IN RESPONSE TO SOME DISCUSSIONS ON ALLAH, PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH) AND AL-QURAN

We do believe He exists despite not seeing Him. This belief gets firmer when we see the feats of Allah. We get the evidence of His existence in various ways among those feats.

This is fairly common among all believers/ theists- the same thing happened to me when I was a believer. Being a by-born Muslim due to my Muslim parents I found such kind of logics-evidences for myself. While in class three/four there was clear argument in religion text-book that ‘the signs that Allah exists are numerous around us’. Everything runs so normally- which can easily prove that there must be someone who I controlling everything so efficiently. Allah is one because if He is two or three in number, there would have been conflicts and chaos- the World would not run that smoothly – etc. etc. I am pretty sure this argument is equally applicable to other religions too- believing first, then searching arguments, signs and vestiges to rationalize that belief.

Whatever, nothing more to say about this, let’s come to the point- I have many things to say on the evidences and arguments that have deepened your belief. If those seem irrational to me, then couldn’t the bases of my previous belief be a little weaker?

‘Sometimes we see, the society the Prophet formed about 1400 years ago based on ideology, principle and justice out of an abnormally feculent society is a rare example in any time for any place in the world history. I can remember Omer (R:) and his servant travelled through a long desert sharing the back of a camel 50-50%. Sometimes I remember the speech of Hazrat Omer (R:) during the famine ‘Even if a dog starves to death today on the bank of river Forat, I will be guilty for that’. What comparison can you find against such a nice humanitarian attitude?’

I do admit the contribution of Muhammad (S.) for the Arab society 1400 years ago and I doalso have tremendous respect for him as a human being. But we also find numerous number of people like him as the time advances- my respect to those people also.  But when it is said that the role of Muhammad 1400 years ago in the Arab land is unique is the world history- I then realize such kind of claimers fathom very little about the world history. I realize it is just blind veneration or boot-licking- such blind that it fantasizes a flesh and blood to the divine level, declares His all rituals and actions to be the ultimate for all ages, all regions and all social systems while simply forgetting that Muhammad (S.) was born in a particular time, in a particular region and in a particular social system. Then I cannot but ask politely that this man in his last Hajj speech appealed to behave gently with the slaves but failed to call upon for the abolition of slavery system. Why? Why did he keep provision of four marriage for men? Why remained with the custom of Hillah marriage? Why did he permit extra-marital sexual relation with the slave women? And so on!

When this man is depicted as Great Man by dragging world history, or announced as a direct friend of Allah or a Messenger of Allah- then I again gently ask- after ascending to power, why he had to lean to woman one after another? Why getting involved in war/Jihad one after another? Why spreading hatreds towards the infidels? And also why he had to destroy the idols/sculptures of the Pagans who were of different religions? And so on!

But due to the above reasons I do have no disrespect for one human being Muhammad (S.) since I know very well what the age-bound, social system bound confinements of a man may be! But again I have thousands of questions to Muhammad (S.) as a Messenger of Allah. So if any one tries to grant Prophet’s lust for women in the name of time, or tries to show his character as exemplaryby comparing him with king Solaiman or some other more lustful kings of ancient time- then I’ll bring Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha, Socrates and numerous other people born far before Muhammad (S.) and would request to follow their characters in this regard but not Muhammad (S.)

Many tales and stories of Omer (Ra.) still inspire us- this is the way many characters of history remain alive among us for decades. But when based on those amazing stories of flesh and blood some other fictitious threads are linked to promote the sublimity of gossips rather than greatness of character- I’ll then humbly ask- how many of the four Caliphs of Islam was murdered? By whom were they killed? Had been killed

Why was the delay in burial of corpse of Muhammad (PBUH)? Weren’t the people close to Him certain that He was the Messenger of Allah? That engaging in conflict of power keeping the corpse of His Prophet unattended would make Allah displeased?

‘When I see the messages of the Holy Quran are so much metaphoric; till today there is no such poetical work with such an incomparable ordination of words (however to understand it much better, you have to know very well Arabic literature or Arabic language or you have to be an expert in literature; whatsoever let’s keep faith in the words of our experts!)

