by Sujit Das
Muslims’ appetite for such irrational beliefs is rooted in Muhammad. The sense of having special powers often put people in threatening situations, as we have seen not only in Muhammad, but other monstrous leaders, like, Hitler, Alexander and Genghis Khan as well. Muhammad’s illusion of divine power is the basic cause of Muslim’s magical thinking throughout the course of Islam. Magical thinking is more or less common with every religion but for the Muslims it knows no bound; an orthodox Muslim can spend his whole life in it, e.g., the Urdu poet, Mir Taqi Mir (cited Geisler & Saleeb, 1993, p. 88) wrote, “ Why do you worry, O Mir, thinking of your black book? The person of the seal of the Prophets is a guarantee for your salvation”. For Muslims magical thinking goes beyond “belief without evidence” to the point of “belief in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary”.
Neither Muhammad was a Prophet, nor was Qur’an from God. This book is full of contradictory ramblings of a sincere but delusional man. Giving one’s life for such a religion, far from being evidence of its truthfulness, was nothing less than insanity. Most of the Qur’anic sciences are proven to be wrong by modern science. There is no Prophet and no God who can stop the progress of science. Magic does not matter, only facts matter. In the end it is the facts and the reality they represent, that determine our opportunities and limitations.
8.3.3: Arrogance
Almost everything of the Western civilization offends the sensibility of the Muslims. The list is a long one; ranging from religious liberty, sexual equality, and the right of gay people, to music, alcohol, dogs, and pork. Everyday new items are added to this list. Muslims demand and expect their host country to satisfy all their claims. Western nations have given every right to the Muslims. Muslims have freedom of religion. They have the right to speak against their host country, no one will kill them. In fact they can burn American flag on any street in the USA. But they are reluctant to give same type of freedom to the minorities in Muslim majority nations. In Saudi Arabia, the practice of any religion openly besides Islam is strictly prohibited now, just as it was during the time of Muhammad (Hagee, 2007, p. 29). The minorities are not allowed to build churches or openly read Bible in Saudi Arabia. It is a punishable act. Saudi Arabia is building mosques in America with riches from America’s gas tanks, but if anyone goes to Saudi Arabia and try to worship any other God than Allah, he can be killed.
This is narcissistic tendency. A Narcissist expects and needs admiration and seeks out situations in which that requirement can be met. Even after this, he expects to be treated with respect, deference, and admiration. When such admiration is not forthcoming, the Narcissist may respond with surprise, hurt, or even rage. Hotchkiss (2003, p. 14) wrote, “ They can be quite sensitive to other’s opinions and often have unrealistic expectations of unconditional approval and admiration”.
Is this the superiority complex of the Muslims? No, it is just the opposite. The arrogance comes from their inferiority complex. Narcissists are often double-faced. The face which they present often comes across to others as a “superior being” but, “ behind the mask of arrogance is a fragile internal balloon of self-esteem that is never satisfied with being good or even very good – if they are not better than, then they are worthless. Value is always relative, never absolute. From their point of view, if someone else’s stock goes up, theirs automatically goes down… For them, there is nothing acceptable about being ordinary or average – if they cannot be superior, they are nothing. ” (Hotchkiss, 2003, pp. 11, 13). Arrogance is a defense mechanism against shame as well. It attempts to fill their inner emptiness with an ego rather than allowing that emptiness to blossom into humility. Hotchkiss continued, “ At the root of the harm inflicted to others is the need to get rid of the exaggerated shame of real or imagined inferiority”.
Arrogance is some kind of “unwarranted pride”. The arrogant assumes his views and opinions as “the truth”. A Narcissist is often arrogant because he sees first himself. Rather than offering respect to all, he demands respect from all. When Muslims show their tremendous hate and arrogance for Western civilization, they are actually showing the empty edifice of their ego. Muslim’s this type of unhealthy narcissistic arrogance is deep-rooted in Muhammad.
