It's Your Own Self That Rewards and Punishes
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
14
September 2023
"Are rewards and punishments the only
thing life is all about? Did God create this magnificent universe and all
earthly creatures just in order to sit in judgment on man?"
A perceptive reader's comment
"It's your own self that rewards and
punishes. I don't know of any other agency or authority that does this."
Buddha (this quote is also attributed to
Mahavir)
This very
concept of a punitive god is so damn disgusting. You call your god the epitome
of love and also believe that it punishes you when you go awry. Ridiculously
ironic! Isn't it?
The idea of
divine rewards and punishments is the manifestation of a cult behaviour. Out of
Allah's 99 predominant names, two are redolent of a dreadful being up in some
obscure cranny of the sky: Al-Qahhar (The Subduer/The All-Prevailing One) and
Al-Jabbaar (The All-Compelling).
The
agnostic Albert Einstein would often say, "There're two Semitic religious
beliefs I've never believed in: Belief in a personal God and also in a
punishing god." This concept of a personal god is exclusive to
Christianity that makes you believe that once you accept Jesus as your Saviour,
he along with his heavenly Daddy (sorry, Father) and the Holy Ghost or Spirit
will be at your beck and call.
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Also
Read: Why Should
Allah Almighty Punish His Servants for Their Sins When Everything Happens as He
Wills?
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Humans,
with their limited vision and understanding, have envisaged god as their
celestial manifestation. So, all the traits’ humans are saddled with are
superimposed on a creation that was concocted by our prehistoric ancestors.
Rewarding
and punishing are typical human attributes. So, humans thought that god would
also behave just like them and reward for good deeds and punish for misdeeds.
What nonsense! This sounds so primitive. More or less, this notion of a
punishing god is prevalent in all faiths, though Quran and the Old Testament
have drilled it into the malleable brains of the asinine followers more
effectively.
Since
humans are still not fully evolved or developed, they constantly require some
sort of incentives and a constant fear of punishment to behave properly.
Projecting god as a draconian martinet is creating an image you cannot relate
to. An average human is too much worried about what'll happen after this life
and how god will treat him or her in an imaginary world. Why do you require
divine incentives and fear of punishment? Drink life to the lees. Be good to
others. Don't do anything that goes against your conscience. The voice of
conscience is the voice of god.
Do we
require a litany of abstruse eschatological explanations and exhortations to
live our lives? Do we require scriptural dictums and decrees for a
conscientious existence on earth? Can't we use our brains? Are we so vacuous?
Ask yourself.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/self-rewards-punishes/d/130670
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