Centuries ago, the great Iranian Muslim philosopher and physician Hussein ibn Ali Sina (known as Avicenna in the West and shown above) wrote a 14-volume treatise on medicine called al-Qanun (the Canon). He is believed to have been barely 19 years old at the time.
Now, a modern-day Iranian Ali Sina tells the Jerusalem Post that the faith of Avicenna is the result of a mental illness which allegedly afflicted the Prophet Muhammad (s.).
... his latest book, Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography of Allah's Prophet ... Sina suggests that Islam's central figure suffered from a series of mental disorders, including narcissistic personality disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy and obsessive compulsive disorder.He then says that Muslims have inherited ab "original hatred" in a manner comparable to the Christian doctrine of original sin.
"These disorders," he says via telephone, "can explain the phenomenon known as Islam... which is nothing but one man's insanity."
"In Islam, it's not the community that is bad, but the religion. Islam has nothing like 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' Islam is full of hatred, and the hatred is in Muhammad himself. I argue in my book that Muhammad was insane - and that Muslims, by emulating him and by emulating his ways, his insanity is bequeathed to them."Sina then provides this prediction:
Sina knows that his blunt, outspoken approach can be "problematic." But he is confident nonetheless that the force of his arguments will ultimately prevail.The foundations of Islam will collapse and 1.2 billion people will see the light thanks to Sina's blog and a few books. Methinks, Mr Sina, that you should be worrying about your own mental health.
"I am sure that, with time, I will convince millions and millions of Muslims, and the foundations of Islam will collapse," he says.
Words © 2008 Irfan Yusuf
