Islam was founded by Muhammad in 610AD and his revelations are recorded in the Koran. Muslims follow a set of traditions known as the Five Pillars, which are outlined by the Koran. Many Muslims also memorise the Koran, and Muslim males are circumcised at an early age. The Five Pillars of Islam are:

• Recitation of a very short creed several times a day, "There is no other god but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God."

• Praying five times a day (the Koran demands regular prayer, e.g. 2:3).

• Annual alms giving (e.g. 2:43).

• Fasting during the month of Ramadan (2:185).

• Making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime (2:196).

• The demands of the religion are straightforward, repeated several times and made very clear to Muslims. There is specific guidance for things like divorce (2:230) and dividing property between the relatives of people who have died (4:7-12). It defines a very specific lifestyle for its followers, and it is easy to know whether you are doing what the Koran says or not. This contrasts with other religions, which are often more difficult to understand and have vague, complex or unclear demands.

• The scripture is relatively short and repetitive. There is much less information in the Koran than the scriptures for religions such as Hinduism or Christianity. The Koran acts as a complete revelation, and does not demand that people should get additional information elsewhere. However, additional information is available in the Hadiths (sayings of Muhammad from oral tradition), and most Muslims use these in addition to the Koran. One good Hadith is, "There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm," but there are also harmful Hadiths such as, "The hand should be cut off for stealing," and, "If a Muslim discards his religion, kill him."

• Originally, Islam would have been appealing to women over native Arab Pagan beliefs. According to the footnote in the Koran translated by Abdel Haleem (used throughout this discussion) for verse 58:2, Pagan wives could be divorced with a word and would not be allowed to remarry. The Koran gives greater marriage rights to women (2:229), while still oppressing them in verses such as 2:228 (which says that husbands have a degree of right over their wives), 4:11 (which gives women reduced inheritance rights), 4:34 (which encourages men to hit their wives) and 24:31 (the origin of the Islamic head-scarf).

• The Koran permits divorce (e.g. 4:20), remarriage (e.g. 33:37) and polygamy (e.g. 4:3), which appeals to male sexuality.

• It is against adultery (e.g. 17:32) and immorality (e.g. 4:15 and 4:24); this also appeals to men because it conveys ownership of women. The head scarf is an outward sign of a woman who is owned by a man (no other man is even allowed to look at her). In addition, the Koran specifies that women must promise not to lie about who fathers their children (60:12). Protectiveness and the desire to own women stems from the genetic need for a man to father his own children and pass on his genes to the next generation. Women suspected of adultery can be challenged to ask Allah to abandon them if they lie about it (24:7; this is similar to a test in the Old Testament book of Numbers, chapter 5). For women who have committed adultery and really believe in Islam, this means a choice between being hit 100 times (24:2) or facing the agonizing torment threatened by the Koran (e.g. 3:21 and 4:14).

• The Koran may appeal to male aggression and violent emotion because there are many verses that demand fighting.

This relationship appears to exist between Allah (the dominant male) and his male followers. Allah declares himself to be the best protector (e.g. 22:78), and his apparent masculinity may also appeal to women. Allah proclaims himself to be an all-powerful benevolent god who gives his followers favours such as life, livestock and prosperity (e.g. 16:1-11). Allah claims to be so powerful that he can do as he pleases, and if he doesn't like what people do, then he threatens to throw them into the fire of hell for an eternal and painful torment (e.g. 22:57). Allah does what he wants, including giving contradictory food restrictions to Jews and Muslims (6:146 and 16:118), arbitrarily guiding just a small section of the population (e.g. 13:31), creating disasters when he wants to test or punish people (e.g. 2:155), and claims to be able to wipe out the whole of creation if he feels like it, and replace it with a completely different one (14:19). Allah constantly complains that humans are very ungrateful for his benevolence (e.g. 22:66).

