Couple of nights ago, I saw few minutes of talk on the 'Islaamee Dhiriulhun' program. There were three young guests on the show with the host asking them questions. One of the guests was talking about the Maldivian culture and its relation to Islam. He goes on to mention that all Maldivians were Muslim and that we should should try to minimize the cultural influences of the West. The other guest mentioned that Islamic golden era produced many great scientists and philosophers.
That got me thinking. Are we still in the days of make-believe where Maldives is a 100% Muslim country? Do they not know that there are many atheists, Christian and sects among Maldivians? Whose interest is it serving when politicians and public figures lie when they say Maldives is a 100% Muslim country?
Or is it because it is defined that all Maldivians are Muslims? This begs the question, are we Muslim by definition? Or are we Muslims by belief? I am a Muslim not because some constitution defines it. I am Muslim because of what I believe. As being a Muslim is all about belief and submission, how could one override the meaning of Muslim to say someone could be Muslim even if that person does not submit to God?
Everyone should have the right to believe what they want. The freedom of the mind is the most important freedom. Things such as freedom of speech and press, that our politicians fancily talk about, can only be realized with freedom of thought. Anyone who suppresses people's freedom of thought (be it for national, cultural or religious reasons etc), is a person who wants to control people's lives.
These freedoms are what we are born with, not what we obtain from the State. Each individual is sovereign over that individual's mind. No one, not even the State, has sovereignty over one's mind.
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3 comments:
i agree with much of the article. especially the fact that 100% of maldivians are not muslim.. in islam, to believe is to submit.. i.e. to practice.. how many maldivians practice, let alone believe they're muslims...
but... does freedom of thought and/or expression mean the freedom of, say, a racist to express and promote his racist views?
i really don't know..
I think that would fall under the grey area, and is subjective. What about someone who 'incites hatred' ?
true indeed! the 100% muslim nation has always been an illusion fed to public to control people... how can there be a 100% nation when one individual himself is not 100% muslim? can you ever be a 100% muslim all the time. its a simple logic! NO right? so how can we expect a nation to be? there are people of other faiths or those people who wants to live in absolute freedom.
Freedom of mind is really to be aware how mind works. there is no such thing as freedom of mind when our thoughts are controlled by our past memory and everything we think/do/believe is conditioned upon us.
I see the religious folks and other folks that appear on tv are really not well read or reasonable people and its unfortunate that these are the faces in media to dictate our lives, or rather inform the public.
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