Samir Sadek, Mufid Bitar 

 The extinction of religions is a phenomenon that history has recorded several times, such as the extinction of the Pharaonic religion and the religions of Mesopotamia, then pagan religions and others outside this region. The extinction of some religions was followed by the birth of other new religions that were partially similar to what preceded them and partially different from what preceded them. Thus, Judaism took monotheism from the Pharaonic religion of Akhenaten, then diverged from the Pharaonic religion. From identity, Mohammedanism took many stories and concepts such as an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Christianity took some principles from Judaism, then added others to them, and abolished others and acknowledged that, i.e., acknowledged that it was an extension of Judaism and abolished it at the same time. There are religions that represented revolution, i.e., a strong and sharp criticism of the old, and “traditional” religions that took many concepts and principles from the old.

      The situation of Muhammadanism in this civil age in general has become critical, as it clashed with the last religion of God in many points, including human rights, which were expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which represented an earthly religion with no gods or messengers and without sanctification, that is, in a way that is contrary to the face of Muhammadanism or even contradicts Muhammadanism in many important points such as the point of obedience to the ruler, and the points related to women and their rights, then the position of this religion that excommunicates everyone and is committed to practicing violence against them, for example by saying I have come to you with slaughter or fight the infidels, meaning others wherever you find them, in addition to a package of concepts that the civilization of the current world cannot bear or coexist with peacefully. Muhammadanism had previously controlled many paradoxes by the sword, such as the legitimacy of captivity and right-hand possession, then the concept of conquest, which was criminalized and officially abolished by the League of Nations after the First World War. The clash of Muhammadanism with the rest of the world was not limited to the issue of the concept of conquest, but rather included many other points such as the ruling on apostasy. The ruling on mixed marriage and the ruling on abolishing freedom of religious affiliation, as any person can declare his affiliation to this religion by reciting the Shahada regardless of the clear or hidden circumstances and objectives. The ease of entering the religion is met with difficulty in leaving it, because leaving it is linked to the application of sanctions that are not accepted by global civil society, nor by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nor by other societies that currently dominate the global situation in an absolute manner.

     In general, the extinction of a religion or belief is not due to an external conspiracy, but rather to a contradiction with the conditions of life in a certain circumstance or era, as happened in modern times with communism and the regimes revolving around it, which went bankrupt, then collapsed and disappeared. Like similar mechanisms for the extinction of a “religion,” religion goes bankrupt when it is unable to serve man in his life and when religion tries to recruit man in its service, that is, when the purpose of the religion’s existence is reversed. A religion that brings calamities is rejected even by its followers in the medium and long term. Demonstrations of glorifying religion, then emphasizing its steadfastness and declaring readiness to sacrifice for it, are nothing but hypocrisy and self-deception. When people were truly hungry, they did not head to Afghanistan or Iran, but rather to the lands of unbelief. If the doors of the lands of unbelief were opened wide to refugees and immigrants, not a single person would remain in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, or other such shattered countries. The clerics would have been the first to arrive in Europe, and they would have been the first to reject the offer. The Afghan sought asylum in Afghanistan, and even Sistani refused to seek asylum with Khomeini, or vice versa!

    The believers resorted to forgery, considering the calamities that befell them to be the product of the Zionist-Western conspiracy. These peoples are known for their apparent love of conspiracy, but in reality there is no love at all, but rather an attempt to evade the consequences of their actions and behavior, the sources of which can be considered religious, because religion fills people’s lives. Religion does not need enemies from outside, because it is saturated with enemies from within. The Brotherhood was the first to drive nails into the coffin of religion, the first to dig a grave for it, the first to destroy it, and the first to commit suicide with it. The enemies of religion were, for example, the ministers of justice from all the Arab countries, who passed a law that punishes anyone who abandons religion, i.e., apostatizes, with death. Imagine the caravans of executions in the capitals of the Arab countries!!!!! If these ministers or the governments they represent had dared to implement the provisions of the resolution they took…they would have found Article 7 of the United Nations Charter lying in wait for them. They are aware of that, so they have contented themselves with noise and chatter, knowing that the international community does not care about their chatter, but rather about their actions.

    The fate of religion has nothing to do with the desires of believers and clerics, but rather with their actions and their reliance on their superstitions and what they were told that the true religion is the religion of God in Surah Al Imran, then they were reassured through Surah Al Ma’idah which says: “This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you,” etc. We do not see those blessings nor do we see the perfection of anything in life. Even the existence of God has become extinct. The number of atheists in the world has exceeded the number of believers. Despite the blessings that were bestowed upon those peoples, we see nothing but their hunger and backwardness. What was said about the blessings was nothing but a myth aimed at saving the clerics from extinction, after they turned into a clownish group that contributed to a large extent in eliminating religion, which they turned into a tearful farce!