The so much figurative messages of Al-Quran with excellent ordination of words- whoever is a believer believes it blindly without understanding Arabic language. And such a blindly devoted stand declares: ‘There is still no equivalent poetic literature like the Holy Quran!’

So it can easily be answered in one sentence: such declarant possesses no idea about poetry or literature. I would be happy to inform such people that the position of Al-Quran is at almost zero level with reference to world literature. This book must have a considerable role as a history book or a book of philosophy- you must approach The Quran and The Hadith to understand a whole era. But in the universe of world literature, Quran matters a little. Even in our region, the Ramayana or The Mahabharata may be leveled as ‘Epic’, we keep our ‘Charjapada’ with high esteem in the field of ancient literature, the two epics of Homer further enriches the world literature; but Quran as a literary work matters little comparing to those. You have dragged the experts’ opinion- but they themselves have judged the literary values of ancient books- which one is an ‘epic’, which one not!

Let’s judge the poetic values of Al Quran by ourselves. Various organs of poetry are: metaphor, simile, prosody etc. Expressing a thought through metaphors and similes is the peculiarity of poetry- this is found in several verses of Quran-I have to admit that. But they are very less in number and according to my opinion not that much luminouspaint, rather kind of flat. Moreover the illustrations of thoughtsthrough various similes-metaphors in our ancient writings and poetry, the exorbitances of similes-metaphors in our very previous somatic songs clearly imply that this is very much possible by human being.

And in terms of prosody, Quran will to be ranked very mean. Verses of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, prosody of the lyrics of the Charzapada are much more melodious and temperate. Most of the suras (verses) of Quran did not in fact maintain the grammar of prosody. However in some of the suras, some successive Aayats in some suras we get artistry of prosody. But again we have to add that- like any other ancient rhythm they are combination of monotonous alliteration.

For example:

Alamtarakaifafa'alarabbuka bi ashaabil feel

Alamyaj'alkaidahum fee tad leel

waarsala 'alaihimtairanabaabeel

Tar meehim bi hi jaaratim min sijjeel

Faja 'alahumka'asfimm'akool

This is surah al-fil (105). The syllable ‘eel’ is present at the end of every sentence. (though the fifth sentence includes ‘ool’). Similarly in surah Al-Fatiha every sentence ends with ‘eem/een’. In surah An-Nass every sentence ends with the syllable ‘naas’ etc. etc.

Such kinds of rhymes/prosodies are found in ancient poems. Actually at that time rhymes/prosodies were created orally, circulated from mouth to mouth; so creation of verses as well as memorizing it in rhyme format was easier. You can also make such quality prosody if you try. For example:

10 fingers,
10 toes,
2 eyes
And a round nose.

Or

One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four,
Five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes, more?

Or

Kill

Bill

Jill

Fill

Mill

Nil

Hill

Ill etc

Let’s try. If someone like me can do it, you can do also. You may read the poetry of famous Bengali poet Satyendranath Dutta, you’ll then realize how excellent the practice of prosody can be in the hand of a human being.

And if you show plea of ancient times, I’ll say keep an eye on things like Charjapada, Ramayana and Mahabharata. They are created through such rhythmic prosodies. After going through those books, you’ll understand how inferior in quality the verses of Quran are in comparison with them. Inferior in quality in this sense that verses of Quran are so much monotonous and same word, same sentence is repeatedly used to show matches among the lines.

And with your sentence it seems that you have challenged the present literature and poetry also. It should not be right for you for Quran will then be more humiliated. The varieties of prosody, its strength- I cannot expect this from some ancient books, so the comparisons will also not be accurate, still if you challenge, then please learn no one in the world literature has treated Al Quran as an epic/poetry.

‘’Or when we see Quran did not change to a tittle within 1400 years whereas Bible and other religious books have been changed hundred times. Kings or clerics changed those according to their thoughts. We find the reflection of God’s will in this case…. Many of the other religions though coming from God have actually been changed/distorted in circumambulation of time and the religious books need a latest of final version for the time advances. But the argument behind Quran being the final version is its pure undistortedness. (Allah said He himself would save the Quran and must it remain undistorted.)’’

What do you mean by the intactness of Quran? What does it imply?

Today after the invention of printing machine you’ll get tens of millions of books remain unaltered for decades. The plays and sonnets of Shakespeare- all in as it was created format; even not mismatching by a full-stop or comma. Nowadays we find inscriptions of two or three thousand years ago- they too are also undistorted. What does it imply?

