The New Nation - Internet Edition

The product of a Darwinist mindset

Harun Yahya

The cartoon caricature recently published in Denmark, which has caused such distress throughout the Islamic world, has once again raised the claim of a "clash of civilizations, " whose flames have been so persistently stoked by certain circles. The caricature in question and the idea of a clash of civilizations are nothing more than reflections of the dark mental framework, tending towards violence, of Darwinist and materialist circles.

Certainly a great intellectual struggle is taking place today, dividing the world into two camps. However, these two sides do not represent Muslims on the one hand and Jews and Christians on the other. On the one hand are those who believe in the existence and oneness of God, and on the other, those who deny His very existence. To put it another way: on the one hand are devout believers in the divine God-inspired religions. And on the other are atheists, and the supporters of Darwinism, and materialists who stand opposed to religious moral values.

This intellectual struggle between believers and deniers has been going on since the dawn of history. Believers in all eras have spoken to others of the existence and oneness of God and called on them to abide by the true religion. Deniers, meanwhile, have made great efforts to turn people away from God and His religious moral values and towards amorality and wickedness. This philosophical struggle is still going on today, between believers in the one God and the materialistic Darwinist mindset that forms the basis of all atheistic ideologies.

Islam Commands Peace and Tolerance Darwinists' efforts to encourage a clash between the Islamic and Judeo-Christian civilizations are all in vain. Islam is a religion that commands peace, that calls on people to resolve their differences by way of reconciliation, and that enjoins them to behave with justice and benevolence. Nobody who sincerely abides by the Qur'an and the Sunnah of our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) can ever choose a path of conflict. Devout Muslims are tolerant, forgiving, modest, understanding, gentle, sincere and honest individuals, in line with the moral values commanded by God. A believer who lives by these values is also tolerant towards members of other faiths and belief systems.

One of the finest examples of this is the status of Jews and Christians under Islamic rule in the earliest years of the Islamic period. Anyone looking in an unbiased manner at this period in history will discover that the People of the Book always lived in peace and security under Islamic rule. Indeed, Christians and Jews who were oppressed by rulers of different faiths and sects of the time sought shelter in Islamic lands and found the security they sought in Muslim countries. The chief reason why the People of the Book could live in such peace and comfort is that the behavior that Muslims adopted toward them was determined by Qur'anic moral values.

Past Disagreements Result from Practices Incompatible with Religious Moral Values At certain times in the past, disagreements between the two civilizations stemmed not from the societies' respective religious faiths and cultures, but on practices, interpretations and decisions incompatible with religious moral values. The cruelty inflicted during the Crusades was the activity of an aggressive group who claimed to be acting in the name of Christianity, but actually had not the slightest religious morals-and even destroyed Byzantine churches on their way. Their savagery was not the product of authentic Christianity, but of a materialist mindset whose origins go back to pagan Sumerian myths. The Knights Templars, who wreaked such misery in Muslim lands, were a society totally distanced from Christianity, and their perverted beliefs perpetuated some of the Ancient Egyptians' superstitious traditions.

One of the common goals of all three monotheistic religions is for all peoples to live in peace, security and happiness, and any conflict opposed to this ideal is regarded as an error by all three. Therefore, sincere Muslims, Jews and Christians can never be in conflict with one another.

On the other hand, it is a fact that Darwinists and materialists have targeted religion and religious moral values and combined the many means at their disposal to act together against true believers. To eradicate the negative, destructive effects of atheistic, materialist indoctrination and bring about societies in which proper moral values, happiness, peaceful security and welfare prevail, what needs to be done? An intellectual struggle must be waged against Darwinism and all materialist philosophies, which represent the foundations of atheism. The end of Darwinism will also spell the end of materialism and atheism, and all the problems that distance people from religious moral values can be resolved.

The System of the Dajjal (Antichrist) Is Also Based on Darwinism Because Darwinism targets all communities and leads mankind into terrible tragedies, the intellectual struggle waged against it should be performed on a wide-ranging, global level. In the teeth of Darwinist propaganda waged intensively in newspapers and magazines, in documentaries and television programs, everyone must be informed that this perverted ideology has absolutely no scientific value-and of the kind of dangerous assumptions it poses. The more people realize that the theory of evolution is in a state of scientific collapse and that Darwinism consists of hollow indoctrination, the less effect its propaganda will exert. Once Darwinism ceases to wield any intellectual influence and no longer encourages populations towards atheism and lack of faith, religious moral values will spread rapidly along with peace and security on Earth. The great Islamic scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who concentrated on the intellectual struggle to be waged against Darwinist and materialist philosophies, underscored the fact that in the end times, this intellectual struggle would assume an even greater importance. Bediuzzaman stated that the Dajjal-the worst corruption of the end times-would assume the leadership of Darwinist and materialist movements. He warned Muslims of this specifically:

