Memoirs of a Moslem

Published 1998 – in Arabic - :
Cairo – Egypt

ISBN 977.19-6507-7
BP 98/9770

Author : Salah El Din Mohssein Mohammed
-----

year 1954

I am a six years old child my mother (an uneducated country woman) told
me a story
about the history of “the Turtle origin”.
Her story based purely on religious beliefs and hasn’t have any scientific
facts!
I am still wondering about the sources of her story, is it a myth that she
invented from her imagination?´-or-a tale based on her religious
background?´-or-a story based on her sanctification to religious
symbols?´-or-is it a folklore that people kept repeating over the years till

3

it reached her, and here she is telling it to me?´-or-is it just
information s written in old religious books?
I wondered in this young age about this story, Is it proved as a fact?
Although it is similar to the story of "Yagoog and Magoog" (Two
creatures mentioned in the Koran, no one could put a logical
explanation for what are these creatures´-or-put a de-script-ion of their
looks)
When I grew up I realised that my mother story in fact was a fiction and
not
related to religion.
When I read about "Yagoog and Magoog” in the Koran in later years plus
reading most of the Molem clerics interpretation of this story I forgave
my mother for her version of the Turtle story.
In my mother story the Turtle was originally created as a woman and
God transfer her to a Turtle, I wondered why? What kinds of sins she
committed to deserve that?
My Mother continued, that "Fatma" the daughter of the prophet
Mohamed
needed a "quern" to grind some seeds so she went to this woman and
ask to borrow her "quern", the woman denied she had it and lied to
Fatma telling her she lend it to another woman, Fatma then called into
God to put this woman between the two stones of the quern, God
immediately changed this woman into turtle?!
I believed this story as I was young, but blamed Fatma for what
happened to this woman. Wasn t that cruelty, unjust and unfair to the
woman?
In my opinion the quern belong to that woman, it’s her property, she
has the right to lend it to any one,´-or-even not lend it at all, definitely
lying is not a good behaviour but for a woman to be punished such
punishment in my opinion was wrong, cruel and unfair.

When I grew up I realised that Fatma was innocent? I knew that the
turtle was created millions of years before her, science and excavations

4

proved that the turtle was one of the oldest creatures on planet earth,
even created long time before Adam.

In later date I found a relation between the history of the turtle s origin
(in my mother’s version of the story that connecting the Turtle origin to
Fatma 1400 years ago) and what speakers in mosques, Islamic
preachers and Moslem clerics keep repeating all these years, that the
prophet Muhammad is the one who drew humanity from darkness to
light?!
While humanity all over the planet earth knew many lights in
civilisations
thousands of years before the prophet Mohamed.

Many civilisations through history have developed legislations and laws
to help
establishing stable and advanced societies.

Many times I heard from these Moslem clerics that the prophet
Mohamed is
the most honourable and he is the master of all prophets, while I knew
in later stages of my life and from the Koran itself that there are other
prophets through history described as more honourable and purer than
the prophet Mohamed.
In the Koran words for example describing the prophet Mohamed that
he wasn’t as patient as Job, also he did not have more knowledge of
birds languages,´-or-using spirits to serve him as King Solomon, he did
not sacrifice himself for his principles as John the Baptist who was
beheaded, he has not done any miracles as Jesus
specially raising dead people, he is not as handsome as Joseph, he has
not been under scourge as Jonah.
Finally, I reached the conclusion that Fatma was innocent from cruelty
accusations and my mother too was innocent from telling me nonsense
and amusing stories.

5

The guilty party here were the Moslem clerics who stood behind all
these ridicules stories and incorrect exaggerations.

1955

My grandmother and her incantation treatment!!??
One day when I was seven I felt unwell, my grandmother touches my
forehead checking if I had a fever then said : You have been envied?!! She
reassured me that I will get better as soon as she will remove the spell off
me?!
She started to move her palm on my head mumbling with words and
names of people she thought they envied me, then she yawn and told me :
The spell have been removed, yawning is the sign??!!
My brothers and myself were amused with the act of my grandmother, not
convinced with what she is doing and not convinced that there is
something called envy, my grandmother was laughing at us because she
thought we were ignorant and do not understand because of our young
age.
Growing up , I realised that what my grandmother did have no proof to be
true´-or-useful in any way specially when I went to school and heard our
teachers telling us about the popular myths that were not based on
scientific evidence such as envy,
using blue stones on doors to prevent evil spirit entering the place, some
others used horseshoe for the same purpose, our teachers told us that all
these and many more
similar acts are myths and nothing more.

Today, after thirty seven years, we are at the start of 1993, seven years to
go for the beginning of the twenty first century, newspapers of many
European countries started to advertise of travel agents organising trips
for their citizens to planet Mars??!!

