From: sherwani@sol.cs.wmich.edu (Naveed Sherwani)
Subject: Re: Why we must not ban others from speaking ?
Summary: Prophets may be great thinkers, they did not want others to think!
Organization: Western Michigan Univ. Comp. Sci. Dept.
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 19:32:00 GMT

In article <92290.113246U38709@uicvm.uic.edu>, <U38709@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:
> n article <1992Oct14.065415.3434@sol.cs.wmich.edu>, sherwani@sol.cs.wmich.edu
> (Naveed Sherwani) says:
> >
> >     Islam is Tolerant but Pakistn is Not
> >      -----------------------------------
> >
> >    In this post, in two parts we will establish that
> >Islam's foundation is based on listening to others and have
> >the capacity of tolerance. We will also propose that Pakistan
> >falls much short of expectation of Mohd[swt].

stuff deleted

> > Islam is a TSBS. Its followers actually think it is SBS.
> >Pakistan is SBS based society.  The Prophet of Islam used
> >science and accepted change but  preached TSBS.
> >His followers (as in Pakistan) degraded the system from
> >TSBS to SBS, when they adopted it.
> >
> >My personal opinion is that Science is better than TSBS, which
> >is better than SBS.
> >
> >
> >regards,
> >
> >-Naveed
> >
> >
> 
> Mr. Sherwani:
> 
> It is precisely people like you who have screwed up what is currently known
> as pakistan.  

Cant be ? I cant find any around :-)

> They believe that this world was an accident and since you agree with their
> thinking, I suppose that you too were an accident.
> 
I am open to such questions and like to research it myself.

> Your point about Mohammed[S] changing religions but asking his followers not
> to is a misunderstanding.  True, Muslims are forbidden to change their religion
> to any other, but free thinking was never prohibited. 

Then are following valid questions:

    Was POI speaking truth, when he said that he recd. instructions
    from GOI ?

    Does GOI exist or it was a hallucination of POI ?

Most muslims would be ready to chop my head off if I even looked
into these questions. 

If you carefully study SBS, you will find that open-minded thinking
is not only discouraged, but such restriction is the KEY charm of the system. If 
I were to think about all problems then life is indeed miserable.
(A misery I gladly accept).
Since SBS restricts your thought process and gives you canned answers
to your problems, it does make life simpler. My argument is that 
SBS leads to simpler life but at the cost of restriction of thought.

> Most Prophets were great
> thinkers and questioned their existence and the creation of this world.  They
> concluded that there must be a God who has created all of this and their
> Prophethood is a finality of this question.  

Well if that is the case, then how come they all arrived at 
different conclusions ?

I cannot say they were great thinkers or not ? But I do think that they
cared about the humans around them and tried to improve their condition.
I disagree with some of their tactics. 

>As far as Muslims changing their
> religion, well, there is nothing wrong with questioning belief, and no where
> are Muslims prohibited from doing so, this theorey is a misconception brought
> on by the Mullah's and Moulanas of today.  You have every right to question the
> laws of Islam but if you perform a proper analysis of it you will conclude that
> it is a sound and probably the best law around. 

On the other hand, if I were to conclude that certain laws in Islam
are not the best around then  ! I may be hanged :-(

> After all if you are not
> about your religion then you are not a true believer, being born a muslim does
> not make you one. As in your case you must really research other religions and
> convince yourself that Islam is for you.  Until then, don't try to pass any
> judgements on Islam when you yourself don't know much.
> 
> Da PAks for a Better Pak.
> Chicago, IL. - 1992.
> 
> 

Are you trying to say that Islam is not TSBS or not SBS ?
I only said that Islam is TSBS.

I have researched other religions and have concluded that they
all have something good to offer. Blindly following anyone is not a good
choice. We must encourage everyone to think for themselves and must
educate folks to make informed decisions. 

regards,

-Naveed

PS: My choice of POI and GOI for Prophet of Islam(Mohammad[pbuh]) and
God of Islam (Allah[swt]), respectively, is based on objections raised
by many that their names must not be mis-spelled, written with salutation
etc. It is my attempt to provide a simpler notation, I hope it is acceptable
to our muslim posters.