022 – Shia Exmuslim Author Ali Rizvi tells his story

Abdullah Sameer speaks to a Pakistani Shia Exmuslim, Author and Doctor. You can find Ali at Twitter here

YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/wKpGC9fxO0o

Timestamps:

0:00 Introductions
0:57 Ali’s background – How he managed to cope without a community after leaving Islam. Ali’s dad’s death and how he dealt with it. Dealing with death and grief as an atheist.
11:45 The problem of suffering. How science is trying to improve the human condition while religion is feeding false hope – Ali’s cousins who died of leukemia. The anti-vax movement and the irrational side of humans. Why is it people are more opposed to vaccines but are a bit welcoming of antibiotics?
23:30The Harvard prayer study – How best can we test the efficacy of prayer?
26:37 Does reading the Quran cure people’s depression? Ali’s personal anecdote – the meditative aspect to prayer, use of art and poetry in religion and religious texts, and the music. The importance of recognizing depression as a serious, hereditary, and fatal disease.
34:00 Search for meaning (book). The three main areas that the skeptic community really needs to address: dealing with death, the question of morality, and the quest for meaning and purpose in life.
38:00 People who have less control of a situation tend to be more religious/superstitious – baseball pitcher analogy. Gorge Carlin’s routine on prayer. Why is it there is no particular religion that is having a much significant return on their prayers to show that their God is true and answers prayers/Dua?
43:45 The trivial things that are mandated in Islam – not wearing gold for man, food product – and how they seem to be man-made. Why would a God care for such insignificant things? Carl Sagan and his awe for the universe.
47:20 Who goes to heaven? What criteria will be used? Is hell eternal or it will be for a period of time? The Islamic justice. Wiping away sins by going to Hajj and other ways.
56:36 Shout out to the Apostate Prophet. Apostate Prophet’s ban on twitter – The story of the spider that protected Abu Bakr.
59:00 Was Muhammad from Mecca or Petra? How academics is picking apart the narratives pushed by Sunni and Shia scholars. The importance of setting the stage when talking to ordinary Muslims.
1:08:02 Shout out to Sean Taseer. A quick recap of Salman Taseer’s story.
1:09:38 Continuation of the discussion on the biography of Muhammad and setting the scene for discussing this topic with Muslims.
1:11:40 The need for faith to believe religious claims – What is faith and how is it different from knowledge? Lack of written documentation from Muhammad’s time on the life Muhammad and problems with oral transmission of stories.
1:16:00 Converted Jews and Kafirs were the ones who started the compilation of the Quran and other Islamic written documents.
1:17:45 The lack of manuscript from Bukhari – How can we have confidence that the work attributed to him is accurate and his? The widespread use of weak hadith by Sunni Islamic scholars. Jordan Peterson and how his views on truth align with Muslims.
1:25:10 Are Christians better than Muslims? The Western world is backsliding to the dark ages because of religion and lack of skepticism. How Christianity uses the threat of eternal hell to gain submission from its followers. The Christian fetish for the apocalypse.
1:31:36 Why is it bigotry to say a Christian is better than a Muslim?
1:41:10 Thomas Jefferson – the Jefferson bible and his view on the supernatural. The military confrontation between the US and Muslims and how it culminated into the treaty of Tripoli.
1:47:50 Channel announcements.
1:48:22 Continuation of the discussion on the regressive values of Muslim nations. The Christology of Jesus – Bart Erhman.
1:51:20 Responding to the question “How do people know Buddha or any other God exist?”
1:52:30 Why is it important for Ali to engage in this form of activism?
1:57:25 The 30th anniversary of the Salman Rushdie fatwa and the changes that have happened since then. The importance of coming out as Ex-Muslims and non-religious/atheists and how to come out.
2:05:45 Ali’s social media handles and final remarks.


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