It is very common for a devout Muslim who believes with certainty in the Islamic belief system and who adheres completely to the Islamic law without compromising with secular society, to be told ‘You have been brainwashed’. A Muslim of course, is one who ‘submits’, he follows the way of life known as ‘Islam’ which means ‘submission [to the will of Allah]’. Therefore, by definition, a Muslim is not one who can live in a state of compromise. Rather compromise with forces and systems that are contradicting the basis and aim of Islam is heavily condemned in the Quran. For instance, Allah (swt) says, “Therefore obey not the rejectors, who desire that you would compromise that they may compromise…” (al Qalam 68:8-9) Indeed, Allah (swt) made clear in the Quran that the only way of life acceptable is a life of full submission and not of compromise, Allah (swt) says “Verily, the only way of life with Allah is submission” (aali I’mraan 3:19) and “Whoever desires a way of life other than submission, never will it be accepted of him and in the hereafter he will be of the losers” (aali I’mraan 3:85) and “O you who believe! Enter into submission completely and follow not the footsteps of Shaytaan [Satan] for he is a clear enemy.” (al Baqarah 2:208)
So it is clear that the term ‘brainwashed’ applied to one who is a fundamentalist Muslim, is based upon ignorance of the nature of Islam. A person who claims to believe in Islam but then compromises throughout his life is actually showing that they either have doubts about the basis of Islam, or are totally ignorant of its laws and system or have other misconceptions and errors that make their behaviour unacceptable to Allah. The type of people who declare people to be ‘brainwashed’ are usually irreligious people who live a life based upon atheistic and secular principles that are mass manufactured and conveyed through shallow media outlets whose effects upon their consumers are much more suited to the term of ‘brainwashing’. We now list some further reasons why this is an erroneous judgement upon the Islamic fundamentalist:-
1) ‘Brainwashed’ is a term applied to one who is forced or not given choice. However, Islamic revival in society and in an individual is not based upon force, but is based upon thought and choice. This is because, in reality a belief will only lead to strong actions when the belief is genuine and not imposed. Thus a hypocrite will run away from the battlefield or even more likely, he will make excuses so that he comes nowhere near the battlefield. The Quran made clear the fact that true and effective following of religion is based upon an informed choice and not upon being forced, Allah (swt) says “There is no compulsion in the deen [i.e. in adopting religion]. The right path has become clear from the wrong path…” (al Baqarah 2:256)
2) Brainwashing’ is applied to someone whose past has been wiped away and now he only understands the recent ‘input’ into his brain. As for the convert to Islam or the one who has adopted fundamentalist [i.e. real and genuine] Islam, they very clearly remember their past, but they are now aware of the reality of their past rather than the common illusions and deceptions. They hate their past and hate its motivations. It should be noted that Islam today is not in power anywhere in the world, and those who have adopted fundamentalism can at any point go back to a life which they had, but they do not do so due to choice.
3) Further proof that the fundamentalist Muslim is not ‘brainwashed’, is the fact that he takes from his past those matters which are acceptable to Islam and he uses them for the sake of Islam and for the common good. This is also supported by the following hadeeth [saying of the prophet Muhammad (saw) Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (saw) said “Men are like mines of gold and silver. The best of you in the days of ignorance are the best of you in Islam when they have understanding” (collected by MUSLIM)
4) ‘Brainwashing’ is a term applied to those who act without rationality. But the foundations of the Islamic belief are based upon sound rational thought. The proofs for the existence of a Creator, the proofs of His Oneness and the rationality of the need for Messengers [prophets] and the proofs for the authenticity of the Quran are all rationally proven. The Quran elaborates upon the rational proofs for those foundations of belief and makes rational belief a condition for their validity. The one who does not use his intellect is heavily condemned in the Quran and Allah (swt) says that not using the intellect leads to Hell. Allah (swt) says “Verily, the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb, those who don’t use their intellects.” (al Anfaal 8:22) and “And they will say ‘Had we but listened or used our intellects, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire’” (al Mulk 67:10)
5) The brainwashed is he who follows the majority without the majority position being based upon rationality, proof and benefit. The fundamentalist Muslims find themselves in the minority as they choose principles of intelligence, coherent thought and sound knowledge when deciding the path to follow. This is opposed to those who consider that democracy is the best solution to reach a solution for any matter, i.e. that decisions are made upon where the majority of people desire. This is indeed an idiotic and brainwashed scale of decision making. How does something become correct because a majority support it? And what type of decisions are made by a majority of people who spend their time filling their brains with quiz shows, fantasy movies, soap operas and trivial pursuits? Indeed, the whole concept of calling for democracy and seeing it synonymous with goodness is a result of brainwashing repetition. Because people always here a matter (such as democracy) being associated with good, they take it as so without question. And does that ‘rule by the people, for the people’ exist in any place? No, we see it is only an illusion, in every place people have almost no say in the macro political and economic decisions which effect their lives. At most, people have an elected dictatorship, a choice to vote for a small group of almost identical political parties, which legislate in the interests of the few at the expense of the majority. Every, so called ‘representative’ in reality controlled by party whips and private financial interests as well as personal ambitions. No fixed accountability exists as there is no fixed law, but only constant reforms, exceptions and amendments in order to meet elite (minority) economic interests. Let us look at a country such as the USA, a country which despite its claims to uphold freedom, is busy strolling the world imposing its system by the force of bombs and snatching people from foreign sovereign (or puppet dictatorship) nations and putting them in torture camps without evidence and without trial. And it is also the USA where you must be a multi millionaire in order to be elected president in the first place, and even then needing to force through a candidate by a decision of the Supreme court! Indeed, the majority of the people may call for democracy and that is indeed a result of their brainwashing. As for Islam, it does not tell us to follow the majority but instead commands following that which is correct, and it warns about blind following of the majority. Allah (swt) says ““And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from the path of Allah. They follow nothing but conjecture and they do nothing but lie.” (al Ana’m 6:116) and “…but most men know not.” (Yusuf 12:40) and “And even if We had sent unto them angels and the dead had spoken unto them and We had gathered together all things before their very eyes, they would not have believed, unless Allah willed, but most of them are ignorant” (al Ana’m 6:111)
6) The brainwashed is he who follows man-made law. Man-made law is the basis which allows the dictatorship of the few over the vast majority and at the expense of the vast majority. There can only be one law for the collective situation, so the question is what is better for people, Divine Law or man-made Law? Divine Law is from the One who Knows All and is Aware of all things and Knows the nature of those whom He has created. As for man-made law, that is made by those who are weak in intellect, limited in knowledge and influenced by their environment and their prejudices. One who does not believe in accountability in the next life will pursue his life’s affairs based upon fulfilling his instincts and desires.
7) The brainwashed is he who considers himself free. People wrongly think they live in free societies. How are you free if you break a man-made law and are punished? People are proud to break away from Divine Law and consider themselves free. In reality man-made laws are so many and changing so much that people regularly are penalised for breaking the law and are unaware. With Divine Law there is a fixed reference point by which the rulers can be accounted. And with Divine Law, the people are not free to change it to suit their prejudices and desires. In man-made law the limited freedom is for the lawmakers and their covert accomplices in the prison states that they have enforced globally. The world is in need of Divine Guidance and Divine Justice and Law, not anarchy of the masses, nor the selfish anarchy of multi-national corporations, banks and ruling elites who are immune even from the accountability in the chaotic elite serving concentration-camp they call ‘freedom and democracy.’
8) The brainwashed is he who follows the mainstream media. Where do most people get their views from? They get it from mainstream education and mainstream media, that is, the mass monopolised corporate media. People follow the trends they set and the opinions they promote and the culture they spread, but do people not question the ownership of the media and the ideology and objectives of those who own it? Do they not question the relationships between the media and the rulers? Between the multinational corporations and international bankers and the media? Brainwashed is the one who thinks we have an independent and free media, the media is a tool in the hands of the established order to control the masses who consume the repeated messages and identical media stories. How is it that all outlets have the same headlines and the same commentary if they are free and independent? Why is it so difficult to start independent media channels? A journalist exposes the lies of the British Government in promoting the mass murder in Iraq and he is brought before the courts in a public inquiry.
