I read Rudolph Otto’s book “The Idea of the Holy” many years ago, quite early on in my spiritual struggle. I appreciated his emphasis on both the numinous character and the moral perfection of the Divine. At the time, I felt that all religions shared a similar appreciation and understanding of the holiness or sacredness of God. However, when I more recently became familiar with the roots and teachings of Islam, I was forced to conclude that Islam’s God, Allah, as depicted in many parts of the Quran and other Islamic scripture, is not holy. A god who orders his subjects to hate, and even kill, non-Muslims is not holy. A god who describes the Jewish people as "the vilest of all creatures" and "descendants of apes and pigs" is not holy. I could go on and on, for the Quran and Hadiths are full of examples of Allah’s unholiness. So when I see pictures of devout Muslims touching their foreheads to the ground in reverence to their unholy god, I feel sad. There are undoubtedly a great many nominal Muslims who are simply ignorant of the nature of Muhammad’s Allah, but devout Muslims should know better. The fact that they don’t means that they don’t appreciate or understand true holiness. If they understood, they would know that Allah of the Quran is not worthy of veneration, and is simply a creation of Muhammad's ego.
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AuthorRobert Keith's work focuses on the healing of mental illness, particularly where such illness has been fostered by fundamentalist religion. He and his wife have raised four children. As a family, they were always open about Robert’s own struggles and their individual spiritual journeys. Robert is now semi-retired but continues to offer spiritual counseling. Archives
April 2024
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