By Nishthar Idroos –

Nishthar Idroos

Venerable Galagoda Atte Gnanasara has done it again, he is the cynosure of all eyes once more. His audience gives him a standing ovation. What usually spews from his mouth very much consistent with his intellect. The Muslims of Sri Lanka were jolted at his bizarre revelation. The mastermind of the Easter Sunday explosion according to Gnanasara was Allah apparently.

The monk notorious for his often irrational and acerbic remarks reportedly made this startling declaration during a televised interview. To the best of my knowledge modern pharmacology is yet to discover a potential antidote for compounded ignorance. Its simply irreconcilable that a priest professing a system of belief which has in excess of a quarter of a billion adherents could speak about another faith this way.

He also warned of a similar terrorist attack in the future. The monk trying his very best to conceal vital information about another possible terrorist attack. This has to be taken seriously. Coming from someone well connected the intelligence apparatus of Sri Lanka must pay close attention to his words. Also the Muslim community must be greatly concerned.

At the early stages of Islam there was a man known as Abu Jahal, an arch enemy of the prophet (peace and blessing be upon him). He too was an individual of questionable character and with a foul mouth. Malleable to the extent that the chieftains of Makkah would entrust all the dirty works of persecuting Muslims to him. And he carried out his job to the satisfaction of his superiors. The pat on his shoulders by his trusted superiors always forthcoming. His actual name was Amr ibn Hisham but was known as Abu Hakam (Father of Wisdom).

Among the Qurashi tribe he was considered a wise man. His relentless hostility, belligerence to Islam, foolishness and his inability to perceive the existence of Allah and his unmitigated attachment to polytheism earned him the sobriquet Abu Jahal (Father of Ignorance). Islam views him as having malevolence and enmity to such an extent that the prophet (peace be upon him) also gave him the title of “Pharaoh of this Ummah“. And these kinds of pharaoh’s have been descending ever since and at every moment and throughout the world to test the Muslims. If the Muslims remain patient they will for sure come out unscathed and purified by the permission of Allah.

What this clergyman does not understand is that he had already admitted and accepted that Allah is his Lord. All of humanity has done this and they do not no it. This is because they never read the Quran. They think Quran came only for the Muslims. The Quran was revealed to all mankind, in it Allah clearly mentions that all of mankind have accepted Him as their Lord, here is the proof “And [mention] when your Lord took from the loins of the children of Adam – their descendents and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified, lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were unaware.” (Al Quran 7: 172).

What this noble verse from the Quran confirms is the fact that all of us when we were mere souls Allah took an oath from us and He asked all of us “Am I not your Lord” and all of us acknowledged and affirmed alas we deny when we meet Him upon our return. So accordingly Venerable Gnanasara in essence accuses his own Lord of carrying out this ghastly attack.

Are these the words of someone who has lost his sanity or just a prelude to another intrigue that’s in store? We can safely eliminate the former. This member of the clergy will definitely pass all tests administered on him to test his sanity. For sure there is no need to get a professional psychiatrist to examine him. The created pandemonium can also be construed as desperate attempts usually seen when pressure mounts, during such time “sky” is indeed the limit to find excuses and escape routes.

Does venerable Gnanasara know who Allah is? He is the Creator, Sustainer, Provider, and Controller of the universe, who created everything for a reason. He is the One who gives life and the One who takes it. Muslims believe that He created humankind with a simple purpose – to worship Him alone without assigning partnership to anything.. He sent messengers to guide people in fulfilling this purpose. Some of these messengers include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (peace be upon all of them). Allah is greater than anything we can possibly imagine. Muslims repeat the words “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the Greatest) many times a day so as to remind themselves of His Greatness and Ability over everything in existence.