A tyrannical current born of Naturalist and Materialist philosophy will gradually become strong and spread at the end of time by means of materialist philosophy, reaching such a degree that it denies God. . . . And the greatest of them, the Dajjal, who will come to lead them, will manifest awesome wonders, a sort of spiritualism and hypnosis; he will go even further, and imagining his tyrannical, superficial rule to be a sort of dominicality, he will proclaim his godhead. (Letters, "Fifteenth Letter")

As Bediuzzaman suggests, Darwinism is the main vehicle, and indeed the religion, of the Dajjal. The system of the Dajjal leads people towards denial, atheism and immorality, using Darwinism as a supposedly scientific rationale for doing so. Thus for some Muslims to say that there is no need for an intellectual campaign against Darwinism is much like saying that there is no need to fight against the system of the Dajjal, which ill befits any Muslim. Asking, "Why fight Darwinism?" is equivalent to saying, "So what if the Dajjal spreads corruption to his heart's content? It is of no concern to us." Saying, "Darwinism is hardly that important," means ignoring the activities of the Dajjal. No sincere Muslim can cover up or conceal the actions of the Dajjal. On the contrary, Muslims must seek to expose the Dajjal's plots and frauds, and to eradicate his system on a systematic, intellectual basis.

The Struggle against Darwinism Must Be an Intellectual One Darwinism cannot be eradicated with weapons, or acts of violence or aggression. It can be neutralized only by emphasizing the scientific evidence. In one hadith, our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) has revealed that in the end times, the system of the Dajjal will melt away "like salt in water," comparing the system that would intellectually eradicate it to water:

When the enemy of God [Dajjal] sees him [Jesus, son of Mary], he will [disappear] just as salt dissolves in water. (Sahih Muslim) The "water" that will dissolve the system of the Dajjal in the end times is knowledge. Salt cannot be dissolved by burning or bombing it; it can only be washed away. Darwinism will also disappear when the invalidity of the theory of evolution is explained in high schools and universities. Aggressive and radical movements such as communism, fascism, racism, terrorism and anarchism will lose all support once Darwinism is defeated. The system of the Dajjal, the cause of chaos and corruption upon Earth, will vanish intellectually.

Why Do Some People Seek to Avoid the Intellectual Struggle Against Darwinism?

Some are ill-informed, imagining that Darwinism is based on scientific foundations and supported by countless proofs. Such people erroneously believe that evolution is a powerful hypothesis and imagine that no one can oppose ideologies that seem so strongly scientific. They believe that this theory, unfounded and outdated, which has sought to deceive by means of lies and fraud for almost two centuries, is actually based on an unshakeable foundation. The fact is, however, that the theory of evolution, which has long been kept alive solely through intense propaganda and fraud, is only a deceptive speculation. Science does not support the theory of evolution at all. No scientific findings whatsoever support evolution; on the contrary, they refute it. The reason why the theory of evolution is kept constantly in the spotlight, despite its being deceptive, is because it's undertaken for ideological reasons, providing the foundation for atheism and materialism. Some Muslims, taken in by its entirely speculative methods which magnify it in their eyes, imagine that they can never overcome it, and thus seek to give the theory an Islamic slant. Not wanting to oppose science, they try to chart a middle way between the theory of evolution, which they assume to be scientific, and Islam-and to back up these claims, use pagan beliefs left over from societies as old as the Sumerians, quoting people they regard as great scholars to give the impression that "this is what the religion says." Yet this passive, conciliatory approach is a clear excuse for not engaging in an intellectual struggle against Darwinism.

Since they fear they cannot overcome Darwinism on the intellectual level, such people engage in a defeatist campaign. Yet for a true Muslim with a sincere belief in God and who appreciates His great might, such a method is utterly humiliating to wage a passive, defeatist campaign. There can be no question of opposing Darwinism by saying "we actually believe the same thing." Muslims believe the truth that God has created all things. Therefore it is impossible for a Muslim to share the same beliefs as a Darwinist. It is not possible for a Muslim who fears God as he ought to advocate the same ideas and ideology; a Muslim must engage on a clear, optimistic intellectual struggle against Darwinism.

People unaware of this fact and claiming that man developed through evolution may be asked how the jinn and angels were created. They will of course reply, "God created them." Surely, any Muslim who knows that God created the jinn and angels must be able to reason that God created Man in the same way. They are so confused that they cannot realize that our Almighty Lord, Who created the angles with the simple command "Be!" created Man in the exact same way. For people who fail to perceive the danger of Darwinism and the struggle it wages against faith in God, it would be much better to say nothing at all rather than employ mistaken methods. Resorting to incorrect and irrational methods out of a concern that they are not strong enough to prevail in the struggle is a mistake. It is a grave error and lack of responsibility towards God not to perceive that Darwinism is a terrible danger that must be opposed with all one's might and completely eliminated.

What Can People Do to Support the Intellectual Struggle against Darwinism?

Every Muslim who hopes to neutralize the corruption of the Dajjal must strive against Darwinism on the intellectual plane. The evidence that undermines the theory of evolution must be explained, copied and disseminated. It is impossible for even a single protein to come into existence by chance. Life cannot emerge from inanimate matter. The complex structure of the cell and its organelles cannot be explained in terms of coincidence. And not a single fossil indicates that living things are descended from one another. Mutations and natural selection cannot give rise to any new species-all of which refute the deceptions of Darwinism.

The technological means presently available are a great blessing for Muslims, making the intellectual struggle against Darwinism and materialism a great deal easier and faster. There are hundreds of articles, books, documentaries, CDs and web sites that present full supporting evidence for the invalidity of Darwinism. Everyone who wants to take part in the intellectual campaign against Darwinism can make use of these by copying and distributing them. If you wish to participate, there's a great deal you can do. You can analyze the hundreds of works already published on the subject. You can read books on the subject, then pass them on to others, and ask them to do the same once they have read them. You can photocopy a great many books and hand them out. There are hundreds of books and articles on the Internet available free of charge that you can download, print out, and distribute to neighbors and colleagues. You can copy extracts from these works to Internet chat rooms and forums, thus revealing the facts about Darwinism to hundreds of people at once.

You can obtain documentaries on the subject to watch at home, at work or in school. You can then copy them and enable even more people to watch. You can get hold of audiocassettes and listen to them, and have others do the same.

You can prepare posters for school or at work, displaying evidence that the theory of evolution is invalid. Posters, stickers and pictures for that purpose are available for free over the Internet. Or you can photocopy illustrations from books and summaries of articles and use these as well.

You can donate these books to local libraries and set up a book club, giving many people access to the truth.

If people genuinely wish to become involved, there is much that they can do. The important thing is not to fall into the error of thinking "What good can I accomplish by myself?" What matters is how much everyone makes use of the genuine means available, whatever they may be. It is Almighty God Who will bring about the results, Who will reward those who make sincere endeavors. It is revealed in the Qur'an that everyone will enjoy the full reward for his efforts:

. That man will have nothing but what he strives for; that his striving will most certainly be seen; that he will then receive repayment of the fullest kind; that the ultimate end is with your Lord. (Qur'an, 53: 39-42)

Muslims have a responsibility to wage an intellectual struggle until no corruption remains on Earth. Today's most serious and dangerous form of corruption is Darwinism. Instead of erroneously thinking, "Darwinism is a matter for scientists, of no concern to me," Muslims need to intellectually neutralize this ideology that is still responsible for so much oppression. Anything less would mean turning a blind eye to cruelty-a grave responsibility that no true believer would ever wish to assume.

Remember also that the intellectual struggle of true believers has already been won! Believers will inevitably overcome all atheistic ideologies, Darwinism included. God imparts these glad tidings in the Qur'an:

As for those who make God their friend, and His messenger and those who believe: it is the party of God who are victorious! (Qur'an, 5: 56)

Therefore, the faithful must act in the confidence that their struggle against atheism will be victorious, and strive for the honor of defending the truth. By the will of God, the corruption of Darwinism will come to an end, and our Lord's truth will triumph over superstition. But believers must work to reap the rewards of this intellectual victory.

Is there an Islamophobia out there?