6

While walking with friends in one of biggest and most popular squares in
Cairo I saw
on the footpath a newspaper seller, he was selling some second hand
books beside the newspapers where I found a book addressed "Treatment
with Incantation" I did not believe what I was reading!! I realised how I
was unfair to my uneducated grandmother in what she was telling us
thirty seven years ago, we were laughing at her and at her words and
stories, I have never believed that one day a book will be published and
sold to people in one of the biggest squares in Cairo about something
called "Treatment with Incantation".
***********

Today is 4/12/1993

I attended a conference in the centre of “The political and economic
studies” in Cairo University, it was a chance to meet with few of the
public figures that I love and admire, and the conference was about
“The political culture between continuation and change”
Many studies were presented about the political culture and few other
studies were about the relation and the effect of religion on the political
culture in Egypt.
When one researcher presented a study about Christians in Egypt and the
effect of the inherited political culture on their suffering from various
degrees of discriminations and unjust, the unexpected happened?
We used to hear from ignorant and resist people plus the official channels
of media,
and the public opinion, condemnation and covering up on this subject,
they believed that undressing the wound will double and increase the
pain??!!
while ignoring thinking about it and forgetting it is better!!
Despite that the cause here is not the refusal of treatment but to treat the
wound in silence and quietness without stir but in fact what was
happening is not treating anything.

7

I did not expect to see this strange behaviour in a forum where all the
attendance were researchers, university professors, academic people and
scientists, these people were the elite of the society

**********

April 1994
An article published in "El-Ahram" newspaper written by Mr. Mohamed
Hasanein Heikal ( famous journalist ) caused the cancellation of “Cairo
conference for Minorities".
Many articles published condemning the conference even the newspaper
published by the greens in its first addition were asking for an urgent
investigation on this conference and who called for it.
This issue raised a big question on our behaviour,
Why all this Panic?

If our society is free from discriminating against minorities, why we
scared from
discussing any issues related to minorities?!
And if we are always talking about democracy, what democracy means to
us as a society?

************
May 1995

I travelled with a friend to the town in upper Egypt called "Mallawi" (
about 260 km .south Cairo .. was an important historical , has a
pharonic museum ) where I sighted a huge and very luxury building, an
architectural masterpiece, because I am a big fan of architecture, I asked
my friend if it s possible to have a look to the interior of this building?
I thought it will be embarrassing for us to do so being two Moslems while
the building is a Church!!
My friend told me that there is no problem of having a look being a friend
to most of the Christian residents around the church.
We entered, I really enjoyed the beauty of the building’s interior as I have
previously enjoyed the beauty of the building structure.

8

I have noticed some cracks on the walls which require quick restoration
to prevent
damaging this beautiful building.
When I asked my friend why they are not restoring these walls?
I heard the most bizarre and shocking answer??!!
To put a handful of cement in any of these cracks required a presidential
Permission and written authorisation from the president himself?!!!!

*********

When I was young my mother taught me that God created the prophet
Mohamed in perfection!!
In that age when I went to the movies I saw the actors and actresses were
on a very high standard of beauty and elegance which made me wonder
was the prophet Mohammed handsome as Ahmed Ramzy (Egyptian
actor)??

or Omar Sherif (Egyptian actor)? I wondered also if Mohammed was as
beautiful as
Zubiada Tharwat (Egyptian actress) who had a gorgeous wide green eyes?
I wanted to ask my mother these questions but fearing her anger stopped
me from doing that as at anytime the prophet Mohammed mentioned in
any conversation she kept saying that no man has been created as
beautiful and perfect in everything as him!!
When I asked my mother if there is any drawn pictures for him to
compare it with my favourite actors and actresses, she answered in
stringency and anger:
It is forbidden to have such pictures!
In the first year of primary school I saw with one of my new friends in the
class in his school bag a small picture, when I asked him about it he
answered:
It is the picture of Jesus Christ.
My mother once told me that Jesus in the Koran is one of the prophets
and he talked to people when he was just a baby!

9

I asked my friend in the class why he wasn t afraid of being punished for
carrying such a picture for a prophet while it is forbidden for us as my
mother told me?
He answered surprisingly:
No, it is not forbidden for us and my mother and father have similar
pictures in their wallets.
Then I asked him if their priest knows about this? The answer was: yes,
he does.
I was scared to know that someone carries the picture of a prophet, I
thought that earth will shake in anger and the sun will distinguish in
protest on people carrying the picture of the prophet Jesus Christ, Thank
God I felt the earth still existing and the sun still shining .

