف ان كتابها من الملحدين، بعض منهم من لم يخطر علي بالي ابدا انهم سيكونون مهتمين بالالحاد٠

و حتي بعض البلوغات الجديده، بالاضافه الي القديم، ما له دلاله واضحه ان اصحابها قد فقدوا ايمانهم بالله، فما هو السبب ياتري؟

و علي الرغم ان هنالك بعض الصحه في هذه الاستنتاجات، اي ان الشده و الكبت يولد العكس في المجتمعات، و لكن هذا السبب لوحده غير كافي. و لا يمكن ان تقوم اي دراسه بدون اعتبار كل العوامل و المعطيات. قد يكون التشدد هو السبب في اشعال الوهجه الاولي للعقول المفكره لمساءله الدين و نقده فكريا، بعد ان فقدت الثقه بمطبقيه و رجال دينه. فإذا كان رجال الدين علي خطآ و هم الاكثر متبحرين في علومه، فمن يكون علي صواب؟ اعطاء الاعذار للدين بإلقاء اللوم علي المسلمين و علي خطآ التطبيق، عوضا عن البحث في اساس و جذور الدين نفسه ليس من المنطق في شيء عندما تآخذ اغلبيه الدول الاسلاميه بفتوي علمائها، واضعين بعين الاعتبار ان هؤلاء يتمتعون بالثقه من قبل الاغلبيه في المجتمع و لديهم مكانه لا يستهان بها بين المسلمين. و عندما يفشل هؤلاء بإيجاد الاجوبه لكثير من الاسئله الملحه، يلجآ الناس الي ابحاث شخصيه، يلوم بعضهم هؤلاء بتشويه الدين، باحثا عن ما يزيد في ترسيخ عقيدته. او تاركا لهؤلاء و معتمدآ علي الجانب الايجابي مما استقاه من تعليمه، و هؤلاء هم الاغلبيه. اما الباحثين في الاصول، فالاغلبيه تصاب بالصدمه (مثلي تماما) عندما يدركون انهم كانوا انما يستقون انصاف الحقائق، و انهم كانوا ضحايا خدعه كبيره من قبل اهلهم و مجتمعهم. و عندما يحدث هذا، فالشخص يلجآ الي ترك دينه او تغييره، و لكن لا تصل به قناعاته الي درجه الالحاد، فالالحاد هو عدم الاعتراف بوجود الله او اي قوي خفيه تحرك الكون بموجب ناموس ثابت، و هذا قد يآتي علي مراحل لاحقه علي ترك الدين، و قد لا يآتي ابدا٠

و هنا يجد الشخص نفسه ممزق بين عده خيارات؛ اما ان يحتفظ بما استقاه سرا بينه و بين نفسه، و يتعامل بإزدواجيه مع مجتمعه حتي يتجنب المشاكل مع اهله، او انه يعلن عن الحاده و يكون عرضه لنبذ مجتمعه له علي اقل تقدير او القتل في الحالات القصوي. او انه قد يعلن ذلك باسم مستعار، و خصوصا ان الشبكه العنكبوتيه تسمح له بذلك. و ما هي الا نافذه لبيان حجم الانتشار بالمجتمع. و يكون ذلك بهدف مناقشه اعتقاداته مع من يتقارب معهم فكريا بغرض معرفه انه ليس استثناء و لكن طبيعي, لان ترك الدين ليس بالامر الهين، كما يعتقد البعض.و اذا كنا نظن او نتوقع من هؤلاء الاختفاء و التلاشي فإننا نكون قد ارتكبنا خطآ جسيما، و للحديث بقيه٠

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