Hmm, there was obviously possibility of distortion when once upon a time knowledge, literature etc were transmitted in oral form from generation to generations and era to era. And we know Al Quran inscribed as a whole did not appear in front of mankind from Muhammad. Initially its fragments were orally transmitted and in a scatter written format. That gave birth to the natural doubt behind its undistortedness and that’s why convincing all regarding the issue became the liability of Quran. So we find Allah saying in Quran that He is its defender.

Indubitably no one even felt it necessary to proclaim such undistortedness in the case of Michael’s Meghnathbadh Kabya in Bengali or for King Lear or for War and Peace.

Let’s come to the point of comparing the Holy Quran with other ancient books. Other scriptures have been tampered with, but not Quran! The delusion of such logic is easily explicable. 

Is it possible to claim distortions on those books that were documented during the lifetime of their authors? It’s only claimed in case of compilation writings after the death of its author. For instance- Socrates never docketed any of his thoughts but did his two disciples. Now it’s a natural question-  do the inscriptions of these two disciples word by word represent the thoughts and philosophy of Socrates? But you see when Plato wrote or documented ‘Dialogue’ or ‘Socrates’ Defense’, we find it undistorted and obviously as a pure writing of Plato.

Neither Jesus nor Muhammad was successful in offering the Bible-Quran in the way Plato did. Their follower compiled them later. Again there comes the natural question- do the Holy books represent the cult preached by them? Initiatives of compilation were taken after a certain time interval of Jesus’ death- so possibility of distortion is higher for the Bible whereas Quran is in a safer position than Bible. But once compiled or documented, it may remain unaltered if upkept properly. We have found some before Christ era books in our sub-continent and as these books were inscribed at that very time; one can easily understand that they are the same word by word as the writer wrote.

Next is the different explanations/opinions of one Surah/verse even if it got documented in the Holy book i.e. ununiqueness of opinion over a single verse. This issue in fact gave birth to the later edition of Bible. Anyone may claim the later edition as tempered- but can the older version be called tempered in real sense? This is also true for Quran. We find in many Hadiths the differences in opioion among the Sahabis (companions) during compilation of Quran. We know about Hazrat Ali's objections. Dispute over different language is also known and also the act of destroying all other copies of Quran by Usman. We know about different Qurans of the Haafs and the Walsh, different Quran of the Shia and last but not the least the revised Quran of Rashad Khalifa. All these indicate that Quran has been distorted many times and Quran of one group is obviously a distorted one for the other group.

So you can never say Quran is written by Allah considering it undistorted and when you clearly see Quran is distortedly inscribed and further been distorted in course of time- shouldn’t you be suspicious about the existence of Allah?

‘’Or when I see there is not a single verse in Quran that can be proved incorrect by the established science. Contrary to that, the other scriptures are full of wrong information and inconsistencies.

Or when I watch that Quran accurately described many events that were laterproved right by modern science.’’  

There is not a single verse in Quran that can be proved incorrect by the established science- He who dares to say so is surely such a person that have not read/understood all Aayats/verses of Quran and utterly ignorant of science.

The science of today finds so many inconsistencies in all ancient books- whether it be a Holy book or a book on science or philosophy. Similarly so many unscientific, anti-science, false, inconsistent and bizarre statements are frequently available in the verses of Quran. But then again some true and scientific things are also available in them which are still accepted by science. (What it implies- mankind discovered the accurate knowledge on certain topics by that very time.)- In this way some topics/points of Quran may also be proved right by today’s established science. But that does not necessarily prove that- modern science grants every word of Quran. The story of Adam, Gossips of Angels and ghostly bodies, magic-sorcery- jugglery, superhuman power of the Prophets- modern science considers all these as fairy tales. Talks on heaven and earth, creation of animals and human beings, birth of human, development of embryo- all these are erroneous incorrect, preposterous in the eyes of modern science. And there are still others. Just read by yourself a bit more, keep your eyes-ears open, unclasp the window of your mind:- you’ll easily understand.

Regarding the second point-‘Quran accurately described many events that were later proved right by modern science’- is actually not a unique pretension. Many of the other religions claim the same today. I have refuted this point in one of my previous posts- so nothing new to say- requesting to go through that post.