************
Year 1958

In the third year of primary school our religious studies teacher told us
that the prophet Mohammed during his life was acting as normal person,
he used to walk among people, talk to them eat with them and marry
women, I wondered ? If people used to see him around on daily bases why
no one with a bit of artistic talent draw a picture of him?´-or-carving a
normal size statue for him?
At that time the artist also could have added a wider smile and a touch of
beauty´-or-at least show him as he was?

I felt very sad that we don t have any pictures to see our prophet as there
was one for Jesus Christ as there were many other pictures for great
people through history.
I wished that I have the talent of drawing so I could draw a picture for the
prophet
Mohammed to show his beauty and elegance plus keeping this picture in
my school bag as my Christian friend Shehata Rizk.
I could not dare to mention my wish either to my mother´-or-my religion
teacher because I knew the answer previously, as I also heard the same
answer from many

10

Moslem clerics through my early years while attending the prayers in my
village mosque.

When I grew up I had the chance to see, meet and attend conferences held
by famous and well known Moslem clerics, I also had the chance to read
more Islamic books and
articles where I discovered that most of the stories I heard from my
uneducated mother where approved by all Moslem clerics over the years.

----- the last pages , from no 1 : 10

---

The following pages are from No 100 : 110

The passenger responded saying: yes but Herbal Treatment was known to
Ancient Egyptians and pharaohs – and the other ancient civilizations -
thousands of years ago and way before any of the prophets!
The conductor commented: One of the clerics once said that even the
animals that mentioned in the Koran have higher status and only these
will be in paradise,
because there is a purpose for mentioning anything in the Koran.

The passenger then said: Yes, sure, but can you tell me something?
For example the donkey was mentioned in the Koran, will the donkey be
with us in paradise to annoy us with his braying?
The pig too was mentioned in the Koran, also bees and ants, will these
insects be in paradise to hurt us with its stings??
He then told the conductor: You are an innocent man who believes
everything.
Everyone on the bus laughed to the comment.
**************
Divinity of Muhammad

One of the clerics was working as a microbus driver, so he was using any
travelling time to preach the passenger, every time he was mentioning
God the people supposed to praise God, but sometimes people ignore that,

11

but anytime the name of the prophet mentioned everyone on the bus
praise the name of the prophet!
The bus driver said wonderingly it looks like Moslems divine revered and
dignified the prophet Mohammed more than God himself.

************

My neighbor Mr. Refaat . works as an engineer, he was elected the
president of our building -union-, he also was the preacher of the local
Mosque, I suggested to him to collect some money from all the residents
of the building and put it aside to be used for the maintenance of the
building, which wasn’t happening because there was no budget for it.
He thought that I wanted to take his position as the president of the
building -union-, I have never thought of doing that because I don’t have
either the time´-or-effort.
He tried to create a problem between me and my other neighbors and
when the relation between us worsened we knew that he was the guilty
party, even more he worsened the relation between us both and a forth
neighbor.

All these happened because of this particular neighbor who is still
preaching people in the mosque in every prayer and keep telling them to
fear God by obedience, honesty, truthfulness and right.

******************

Prayers and .....Committing sins

Sunday 13/6/1995 at 9am and on the third floor in the multi floor

superstore

“Omar Afandy” – town Elmenia , upper Egypt -, myself and few other
customer were waiting to buy what we want but can’t?? Because all the
floor employee stood in one line to pray!!
That was in working hours and in the working place!!
This was never to be seen before in Egypt, even in the early nineties
where there was no disturbed personalities, less conscience, bribes, theft
or armed robberies, we never saw´-or-hear of such incidents.

12

The raping cases that we see more often today we never heard of them
these days.
Here we have to raise a question:
Is there any relation between bad ethics, increasing of committed crimes
in a society and between Praying in the working time and place?
Can Praying be the mask that people uses to hide their deviation, can it
be the cover for criminals to hide behind it?
*************
23 / 2 / 1995

In a shop owned by “ Zakaria Gad “ in the town of Kusya, a customer
asked for
Yellow Oxide paint to do some paint work in a mosque, he asked for a
special price because the paint as he said is for a house of God? Another
customer standing by said that the number of built mosques is rising
dramatically in the last few years while there is a lack of honesty and
conscience is rising too among people, Why?
It looks like building mosques plus more time spent in praying, more time
used
in working places for praying which is disrupting work and people
businesses, all these activities are just a cover up to disguise bad
manners, bad deeds, bad ethics, bad consciences and dishonesty which
has increased among people these days?

The first customer didn’t comment, picked up his paint and left, here the
shop owner Zakaria shake his head saying: this man took many items for
the mosque renovation, I gave him the most possible discount, I lost a lot
of money in profit, and while I was in a dinner once a friend of mine
admonished me for selling items and materials needed for the mosque
renovation in a very high price ! When I told him the truth he was
surprised and he felt ashamed from his Colleague’s behaviour .