9) The brainwashed is he who follows ‘fashion.’ The brainwashed are those who continue to spend vast amounts on those goods because they carry a label of ‘value’ while such companies are making 1000% profit or more than the price they paid for such items in the foreign slave camps known as ‘cheap labour’. Brainwashed is he who follows the latest styles being mass advertised and manufactured, not because it is a fashion of the people but because a decision was taken by an oligarchy of manufacturers to introduce a new style and propagate it through ‘critics’ and ‘experts’ and foolish adverts that imply you will gain women, wealth and success by dressing in the latest pre-planned ‘fashion’.
10) The brainwashed is he who takes body-destroying, accident-causing, mind-repressants as entertainment. Alcohol, a multi-trillion dollar industry which fills the banks of the manufacturers and establishment through astronomical taxes while at the same time achieving the goal of escapism for the masses. Turning the rabble into animals and thugs, who can easily be manipulated and controlled and who will let off their frustrations through the medium of drunkenness, rioting, prostitution and promiscuity, interacting with others without accountability or responsibility. The ideal tool to make a people stupid while stealing their money. On top of that, the money made due to post alcoholic crime, disorder and accidents for the international banksters (i.e. gangster bankers) and their insurance companies and lawyers etc. is another reason why the only ones who engage in this low life activity are the brainwashed.
11) The brainwashed is he who gambles. The brainwashed is he who after all his excessive underpaid work and misery of over taxation and high prices due to fluctuations in bank manipulated paper money starts to entertain the hope he will become rich and starts to gamble or play the government introduced national lottery. A chance of millions to one of the jackpot he continues to spend the little he has in a desire to make a gain without a relevant effort. The result, he and his family are poorer because he was brainwashed.
12) Brainwashed is not he who opposes the man-made system of oppression but brainwashed is he who goes along with a system which does nothing for himself but everything for a few corporate criminals. Brainwashed is the one who was indoctrinated by a system that told us we came from monkeys and are nothing more than animals who engaged in trial and error and so have progressed. Brainwashed is he who has been commanded by the system not to question the ideology and principles of the government which dominates him and which he dies for because he considers it a duty to his ‘country’ to fight against those who were born in another place. Brainwashed is not he who fights for the justice of Divine Law, but brainwashed is he who fights others due to the threat of imaginary weapons of mass destruction, while the only ones to use such weapons and sell them on a mass scale are those whom he fights for. Brainwashed is he who fights to remove one dictatorship in order to replace it with another. Brainwashed is he who fights for the sake of following orders of misguided men while disregarding his own conscience, religion and intellect…..that is indeed the one who is brainwashed.
13) Islam commands us to remember death and to make preparation for it as it is indeed a matter that is sure to come. Allah (swt) says “Everyone shall taste death. And only of the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed far away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception” (aali I’mraan 3:185) and it is reported by Ibn U’mar that the Prophet (saw) was asked who is the wisest and the Prophet (saw) replied “The one who remembers death the most and prepares for it most…” (IBN MAAJAH) The brainwashed is he who ignores preparing for the inevitable and hides and escapes from the reality in society’s trivial pursuits and pastimes. Allah (swt) says “Closer to mankind comes their reckoning yet they heed not and turn away” (al Anbiyaa’ 21:1) and “Or did the people of the townships feel secure against the coming of Our punishment in the forenoon while they play?” (al A’raaf 7:98) and “Mutual rivalry for piling up worldy things diverts you, until you visit the graves” (at Takaathur 102:1-2) Finally, we say that if people will not cease to declare Islamic fundamentalist (real Muslims) to be brainwashed, then we accept that Islam does wash our brain of ignorance, idolatry, oppression and man-made exploitation and corruption. It is better to have a brain that is washed clean from filth than to have one still polluted and rotten. The masses look down on those they consider ‘brainwashed’ but that is due to the masses being in a state we call ‘brain-dead.’ We therefore invite all to study Islam further from uncompromising Muslim sources rather than take the distortions and misrepresentations from those who hate the positive change it will bring and those who have sold their religion for a miserable price.