All forms of religious arrogance lie well beyond the path of true spirituality. Neither Muhammad nor the Muslims understood this simple fact. They see their path as the one true way and attempt to convert others, even over protests of disinterest. For Muslims this is their religious duty but for a psychologist, this is the perfect example of narcissistic arrogance.
8.3.4: Envy
Envy occurs when a person lacks another’s superior quality, achievement, or possession, and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. There is hardly anyone in this world who had never been envious to others in some time of their lives. Envy can be both constructive and destructive. Aristotle’s emphasis (Salovey, 1991, p. 9) was that some forms of envy motivate people to improve themselves whereas other types motivate people to take good things away from others. The first type of envy is non-malicious envy. Some psychologists do not consider non-malicious envy to be envy at all. Muslim’s envy is narcissistic pathological envy. In pathological envy, the envious person is not only unhappy by his envy but also wishes to inflict misfortune on others. This is when it becomes dangerous.
When there is a social comparison between Muslims and non-Muslims, the “self-image” of the Muslims is threatened. For them, to witness the success and joy of the non-Muslims is too painful and too high a price to pay. So they devalue the source of their frustration and envy. Envious thoughts are daily struggle for most of the Muslims and it is well portrayed in Iqbal’s poetry. Muhammad Allama Iqbal was a great poet of Pakistan. His poetry inspired many Indian Muslims to fight the war against their Hindu countrymen and divide the Nation in two, Pakistan and India; which they called “independence”. The prosperity and power of the infidels caused Iqbal to complain to Allah, which in Urdu called Shikwa (expressing dissatisfaction). This is a long poetic work.
In the beginning, Iqbal reminds Allah that Muslims are totally devoted to His cause. They wandered in the deserts, mountains and oceans with Allah’s message and died happily for the grandeur of Allah’s name. They honored Ka’ba and put the Qur’an to their hearts. Still Allah is not happy with them. Iqbal wrote,
Phir Bhi hamsey ye gila hai ke wafadar naheen
Ham wafadar naheen too bhi to dildar naheen .
Rahmaten hain teri aghyar ke kashanon par
Barq girti hai to becharey musalmanon par .
(Still you complain that we are lacking fealty. If we are lacking fealty you also are not generous. Thy graces descend on the other people’s abodes. Lightning strikes only the poor Muslims’ abodes.)
In the next stanza, Iqbal laments that the idols in temples say “The Muslims are gone”, the hudi singers are also gone. In frustration Iqbal wrote,
Khanda zan kufr hai ehsaas tujhe hai ke naheen
ApniTauhid ka kuch paas tujhe hai ke naheen?
(Infidelity is mocking the Muslims. Do you have some feeling or not? Do not you have any regard for your own Tawhid or not? The concept of monotheism in Islam is Tawhid – Author)
Aaj kiyun seene hmare sharar aabaad naheen?
Ham wohee sokhta saamaan hain tujhey yaad naheen?
(Why are not our breasts filled with love’s sparks now? We are the same lovers, do you not remember now?)
In the next stanza, Iqbal is burning in envy by seeing that Allah gave all the blessings to the infidels; the Muslims got misery, poverty, infirmity and ugliness.
Ye shikayat naheen hain unke khazane maamoor
Naheen mahfil men jinhen baat bhi karne ka shaoor
Qahr to ye hai ke kafir ko milen hoor-o qasoor
Aur becharey musalman ko faqat waida-i hoor
Ab wo altaaf naheen ham pe inaayaat naheen
Baat ye kiya hai ke pheli si madaraat naheen.
(We do not complain that their treasures are
full. Who are not in possession of even basic social graces? Outrageous that infidel are rewarded with Houries and palaces. And the poor Muslims are placated with only promise of Houries. We have been deprived of the former graces and favors. What is the matter; we are deprived of the former honors.)
Ultimately, in deep frustration, Iqbal calls Allah unfaithful.
Kabhi hamse kabhi ghairon se shanasai hai
Baat kahney ki naheen too bhi to harjai hai.
(You are changing friendship between us and others. It is difficult to say but you are also unfaithful.)
Iqbal’s Shikwa is the voice of every Muslim either they express their feelings publicly or not. Anywhere in the world, Muslims are in a pitiable condition. They are at the bottommost level in any society. Many of the destructive acts of Muslims are motivated by their envy, just in the same way Muhammad was envious of the Jews which caused the destruction of many of them. But Muhammad did not show his envy publicly. Narcissists act as if they want people to envy them, but in reality they envy others which make them crazy, and they “act out”. Muhammad gave an impression that the Jews were envious of him. Ishaq wrote,
Jewish rabbis showed hostility to the Apostle in envy, hatred, and malice, because Allah had chosen His Apostle from the Arabs. The Jews considered the Prophet a liar and strove against Islam. (Ishaq: 239).
What treasure Muhammad had for which Jewish Rabbis should show hostility to him with envy, hatred, and malice? Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, used to carry water for brick making by the Jews. He received a date for each bucketful of water and he shared his tiny meals with Muhammad, who had nothing (Margoliouth, 2010, p. 235). According to Bukhari (4.53.357), people used to give (as alms) some of their date palms to Muhammad till he conquered Banu Quraiza and Banu Nadir. The Jews were much wealthier and cultured than the Arabs. Muhammad wanted to show that the Jews were envious to him, but in reality, it was Muhammad who was envious to them. To see the prosperity of the rich Jews was too painful for him. So he devalued the source of his frustration by attacking and massacring them. This is narcissistic pathological envy. The Narcissists are constantly envious of other people; they envy their successes, their property, their character, their education, their children, their ideas, the fact that they can feel, the religion they follow, their good mood, their past, their present, their spouses – practically everything.
Today Muslims are doing the same thing. They have strong grievance against Western civilized world. Their complaint is about the democratic process and all the freedom the infidels cherish and their education, prosperity and happiness. Muslims are envious because of the way the infidels love and pursue life, the way the infidels peruse wealth, the way the infidels relate to each other with respect, the way the infidels look at each other as equally under the law and in the eyes of God. Muslims are also envious because of the way we, the infidels respect our wives taking sincere care for all her needs, the way we give love to our children and educate them and teach them moral values.
Muslims are confused when they look at the Christians. The religion of the Christians teaches them to love others, to practice brotherhood and to show absolute forgiveness to the enemies. Muslims are also confused when they look at the religious teachings of the Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains. The main guiding principle of Hinduism is Sarva Dharma Sambhava (equal respect for all religions; Bhagavad-Gita: 7.21), and Buddhism and Jainism talk about virtues and strict nonviolence. All these moral values simply puzzle them.
After seeing all these when they look at Islam, they find that it is completely a different teaching. When they compare Muhammad with Jesus Christ or Buddha, they silently lower their face in shame. They understand that all other religions are spiritually superior to Islam and Islam is at the lowest position in the pantheon of all religions. It frustrates them and the narcissistic frustration transforms into envy and rage. Somehow they have to secure a sense of superiority in the face of infidel’s ability by using contempt to minimize them. This is the source from where all the destructive thoughts of Muslims generate. As Hotchkiss (2003, p. 17) wrote, “ Envy knows intuitively that the best defense is a good offence, so he [the Narcissist] begins to look down at his colleague”.
Muslims’ narcissistic envy, fueled by the desperate need to be superior, is something far darker. Both together make them more dangerous. When the twin towers of World Trade Center came down, Muslims cheered everywhere. The entire Muslim world does not have the technology to build a mighty structure like the twin towers but they can obviously bring them down within hours. Muhammad’s hate for the infidels larks deep inside the heart of every Muslim. This dark force within Muslims cheers when the grand and glorious are toppled from their pedestals. They love to see the flaws and misfortune of the infidels because it means that they are not so much distant from the Muslims. Since the Muslims cannot pull themselves up to the level of the infidels, it is the infidels who should bring their standard down.
