A Hindu Or A Muslim Atheist: An Oxymoron!

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 19 March 2024 In a recent interview, 'celebrated' atheist Javed Akhtar told Barkha Dutt that he was a Muslim atheist as he was born into a Muslim family. So, despite being an atheist, Muslim was his identity. Sorry, I beg to differ with him. The very term a Hindu or a Muslim atheist is an oxymoron. Agreed, almost all of us are born into a particular faith and that's beyond an individual's control. But leaving the parental or familial faith is a fundamental right of an individual. Once you stop believing in god and religion, your parental faith has no bearing on you. How can your parental faith be your identity even after leaving religion and refusing to believe in a god or gods? You can't eat the cake and have it too. Poona-based actor and doctor Shriram Lagoo called himself an avowed atheist. But when he died, his last rites were performed according to Hinduism, precisely Brahminical Hinduism as he was a Brahmin! Where did his atheism go? An atheist has no religion and his faith in god is also zilch. Sahir Ludhianvi remained an atheist but he was buried in a Muslim graveyard. What was the use of screaming from the rooftop that he (Sahir) was a Munkir-e-Zaat or an Ilhadi having no faith in Islam? Our religious imprints are too deeply entrenched in our collective psyche. So, in spite of claiming to be an atheist, one remains forever attached to one's faith at a subconscious or unconscious level. Here, no boasting or self-praise, as an atheist, rather an apatheist, I've already donated my whole body to the medical college and when I breathe my last and if my body is not mutilated, it'll be given away to a medical college including my skeleton. No obsequies will be performed as I never endorsed any faith in my whole life. Nor did I believe in any damn god. When an ordinary person like me can think in such a revolutionary and non-religious manner, why can't these fashionable atheists do the same? By the way, no last rites were performed when my parents bid adieu to the world. Their whole bodies were given away to the medical colleges along with their bones. Humans are too frightened of god, religion, afterlife, hell, heaven and all that jazz. Javed Akhtar is no exception. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/hindu-muslim-atheist-oxymoron/d/131951 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism