The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing Gods, to uphold specific ethical standards.
Hippocratic Oath: One of the oldest binding documents in history, the Oath written by Hippocrates is still held sacred by physicians: to treat the ill to the best of one's ability, to preserve a patient's privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on.
Hippocrates of Kos, Greece, the Father of Western Medicine. He coined the Hippocratic Oath, which is still relevant and in use today. Wikipedia states on the Hippocrates Oath: In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing Gods, to uphold specific ethical standards. The Oath is the earliest expression of medical ethics in the Western world, establishing several principles of medical ethics which remain of paramount significance today. These include the principles of medical confidentiality and non-maleficence. Although the ancient text is only of historic and symbolic value, swearing a modified form of the Oath remains a rite of passage for medical graduates in many countries.
“Doctors may have their own personal opinion but when it comes to their profession, doctors should not allow their personal beliefs to overcome their professional duties. That should be the stand of any doctor.”
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As for oaths and the like, there are two relevant terms to consider: ikrar and sumpah.
Dictionary definitions of ikrar include “promise, pledge, legalize, acknowledge, and allow”; whereby
Definitions for “Sumpah” is “swear, vow, promise, say solemnly or emphatically, take an oath, curse, revile and use vulgar language against".
If any between 2 types of oaths, “ikrar” is not as heavy as “sumpah”, and that sumpah, if done properly, involves putting the holy book Quran on one’s head, utilizing “holy water” and swearing in the name of God.
On some (relatively rare) occasions, a less formal sumpah is done, by raising one’s right hand. One can also put one’s hand on the Quran when making a sumpah, or an oath.
And if you were to ask what would happen if someone lied after having taken a sumpah? Well, nobody knows for only god knows. As the implication now was that the individual who had taken the oath had lied and as such those act shall be punished by God. Some who lied does go crazy after taking oaths. OMG!!!
“Please raise your left hand and place your right hand on the Bible ……… Do you swear by Almighty God, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
“Before I do that can I first ask the court a question?”
“Yes, of course you can.”
“You want me to swear by Almighty God, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, am I right?”
“Yes, that is correct.”“Do you mean you want me to tell the truth based on evidence or do you want me to tell the truth based on the unproven?”
“Of course the truth has to be based on evidence. If it is unproven then that would mean there would be no evidence to support whatever you say.”“Right.
That is what I am driving at. There is no evidence of the existence of an Almighty God or that the Bible is the word of God. It is merely a belief based on faith. Hence if I raise my left hand and place my right hand on the Bible and swear by Almighty God, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, would that be considered an act based on evidence or an act based on the unproven?
Would that, therefore, be the truth or the untruth?”“We have not come to your evidence yet. We are just swearing you in first. Then we will listen to your testimony after that.”
“Yes, but if my oath is not based on the truth and then I swear an oath to tell the truth how can you be sure that I am telling the truth?”
“What do you mean your oath is not based on the truth? Do you intend to lie?”“No, I do not intend to lie. I intend to tell the truth. But you are asking me to swear an oath in the name of an Almighty God that you cannot prove to me actually exists and on a Bible that is supposed to be the word of God but which you cannot also prove to me is really the word of God. Hence there is a doubt as to the existence of God or that the Bible is God’s word. So can this then bind me and convince you that what I am about to say is the truth if the source of my oath is in doubt?”
“You are making this very complicated. This is just a formality that everyone who is about to testify in court has to go through. It does not really matter whether God does exist or not or whether the Bible is really the word of God.
You need to swear an oath in the name of God and on the Bible.”
“But why is this the formality and who started this?”
“I don’t know who started this! It all happened so long ago that no one can remember who started it. It is just something we do before you are asked to testify.”
“If I swear an oath in the name of God and on the Bible would that mean you will believe beyond any shadow of doubt what I am about to say?”
“No. We will still need to see whether any other witnesses contradict you and whether what you are about to say can be proven or not.”
“So you are saying that even if I swear an oath in the name of God and on the Bible there would still be a possibility that I will lie?”