8.3.5: Entitlement
Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves uniquely special. Any failure to comply will be considered an attack on their superiority and the perpetrator is considered to be an “awkward” or “difficult” person. Defiance of their will is a narcissistic injury that can trigger narcissistic rage. They have a strong feeling that they have a right to be entertained. Vaknin (1999, p. 48) wrote, “ Most of them are insistent. They demand treatment on a preferential and privileged basis”. Hotchkiss (2003, p. 20) wrote, “ In social situations, you will talk about them of what they are interested in because they are more important, more knowledgeable, or more captivating than anyone else… In personal relationships, their sense of entitlement means that you must attend to their needs but they are under no obligation to listen to or understand you ”.
Throughout his prophetic career, Muhammad ordered killing thousands of innocent people, raped women mercilessly, destroyed their houses, stole their property, sold women and children in the slave market and claimed one-fifth share of the booty in Allah’s name because he felt a strong sense of entitlement of having special privileges. He followed no code of ethics because he was specially entitled to defy Allah’s rules. His behavior even stunned his followers. He justified all his actions by bringing Allah’s revelations whenever he liked. Those who doubted him were punished by death. When he took Safiyyah to bed for sex on the very same night he had killed her husband and many male relatives after attacking Khaybar, and when he took Rayhana to bed on the same night he had killed her male relatives of Quraiza tribe; he justified his action because he felt entitled for it. Narcissistic entitlement can be appropriately presented by two simple words, “I deserve”.
Muslims come to Western countries for better living standard. But once they overcome their initial hardship, they become rude and demanding. There is something in Islam that makes it impossible for Muslims to fit into Western, liberal societies. They demand to be treated the way they would be in Muslim majority countries but then get offended when they are not. They do not value Western culture. While Jews, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and followers of other religions have no problem to be loyal citizens of other countries at the same time peacefully maintaining their own religious beliefs, culture and identity; Muslim arrogance demands that once they have their heavy footprints in any place, and their demographics grow to a substantial level, the land automatically becomes theirs for all time. They aim to set up “special Muslim rights” contrary to the laws of their host country where they have immigrated almost like “refugees”. They want tolerance from the Christians in Western nations but they are utterly intolerant of Christianity in almost all Muslim countries.
Why this double standard? There are two reasons. First, there is a natural conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a civilized society. Secondly, Muslim’s narcissistic sense of entitlement, i.e., the “I deserve” mentality. As example, let us discuss the “burqa” c
ontroversy.
The full-faced veil (the niqab, burqa or chador) of the Muslim women causes such deep reactions in the West not so much because of its political or religious symbolism but because it is extremely impolite. Just as it is considered rude to enter a Hindu or Buddhist temple wearing shorts or shoes, so, too, it is considered rude, in a Western country, to hide one’s face in common places and work stations. To a Western child, or even an adult, a human clad from head to toe in black looks like a scary ghost. Muslims protect veiling their women saying that religious freedom is a right every one should enjoy. Indirectly, Muslims want to say that their right to practice their religion is more important than anyone else’s right. In this case, why they do not allow carrying Bibles by Christians in Saudi Arabia? Christians also have their religious rights.
Western societies are multicultural. The culture of the host society necessarily needs to be respected by the guests. Those who feel it necessary to practice their religion to such an extent, have no absolute right whatsoever to make the rest of the world adapt to their practices. They are free to stay home and wear whatever they choose but they are not free to demand the “right” to jobs that put their religion at odds with the job requirements. In Britain, France and most of Europe; this type of demands of Muslims has gone way beyond “rude” or “impolite”.
This attitude is in narcissistic psychopathology of the Muslims. Patients with this type of attitude always want more; they are never happy. Whatever good is done to the Muslims is never good enough for them. Muslims also generally show no gratitude or express any thanks even when someone goes out of his way for them. Like the most spoiled of royalty, they merely expect that they should be the center of all the attraction at all times. They demand “respect” for their religion, even as their religion dismisses and denigrates others. They immigrate to countries that are polite enough to let them in and allow them to practice their religion in peace, but they threaten violence unless those countries are willing to alter their own traditions and subvert their own values in adopting the Islamic perspective. These attitudes of Islamic narcissistic entitlement are all around us these days.