‘‘It’s a wonder how the Prophet, an illiterate person, was able to write a book for 23 years with no inconsistency which is at the same time 1) guide for mankind, 2) no inconsistency of information, 3) no scientific mistake of any given information, 4) information which have later been proven by modern science are also given, 5) full of excellent poetic values, 6) has remained unchanged for 1500 years, 7) the only one scripture that most people can commit to memory, 8) It is the only one Holy book memorized by tens of thousands of people. So there is no possibility of annihilation of this Holy book even if all the copies get burnt.’’

Historians are divided into opinions whether Prophet Muhammad was an illiterate person. Read- was the first revelation to him. He was a successful merchant in his early life- He himself had to maintain the accounts. Such Hadiths are also available where he rectified the letters written to different rulers. Whatever, let’s assume that he was illiterate. But does this necessarily mean he was empty-headed? Or does that mean he was not a man of extraordinary caliber?

There are so many ingenious people of ancient time who were downright illiterate- they have gifted us impeccable creations in oral format only using their brains. So no one can be certain that he did not possess leadership capability, a very inquisitive mind, a vision and ability to think deeper no matter if he was illiterate. And if possessed with such qualities with some adroit followers around him, it is not so difficult to write a book like Quran.

One more point to be addressed- Usman was the pioneer in offering us the format of Quran as we get today. Before that Quran Compilation Committee took the first initiative during the reign of Abu Bakar. There were many efficient and also poetic minded followers in that committee. So Muhammad should not be the only contributor behind today’s format of Quran. Even Ali(R:)  was seen to protect for this reason.

1.       Guide for mankind- is a completely wrong proclamation. The non-Muslim portion of today’s world is running very well without Quran; so Quran can’t be a guideline for them. Even the Muslim world is not following Quran directed life exactly or they very well realize that it can’t be followed exactly.

You yourself can understand why Quran can’t be a guideline for mankind if you read it carefully with meaning. You’ll see how each of the Aayats/ Surahs appeared in response to various incidents happened in Muhammad’s life. Even Aayats appeared when there were disputes among Muhammad’s wives- to tackle that situation. Many times when the disciples came to Prophet to solve their different problems- Aayats appeared. Aayats appeared when the non-Muslims came to ask something, when to motivate the disciples etc. etc. A major part of all these incidents are very specific. There are Surahs on some specific persons- you can’t say they are guidelines for the whole mankind. Even one Surah was named after one person (Non-Muslim), so much hatred was spread by that Surah-just read- you’ll make out what kind of a guideline it is for mankind!!! 

2.       There are many inconsistencies of information. Please refer to previous points. Moreover, it is due to this inconsistency that divided Muslim world into so many fractions/ Mazhabs.

3.        There are so many mistakes of Quran provided ‘scientific’ information. Again referring to previous discussions.

4.       Modern science has invented so many things which were not included in Quran and also many other things are there which are contradictory to different Aayats of Quran. And Quran includes everything- this is just a crystal-clear lie and bluff.

5.       It has changed in 1500 years- which I showed earlier. And you’ll find many ancient books older than Quran that are undistorted.

6.       The topic of literary values are discussed earlier. However, some names of followers are heard who were poets. Let’s assume they are not created by those followers and Muhammad(S) himself possessed poetic intellect. But if you think it is the poetic intellect of Allah, then I cannot but say that Allah as a poetic genius is much inferior to Yeats, Elliot, Jibananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Shakespeare, Michael Madhusudhan etc.

7.       It’s true that the memorizers of Quran are many in number. May be once upon a time people memorized many a books, but in today’s world only some fanatic people do this job. Geeta or Bible memorizers are also in the

world. These scriptures are older than Quran- so what?? And if one memorizer of any book remains alive while all the copies get burnt- this book will be revived, not only Quran.

But if I am thrown to a situation that the whole world will be destroyed except one book, I would choose a science encyclopedia rather than a Quran. I’ll compile all the latest laws and formulas of modern science in a book and preserve it. Because it will be the best weapon at man’s hand that can restore the position of earth within the least possible time. Quran the Holy book can’t do it.

