Resurrect Mutual Religious Respect - Do Not Redefine, Abuse and Find Fault with Other Religions and Sects
By
Arman Neyazi, New Age Islam
10 August
2021
Mutual
Religious Respect Will Introduce the World with the Ethics of Pluralism That Is
Ingrained With Love and Brotherhood
Main
Points:
1. The most
heinous crime that humankind is engaged in these days is that of finding faults
with other’s religions and sects.
2. Our
religious leaders and the human rights organisations should have applied a
brake to at the very first instance of finding fault with other religions and
sects, but they did not. In fact many religious leaders actually encourage it.
3. Counting
reasons behind the fast-spreading contempt for other religions and hatred for
other religious and sectarian communities now is nothing but wasting time.
4. The social
organisations fighting for the religious rights of the people seem to have gone
bereft of ideas on how to bring the situation back to normalcy.
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Photo courtesy: archive.thedailystar.net
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The most
heinous crime that humankind is engaged in these days is that of finding faults
with other people’s religions. This is one thing that our religious leaders and
the human rights organisations should have applied a brake to at the very first
instance but they did not. Counting reasons behind the fast-spreading hatred
for religions now is nothing but wasting time. Some among us even played with
the idea and used the occasion to divide the communities into faith lines and
rules. Now, this has taken a mountainous form underneath a volcano to erupt and
destroy humanity.
Those who
were and still are busy baking their bread in the destructive religious fire
engulfing the world are still to understand the consequences it has
generated. The social organisations
fighting for the religious rights of the people seem to have gone bereft of
ideas of bringing the situation back to normalcy. Had they had the minimal idea
of the shape religious hatred, they are creating, will take, perhaps, had not
done this. The wave of religious hatred has reached nook and corner of the
world but no problem cannot be solved. It is said that Allah creates the solution
before the advent of a problem.
To decimate
the fire of religious hatred humankind will have to search for the solution in
the religious epics, sayings of the prophets, the incarnations and the Sufis
and Saints, Rishis and Munis. It is a known fact that destructive forces are
more powerful than constructive ones but ultimately one gets Allah’s help in
everything good that His creation does. Therefore, bringing the mutual
religious and faith respect back to normalcy will be tough but fruitful.
Mutual religious
and faith respect will introduce the world to the ethics of pluralism that is
ingrained with love and brotherhood. Our baseless hatred for others has sucked
the beauty of the world and turned it into a jungle at the fire.
The
destructive forces forced us into finding faults in our religions and faith,
knowing well that religion is a part of our life and that humanity can be
divided and pierced into pieces only with religious hatred seated in the hearts
of those who matter. We submitted ourselves to the irreligious practices of
abusing and finding faults in one another’s religions and it’s social and
cultural teachings.
In Islam
they went after the war verses, knowing well that these are related to the
times of their revelations such as the verses of the Bible and Shlokas of the
Mahabharata and Bhagwad Geeta. Their dirty trick worked because the targeted
common man is unknown to the fact. The common man will have to be taught about
their respective religious epic’s teachings of peace and respect for other’s
religions and their duties towards their Creator.
Every
Potter Praises His Pot
There is a
saying in Hindi, ‘अपनी दही को कोई खट्टा नहीं कहता’, and it means every one of us
praises its belongings no matter how bad it is. Religions and religious ethos
are embedded in our personality and we live our lives with them. Abusing and
attacking one’s religion is taken as abusing and attacking our lives. This,
therefore, is but natural that the human being defends its religion with all
its might. This weakness of ours is put to use against us and we are almost
divided into various social sects and have become a toy in the hands of the
people misusing us for their petty political benefits.
No religion
is against any other religion and all the religions have the same essence of
brotherhood and love among the people. As the saying goes, 'as we sow, as we
reap', if we want others to respect our religions and our religious cultural
ethic, we will have to first apply this to ourselves. Our respect for other
religions will bring other's respect to our religion and it will ultimately
diminish the social differences that will bring an end to 'us' and 'they'.
Abrahamic
faiths are continuity to Islam. Followers of these faiths are the ‘people of
the Book’. Consider the following Ayat from the Holy Quran that describes Jews
and Christians who believe in God and the Last Day will be rewarded.
“Surely those who believe, and those who are
Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians — whoever believes in God and the
Last Day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord. And there
will be no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.” (The Holy Quran 2:62)
Quranic
Ayat Advocating Respect among Religions
“Do not
abuse those whom they worship besides Allah” (6:109)
“We
believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our God and
your God is One, and to Him, we have submitted” (29:46)
“And had
your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So,
will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers.” (Yunus:99)
“O you
who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah and be just witnesses and let not the
enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. ... Al-Maidah:8)
"And
[recall] when We took your covenant, [O Children of Israel, to abide by the
Torah] and We raised over you the mount, [saying], "Take what We have
given you with determination and remember what is in it that perhaps you may
become righteous." -Quran, 2:63
.... and
you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say,
"We are Christians." That is because among them are priests and monks
and because they are not arrogant." -Quran, 5:82
"And
say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and
whoever wills - let him disbelieve." .... -Quran, 18:29
“…and
nearest among them in love to the believers will you find those who say, ‘We
are Christians,’ because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who
have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant” (The Holy Quran 5:82)
"Say
(to people): Obey Allah and obey the Messenger. But if you turn away, he is
responsible for the duty imposed on him, and you are responsible for the duty
imposed on you. And if you obey him, you go aright. And the Messenger's duty is
only to deliver (the message) plainly." -Quran, 24:54
Prophet
Muhammad Pbuh on various occasions has displayed his pluralistic norms and has
asked people to respect and safeguard other religions and faith. Consider the
following Hadees:
“Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a
non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than
they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will; I (Prophet
Muhammad) will complain against the person on the Day of Judgment.” (Abu Dawud)
Consider
the following letter by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) written to protect Christian
Monks of St. Catherine's Monastery that is the oldest monastery in the world:
"This
letter contains the oath given unto them [the monks of St. Catherine's
Monastery], and he who disobeys that which is therein will be considered a
disbeliever and a transgressor to that whereunto he is commanded. He will be
regarded as one who has corrupted the oath of God, disbelieved His Testament,
rejected His Authority, despised His Religion, and made himself deserving of
His Curse, whether he is a Sultan or any other believer of Islam. Whenever
Christian monks, devotees and pilgrims gather together, whether in a mountain
or valley, or den, or frequented the place, or plain, or church, or in houses
of worship, verily we are [at the] back of them and shall protect them, and
their properties and their morals, by Myself, by My Friends and by My
Assistants, for they are of My Subjects and under My Protection.
I shall
exempt them from that which may disturb them; of the burdens which are paid by
others as an oath of allegiance. They must not give anything of their income
but that which pleases them—they must not be offended, or disturbed, or coerced
or compelled. Their judges should not be changed or prevented from
accomplishing their offices, nor the monks disturbed in exercising their
religious order, or the people of seclusion be stopped from dwelling in their
cells.
No one is
allowed to plunder these Christians, or destroy or spoil any of their churches,
or houses of worship, or take any of the things contained within these houses
and bring it to the houses of Islam. And he who takes away anything therefrom
will be one who has corrupted the oath of God, and, in truth, disobeyed His
Messenger."
-Ashtiname
of Muhammad
Respect Religion Quotes Mahatma Gandhi
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Redefining
Religions – an Impossible Task
We find it
difficult to define and redefine the philosophies of the human being who are
one among us, how it is even though that we are capable of redefining our or
theirs religions. To define something one has to understand the soul of the
matter. If the soul of the religions is understood, the redefinition will not
be needed. It will be good, therefore, for us to understand all the religions
that we talk of redefining. Religious epics are the constitution of the
religions concerned. And these religious constitutions are not man-made that
can be thought of as redefining the meanings and their ethos. These
constitutions are divinely written rules and regulations of living a dignified
life that is full of the essence of all the positivities one can even think of
for a life full of divine virtues.
We,
therefore, need to redefine our thoughts and acts viz a viz our fellow beings
and burn our evil thoughts of religious enmity. It is an enormous
responsibility but worth taking into consideration as it has affected our
generation and will affect more horrendously if not tackled at the earliest.
There are
differences in thoughts and ways of worship among the religions but these need
not be a source of worry. These differences among the religious beliefs and the
differences of colour and stature among the people are the beauty of the world.
These differences should not come in the way of the world pluralistic ideals.
As Allah, the Most Gracious says in the Holy Quran:
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male
and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another.
Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of
you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. - Surah
Al-Hujurat - 13
For you is your faith, and for me, my faith.” - Surah Al-Kafirun – 6
In Allah’s
plan of work, ‘made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another is the
most beautiful ethic of bringing different cultures together. We have used this
for our evil designs that have brought humanity on the verge of ethical
collapse. We realise it sooner the better.
And
Allah Knows the Best.
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Arman
Neyazi is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/religions-sect-faith/d/125201
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