♦ARE YOU FIRST A MUSLIM, OR INDIAN???♦

Sunil: Dear friend, I have a question to you...
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Abdullah: Yeah, sure, what's that?
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Sunil: You people always care about your religion, but how much you care about our country India?
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Abdullah: We care our country how much it is necessary and important for us brother!
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Sunil: So, can you please tell me, are you first an Indian or Muslim???
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Abdullah: Hahaha. Brother, I am first and last an Indian Muslim, but if you want to know specifically, then my answer is, I am first a Muslim and then Indian!
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Sunil: Shame on you!!! How can you insult your nation because of your religion? We worship our country as our own mother! And people like you have such a cheap mind that you are saying that you will give priority to your religion first???
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Abdullah: Okay, then can you please give me the answer of a question?
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Sunil: Okay, tell. But I have not such mood to talk to you for a long time!!!
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Abdullah: Brother, are you a human first or a male first???
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Sunil: What type of question it is?? I am both human and male, what is the difference between all these??? Non-sense! You muslim guys have no common sense! Just rubbish people we have in our county!
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Abdullah: Cool down bro.. We have tiny brain, we agree. As Allah says, "...they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He(Allah) wills.."(Al-Quran, 2:255)[1]
But will you please give me one chance to clear your doubt?
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Sunil: Oh! Now there comes a religious non-sense to give us knowledge....!
Okay, tell me what do you want to say...
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Abdullah: When I just say that you are a male, then it does not mean that you must be human always!
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Sunil: What! Are you mad! What are you telling man!
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Abdullah: In nature, there are many species who are born as male, like among tiger, deer, lion and other animals, there are both male and female!
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Sunil: Then, what can we do sir?
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Abdullah: So, my point is, when you are not specifying yourself as human first, then we can not say logically that you are a human, only because of your male gender! For this, you have to say, you are a human first and then a male!
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Sunil: Oh really! So, what do you want to say actually???
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Abdullah: In the light of this example, we can also say that if you identify yourself as a human being, it is not that you are going against your masculine nature, rather you are just specifying yourself. Right?
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Sunil: Yeah, agree!
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Abdullah: Similarly, when we are asked about our nature, we first identify ourselves as "Muslim" and then we give our identity of nation. It is not that we hate our country or we are against our nation.
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Sunil: But Islam is a religion, how can you say that it is your nature? Vedic philosophy clearly says about our nature and that is, we are the part and parcel of God.
"And when you have thus learned the truth, you will know that all living beings are but part of Me—and that they are in Me, and are Mine." (Gita, 4:35)[2]
And that's why we also consider our nation equal to God in the form of our mother, and so we worship our country!!!
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Abdullah: Brother, that's the reason you can not understand our point of view!
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Sunil: What do you mean???
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Abdullah: When the Almighty God makes anything by transforming the portion or part of His own body, He can be called as just "Maker", not "Creator". The real Creator is the One Who can create absolutely new out of nothing. And Islam gives us the correction to mankind that "The One True Almighty God" has not made the universe from His own body, rather He creates absolutely new out of nothing.
Allah says in the Quran,
"But does not man call to mind that We created him before out of nothing?" (Al-Quran,19:67)[3]
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Sunil: So what, if Allah creates out of nothing?? What's the big matter here!!!
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Abdullah: The matter is that when One and Only True Creator Allah, the Almighty has created out of nothing, then this creation is not the part and parcel of Almighty Creator. So, when one worships anything like if one worships his own country as a mother form of God, He is insulting the True Creator giving Him the false allegation that creation is the part of God! In Islam, it is called "shirk" meaning association of partner with Allah which is the highest sin!
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Sunil: Wait a minute! You are saying that we insult our Creator by worshiping our country! What a non-sense theory! We never think like that way, we always praise both the Almighty God and our country, then how can we insult???