“Yes.”“So what is the purpose of this oath if you will still not accept my testimony as the 100% truth? That means even if I swear an oath my testimony will still be in doubt just as if I never swore an oath.”
“Just because you swear an oath in the name of God and on the Bible that does not mean you may not be lying. So we still cannot consider your testimony as the 100% truth because you could still be lying.”
“So my oath will mean nothing in the end then.”
“That is correct.”“So can I then just give the court my testimony without swearing an oath?”
“No you cannot! You must first swear an oath in the name of God and on the Bible before you give the court your testimony.”
“Even if my oath does not strengthen my testimony or makes my testimony more believable?”
“That is correct.”
“And you do not know why I must do this and when this all started and who started it in the first place?”
“That is correct.”“Okay, and tell me "Your Excellency", do you believe that the Bible is God’s word?”
“Look, My Friend, it does not matter whether I believe that the Bible is God’s word or not. This is my job and for more than 20 years as the clerk in the Birmingham Magistrates’ Court no one has so far questioned this practice of taking this oath in the name of God and on the Bible. It is just a practice that we have had for more than 1,000 years.
So please swear by Almighty fucking God, to tell the fucking truth, the whole fucking truth, and nothing but the fucking truth?”
“I do.”
“Sigh….”
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How valid is this swearing on the holy book like the Quran?
Let us reflect on what happened about 1,400 years ago when Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Aisha binti Abu Bakar, was accused of adultery with Safwan bin Al-Muattal. According to popular and accepted Islamic history, the whole incident happened as follows:
Aisha was travelling with the Prophet and some of his followers through the desert and they had stopped to camp for the night. The following morning, when she discovered she had lost her necklace, Aisha left the camp and went to search for it.
No one realised she had ‘broken ranks’ and the caravan packed up and resumed its journey. When Aisha returned to the campsite, she found that the caravan had left without her. There was nothing she could do but to sit right there and wait, in the hope they would realise they had left her behind and come back to fetch her. But they did not return for her because they did not realise they had left her behind.
Later that same day, a young and handsome Arab man named Safwan bin Al-Muattal came along and spotted Aisha sitting all alone in the desert. Though he had never met Aisha before, he immediately recognised her as one of the Prophet’s wives because of the tudung that she wore. It seems, in those days, only the Prophet’s wives wore the tudung to distinguish them from the other women.
Apparently, the tudung was ‘decreed’ for only the Prophet’s wives and not for all women. Anyway, that is another topic for another time as, today, we wish to talk about Saiful swearing on the Quran and he does not wear a tudung, yet.
Safwan rescued Aisha and took her on his horse to chase after the caravan. It was when the caravan, again, stopped to camp for the evening did they realise that Aisha was missing. But there was nothing much they could do because it was about to get dark and looking for Aisha somewhere in the desert in the middle of the night was just not viable.
It was not until the following morning that Safwan and Aisha caught up with the Prophet’s caravan. The scene of Aisha returning to the caravan with another (young and handsome) man triggered rumours that she had committed adultery with Safwan. The Prophet’s enemies immediately spread the rumour faster than a special report on Malaysia Today could ever have done.
Prophet Muhammad never doubted Aisha. Nevertheless, he called for a family conference to discuss what to do and his adopted son, Zayd, defended Aisha. Ali, his son-in-law, however, felt that a Prophet can’t afford to be the target of rumours, especially one involving his wife, and he suggested that Prophet Muhammad divorce Aisha.
Aisha steadfastly proclaimed her innocence. Muhammad felt very troubled by the whole matter and it is said he left Aisha’s house and did not return for many days. Aisha was the Prophet’s youngest and favourite wife who is also the daughter of his most faithful comrade, Abu Bakar, who went on to become the First Caliph of Islam after Prophet Muhammad died.
Aisha was devastated. Shortly after that, Prophet Muhammad announced he had received a revelation from God confirming Aisha's innocence and directing him that adultery be proven by four eyewitnesses, rather than simply inferred from opportunity (The Quran Surah 24:4). Prophet Muhammad also rebuked those who had slandered his wife (The Quran Surah 24:11) and ordered them to receive forty lashes, among them his poet Hassan bin Thabit.
