By Rashid Samnakay, New Age Islam
On the face of it, it is a huge claim that ad-Deen ul Islam is NOT a Religion!
Why? Because:-
Religion has a ‘mother church’, it has an insular and particular ‘dogma’, a human-personality focus that as a ‘personality cult’ and it has professional hierarchy of graded Clergy and operatives- the Priests, and monarch is God's vice-regent upon the earth and therefore subject to no other earthly power.
Ad-Deen: It is argued here that none of the above is a part of Deen as given in Quran, which is its source Book.
A fleeting awareness of the history of the Doctrine of an invisible to the naked eye but visible to the mind’s eye, a Supreme Universal Authority that is to say, that-‘there is no god but God’-of the Quran, or ‘thou shall not worship any god but God’- of the Bible’ or that ‘Lord is only one, the only omnipresent’- of the Vedas, is the first tenet or commandment for humanity of ad-Deen-- the doctrine, the Code to follow.
Yet, Religious dogma and practices commonly observed among all peoples of Religion has become the very antithesis of Deen. The infinite attributes of the One Supreme God; many of which have been turned into manifestations of earthly men and women to be venerated, worshipped and obeyed!
The propagation of this doctrine was the major confrontation between all earthly ‘powers’, and the human intellectual freedom, as propagated by all the Messengers of God; of them many were named and others were not in the Book Quran 40-78.
Historically, in the Judeo-Christian Religions; the pioneer personality of this intense struggle against the triumvirate of the powers of King of his time, his own father the head Priest and a carver of idols, and the wealthy elite; was the Patriarch Abraham, the Khalil-friend of God of Quran. His concept of the singular Godhead was the true foundation of human struggle, for the establishment of oneness of nation-hood of mankind, in the Unitarianism of the Creator.
Since God did not in any way differentiate between any of His Messengers He subsequently sent 3-84, it is difficult then to accept that the likes of say, Solomon and David were ‘Kings’ in the normal sense of the word with divine and absolute power and at the same time were God’s Messengers. This difficulty is especially so, when they were also in the Patriarch’s own lineage.
Further down, in the lineage, the Messenger-brothers, Moses and Aaron too, did not accept the Pharaoh- the absolute god king, and his courtiers the priests and the capitalists as rulers over the people of Egypt and therefore the brothers and their people, sort of stood up to them to spread the message, and eventually had to flee the country, despite the immense un-natural powers of miracles attributed to Moses in religious folk lore!
Jesus too struggled for the same cause and tried to ‘turn the tables’ on this unholy tyranny of power; and so also did Muhammad of Arabia, the seal of the Messengers down the line who also put the struggle Jihad in practice in the same manner.
The common denominator therefore of the struggle is against the ‘imposed authorities – that of the kingship, the capitalists and the priest-hood. This trinity of subjugating powers usurps the freedom, particularly that of ‘thought’. The freedom, which gives humanity the right to choose between Right and Wrong, and to face the consequences of its choice according to the fixed universal laws.
Reference above was made to Judeo- Christian ‘Religions’ but Islam was not mentioned. This is deliberate; on the basis of the argument that in it the Triumvirate of Power-the parasites 9-34 that have re-evolved as religion are not acceptable to Islam, to give it the Arabic name. The trio of powers to issue commands is accepted today in all religions, including those of Muslims’ as God’s representative on Earth, in the name of Islam, muddies the pure waters as the Buddhist Reverend Bhikhu had said.
The pollution is therefore ‘religion’, surely so - the commands rests with God only 6-57.
The Book says that it is a “confirmation of the original message”-the Divine Revelations- given to all previous Messengers 10-37 & 37-37, that there is no associates/partners of God to form any cult of human personality or of any particular holy region nor holy language, be it from Judaea or Arabia or anywhere else.
Therefore Abrahamic Islam is Universal and not a monopoly of any one nation. Those who ‘believe and follow’ it are of Abraham’s nation 2-135 and Momin- believers. But those who claim to believe but do not follow it to the hilt are Munafique- hypocrites, that is, who preach one thing but practice the contrary. The common error therefore is of juxtaposing the word Islam and Religion and in wrapping the practitioners of both in one bundle. This is a complete contradiction!
The Muslim States which are officially designated as “Islamic States” and the majority Muslim peoples’ religious practices are good example of this contradiction! They all confess to belong to one or the other major Denomination euphemistically called ‘this Islam’ or ‘that Islam’, and follows the factions headed by a ‘personality’. This is categorically unacceptable to Quran 30-32.