There are many features of Allah that portray him as a dominant male:

• His general attitude is that of a powerful and irresponsible male dictator. For example, he claims to be all-knowing and all-seeing (e.g. 8:53), carefully monitors people to see if they follow his laws (e.g. 3:153) and says that he keeps a comprehensive record of their activities (e.g. 50:4). In my opinion, the Koran's description of a spiritual Big Brother resembles the Stasi secret police in East Germany after the Second World War. He has an army of angels to spy on people, and they will be the ones to accuse people on the Last Day (50:21). Allah is portrayed as a very generous god (e.g. 16:1-11), who is very merciful and forgiving (e.g. 1:1), but will not tolerate Muslims worshipping other gods (e.g. 4:116). He constantly complains about ingratitude (e.g. 2:243) and is willing to punish people (e.g. 10:50). "We gave them this, we gave them that, but they were ungrateful so we killed them all" is a sentiment that is repeated many times in many different ways (e.g. 17:69 and 34:16-17). However, both men and women may associate with this style of thinking, because this is how powerful dictatorial men behave.

• Allah's army of thousands of angels are said to be available to help people to fight his cause (3:125 and 8:9), and Allah claims to help Muslims on many battlefields (9:25). However, later in the Koran, people start complaining to Muhammad that they do not appear (15:7).

  Allah also claims to be a protector of his followers (e.g. 2:286). However, this does not explain why non-Islamic Western nations control most of the world's wealth. The relative poverty of Islamic countries may be partially due to Islamic theology. The Koran advocates archaic punishments, a lack of freedom, a ban on lending money to receive interest (2:276), and directing people's time into prayer, reducing their ability to create wealth. It shows that verses such as "wrongdoers [non-Muslims] never prosper" (12:23) are highly questionable.

• The Koran states that there is a rank in heaven (e.g. 6:132), and that there are seven heavens in total (e.g. 17:44). Allah says that he can give you power (e.g. 35:10) and prosperity (e.g. 5:100) or an eternity of painful and humiliating torment (e.g. 22:57). He claims to have absolute power over your life (e.g. 16:70), and attempts to become your absolute dictator. He says that there will be no one there to help people if they are thrown into hell (e.g. 3:192 and 29:25), which encourages people to take all the help they can get from the Koran. He says that the unguided know nothing (2:170), whereas those who are guided by the Koran are claimed to be able to distinguish between right and wrong (2:185).

• Muslims are required to fight in support of Islamic ideals if necessary (e.g. 4:101, 8:39, 9:14, 9:29 and 47:4). This obligation is sometimes referred to as the 'Sixth Pillar of Islam'. The Koran implies that Jihad is a defensive or retaliatory war against a group of people who persecute Muslims; all Muslims are called to fight all members of that group if Jihad is justifiable from the Koran. The incentive for doing so is the promise of eternal happiness (e.g. 3:169). According to the Koran, non-Muslims who do not persecute Muslims should be treated fairly and justly (60:8). By contrast, some of the Hadiths suggest that Jihad is an offensive war to conquer and convert non-Muslims (e.g. Sahih Bukhari: 1:2:24, 4:52:65 and 4:52:196; Sahih Muslim 1:31 and 20:4684; Sunan Abu Dawud 8:2635). The Hadiths were finalised during times of Islamic conquests.

  The Koran claims that the time of a person's death is predestined, such that it is unaffected by abstaining from fighting (3:154, 3:168, 6:2, 7:34 and 33:16). The life expectancy of Muslims in countries such as Pakistan are around the world average, yet the Koran seems to demand that they fight against British people because our armed forces are fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If the idea of a predestined death for Muslims were correct, then their life expectancy would be expected to be much shorter. The Koran encourages people to threaten those who refuse to participate in Jihad with hell (9:81).

  Abrogation is where a verse in the Koran can invalidate another one that has a contradictory meaning. I have not taken abrogation into account because different Islamic scholars have different interpretations. Most think that peaceful verses abrogate violent ones, but some think that the opposite is true. For example, some people believe that verse 9:5 invalidates peaceful verses such as 2:256 ("there is no compulsion in religion").

  9:5: "When the [four] forbidden months are over, wherever you encounter the idolaters, kill them, seize them, besiege them, wait for them at every lookout post; but if they turn [to God], maintain the prayer and pay the prescribed alms, let them go on their way, for God is most forgiving and merciful."

  In the context of the scripture, this verse refers to an instruction to kill a specific group of people in retaliation. It also advocates forced conversions, which have occurred during the history of Islam. Abrogation stems from Muhammad himself, because he would change his revelations over time. This may be because he was told to do this, or because he forgot parts of the text. Allah claims that he causes some revelations to be forgotten in 2:106, and Islamic scholars also use 16:101 to justify abrogation. Some Islamic scholars do not believe that any verses have been abrogated, and this is how I read the Koran.

• Allah creates arbitrary rules to distinguish people who are destined for heaven from those who are destined for hell. This accentuates his all-powerful nature, and his freedom to do what he wants. He gives conflicting dietary restrictions to Jews and Muslims. In 16:118, the rules for the Jews are claimed to be inferior, which implies that the Koran is a source of more accurate information than the Old Testament.

  The main difference between a Muslim and a Westerner is prayer and fasting, because both give alms through taxation; there is little difference between Islamic alms and Western social welfare systems. Why should prayer and fasting make a Muslim worthy of eternal happiness, while a lack of prayer and fasting consigns an agnostic Westerner to an eternal painful torment, even though he or she probably pays something similar to alms to the government through taxation? The rules set out by the Koran act as an unfair and unreasonable method to discriminate between people, and they justify neither the threats of hell nor the promised benefits of heaven. The same can be said for the rules set out by St. Paul for Christians – the ability to believe that someone died on the cross for the remission of sins cannot justify any favourable treatment by God over anyone else.

• In addition to creating arbitrary rules, Allah also views different sins with different degrees of disdain. Adultery and theft have severe punishments (24:2 and 5:38), persecution of Islam is stated to be worse than killing (2:217), idolatry and rejecting Muhammad cannot be forgiven (e.g. 4:116 and 9:80), but other sins such as food restrictions are not policed as strictly (5:3); some sins are accompanied by the phrase 'God is most merciful and forgiving' (e.g. killing: 28:15-16), which implies that people can sin in certain ways and expect to be forgiven.

• There are many people who Allah claims not to love. Allah does not love people who overstep the limits (2:190), people who ignore Muhammad (3:32), evildoers (3:57), the treacherous (4:107), those who sin (4:107), the arrogant (16:23), the unfaithful (22:38), the ungrateful (22:38), people who spread corruption (28:77) or the boastful (31:18). He does not guide everyone (e.g. 13:31), and he gives conflicting laws to Jews and Muslims. Despite the poor laws given to Jews, the Koran says that they wronged themselves (16:118). Wronging yourself is another phrase repeated throughout the Koran (e.g. 30:9), and creates the impression that the refusal to follow Islam is the equivalent of self-injury.

The 'psychological prison' is created using repetitiveness. All of the main themes in the Koran are repeated several times, including Bible stories about punishment, threats of a painful torment (e.g. 9:79), the idea that Allah is an all-knowing, all-powerful entity (e.g. 9:78) and that Satan is their sworn enemy (e.g. 2:168). The repetitive nature of the book implants the Koran's threatening message deep within the psyche of the reader. Muslims are warned again and again about the threat of an eternal and painful torment. They are told again and again to pray, fast and give alms. This effect is made even more potent by the tradition of memorising the text; children are taught to do this in Islamic schools. Memorising text requires that it be recited many times, so an average Muslim will be warned thousands of times of a painful and humiliating torment for not following Islam. The repetitive nature of the religion is also expressed by the Five Pillars. The Koran advocates that people should sleep little and pray a lot (51:17-18), and admires some followers for praying for up to two thirds of the night (73:20). Such long prayers are probably repetitive to fill in the time. Muslims are also required to recite a short creed several times a day, to reaffirm their belief that Muhammad is the prophet of Allah. The Five Pillars become habitual because they are performed so often, and habits are very difficult to break. The result is that people spend a huge amount of time performing rituals and memorising the text, and are kept as 'prisoners' by the Koran.

The threat of a painful torment is not hypothetical, because the Koran creates violent laws with which to subjugate the Islamic people. For example, it declares that the punishment for theft is to cut off a person's hands (5:38). The punishment for persecution is cutting off a hand and foot, crucifixion or banishment from the land (5:33). Persecution does not need to be a physical act – it can include blasphemy, such as saying something against Muhammad. At the time of writing, a British teacher in Sudan was arrested for blasphemy and given a prison sentence because she allowed a seven-year old pupil to name a teddy bear 'Muhammad'. The punishment for adultery is to be hit 100 times (24:2). Other violent laws include the eye for an eye punishment from the Old Testament (5:45), vengeance killing (17:33) and it encourages men to hit their wives (4:34). It promotes cruelty to animals by requiring that they be bled to death (6:145), and some translations of the Koran encourage animal sacrifices (e.g. 22:32). The Koran implicitly accepts slavery (e.g. 2:221).

Like Pauline theology, the Koran constantly justifies itself. It says that Satan is the sworn enemy of Muslims on many occasions (e.g. 6:142), implying that the source of the Koran is not a harmful spiritual entity. It uses Bible stories to show that other messengers of God have been persecuted and doubted just like Muhammad. It also claims that Muhammad was predicted by earlier scriptures, and quotes Jewish acceptance of him as their promised Messiah (26:196-197). The Koran falsely quotes Jesus as saying that Muhammad would come after him (61:6) and implies that Jesus would not disdain a messenger of God such as Muhammad (4:172). In fact, Jesus warned against the coming of prophets such as Muhammad (e.g. Mark 13:6). The Koran implies that believing its message is using reasoning (10:100), and that people have been given clear proof of its validity (3:86). It challenges followers of other religions to provide proof for their religions (18:15) and insists that the Koran could only have been devised by God (10:37). There is evidence to suggest that the Koran has a supernatural origin, but this does not mean that it has come from a beneficial spiritual entity; critics of Muhammad suggested that he was possessed (44:14), which is supported by the observations that were made when he received his revelations. People heard a humming noise around Muhammad when he was receiving his revelations, and he would sweat even on cold days.

Muhammad could not read; he was not educated and probably would not have been able to invent a theology as complex as Islam. The Koran refers to the Old Testament on numerous occasions, even to very obscure stories such as David and the little ewe lamb in chapter 38 (the corresponding reference in the Bible is the second book of Samuel, chapter 12). The Old Testament would have been virtually inaccessible to an illiterate Arab.

Muhammad had a disturbed childhood. His father died before he was born and his mother died when he was six years old. He went into the care of his grandfather who died when Muhammad was eight. He then went into the care of his uncle, who was a trader. Muhammad was taken on trade missions, and did not have a stable home life. Muhammad also became a trader, and for the first time, he would have had some stability in his life. It therefore seems very unlikely that he would have invented the Koran, because it served to bring him persecution and instability.

He became married to a woman who was fifteen years older than him. They married when he was 25 and she was 40, which suggests two things; (a) that he was looking for a new mother, seeking some stability that he never had during his childhood. This strongly suggests that he would not have sought to create a new religion. (b) that he was easily to manipulate; men usually marry women who are younger than themselves, because their primary motivation is sex, and younger women are generally thought to be more attractive (from a genetic perspective, younger women are preferred because they are more likely to bear healthy children, increasing the chance for a man to pass on his genes to the next generation). Becoming married to a much older woman suggests naivety and susceptibility to manipulation. Similarly, he may have been an easy target for manipulation by spiritual interactions.

The Koran came directly from an entity claiming to be the Angel Gabriel. He commanded Muhammad to recite three times, and squeezed him hard when Muhammad said that he could not read. The angel then told him to memorise the text. This is the origin of modern day memorising of the Koran. It makes the Koran unusual, because most scriptures are written by people rather than a spiritual entity dictating scripture directly. Another example of spiritually-derived scripture is Pauline theology, and there are some similarities between the Koran and Paul's letters.

The bulk of the Koran is as follows:

• The nature of Allah, as an all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful god.

• The threat of a painful torment contrasted with the promise of heaven.

• The theme of punishment for disobedience and idolatry.

• Muhammad as a new messenger in a long line of messengers (e.g. 6:84 and 33:7).

• The persecution of Muhammad being similar to the persecution of people like Jesus (2:87).

• The Five Pillars.

• Fighting and killing persecutors.

• The Old Testament stories and related Arabic stories. The Arabic stories (e.g. 7:73-79 and 7:85-93) are used to imply that Allah has been active before Muhammad in Arabic communities in addition to Jewish communities. This assertion is stated in 3:137.

• Abraham is held up as a man with perfect faith (e.g. 2:130, 3:95, 4:125, 6:161 and 19:41), hence Muslim males are circumcised, a painful ritual that emphasizes the suffering inflicted by the Koran.

• The Koran gains credibility from the Old Testament Bible stories. However, there is a recurring theme that Allah has moved away from the Jews because of their idolatry and the rejection of messengers that were sent to them (e.g. 5:70-71 and 5:78-81) and makes negative statements about Jews and Christians (e.g. 5:51, which calls them wrongdoers).

• The Bible stories are used to re-iterate Koranic themes, and several stories with similar meanings are often found together (e.g. chapters 26, 37 and 51 of the Koran):
  • The story of the flood of Noah is used to imply that idolatrous people were killed (e.g. 7:64), and supports the Koran's assertion that Allah is willing to punish idolatry.

  • The story of the Golden Calf is used to emphasize the idolatry of the Jews. Allah implies that the Jews broke their covenant (e.g. 4:153-161) and has turned to the Arabs for more faithful worshippers.

  • The story of the plagues against Egypt is used to create the impression that Allah has the power to punish people who do not believe messengers like Moses and Muhammad (e.g. 7:127-136 and 8:52).

  • Sodom is claimed to have been destroyed because of homosexual immorality (e.g. 7:80-81). Lot is emphasized as a messenger for the people of Sodom, but he is not portrayed as a messenger in the Bible.

  • Elijah (37:123), Jonah (37:139) and Joseph (40:34) are also used as examples of messengers like Muhammad.

  • The story of Job and the restoration of his wealth is used as a sign of Allah's mercy (38:43).

  • Stories about the persecution of Jesus (e.g. 2:87) and the disbelief of Moses (e.g. 40:24 and 51:39) are told to discourage people from doing the same to Muhammad.

  • The story of creation is used to emphasize the power of Allah, the origin of Satan and the results of Adam's sin that came from listening to Satan (e.g. 7:22).

• The Old Testament characters are quoted to have made Koranic statements. This serves to repeat the Koran's messages in addition to gaining credibility by implying that the theology has existed for hundreds of years. For example, Moses is quoted to have warned people not to lie about God (20:61), which is emphasized by the Koran as being one of the worst sins (e.g. 11:18). In 12:5, Jacob is quoted to have said, "Satan is man's sworn enemy," which is stated elsewhere in the Koran (e.g. 2:168). In 12:38, Joseph is quoted to have mentioned man's ingratitude to God, which is a recurring Koranic theme (e.g. 39:7). In 12:83, Jacob is quoted to have said that God is all-knowing and all-wise (also found in 4:24). Jesus is quoted to have supported Koranic alms-giving (19:31).

• Aspects of the Old Testament stories are told in greater specific detail in the Koran, perhaps to give the impression that the Koran is more accurate than the Old Testament. It includes many adjectives to describe personality traits such as "walking shyly" (28:25) and "a strong, trustworthy man" (28:26), which are not found in the Old Testament. The Old Testament only describes what people do, and does not give details about their personalities. There are some minor differences between the Koran's version of events and those in the Bible, and the Koran sometimes tells new stories about the Old Testament characters (e.g. 18:71). One unlikely story is that of Joseph, who the Koran claims to have been proven innocent, but was then thrown into prison (12:35). Other questionable ideas in the Koran include the army of angels that fight for Muslims, the idea that a Muslim's time of death will not be affected whether they fight or not, and the idea that non-Muslims never prosper. In addition, Solomon's illness (38:34) is not mentioned in the Bible. Solomon is a major character in the Bible; if he had been ill, then it would be expected to have been recorded like king Hezekiah's illness (2 Kings 20:1). Another questionable statement is 29.41, which says that a spider's home is the frailest of all houses; in fact, spider silk is as strong as steel, more elastic and less dense.

  Despite referring to the Old Testament stories, the Koran is not included in a book with the Old Testament like the Gospels are. This is perhaps because the Koran implies that the Jewish Law is inaccurate in comparison with itself. The Gospels may not be included because the Koran states that Jesus was specifically for the Jews (e.g. 43:59).

Throughout the Koran, there are positive statements that encourage people to do good. The positive statements include:

• The need to give alms and promoting charitable giving (e.g. 9:60).

• Defending the rights of orphans and the poor (e.g. 2:83).

The Koran constantly emphasizes the need for forgiveness from Allah, when forgiveness should only be relevant for interactions between people. In addition, the Koran implies that the only person that you can wrong is yourself. The true nature of sin is omitted (i.e. an action or inaction that causes suffering to another person); instead there is a set of arbitrary rules, with penalties (such as fasting) for breaking them.

Jesus is mentioned many times in the Koran. The Koran does not deny Jesus himself, but it does deny things that are of particular importance to followers of Pauline Christianity. For example, it says that Allah has no children (e.g. 6:100, 10:68, 19:88, 21:26, 72:3 and 112:3), that there is no Trinity (4:171 and 5:73), that there is nothing joined to or partners with God (e.g. 16:3, 30:33, 35:40 and 39:65), that Jesus was not the Messiah (e.g. 5:17 and 5:72), that he was only mortal (5:75) and that he did not die on the cross (4:157). The Koran claims that Jesus made a bird out of clay, breathed on it and turned it into a real bird (e.g. 5:110). It also claims that he spoke just after being born (19:30). Miracles like these would have been very memorable, but have not been recorded in any of the Gospels. The Koran claims that the Jews thought that Ezra was the son of God (9:30), although there is no evidence for this in the book of Ezra; the Koran compares the Jews and Ezra with Christians and Jesus. It does not deny that Jesus was created without a father, but it does deny that God was his father; verse 19:35 claims that God says 'Be' and it is, and no family relationship is present. Lying about God is portrayed to be the worst thing someone can do (11:18); since churchgoers claim that they worship the Son of God, then Muslims probably view them to be lying about God and are therefore deemed to be Satanic. Similarly, 59:16 claims that it is Satan who tells Muslims not to believe in Allah. The Hadiths (oral tradition) also talk about Jesus; Muslims believe that the second coming of Jesus will involve him destroying the cross and uniting all people as Muslims.

The Koran appears to be particularly offensive to Catholics (Catholicism was the official Christian religion when the Koran was written). It makes an implied criticism of the worship of Mary as an equal to God (Mary is given special importance in Catholicism), and quotes Jesus denying that he is the Son of God (5:116). However, it is not important that Muslims do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God; his identity is not important. His commandment, "love your neighbour as yourself," is an all all-encompassing statement that is directed towards reducing suffering. The Koran does not try to deny the teachings of Jesus; it omits them completely and sidelines him as an example sent by God specifically for the Jews (e.g. 43:59) to verify the Old Testament (e.g. 5:46). The activities of Jesus are therefore claimed to be identical to the purpose of the Koran.

The idea that Jesus came only for the Jews is a false argument that is evident from the popularity of Jesus with non-Jews throughout the world. When Muhammad received his revelation, Christianity had been accepted by the non-Jewish Roman Empire. Muslims sometimes quote Mathew 5:17, 10:5 and 15:24 to support this viewpoint. Matthew was a Jew, so his Gospel may be biased towards Jews. The same is not true of the Gospel of Luke, who was a Gentile. A Gentile Gospel is evidence that Jesus was not restricted to the Jews, and Jesus sent his followers to non-Jewish villages (e.g. Luke 9:52).

The Koran is directed against the traditional view of Jesus through its teachings against any form of idolatry, especially where anything is associated with God as an equal. It also warns that Satan threatens Muslims with the prospect of poverty (2:268). One does becomes poor if we choose to give up all we have in the way that Jesus advocates; the Koran is opposed to this teaching. The Koran denies the nature of sin (53:38) and incorrectly states that Christians offer to bear the sins of others in 29:12. Those who follow Jesus are not asking to bear the sins of others; teaching people to love their neighbour as themselves means that they can reduce each other's suffering. In my opinion, the main benefit for followers of Islam would be freedom from any oppression that is caused by the Koran.

There are many associations made between Satan and non-Muslims. For example, 43:62 says that Satan is the sworn enemy of Muslims in the middle of a passage that talks about Jesus. However, Satan is quoted as saying that he would not test followers of Islam (15:40-42). This reinforces the idea that anything non-Islamic is Satanic (16:63).

The Koran suggests that Christians invented the monastic life (57:27), which has led to some Muslims suggesting that Paul is the most likely source of the Christian 'Antichrist'. However, Christians have discounted this possibility because the Koran is offensive to their beliefs.

In conclusion, the Koran appears to be a negative spiritual response to the Gospel message. It is similar to the Old Testament, but with much greater emphasis on prayer and fasting. The Koran is directly responsible for a high level of suffering and oppression among its followers due to the time-consuming prayers and harsh punishments for breaking Islamic laws.