Dr. Mohamed Elmasry

Islamophobia is morally wrong, period. It is a detestable violation of the basic human right to live free of discrimination and intolerance. Islamophobia has had a devastating effect on Muslim minorities everywhere in the Western world and its poison has spread to global society at large. Since 9/11 there has been a shocking increase in violence and discriminatory actions against Muslims and their places of worship, ranging from the denial of local permits to build mosques, to brutal personal attacks and vandalism, including arson. On July 8, 2008 Press TV of Italy reported European Affairs Minister Andrea Rochi as saying; "Action must be taken so that mosque supervisors recognize Israel. We must force those who do not recognize Israel to leave the mosques." Press TV's commentary added;

"Many Muslims around the world do not recognize Israel, saying the United Nations had no right to allow the establishment of a state in a land that has long belonged to the Palestinians. " Since 9/11, it has also been commonplace to deny basic human rights to Muslims illegally detained. Many have undergone torture at the hands of their captors and such practices are casually accepted as the "new normal" in American-run prisons at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and in other secret American prisons around the world.

Keeping Muslims behind bars for years at a time without any proven criminal charges is another all-too-common travesty of justice. Mohammad Momin Khawaja, a Canadian citizen, was incarcerated for four years (from March 2004) in Ottawa; he was the first Canadian to be detained and prosecuted under this country's hastily concocted 2001 Anti-terrorism Act. In Canada and other Western countries, immigration and citizenship policies have been (and are still being) changed to discourage or prevent Muslims from entering. On Saturday July 12, 2008 The Guardian reported that a French court denied French nationality to a veiled Muslim woman on the grounds that she was "too submissive" to her husband and that her religious rituals were "incompatible" with French values. In a ruling cited by the newspaper Le Monde, the Council of State said; "She lives in total submission to her male relatives t She seems to find this normal and the idea of challenging it has never crossed her mind." The Guardian story continued: "Moroccan-born Faiza Mabchour, 32, has been living in France since 2000, is married to a French national and speaks fluent French t The mother-of-three has applied for French nationality, but her application was rejected in 2005 on grounds of 'insufficient assimilation.' She appealed to the Council of State, which last month approved the rejection."

Yet France is home to nearly seven million Muslims-the biggest Muslim minority in Europe.

Islamophobia also leads to discrimination in hiring and to the widespread public image-distortion of Muslims and their views, especially regarding issues such as democracy, women, and Western culture. Conversions of Muslims to other faiths (especially Christianity) have been made much easier.

Within the Muslim community, health care professionals, social workers, psychotherapists and related vocations have reported increasing rates of anxiety, depression, divorce, and loss of identity-especially among youth.

On July 24, 2008 the Vancouver Sun reported: "A Muslim Canadian employed at a biotech company on the University of BC campus has been awarded nearly $12,000 after the BC Human Rights Tribunal found he was a victim of racial profiling by colleagues. The profiling led to him being reported to the RCMP as a suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks." The victim, Ghassan Asad, was summarily fired from his job at Kinexus Bioinformatics in March 2003. Spokesperson Abraham Okazaki said the case was so egregious that if it could, the Tribunal would have awarded Mr. Asad much more in compensation for the insensitivity and lack of care by Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation' s senior management. Discrimination against Muslims by government officials-including security, intelligence, and police forces-is on the increase. In July 2008, with the release of video excerpts from the interrogation of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen detained without charge for more than 2,500 days by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay, millions now know that Khadr was frequently abused by his American captors.

The onetime child-soldier, now barely 21, has been kept in solitary confinement and deprived of sleep for weeks at a time. The Canadian government had full knowledge of this abusive treatment as far back as 2003, yet continually assured Canadians that the teen-aged Khadr (then still a minor) was being "treated humanely."

Islamophobia also creates a debilitating collective "silencing dynamic," making it almost impossible for Muslim groups to participate, even minimally, in any open democratic discussion. The current mantra claiming "the remedy for hate-speech is more and better speech," is in fact both false and misleading. The reality is that those who are expected to respond with "more and better speech" cannot do so in today's public forum. Or if they do speak out, their words are often dismissed as lacking credibility. Islamophobia makes hate-motivated actions against Muslims not merely acceptable, but even justifiable. On Feb. 26, 2008 ABC TV News said of Islamophobia that it "has entered the American vernacular, and the anti-Muslim attitudes and prejudice it describes remain common." The news network experimentally posed this question to viewers: "What if you witnessed 'Islamophobia' in action and saw someone being victimized because of someone else's prejudices? What would you do?" The network then showed a bakery in Texas that was outfitted with hidden cameras. Two actors played, respectively, a female customer wearing the hijab (a traditional Muslim head scarf) and a sales clerk who refused to serve her. The sales clerk started spewing common anti-Muslim slurs: "Get back on the camel and go back to wherever you came from t You got that towel on your head t I don't know what's underneath your dress t Just please take your business and go elsewhere with it." ABC reported that "The other customers seemed to hear the exchange, but they barely looked toward our actors. When no one came to her defense, Sabina made a direct appeal to one customer, asking, "Sir, would you mind ordering me an apple strudel? That's why I am here." Though visibly shaken by the hateful words, the man gave Sabina the cold shoulder, completed his purchase, and walked out of the bakery. "I really think that a person who owns his own business should be able to say who they sell to," he explained in his defense after ABC revealed the experiment.