Ad-Deen is concisely given in 97-5 as- “yet they were not commanded except to serve God sincerely and devotedly in Deen and to establish the divine system-Salat-(not the Churchy ritual worship) and pay the income-taxes- Zakat- (not the charity sort of religious tithe 2.5%), for this is the true Code”
It is the mindset, rituals and superstitions, and more importantly the limitations of the languages that when it comes to discuss the philosophy of a God-head and His God-hood, one has no word to translate the Arabic term ad-Deen except as “Religion”, unless one elaborates it as a ‘Constitution’ or ‘The Code’ for all human behaviour, for social interaction for ‘goodness’ sake. For example Zakat is translated as charity for ‘meritorious act’. Yet it implies that in order to acquire religious ‘merit’, there have to be a continuous existence of poverty and a class of poor people for the wealthy to acquire merit by being charitable. A complete contradiction of the establishing Zakat, the economic system of Deen! And many more examples--ad infinitum!
One example that comes close to explaining ‘Code’ may be given as the “Traffic Code” enacted by the State for ‘men and women’(yes?) road users and drivers to obey, so that one reaches one’s destination successfully and in complete peace and safety, which is the main aim of the code. Could a marketing expert and linguist come up with a suitable catchy acronym for ad-Deen to distance it away from the connection of Religion?
For brevity’s sake a table is presented here to justify the above claim with only a few quotes; with the acceptance of the possibility of errors of interpretation. Since ‘to err is human’:-
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Religious dogma |
The Code ad-Deen ul Islam |
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Religions and their dogma are man-made |
Deen’s code is God given only (6-57), 2-79 |
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The god-head has associates, and often many deities. |
God stands alone (107-1), has no partners 6-163. |
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Human Personalities are the Focus of Religions—Personality and regional cultism |
Only God is the focus in ad-Deen. Not Even Rusul (Messengers) have Divinity (18-110). |
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Religion’s “operatives”, that is, the Clergy are supposed to guide mankind to salvation |
Only God is the guide through Quran(10-35) via the Messenger’s message (21-45) |
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Religion divides humanity in various groups and creates grades, elites and status of false piety for mankind. |
Division is forbidden (6-159). Humanity is but one Division is forbidden 6-159. Humanity is but one Nation 10-19 and universally worthy of dignity17-70, hence no gradations |
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Religion considers Female gender much “less” than the male in all its capacities , capabilities and intelligence. |
Quran accepts Female biological deference but accords protection and all other rights of equally 3-195, 4-1, 4.34, 33-35, 49-13 etc. |
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Religions have edifices, that is, Houses of worship. And often have particular compass directions to face towards a region or city |
God is master, creator and protector (Rabb) of universe. He is in all directions and is not fixed in one particular abode (2-115 & 177) |
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Priests are often paid employees of the Church. Priesthood is trade, and a profession |
Requital for deeds is only with God (9-121). Messengers did not ask for payment (36-21) |
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There is often compulsion in the acceptance of Religious Dogma in order to belong to its church. |
There is No compulsion in Deen (2-256). One can opt out or in. But will suffer its consequences of its choice (4-137) |
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In Religion one is not to question its Dogma. If so non believer is branded a rejecter and a non-member of the Church |
In Deen, application of intelligence and conviction is a requirement ( 2-56, 25-73, 2-164) |
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Religion has its exclusive Sage. A personality cult is established around that person. Other Messengers are classified and graded lower. |
In Deen all previous Messengers AND Muhammad are considered equal and nodifference is made between them. (2-4, 3-84) |
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Religion can atone for its members’ sins by the intervention of its operatives even after death by performing holy rituals. |
In Deen one is responsible for one’s own actions (6-164). No one can atone for others (17-15) |
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In Religion one can often call on dead people for help and atonement. |
Except for God, none can provide any help (22-12). Dead people cannot hear (27-80) |
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In Religion, one can obtain holly merit by following its rituals. |
Requital is for all practical actions, good or bad, that result in the reactions (20-15). |
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In Religion ‘knowledge’ means knowledge of Religious dogma and rituals only. Scholars for example means Clergy/Priests. |
In Deen, knowledge is of universal phenomenon, and scholars are Ulema of Science (2-164, 35-28) |
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Summary
-Ad-Deen is not a religion; it has no organised ‘mother Church’ and hence no professional Clergy.
-Deen is for development and progress of humanity with practical actions, which is God’s worship.
-Any ‘Being’ associated with God nullifies ad-Deen hence no intermediate authority between human beings and God.
-God requites all our actions according to His fixed laws.
-After death the account is closed. Nothing can be added or subtracted from ones actions.
-In ad-Deen all humanity is one-nation and all are equally worthy of dignity.
-Knowledge of Universal laws that is science is of the essence for understanding God’s attributes and to acknowledge His presence.
A regular contributor to New Age Islam, Rashid Samnakay is an Indian-origin Engineer (Retd.) based in Australia for over forty years.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/ad-deen-quran-religion-one/d/8685