So there you have it. Prophet Muhammad did not ask Aisha to swear on the Quran in the mosque that she is innocent and did not commit adultery. And neither was Safwan, who was accused of ‘penetrating’ Aisha, also asked to swear on the Quran in a mosque that he had kept his pecker in his pants at all times when he was alone with Aisha. In fact, those who made the allegation were instead punished.
We must also note one very important point. The Quran, in the book form that we know today, did not exist yet at the time of Prophet Muhammad. It was Osman, the Third Caliph, who compiled the Quran into the book form that we know today, long after the Prophet had died. That is why the Quran is sometimes referred to as the Osmania Quran. Before that, the Quran was etched on pieces of tree bark and animal skin with the bulk of it memorised by hundreds of companions of the Prophet.
If Aisha had been asked to swear her innocence on the Quran, then they would have had to recall all the pieces of tree bark and animal skin from all over the Arabian Peninsular, plus they would have had to assemble the hundreds of men who had ‘recorded’ the Quran in their heads. These tree barks and animal skin, plus the hundreds of Quran memorisers, would then have had to be lumped into a huge pile in the middle of the mosque and Aisha would have had to place her right hand on this mountain of men, tree barks and animal skin with her left hand raised to the sky as she swore her innocence on the ‘Quran’.
Unleashed The Beast!!!
CURSE OF THE SERPENT
The cursing of the serpent is described in Moses 4:20-21:
And I, the Lord God, said unto the serpent: Because thou hast done this thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life;
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The Qur’an records a passionate exchange of words following Lucifer’s expulsion from heaven that could just as easily fit the scene described here. In the account, Satan unleashes a tirade of threats, followed by a summary dismissal by God:
“‘Because. [Thou hast adjudged me to be erring],’ [the Devil] declared, ‘I will waylay Your servants as they walk on Your straight path, then spring upon them from the front and the rear, from their right and from their left..’ ‘Begone!’
[God] said.”19 Hugh Nibley20 elaborates:
[Satan,] nettled by this rebuke and the curse, .flares up in his pride and announces what his program for the economic and political order of the new world is going to be. He will take the resources of the earth, and with precious metals as a medium of exchange he will buy up military and naval might,21 or rather those who control it, and so will govern the earth-for he is the prince of this world. He does rule: he is king. Here at the outset is the clearest possible statement of a military-industrial complex ruling the earth with violence and ruin. But as we are told, this cannot lead to anything but war, because it has been programmed to do that. It was conceived in the mind of Satan in his determination “to destroy the world.”22 The whole purpose of the program is to produce blood and horror on this earth.
Moses 4:22 records God’s words to Eve:
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Behold! We said to the angels: 'Bow down to Adam'; they bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the Jinn, and he broke the Command of his Lord. (18:50) Ibid
[God] said: 'What prevented you from bowing down when I commanded you?' He replied: 'I am better than he: You created me from fire, and him from clay.' (7:12)
'And My Curse shall be on you till the Day of Judgement.'
(Iblis) said: 'O my Lord! Give me then respite till the Day the dead are raised.'
[God] said: 'Respite then is granted to you - till the Day of the Time Appointed.' (Iblis) said: 'Then [I swear] by Your Power that I will put them all in the wrong, -- except Your servants amongst them, sincere and purified [by Your grace]'. (38:78-83)
Pray ye [O Prophet!]: I seek refuge with the Cherisher of mankind, the King of mankind, the God of mankind from the evil of the Prompter [of vice] who withdraws [after his prompting], who prompts evil suggestions in the hearts of men, [and is] from among the jinn and mankind. (114:1-6)
'For over My servants no authority shall you have, except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow you.' And verily, Hell is the promised abode for them all! (15:42-43). See also (38:83) above.
Tafseer al-Tabari, 8/139
2 – Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“(Allaah) said: ‘O Iblees (Satan)! What is your reason for not being among the prostrators?’
33. [Iblees (Satan)] said: ‘I am not the one to prostrate myself to a human being, whom You created from dried (sounding) clay of altered mud.’
34. (Allaah) said: ‘Then, get out from here, for verily, you are Rajeem (an outcast or a cursed one).
35. ‘And verily, the curse shall be upon you till the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection).’
36. [Iblees (Satan)] said: ‘O my Lord! Give me then respite till the Day they (the dead) will be resurrected.’
37. Allaah said: ‘Then verily, you are of those reprieved,
38. ‘Till the Day of the time appointed.’
39. [Iblees (Satan)] said: ‘O my Lord! Because You misled me, I shall indeed adorn the path of error for them (mankind) on the earth, and I shall mislead them all.
40. ‘Except Your chosen, (guided) slaves among them.’
41. (Allaah) said: ‘This is the Way which will lead straight to Me.’
42. ‘Certainly, you shall have no authority over My slaves, except those who follow you of the Ghaawoon (Mushrikoon and those who go astray, criminals, polytheists, and evildoers).
43. ‘And surely, Hell is the promised place for them all.
44. ‘It (Hell) has seven gates, for each of those gates is a (special) class (of sinners) assigned’”[al-Hijr 15:32-44]
Of Heaven & Hell; Of Blessing & Cursing!!!
Is there really a God? If so, then who is He really? Is He the God of Corruption? Is He the God of Hedonistic Sex? Is He a Racist God? Is He the same God that Politicians go to pray to every Friday, Sunday or Religious Holiday? - Michael Chick
If it is the same professed God, then either Politicians have some VERY special Divine exemptions, or the public is worshipping a different God from the Politicians.
For surely this cannot be the same God that rest of the people pray to. The God that people pray to insists on Love, fairness, justice, equality and so on.
If a Muslim were to write about Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., the non-Muslims would be foaming at the mouth and would be barking like dogs. Anyway, first of all, the Qur’anic reference to non-Muslims is Kafir.
Kafir does not just mean non-Muslims. The meaning of Kafir is deeper than that and is quite derogatory. Kafir means rejecter of the truth. So you non-Muslims are considered as those who reject the truth.
The term Kafir alludes to a person who rejects or disbelieves in Allah and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and denies the dominion and authority of Allah. Rejecting Allah’s laws, for example, means you are Kafir. So most Muslims will consider all those who reject Hudud or the Shariah as Kafir.
Now, before you Muslims start whacking me and say that I am insulting Islam, or before you non-Muslims start whacking me as well and say that I am running down non-Muslims, just remember that I am merely the messenger and if you do not like the message do not shoot the messenger.
Let not believers take disbelievers (Kafir) as allies rather than believers. And whoever [of you] does that has nothing with Allah, except when taking precaution against them in prudence. And Allah warns you of Himself, and to Allah is the [final] destination. 3:28
Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture – [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled. 9:29
The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah”, and the Christians say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded? 9:30
Indeed, Allah has cursed the disbelievers and prepared for them a blaze. 33:64
Our Lord, give them double the punishment and curse them with a great curse. 33:68
So today those who believed are laughing at the disbelievers (kafir). 83:34
So when you meet those who disbelieve (Kafir) [in battle], strike [their] necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds, and either [confer] favour afterwards or ransom [them] until the war lays down its burdens. That [is the command]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them [Himself], but [He ordered armed struggle] to test some of you by means of others. And those who are killed in the cause of Allah – never will He waste their deeds. 47.4
Indeed, they are planning a plan. But I am planning a plan. So allow time for the disbelievers (Kafir). Leave them awhile. 86:15-17
When your Lord inspired to the angels, “I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved (Kafir), so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip.” That is because they opposed Allah and His Messenger. And whoever opposes Allah and His Messenger – indeed, Allah is severe in penalty. 8:13-14
O you who have believed, when you meet those who disbelieve (Kafir) advancing [for battle], do not turn to them your backs [in flight]. And whoever turns his back to them on such a day, unless swerving [as a strategy] for war or joining [another] company, has certainly returned with anger [upon him] from Allah, and his refuge is Hell – and wretched is the destination. 8:16-17
And you did not kill them, but it was Allah who killed them. And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allah who threw that He might test the believers with a good test. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing. That [is so], and [also] that Allah will weaken the plot of the disbelievers (Kafir). 8:17-18
Those are just some of the many verses in the Qur’an that refer to the Kafir and that tell believers (Muslims) how to deal with Kafir (the rejecters of the truth). Those who tell you that Islam is a religion of peace either does not know Islam or is lying to you. There is nothing peaceful about Islam or even about the other religions of the Book if you were to read the Bible properly and not go into denial mode.
The Abrahamic God is a violent and jealous God who does not tolerate you believing in any other God. You break His commandments and he not only punishes you but will punish the entire community and your whole family as well. And He tells you to fight those rejecters of the truth and to show no mercy until they submit and have been humbled and pay tax or ransom (or are all killed).
Allah also tells you not to side with the Kafir to fight Muslims. And if the Kafir rejects Allah and Allah’s commands and you support them to fight Muslims then you are condemned.
There is a lot of misunderstanding as to who is a Muslim (a believer in the Oneness of Allah) and who is a Kafir(those who reject the concept of the existence of One God of whatever name they would like to call Him by). This confusion has reached a level where some people do not like to call anyone a Kafir, including those whom Allah has clearly indicated in the Koran. On the other hand, there are some who arbitrarily call people Kafir without knowing the essential meaning of the word.
It is therefore time that we understand the true meaning of the word.
We also find Muslims being labelled as terrorists, extremists or fundamentalists, while others attempt to water-down the boundaries of Islam into something that resembles pseudo-Christianity, where everyone is forgiven and everyone goes to heaven, regardless of their disobedience and ingratitude to Allah and their perception of who Allah is.
Islam, however, stands between these two extremes.
First of all, Allah uses the terms Kafir and Kufur in the Koran. So we cannot say that these words do not exist or that they have no meaning.
Allah has stated plainly in the Koran that the righteous; the Muslims who believe sincerely and act according to the laws of Allah; will inherit Paradise.
In Sura An Nur, Allah says:
God has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion – the one which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: ‘They will worship Me (alone) and not associate aught with Me. ‘If any do reject Faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked. (Sura 24:55)
Can this honour possibly be for anyone who is in a state of Kufur?
In Sura Al A’raf Allah says:
The Companions of the Fire will call to the Companions of the Garden: “Pour down to us water or anything that God doth provide for your sustenance.” They will say: “Both these things hath God forbidden to those who rejected Him.” (Sura 7:50)
From this we can clearly see that disbelief is a state; a state wherein resides the consequences of one’s actions. The disbeliever will not be allowed the comfort and provision of Allah that he used to enjoy in this life.
Who are these disbelievers and what are some of their characteristics?
Allah says in the Koran:
“Such as took their religion to be mere amusement and play, and were deceived by the life of the world.” That day shall We forget them as they forgot the meeting of this day of theirs, and as they were wont to reject Our signs. (Sura 7:51)
The phrase ‘who took their religion as an amusement and play’ is important. We want to look at the words ‘amusement and play’ and analyse their meaning in Arabic.
The Arabic for this is ‘lahu wal la’b’.
This includes anything that does not include remembrance of Allah; anything which distracts us from thinking about Allah and mentioning His name; where the remembrance of Allah is the last thing on one’s mind. In short: to put another priority about Allah.
This is the state of taking Islam as an amusement and play.
Is Everybody Taking Anybody for A JoyRide???
Is religion the opium of the people?
Was Karl Marx right to characterise faith in the way he did?
This week, revellers and thinkers gather in London to celebrate Marxist thought at the annual "festival of resistance". Marx, of course, famously disparaged religion as "the opium of the people". He wrote, at length, that
Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man – state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realisation of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.
Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.
The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.
Was he right?
Who made who Who turned the screw?
Who made who, who made you? Who made who, ain't nobody told you?
Who made who, who made you? If you made them and they made you...