Free Will

Reader JOgershok, who is currently in Iraq, wrote this interesting piece on free will based on an e-mail exchange we had. He has kindly allowed me to post it. You can read more of his writing at The Truth, It Just came Out. He writes about his experiences in Iraq and other stuff.

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I think the Arabic word Inshallah is the evidence of a culturally based but religious induced "learned helplessness." Do you remember the concept from psychology? The dogs in Seligman's experiments would not get away of the shock after being exposed to it long enough without an escape. Even though they were shown how to get away from it they just let it happen. In Islam, "if Allah allows" is the shibboleth of being a Muslim (he who submits to the will of Allah). The true Muslim has no actual power to escape God's will/wrath because he has relinquished his will to that of Allah's to be a good Muslim.

Let us be clear that submission to the will of God is not a new religious concept; consider the list of the Ten Commandments given to Moses:

Exodus 20: 1-11

1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

This is not the first example of submitting to God's will from the first five books of the Bible; actually the account of the 10 Commandments is in the second book, Exodus. The concept is first seen in Genesis 3: 1- 24, with Adam not submitting to the will/command of God (Koran 2:34-38). Years later, we see the example of the flood, which is the result of man's failure to submit to God. Likewise, there is the example from the tower of Babel; they did not follow God's command to "fill the earth" (Gen. 9-1). Then we see Abraham's willingness to leave Ur (Gen. 12:1-4) and years later to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen. 22:1 - 18), an act which is the pinnacle of that submission to God's will. (Christianity has a different take on this event.) In fact, the Jews assign a special name for this place, Yahweh yireh, The Lord Will Provide, (Gen. 22:14.)

From the Koran, Abraham's example is found in the second Chapter. Notice these passages from that second chapter are about being a Muslim:

2.112: Yes! whoever submits himself entirely to Allah and he is the doer of good (to others) he has his reward from his Lord, and there is no fear for him nor shall he grieve...

2.124: And when his Lord tried Ibrahim with certain words, he fulfilled them. He said: Surely I will make you an Imam of men. Ibrahim said: And of my offspring? My covenant does not include the unjust, said He...

2.128: Our Lord! and make us both submissive to Thee and (raise) from our offspring a nation submitting to Thee, and show us our ways of devotion and turn to us (mercifully), surely Thou art the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful....

2.131: When his Lord said to him, Be a Muslim, he said: I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds. 132: And the same did Ibrahim enjoin on his sons and (so did) Yaqoub. O my sons! surely Allah has chosen for you (this) faith, therefore die not unless you are Muslims. 133: Nay! were you witnesses when death visited Yaqoub, when he said to his sons: What will you serve after me? They said: We will serve your God and the God of your fathers, Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq, one God only, and to Him do we submit. 134: This is a people that have passed away; they shall have what they earned and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did. 135: And they say: Be Jews or Christians, you will be on the right course. Say: Nay! (we follow) the religion of Ibrahim, the Hanif, and he was not one of the polytheists. 136: Say: We believe in Allah and (in) that which had been revealed to us, and (in) that which was revealed to Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq and Yaqoub and the tribes, and (in) that which was given to Musa and Isa, and (in) that which was given to the prophets from their Lord, we do not make any distinction between any of them, and to Him do we submit.

Read in context, these passages conflict with the Biblical account and demonstrates the rift between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. As you read the Koran, the non Muslims are constantly portrayed as not human.

Notice that Ishmael (Ismail) is mentioned 12 times in the Koran, Isaac (Ishaq) is mentioned 17 times, and Abraham has a chapter (14) named for him and "the Imam of Men" - the perfect example in everything - is mentioned 70 times in the entire text of the Koran. By the way, Jesus (Isa son of Maruim) is mentioned 27 times.

Submission is one of the underlying concepts of all three religions. The bottom line for me is that the religion of Islam it is fatalistic in its belief system. Free will is not from God in Islam but is the evidence of Satan's influence. That is why we are the "Great Satan." We have and exercise our free will.

One of the Ugandans here with me in Iraq said, "The Muslims say this is the Promised Land; look around, I don't think God really loves them." It is hard to disagree with that here in Iraq.

Joseph J. Ogershok, Jr.
Global Operational Resources Group

Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway - John Wayne