RELIGION AND INTOLERANCE “Religion” as a concept has been used by different people differently. Some relate it to optimism of life and for others it is suffocating conservativeness which hinders growth. Well! Everyone can choose his own course of action and be responsible for respective consequences. Same goes for me when I make my decisions. Generally people relate religion to intolerance. For them religion makes people engrossed in specific set of rules and regulations. Yes!! It does that. Anyone who truly practices a religion sets and accepts for himself a particular way of life. But who gives you the right to call him intolerant towards others? Toleration actually means willingness to recognise and admit a degree of religious co-existence and pluralism. Who, other than a true believer can feel the importance of religion? Truly religious mind is an educated (definitely I am not equating education and religion to western notion and testing them on western scale) and a sensible self. At some level religious mind is binary; when it chooses for oneself one out of many options. It becomes me and them, mind it me AND them but who gives you the right to make it me VERSUS them? Religion is not some kind of fight to enter into. It is not some kind of shout to overpower one another. Religion is not only rites, rituals and blind practices. It is high time to take religion out of its limited definition. Religion within itself encompasses a philosophy which shapes your personality and directs your course of action. It is unwise to limit religion with limited definition of personal life. Religion for a person can never be segregated in public-private dichotomy. It gets engrained and it is part of your in-built system which one cannot get rid off, if you are a true believer. Now, again coming to intolerance; Excuse me!!! I made a decision to choose my way of life by choosing my religion. But it does not mean I will obstruct others from picking their own ways. At best, I can try to make others understand the reasons or ideas which influenced my decision and why I chose one over many other available options. I have the right to preach and profess my religion and that is it. Now, they are left to make their own decisions. Religion becomes something to object only when you see it as a by-product of evolution. But for me, religion is not any by-product. It is divine. Being tolerant does not mean using others’ shoes to walk rather it means believing in free will of others in making their own decisions. So, with religion we make a choice between two or many options available but being religious never mean being intolerant. The Quranic Point of View Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, believes in prophets and messengers of God- One interesting way of understanding the Islamic view on freedom of religion is to look at the role of the prophets and messengers. Had they been sent to forcefully bring the people into their teachings? Were Moses, Jesus and Muhammad ordered by the Almighty to impose their teachings upon the people by sword? Absolutely not! Look at the Quran, the holy scripture of Islam; the revealed words of God where He clearly outlines the duty of his messengers by saying: “(And as for My messenger,) there is no (obligation) on him except to deliver (the. message). God knows what yon expose and what conceal”. (5:99). Once the people of Mecca said to Prophet Muhammad that if god did not want them to worship idols then why He does not forcefully prevent them from doing so. Then God sent the following message: “(O Muhammad) This is not a new excuse; those who weft before, them made, the same excuses. Is there anything upon the messengers except the dear conveying of the message”. (16: 35). So we see that from the Quranic point of view, the mission of the prophets and messengers of God was not to forcefully impose their teachings on the people but to guide them and ask them to accept God with their own will, in one revelation, God says to Prophet Muhammad: But if the people turn away (then do not be sad because) We did ma sent you to be a guardian over them. It is for you only to deliver the message. (42:43). The Qur’an clearly says that religion cannot be forced on anyone. It says, There is no compulsion in (accepting) the religion (of Islam)…” Why? Because: truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error. (2:256).
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 15:12:25 +0000
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