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Abdullah: Brother, most of the people run after their mind's suggestion without judging the truth. What I say as good, may be bad to another person! Now who will decide the correct way? In Islam, our standard to judge the truth is the Commandment of Allah.
Now, once you say that you actually do not have the mentality to insult Almighty Creator, yet you are unconsciously insulting Him running after your mind's suggestion! Look your Gita is also saying that people who are affected with the desire of the world worship different gods according to their own nature.
"Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."
(Bhagavad Gita, 7:20)[4]
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Sunil: I can not understand what you are saying? If I have desire in my mind, that is the lower stage when I am seeing God in worldly form and that's why I am worshiping my country as God in mother form! What's the big deal here!
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Abdullah: You really have not understood my point. Okay, let me give an example. Suppose, your father is innocent, but all the neighbours thought that your father has stolen some valuable things and they start to call your father as thief in loud voice. You know very well that your father is innocent. So now what will you do in this situation?
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Sunil: I will go and tell my neighbours that my father is not any thief. He has done nothing!
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Abdullah: But the neighbours are against your father. They think that they are correct and so they will not like your such words!
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Sunil: Then I will try my best to make them understand that my father is innocent, he has done nothing!
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Abdullah: Yes, this is the point! We are doing the same thing brother!
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Sunil: What! Are you joking???
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Abdullah: No, I am serious. Look, you say that we are part and parcel of God. We say to you that, then God will not be the real Creator at all as God has created us out of nothing. Now once you can not understand our point, we are also trying our best to explain to people like you that as Creator has created us out of nothing, so we can not be the part and parcel of Almighty Creator!
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Sunil: But what do you get by doing so? Will I give you chocolate? hahaha
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Abdullah: When we can not digest a simple false allegation against your father as I have said in that example, then how can it be possible that the True believers can tolerate false allegation to One and Only Almighty Creator Allah???
We Muslims consider us as true believers and so, it is very serious for us when there is any false allegation to our Creator Allah! And that's the reason, we can not insult by giving false allegation to Allah, the Almighty saying that our country is the female form of God though this country is India, Pakistan, Saudi Arab, America and so on!!!
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Sunil: Okay, now this is your point! Oh, you people are just boring! I came to you with a jolly mind and you start to tell your religious tale!
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Abdullah: But you asked me first and so I gave the answer. But there's one thing left!
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Sunil: Uff! What's that left!!!
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Abdullah: You have asked how can "Islam" be our nature, right?
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Sunil: Yes, yes, now tell your story fast!
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Abdullah: "Islam" has come from arabic word "Salam" meaning "peace". It has also derived from root word "silm" which means "submission of our will to Almighty God." So, when one submits his will to Almighty God for peace, is defined as Muslim.
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Sunil: Spit it out. What do you want to say actually?
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Abdullah: I want to say that "Islam" means to submit your will to One and Only Almighty Creator for gaining peace. In easy term, we can say, the one who obeys the commandments of One True Creator is a Muslim. Like, the other creation who do not have free will are already Muslim. For example, the earth and sun are muslim as they are obeying the commandment of Allah. Here the gravity is the expression of such commandment and the creation in the universe have already submitted their will to Allah, and so they are bound to follow Allah's command. Or in other word, we can say, they are already Muslim. But human being has free will to choose, so they can either obey or disobey Allah. But our beloved prophet (peace be upon him) says that every child is born as Muslim. That means, when a child is born, it submits itself to Allah Almighty, later because of his free will, he can choose his way. And that's why we say, our nature is Islam and we Muslim follow our nature which we all get by birth!
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Sunil: Oh! I can not listen any more. Just useless talk! I have more valuable works. So I have no time to waste with you. Good bye.
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Abdullah: As you wish. Good bye dear. =)
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(Written by Ahmed Ali)
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[1] The Noble Quran, translation by Hilali and Khan
[2] Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, translated by A.C Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada
[3] The Quran translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
[4] Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, translated by A.C Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada