With such a liberal, abstract and immeasurable definition of religion, I wonder why Allah Almighty revealed not one but four plus holy scriptures; Zabur (Psalms), Torah (Bible – Old Testament), Injil (Bible – New Testament) and the Quran, with the Quran alone having six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six holy verses. In addition, there are at least six major books of Hadith comprising of at least four thousand Sahih Ahadith which serve as one of the four sources of Islamic jurisprudence by which Islamic injunctions are derived. Could not Allah Almighty have revealed just one paragraph about nobleness and virtue such as the one written above?
The problem is that some of us find religion a nuisance because basically we ourselves are a nuisance. Just like classroom backbenchers hate rules and regulations and discipline in studies, we too hate rules and regulations and discipline in life. The prophets and monitors irritate us and we speak ideas and dialogues which make them and their followers appear unintelligent, uncool and not fun.
And we strive to get the rest of the crowd, who are half-baked Muslims with an unsure ideology, on our side by appealing to their sense of ‘complete freedom’, whereas this entire universe and everything within exists, balances and is running because of mutual bindings and rules and regulations. We are able to walk on this Earth because our body and this Earth mutually obey the divine rule of gravity. The rain falls because the seas and the winds obey the divine rule of evaporation. We live because our heart works tirelessly round the clock pumping blood in and out of our veins. But, we human beings, being the highest and most honored creation as said by Allah Almighty, feel ‘too tired’ to pray only five times a day and have the audacity to speak our opinion in opposition to Allah Almighty’s Commandment and deem prayers as unimportant and useless. And so on with the rest of the commandments of religion.
The seculars and the atheists and the half-baked Muslims say, ‘Does Allah Almighty need our prayers, our fasts, or Hajj?’ They say, ‘Does Islam lie in the folds of a beard or a veil?’ They say, ‘It is human rights which really matter…’ While it is they themselves who are at the heart of imperialism, capitalism, weapon industry, agriculture control, abortions, usury and such viles. These social, political and economic systems grossly violate human rights and ethical values, but because these systems suit their base desires, they turn a blind eye to the cruel consequences of these corrupt and unIslamic systems.
Yes, it is true that human rights are very important and Allah Almighty has Himself proclaimed human rights as more important than Allah Almighty’s Rights, but that does not mean that Allah Almighty’s Rights become totally null and void. Secondly, Allah Almighty has said that I might forgive unfulfilled Divine Rights but the forgiveness of Human Rights will rest on the aggrieved human alone. Mind you, for the first part, Allah Almighty has said ‘might’ and has not made a binding promise of forgiveness. Finally, forgiveness in for the one who beseeches forgiveness and not for those who assume forgiveness or make a play out of sin and forgiveness.
Since we do not want to practice religion, we have come up with this brilliant theory of Bill Gates of Religion. Bill Gates is a genius, a computer wizard and a brilliant business tycoon of the 21st century. He is the innovator who has brought about the revolution of personal computers in every home worldwide and for years has consistently ranked among the richest people of the world. However, the punch-line is that he was a college drop-out!
He did not complete his Harvard University studies, yet he has been able to make it big in this world both in terms of money as well as professional knowledge. As seculars and atheists and half-interested Muslims, we aspire to become the Bill Gates of religion.
We want to be a religion drop-out. We want to drop-out of religious formalities and bindings and do’s and dont’s and yet achieve raving success in this world and the Hereafter.
We take a religious sanction on it from religion itself through narrating rare Ahadith such as the follows.
There was once a prostitute. She came upon a dog that was very thirsty. Its tongue was lolling out in thirst. The prostitute felt pity. She took off her sock, climbed down a nearby well, filled it with water and brought it up for the dog to drink from. The dog drank his fill. Allah Almighty admitted this prostitute to Jannah for her rare kindness.
It is true that despite immense sins, Allah Almighty might admit us to Jannah for one simple act of kindness. On the other hand, it is also true that despite immense religiousness, Allah Almighty might throw us in Hell for one stray wrongdoing. But we do not want to think about that. We want to focus on the first part only. We want to think of Allah Almighty as being Al-Gafoor (The Forgiver) and Al-Raheem (The Merciful) only because this one-sided theory is very comfortable and gives us a free hand to do as we please.
We take examples of such people who never bothered to study the Holy Quran and Ahadith and do not act on religion in the conventional sense, yet they are good human beings and benefit humanity.
Whereas it is also a point to ponder what we mean by ‘good’ human beings? For us, a woman who aborts her baby because she does not want another child and is a social worker who helps other people ‘live’, is a very good human being. The fact that she chose to kill her own baby is her personal decision.
The point is that definitely we have brilliant instances like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, who dropped out of school and college and yet they were able to make it brilliant in the world. So will you allow your child to drop out of college hoping that your child might also become a rare success? Will you?
I do not think so.
It is not wise to take chances which occur less than one percent in life. It is not wise to live an unreligious life hoping that we might become the Bill Gates of the Hereafter. It is not wise to risk the Hereafter from where there is no return and no second chance ...
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