Translated by: Tanmoy

Original link of Bengali article: http://blog.mukto-mona.com/2009/05/21/1701/

FEW MOMENTS WITH GOD

You won’t be able to guess that he is an atheist when you meet Mr. Solaiman. He is a nature lover, persistent worker, a man so ethical that it seems that ‘disbelief’ is the only trick the Devil could play on him. He has no enemy, and even if there were any, they wouldn’t be able to claim that Mr. Solaiman intentionally harmed anyone in his life. The Devil may or may not know other tricks but certainly he failed to apply those on Mr. Solaiman. Mr. Solaiman is a professor. He uses thick glasses, he is middle-aged but he looks younger. He is smart and confident, has every attributes a popular professor needs. But surprisingly this silver-tongued professor is famous and infamous at the same time, infamous because he is an atheist. Many may use to think that “atheist” is a negative word but Mr. Solaiman is proud to be an atheist. Swearing, threats, annoying preaching of God’s Lovers have been a part of his life since he left his belief and he doesn’t bother these at all. Sometimes he feels disappointed seeing this stupidity and that’s all. 

 

This is our Mr.Solaiman; I can write pages after pages about him without repeating a word. Still to begin the story I had to cut it short, I managed to confine ten pages in one paragraph, so I didn’t do a bad job I guess.

It was a sunny day. Mr. Solaiman was having an argument with some creationists. As usual he almost cornered the creationists but suddenly a part of crowd burst out and thrown questions after questions of questions

: Is death the end of everything? Is there no life after it? No heaven, no hell? (How can they accept there is heaven full of wine and girls after death?)

: You proved there is no God by logic, so what? What if there is any God? (Seems like God’s place is outside logic)

: You are blind, you are not seeing. Someday you’ll see the truth but it’ll be too late. (Oh, how much they care about him!)

: Denying the creator means denying father and mother! (Is this their best logic?!)

In the end, Mr. Solaiman lost patience and said “I can’t say anything that is beyond world of logic, I can argue about science and logic and that’s all.”

Moving out of the room he felt comfortable and also felt a bit ashamed for losing patience. “Logic crumbles but belief doesn’t move! How strong the power of belief is!” he was thinking. People are afraid of God, they are slave of their belief, they are afraid of their thoughts, they want to take chances, and they are scared of Hell. They can’t even imagine the nothingness after death! He was too deep in his thinking as he was crossing the road. All on a sudden he saw a car rushing towards him and before he could move the car ran over him! Before being ashamed for his unmindful situation while crossing the road, before investigating the reason why the car was rushing in this lonely street of university campus- he fell into deep dark all around him.

When Mr. Solaiman opened his eyes, he found himself in a closed chamber. He could remember that he died in an accident. His nerve was not weak and soon he removed his trance and recovered full consciousness. “Where am I?” he wanted to concentrate on thoughts but it was not to be, two stubborn angels appeared from nowhere. They wanted to ask some questions and they won’t go without the answer. Mr. Solaiman glanced at them with annoyance, they seemed like 3rd class robot to him. “Ok, tell me what you need to know” Mr. Solaiman said.

Angels: Who is your God?

Mr. Solaiman: Strange! What you mean by God?

Angels: God is your creator, your controller, your master.

Mr. Solaiman: Master? I don’t have any master, I am no slave. Age of slavery is past, now it’s the age of democracy, in this age no one is slave and no one is master. Sometimes Industrialists try to enslave the workers. But when this happens, the workers protest and eventually they can win. I don’t have master-slave relation with my Students. I am master of myself, though I am not negating influence of society, culture on me. Now tell me is there any need of a Master or Controller? Do you have any Master?

Angels: Yes I do have a master and everyone has a master. It’s the same master that created all of us. Don’t you know him?

Mr. Solaiman: I am afraid you are wrong. I don’t have a master. No one orders me to do anything. I am not bound to obey anyone. May be you are the servant of someone, but I am not. May be he is your controller but are you sure that he is your creator?

Angels: (Rubbing his head) Yeah, We are sure.

Mr. Solaiman: How?

Angels: He told us.

Mr. Solaiman: Stupid! This is called circular logic. Have you seen him to create you or anyone?