The network commentator pointed out that the "real" customer was wrong: it is illegal for public establishments to deny service based on someone's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Another male customer said, "She wasn't dressed right; if I was running the place, I'd do the same thing."

Worse still, ABC added; "After Sabina left the bakery, seemingly frustrated and empty-handed, one man thanked the [actor] sales clerk for his discriminatory behavior t He then gave our actor a thumbs-up, not once, but twice."

(Dr. Mohamed Elmasry is national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress. The views expressed here are his own. He can be reached at np@canadianislamicc ongress.com)

Book Review: State-religion tensions in Turkey

Religion and Society: New Perspectives from Turkey. Ali Bardakoðlu, Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, Ankara, 2006, 150 pp.

Religion and Society: New Perspectives from Turkey addresses the administration of religious affairs, state-religion relations, secularism, democracy and Islam and freedom of religion in modern Turkey. Professor Ali Bardakoðlu, a scholar working on Islam for more than twenty years, shares his views and the insights he has drawn from his tenure as Turkey's President of Religious Affairs. The mere existence of this office (Diyanet) as a public institution in a secular state has been a contested issue since the establishment of Turkey, and is still widely debated. Given his vested interest in the position of the Diyanet and its role in society, the author begins his book with a discussion of the structure, mission, and function of this institution.

The author asserts that the Diyanet is not a new invention in the history of Turkish religious and political culture. Rather, it was established during the Republican period, and, ironically, continued the Ottoman experience to a certain extent; however, the state now took responsibility for the organisation and administration of religious affairs via the office of the ªeyhülislam.

As the continuation of the Diyanet indicates, the state in modern Turkey also claims the responsibility for the organisation and administration of religious affairs.

Today, the Diyanet has a mandate for the administration of religious affairs confined to Islam. The organisation of mosques and the role of informing people about Islam are also primary responsibilities of the Diyanet. It is frequently criticised as being controlled by the state since it is a public institution and its President is appointed by the Government. Bardakoðlu challenges such claims and argues that the Diyanet emerged as a response to a social need for the organisation of religious affairs and in order to provide religious services. For him, the existence of the Diyanet does not contradict the principles of a secular state. Instead, he argues that although the Diyanet is part of the state machinery, it remains an independent and civil institution as far as implementation of its mandate is concerned.

One of the most frequently asked questions these days is whether Islam and democracy can co-exist, and, by extension, whether Muslim societies can nurture the rule of law, political participation, and democratic governance. There is no straightforward answer to this question since there are many Muslim countries with different political cultures and perceptions of religion. Bardakoðlu focuses on the Turkish experience to show the factors that have shaped perceptions and the practice of religion in Turkish society.

He argues that there is a "moderate understanding of Islam" in Turkey. He attributes the development of such a perception to several factors: the tradition of co-existence with different faith communities and cultural groups in Anatolia for many centuries, which promoted peaceful life styles, recognition of diverse religious interpretations and differences in Islamic tradition, and to the tradition of mystical thought in Islam, which reinforces tolerance, as well as to the experience of the last two hundred years in Turkish history, including modernisation, legal, educational and constitutional reforms, which included the establishment of a Republic and parliamentary democracy.

The author argues that harmony between Islam and democracy is sustainable in Turkey and that a democratic culture helps promote healthy religious diversity in a democratic society. He concludes his arguments on Islam and democracy by reminding his readers, "Muslims should be conscious of the fact that a democratic culture and democratic values do not contradict Islam."

In the popular media and in populist political rhetoric, Islam is often associated with violence, intolerance, and oppression of differences. More specifically, Islam is blamed for imposing restrictive principles which are used to justify the violation of freedom of religion and belief. Bardakoðlu challenges these clichés which tend to essentialise Islam.

Based on theoretical principles derived from the textual sources and historical experiences, he shows that Islam recognises and protects religious liberty. He argues, "There are certain principles that guarantee the freedom of religion in Islam. The foremost of these is the principle that religious belief must be based upon free choice." Bardakoðlu refers to the culture of co-existence and its expression in the Ottoman state and modern Turkey as meaningful and relevant experiences.

(Source: Talip Küçükcan, SETA Foundation)