************
13 / 7 / 1995

The suburb of Cairo “Bab El-Sharya “,

13

The street “Bab el-Bahr”
The day was Thursday
I went to buy a door bell from El-Haj Yaseen’s shop, he show me one with
the word
God written on it, one of the salesmen in the shop advised me to buy one
with nothing written on it because if I fit the first one and someone is not
clean touches it he will be committing a sin??!! And I will be a sinner too
for allowing this to happen!!
I asked this salesman why me? He then responded saying that the name
of God is pure and clean and whoever touches it´-or-touches the Koran
Must be clean too!
I asked him: what will harm the name of God´-or-the Koran if it was
touched by clean´-or-unclean person? And who said such nonsense?

I asked again: why I carry out the burden of any other person? Everyone
should be responsible about his commitments.
Suppose I had a Koran in my house and you came for a visit and picked
up the Koran, must I make you swear that you are clean´-or-not? This is
purely your responsibility.
You make God looks like the creator who is fishing for mistakes and sins
for everyone believed in Him!
I couldn’t convince this man of my view, for there is a type of people who
believed
everything told to them without working their minds to understand it,
here it is impossible to convince them otherwise.

My belief is that the pureness in God’s name´-or-God’s words must transfer
to anyone touches any of them and God’s pureness override the sins of
anyone and purify anyone.

*************
2 / 7 / 1995

Someone told another how he was baffled when he received a contract to
work in an overseas company while he is working in a respectable and well

14

known company in Cairo and earning a very good wage, at the end he
decided to pray a special prayer in Islam called “Salat al-Istikharah “ to
ask guidance from God.
(Islamic praying . Hope because God inspires the person in a dream.
Solution for a Boggled problem )
The other guy said: is it God’s job to be your advisor? And whenever you
fell in trouble you run to him asking for help to solve your problems?
Where is your brain?
you resembled to a person who was given a calculator to facilitate his job
nevertheless
he keeps asking his colleagues about to final results for simple addition,
division´-or-multiplications.

Did God gave us brains to use??´-or-to put these brains aside and ask him
guidance on every simple matter in our day to day life?
The first person responded: we are following the footsteps of the prophet
Mohammed who was praying the same prayer and for the same reason!!.
As soon as the first man heard the prophet’s name he stopped arguing,
the whole conversation stopped and he couldn’t say more about his
personal view?
He was scared if kept arguing that people will raise the sword of atheism
on his neck.
I am scared too from saying my personal opinion, because people then
can threaten to separate me from my wife because she is a Moslem and I
will be an atheist??
The man will ask: will we ignore the “Sunna” (what the prophet did) or
ignore our brains, his opinion like most of Moslems too is to stop thinking
and stop using our brains but even to cease every sense in life when it
comes to the “Sunna”!!

*************
5 / 7 / 1995

A pedestrian was hit by a car, he was lying bleeding on the side of the
road, when we tried to call an ambulance to rescue this man’s life a very

15

load and ugly voice came out from a load speaker – of a mosque - calling
people for praying in the mosque, it’s praying time, this very load and
ugly voice prevented either the caller´-or-the listener to hear each other on
the telephone, they both stopped talking till that ugly voice ends, all this
while the poor man was lying bleeding
If anyone object he will be accused with a lack of faith.
We tried screaming in the telephone for the ambulance calling center to
hear us and send an ambulance to save this poor man’s life, but all our
efforts went down the drain, is it plausible that God instructed people to
behave this way?

**************
July 1995

The main subject in all newspapers, radio and television these days was
“Bosnia and Herzegovina” everyone is writing about the misery of the
Bosnian people
Not because any humanitarian reason´-or-because their suffering but only
because they were Moslems!!
All articles in all the news were describing them as the Bosnian Moslems,
and if they were from any other religion I am sure they will be totally
ignored, the motivation for all writers was only religion and without it no
one will move, we don’t have any humanitarian feelings towards any one,
nothing attach us to anyone on earth except religion.
There are other people live a much more terrible tragedy of the tragedy of
the people of Bosnia and they are in the worse situation of misery, they
are the people of “Rwanda”, the ferocity of the civil war reached a critical
situation, there are tens of thousands slaughtered in massacres and their
bodies thrown in the river and we ignore them completely!! No one here
care, no donations and no aid?
And when the people here started asking questions about what happened
in this country it was all about how this situation will pollute the Nile
River!!??

16

I don’t know of a religion denies it’s follower from being humans and
prevent them from caring about other human being?
I don’t know of a religion only preaching it’s follower to treat another
human beings only on a religious grounds?
Such a religion is not a true religion and its followers are not humans!
Did anyone heard one word came out from one of the famous religious
leaders´-or-famous writers in our country about the Rwandan people?
Not one word, all talking was only about the people who share the same
belief with us, the people who we will share with them the paradise.
For over than forty years President Tito ruled Yugoslavia, during his reign
no one heard a word about Bosnia´-or-a word about the Bosnian Moslems.
Whoever wrote about the Bosnian Moslems today exaggerates in using
words and pushing to ignite a wide world war, on one end of it there are
the Moslems of the world and on the other end is the rest of the world’s
population!! Only because of Bosnia!!

Those writers thought that we are still in the time of the prophet
Mohammed´-or-the time of “the Righteous Caliphs” after him, and soldiers
will be riding horses and fight by swords?! And only by shouting “God is
great” they will conquer their enemies.
What surprised me the number of many neutral and famous writers turn
towards fanaticism with strong words and raised the idea of collecting
donations to aid the Bosnian people to buy weapons, the question here
was who is the seller of these weapons ?? if all the weapons production
was only in the western countries?
This was truly a ridiculous and pathetic situation.
*****************
8 / 4 / 1994

An article was published in El-Ahram newspaper, that the Mayor of Cairo

approved the establishment of a wing in the International Garden in El-
Nasr City

to commemorate the one hundred martyrs of El-Ibrahimi Mosque in
Palestine, those martyrs were killed by Jews while praying in the mosque.

17

I asked myself a question:

Why don’t we add to the hundred Moslems the six Monks who killed in El-
Meharak Monastery in Egypt near the town of Asyut few days ago during

an attack from few fanatic moslems on the unarmed , peaceful monks??
This was a clear indication that even on the government official level
there is fanaticism to Islam and Muslims, and we do not honor any other
martyrs who killed in a same circumstances but do not share the same
faith with us?

*************

21 / 5 / 1995

It was 5.00 am when I turned the radio indicator around trying to find a
station in this early morning hours that broadcasting any optimistic,
encouraging cheerful song to start the day with (there are hundreds of
them produced in Egypt over the years),
I tried in vain but failed, all radio station broadcasting religious songs
praising God´-or-the prophet Mohammed, describing God him with words of
admiration, some other songs are for the prophet describing his character
and that he is the best of God’s creation and he is the top of all humans
but even all God’s creation!
I think if any prophet heard the people describing him in this way he will
be bored and will feel sick of such exaggerating, adulation, praise and over
board wording!

**************
Sunday
27 / 8 / 1995

Elminya City (Upper Egypt )
A restaurant near the train station
The time is 8.50 pm

18

When I stepped into the restaurant to have a light supper I saw all the
staff lined up to pray in a scene that I have never seen before in a public
place all my life of forty seven years?
This act only happened in a country during the years of worsening of

conscience and increasing of crime levels plus the increase and over-
pretending of being religious .!!

************
Tuesday
29 / 8 / 1995

“ Naga-Hammady“ Town (In upper Egypt)
The Nile Hotel
The time is 5am
I woke up on a very loud voice coming from three loud speakers
announcing the dawn prayer time and calling people to get up for
praying?!
Amazingly, the call for prayer was conflicting between the three speakers,
inconsistent and mixing with each other in a barbaric way that could
never be approved by any earthly´-or-heavenly religion´-or-even any
civilized taste.

**************
Wednesday
30 / 8 / 1995

In a bus leaving the City of Kena (In Upper Egypt ) at 7.25pm heading
towards
the “ El-Koseer “ city – Egyptian city on the Red Sea coast -, most of the
passengers were women and children, the majority of them were wearing
black clothes, I thought they were going to a funeral as it was the custom
in Egypt, but I found that they were heading to a wedding?! I was
shocked!!
There was a huge difference between these dresses and women fashion in
Egypt in the past. Women dresses used to be very colorful and of the

19

latest designs, that makes me wonder and asked myself who changed the
Egyptian woman? What is the relationship between the backwardness of
Egypt now and black women s clothing?, between Egypt s progress in
previous eras and the modern , colorful women s clothing?
Each one of the women on the bus were about to trip and fell down while
climbing the bus stairs because this type of clothing has to be pulled up
and hand held while walking´-or-climbing stairs which became a burden
and inconvenience to the women wearing it.
**************
110

The following pages .from No 175 : 185

Donate for the renovation of a nightclub in “ el-haram “ Street that
was destroyed also by terrorists !!
A lady replied in anger: Foreign Tourists don’t visit our country for fun
only and to be assassinated by fanatic Islamic terrorists, they come to
visit our Antiquities and our Nile, they come to learn about our
Archeology and our Ancient Civilization, while the tourists from Arabic
countries visit Egypt only to have fun in night clubs, drink and seek
women, why those are not touched ?!

*********
20 / 4 / 1998

Someone break in the side window of my car and stole the radio
cassette, I went to the police station - city " 6th October " from the
outskirts of Greater Cairo - , to report the theft, I was left waiting on
the counter because the officials on duty went to pray!!??
I stood there with many others waiting for more than an hour, it was
totally a waste of time for many people.

20

While I was waiting I heard many talks around about the increasing
number of theft and breaking in, around all the city suburbs without
any deterrent treatment.
After coming from the prayers the official ask me to bring the car to
the police station for a preview!?
I went back home, drove the car to the police station, when I arrived
there the officials were not there again?? They went all for afternoon
prayer!!
All this praying while theft is increasing without a treatment for the
problem,´-or-even putting in place policies for the prevention of such
incidents!!

**********
2 / 5 / 1998

I found by accident a document carries a religious commandment, it’s
an authorization from a person to Allah to retaliate on his behalf
against anyone.
It details the steps that must be followed and the prayers that must be
said as follows:
1 – After the afternoon prayer, the person have to “Prays two rak ahs”
asking Allah for help. (Islamic prayer: bowing and prostration and
advancement - this name rak ah - all the prayers have a number of “ rak ah”

2 – To repeat Soura El-Fatihah (The Opener) from the Quran three times
El-Fatihah "a part of Quran )(

3 – To repeat Ayat Al-Kursy Seven times plus the finale of Sourat Al-
Baqara

Seven times.
(Ayat Al- Kursi, is A chapter from a part of Quran )

4 – Sura Za,lzala seven times.
(Sura Zalzala "A part in Quake")

21

5 – To repeat seven times “If He decides he can put you away and come up
instead
With new creation .

6 – To repeat three times “And God returned those who disbelieved with
their
anger, they did not obtain goodness ,and God prevented the believers
from the
Killing, and God was powerful, strong, glorious, and mighty).

7 – To say seven times “Allah is full of power and mighty”

The result of the above act (as mentioned in the commandment):
God will order seventy thousands of Angel’s troops to slaughter who has
wronged you!!
I personally wondered why seventy thousands angels??
One angel is enough!!
The number of seventy thousands was a funny tale that reveals the whole
topic from beginning to end, it shows the purpose of it, it invites people to
face their problems through deception and sorcery, not by reason and
wisdom!!

*********

Penance and ......the monster of infidelity

Shouting “beware of the monster” at night time was the game that we all
played in our childhood to scare each other, it was also the way that how
our parents use to scare us as kids to force us to obey their orders, it was
also a warning for us that we will be punished if we did anything wrong!!
These words use to frighten us and scare us to death!! Although we have
never saw that monster?? Plus we know nothing about him? How he look
like?? We didn’t think at that time of what will happened to one of us if he
met that monster face to face??

22

The way of Shouting carries a terrifying and terrible intimidation and
looks like a warning carries in it what was enough to scare us without
knowing anything of
That imaginable monster that we were scared from!!
When we grew up the warning took a different way and comes from
various and different sources.
While our parents and older relatives used to frighten us when we were
kids, the Islamic scholars and religious leaders took their places now
in our grown up stage of life, and even in some cases these warnings
comes from swindlers and sorcerers ..
The warning stay the same with only changing the monsters name to
be “Blasphemy”!! - This word means in Islam. It may kill you .. - .
If you watched TV´-or-went to a movie´-or-listened to the radio you can
easily hear someone yelling at you saying “your act is Blasphemy ”
If you start reading in science and ask questions to understand you
could be also accused of doing an act of Blasphemy ..
If you allowed your daughter´-or-your wife to wear modern dresses in
line with fashion, you and your wife´-or-daughter will be accused by
Blasphemy
If you asked any question about God, judgement day, life after death,
the human soul´-or-heaven and hell you will definitely be called and
infidel !
If you invested your savings in a bank to avoid any risks of losing your
money , they will call you an infidel .. - This word means in Islam. It
may kill you .. - . !
If you suggested to someone who has a case of kidney failure that he
could be saved from going through the painful procedure of the
“Dialysis”´-or-his life will be rescued from death by having a kidney
transplant you will also be called an infidel !?
As if we have to live our life young and old scared and frightened from
a ghost that we can’t see?
When we were young we have never asked our parents about that
Monster??