Angels: (staring at each other) No.. I mean…

Mr. Solaiman: Hmm, think deeply. You came here in order of your so-called master but can you say who my master is? Your master may control you but is he controlling me too? Why my controller would send you to question me? If I have the freedom to answer your question, can I have any controller?

The angels seemed confused. They were sent to ask some questions. They would report to God hearing the answer. Always it used to happen normally. Some used to give correct answers, some wrong but everyone used to do answer. But not this time! This strange man is doing the opposite; instead of answering he is questioning the angels! Sometimes it seems like the man answered the 1st question, but again the man wanted to know something, he want to discuss so he didn’t finish the question. Then how can they move to next question? Will they go to God without the answers?! They stood like fool and stared at each other. In the end the God rescued them. He told to bring Mr. Solaiman to his palace. He never to do this but in this case he couldn’t keep faith on angels. So Mr. Solaiman must face the God now!

When Mr. Solaiman was brought to 7th heaven, two questions flashed in his mind. How he traveled so fast and how is floating steadily in empty space? But he didn’t get chance to think, from a corner The God appeared before him. A brilliant white light flooded the room. The God looked a bit arrogant but also intelligent. It’s always nice to talk with someone intelligent, so Mr. Solaiman felt interested. The God said in loud voice “Hey Solaiman”. Mr. Solaiman couldn’t help but disliked it, “doesn’t he know courtesy?” he thought, and he retorted “I don’t think we met before. Who are you?”

The God: I am the Master

Mr. Solaiman: (Looking towards the angels) Their Master? Their intelligence hasn’t flourished much.

The God: (Loudly, in a angry voice) I am everyone’s master, everything is my creation

Mr. Solaiman was perplexed hearing the roaring voice, he couldn’t figure out why the man in white was shouting so loudly to talk with a person standing so near. Is the problem in vocal cord or in brain? The second possibility is more logical he guessed. Seeing no response again the God roared “are you believing now? I am the God, can you deny it?”

Mr. Solaiman: Don’t mind, I am an atheist, I don’t believe in God

The God: What? Still you do not believe in God? You are standing in front of God, you are talking with him! How you are still denying him? What’s your logic?

Mr. Solaiman: Lack of proof. You are still to prove that you are God.

The God: (Roaring) Proof? Do you know I can do what I wish with you?

Mr. Solaiman felt bit anxious. He had read about Hitler-Mussolini, they did whatever they wished with human. In modern world President Bush did what he wanted. Is this person is another cruel monarch? Why powerful men are often so cruel?

Mr. Solaiman: I know. Somehow I am your captive at this moment, you can do anything. But why would you something cruel? God is supposed to be kind, isn’t it? We can do anything with our pets, but do we torture them? Are we God of our pets? Slavery was common in world a century ago, owner could do just about anything with the slaves, did it make the owners the God of their slaves?

The God: I created you, why don’t you understand?

Mr. Solaiman: Where, when? Show me proof.

The God: If I didn’t create you then who did?

Mr. Solaiman: Sperm came from my father, mother have eggs. When sperm and egg met….

The God: Ok, ok, you don’t need to tell the process. Tell me how the process was done?

Mr. Solaiman: Naturally.

The God: Naturally? Still you won’t confess my power?

Mr. Solaiman: Nature have some definite rules, everything obey those. Science try to find the rules, it don’t acknowledge a God who don’t obey the rules. To create a baby God must go through the process of sperm and eggs, he can make a baby from a stone no matter how hard he tries. Now if someone call these natural laws “God”, I don’t have any problem, but I feel more comfortable to use the term “natural law” because known definitions of “God” have no similarities with it.

The God: No point in arguing. I gave you life in your mother’s womb, you got to believe it.

Mr. Solaiman: How? I told how human is born, science proved it. I didn’t see you in time of birth.

The God: No one have memory of that time!

Mr. Solaiman: So talking about that time is futile. I don’t have memory of that time and you are saying ‘I did this, I did that’ on that time, how ridiculous is this? Am I bound to believe these?

The God: Then you won’t get proof of my power ever.

Mr. Solaiman: I don’t think that it’s necessary.

The God: Everything has a beginning, everything need to be created. So isn’t obvious that there is creator?

Mr. Solaiman: No, it’s not like that. Everything is created in natural process. According to your logic, everything must be created. Then who created the God, who created the creator of creator? May be you also lost of memory in time of birth too so you don’t know about your creator!

The God: What? You are so arrogant. I will burn you in hell.

(to angels) Take him to the hottest fire in hell, I will burn him there. But first take him to heaven. Show him what he is missing!

So the angles took him to heaven. Gentle wind, soft music, sweet fragrance…..

Mr. Solaiman felt good when he entered the heaven. The heaven looked like a peaceful garden, more beautiful than the greatest pictures. Mr. Solaiman likes it, because in a place like this he would get plenty of time to think and research peacefully. But as he walked deeper into the heaven, his thought changed. The heaven duelers were surrounded with young girls and plenty of wine. Suddenly heaven began to seem utterly obscene to him. He closed his eyes, though about his loving wife. “Impossible, I can never live here” he thought. There are lots of brothels, sex-shops in earth; he never felt any need to go there. He felt disgusted. After a while he saw some duelers are looking very lackluster and dreary. Young girls are trying their best to excite them, but they don’t seem to notice. Mr. Solaiman asked the angels “what’s the matter?” The angles replied “we don’t know, these guys are the oldest duelers of heaven”. Suddenly everything gets clear to him. There can be nothing called eternal happiness, in fact happiness is relative. Poet said darkness made the light so noble. Same thing has been applied here. Mr. Solaiman felt sympathy for these people, he returned to God with the angels.

It’s true that he was afraid of going to hell but after this experience he doesn’t want to see heaven ever again. Life of earth seemed the greatest of all to him after this. His loving wife, two kids, laboratory, classroom, friends, river and hills everything seemed so nice. Roar of the God disrupted his thoughts “Solaiman, are you ready for the hell?”

Mr. Solaiman: Ready or not, does it really matter?

The God: Don’t you want to go to heaven? Confess that I am the God, you still may get a chance.

Mr. Solaiman: Is it righteous to force someone by showing fear? I am afraid of both heaven and hell!

The God: Ha ha .. You must be punished for your deeds.

Mr. Solaiman: Punishment? What have I done?

The God: You disbelieved the God.

Mr. Solaiman: That can’t be a crime. I didn’t have enough proof to believe in God.

The God: Didn’t a send the noble Book?

Mr. Solaiman: I saw men to write those books, saw the book to be published in man-made printers, didn’t saw the book to be written by something divine, or didn’t see it to fall from the sky. How can I believe the book to be written by God?

The God: This disbelieve is your crime, you must be punished for this.

Mr. Solaiman: But I did many good works in earth.

The God: So?

Mr. Solaiman: I helped the poor; I opened a hospital for them.

The God: So?

Mr. Solaiman: I planted lots of trees to save the climate.

The God: So?

Mr. Solaiman: I took care of wild-animals too.

The God: So?

Mr. Solaiman: Can’t I be rewarded for any of these?

The God: As you denied my existence, all these are valueless.

Mr. Solaiman: It’s not fare. Now I understand God is immoral, justice has no place here.

The God: What? I will send to you to hell right now, you are criticizing me in front of me!

Mr. Solaiman: I have the courage to stand against injustice. I am human, we always stand against injustice.

The God: Human, a tiny creation me, tell me where are you now? Whom you are talking to? Can your science explain it? Hahaha…

Mr. Solaiman: Don’t laugh. At first, I was a bit confused. But now I figured it out, now I know what is happening.

The God: What?

Mr. Solaiman: Everything is my imagination. Before accident I was thinking about these, so it can be called a bad dream, a nightmare.

The God: You are too audacious. I am throwing you to hell now…

Mr. Solaiman: Huh, and I’ll make you disappeared with just a clap.

And as The God was about to throw Mr. Solaiman in hell and Mr. Solaiman was about to clap, everything was dark again…..

When Mr. Solaiman opened his eyes, he found himself in the hospital with oxygen mask in his face, pipes in his nose and some other medical equipment connected with his body. He felt comfortable seeing his wife beside him. He wasn’t told but he knew his kids are anxiously waiting outside the door. Both Heaven and hell after death are actually hell, earth is the real paradise, he thought. He need some rest now. He fell asleep in peace.

Type: Short Story

Original link of Bengali story: http://blog.mukto-mona.com/2009/12/28/4214/