23

Did they saw it?? May be because we were young, but today we are all
adults and most of us highly educated, we went through so many
experiences in our lives and gained a lot of knowledge over the years.
In this stage of our lives I believe it is very embarrassing that we get
scared to death if someone accused us of Blasphemy!!
Why we do not dare to ask this person what does this word mean??
Why did he said it?? How did he knew??
One day a friend tried to discuss with one of these fanatic sheikhs or
extremists the meaning of the word: “Infidel”?? The sheikh was
surprised and confused to hear a question that no one dare to ask
previously!!
When my friend insisted to hear an answer from him, he turned to him
in anger, with a red face and loud voice saying: don’t you know the
meaning of “Infidel”?
My friend quietly replied: I am the one who is asking, are you angry
from the question?
The sheikh answered: I am not angry but can’t believe that you don’t
know??
My friend insisted on getting an answer and remind the sheikh that he
keep repeating this word always so he must know what it means.
The sheikh said: Infidel means don’t believe in Allah.
My friend comment was: what is the problem if someone did not
believe in Allah?? Do you think that my belief will strengthen Allah’s
situation?? And if I don’t believe will shake the divine throne and force
it to fall??
The sheikh: not at all, the world means nothing in the eyes of Allah.
My friend relied: then, where is the problem? Whoever wants to believe
it’s his personal issue and whoever don’t want to, is free!!
Say I am an infidel, did I ask you one day for example to help me
financially?
Did I hurt you by any means at any time?
Did I insulted you once?
On judgment day will you be the person to be judged by infidelity
instead of me?

24

My friend continued explaining to prove his point:
Say I am a believer and you caught me one day stealing from you, will
you forgive me for being a believer and let me have what I robbed from
you?
Say I punched you in the face one day, will you forgive me because I
am a believer?
Say I insulted you, and hurt your feelings, will you ignore it because I
am a believer?
Settling his point, my friend said: believing in Allah is a personal
matter, it only regard the person himself and no one else have the
right to interfere, people have the right to choose and make up their
minds freely.

The sheikh replied: I am a believer and I want all people to believe, I
call everyone to believe to get god’s blessings, plus its Allah’s right on
us all humans to believe in Him.
My friend started another argument by asking: If all people believe in
god that will abolish infidelity from this world, and infidels will not
exist anymore, that means god will put down the fire in hell and cancel
punishment??
The sheikh denied saying: It can’t be,god created both heaven and hell
to stay.
My friend kept trying to prove his point saying: how can god keep a
place with no need for it??
The sheikh replied: Hell must stay to scare people and prevent them
from doing any evil and to fear the agony of its fire, and heaven must
be the motivation and the inspiration to all people to do good.
Still trying to prove his point in the controversy between him and
Sheikh my friend said:
First, do you mean that infidel’s do only evil while everything the
believers do is good? Which is not true
Second, the theory of (Encouraging and Inspiration) could be applied for
kids only but not for adults!

25

In civilized countries people teach their kids Philanthropy and to love
it because it’s good and it’s beautiful, and to hate evil because evil is
bad and ugly.
But adults do good in their lives to please God because they only love
Him, not because they fear hell.
The sheikh shake his head as a sign of approval while I believe as well
as my friend that he was not convinced!
It’s difficult to clear his mind from false and unreal dogmas that he
kept hearing and learning for most of his life!
It was almost impossible for him to acknowledge that he was convinced
and he was wrong, also it did not look like he has any desire to stop
using the intimidation theory by using the “infidelity” monster to
terrorize and bulling people.
Salah El-Din Mohsen
Published in the Magazine of
Literature and Criticism
Volume number 109 - 1994

October “ – a part , in grand city of Cairo - : “ City of 6th
On 6 / 8 / 1996
At 3am
I woke up on a loud voice of a Quran recitation somewhere!
My amazement ended when my friend Ayman told me of the phenomenon
spread in most areas of El-Omraneya (one of the outskirts of El-Haram
suburb in the city of El-Giza).
The phenomenon was that the shopkeepers and owners of most shops
close their shops at night time leaving inside the shops a tape recorder
turned on with a tapes of Quran played all night?! They believe that the
recitation of Quran all night will protect the shops from being robbed and
also for blessings !!
It looks like the phenomenon transferred a very long way from “
Omraneya “ to the city where I live!!
***********

26

The small mosque near my resident always close its doors after every
prayer, a person from the neighbourhood asked: why they close the
mosque while in the fifties of the past century doors were always left
open- night and day- for anyone wants to have some rest´-or-to use the
toilets??
Someone answered: if they do so now most of mosques equipments and
contents will be stolen!!
Another one asked: Why god doesn’t protect the place where people
worshiping Him, as he protected the “ Qabaa “ as written in the
Quran??
Third person said: that was before Islam!! Since that incident which was
mentioned in the Quran we never heard of a similar incident, we don’t
know why Allah stopped protecting His houses since the introduction of
Islam while He protected the “ Qaaba “ before it??

***************
7 / 3 / 1998

In Al-Ahram newspaper today there was a full page written by Mr. “ Ezzat
El-Sadany “ the writer and journalist, publishing the result of his
research trying to find a meaning to what was written in the Quran under
the nick names “The one with two horns” and
“ Yaa-Goog and Maagoog” .. He failed to find any logic explanation to any
of them despite engaging experts, commentators, researchers, scholars
and analysts.
He started the page saying: Many researchers, experts, scholars and
analysts who studied in depth most of Quran sciences and the Sunnah,
they searched of what could be “The one with two horns” who was
mentioned in the Quran in the Sourat “El-Kaff”?
Until he reached the sentence saying: As we have been puzzled trying to
find the truth of “The one with two horns” the experts couldn’t reach a
clear explanation´-or-specification of it´-or-him??
When we gathered as group of friends to discuss this article,

27

Sayyed asked: Is the Quran a pronounced and a revealed book??
Mahmoud replied: Certainly!
Sayyed: How it’s a pronounced as a revealed book if “The one with two
horns”
is a puzzle that no one can solve??
A Third friend Momen irritated by these words and said to Sayyed: don’t
talk nonsense about the Quran!
Sayyed answered: Is it me who talk nonsense??´-or-the book that
documented names and words about something unexplainable? What
about all the experts who could not understand?? And the scholars who
did not know what it means?? Even the researchers who could not find
any trace of it??
After all that, how can this book be described as a pronounced´-or-a
revealed book??
“ Nabawy “ said to both: It is as it says, a pronounced and a revealed
book!! “
“ Sayyed “ : I want to know !!

All puzzles have answers, but a book that documented things and names
from 1400 years that did not make sense to any one and could not be
explained will never be a revealed book!!
Saber (another friend) said calmly: Don’t put yourself in jeopardy, you
have kids to look after!! Just acknowledge and agree that the Quran is a
pronounced and revealed book!!
Sayyed asked: what do you mean by putting myself in jeopardy??
Saber replied: don’t you remember the famous writer and scholar Dr.
Farag Fouda who did not say half what you said now and he was
assassinated in cold blood by machine guns in broad daylight??
Osama (another friend) said: Don’t forget Dr. Nasr Hamed Abu-Zeid the
writer and academic professor, he also did not say half what you have said
now and they sued him in court and forced him to be separated from his
wife - while he was a professor in Cairo university- by Islamic Sharia, at
the end they forced him and his wife both to escape abroad!!

28

Osama continued: Did you forget Mr “ Naguib Mahfouze “ the very
famous writer and the Nobel Prize winner in literature, who was stabbed
with a knife in the neck which could cause his death, just because he
wrote a novel.
That’s why we have all to agree that the Quran is a pronounced and
revealed book, and that’s it !!
“ Sayyed “ ( in disapproval and Rage) : if I will be sitting in a service´-or-a
funeral and the sheikh in his Quran recitation mention the unknown “The
one with two horns”
I don’t know if I will be able to control myself without commenting ??
Osama said: No my friend, you have to do as the rest of the attendance,
shut up and and sit quite!!
In another words you have to bow your head in humbleness and politeness
and say in a very calm and low voice “God said the truth” keep in mind
it’s not your business if the book is pronounced , revealed´-or-not !! .

***********

conclusion
..My dear reader
Dear reader
That was my diary . There have also been reported
. honestly , and dates are true – 1954 : 1998
Egyptian born in the house of a Muslim speaks Arabic .
Young do not know anything and was lucky more than
anybody else . Because I had the opportunity . The
conditions were ripe . Because I read , wrote drink of
culture and knowledge Free Secretary - the books other
than school and university - and knew how Arabs
entered Egypt - my origin country , and how turned to
Islam 1400 years ago ?! And how the Egyptians turned

29

their language into Arabic , After the entity was a huge
civilized historic , changed , became a something Arab
?! All that I knew the truth of what happened . Which
did not allow for many others of my generation and the
. generations to came after
All there is to it I have not closed the doors and
windows mentally , but left it open to the air of
freedom and science , reason and common sense
Egypt is a country of the pyramids , Ramses II . And

Tutankhamun . Last constitution her . In the twenty-
first century - lay for months in 2013 - provides for it s

just a part of something called : Arab nation , the
official name of egypt , means it follow Arab ... and
It is an Islamic state . the laws do not derive from
international human rights charters . but of Islamic
law. brought by the Arabs . In the middle of the seventh
... century

I think this is a subject doesn t belong to a particular
country , nor for the people in particular. , but for the
entire human history . It means the whole of human
civilization . Shall not be tampered with´-or-falsified . Is
not entitled to state referendum , even if , to sign the
.. Charter of the UN , and disagrees
!
30
Dear reader .. You might see me right as I say
-------
The author
Salah El Dein Mohssein
Montreal – Canada
E.mail : [email protected]
[email protected]
-------------------------------------- END ----------------------------------------

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