There is great misunderstanding both among believers and non-believers about what it means to be religious, writes Asghar Ali Engineer. For most of the believers religion is a set of rituals, appearance or even a set of dogmas and superstitions whereas for non-believers (rationalists and empiricists) it is nothing but irrational beliefs, dogmas and superstitions, which impede human progress and also cause violence and destruction. Even terrorism, they believe, is due to religion.

Then the question arises why millions of people believe in religion? The rationalists maintain it is because of illiteracy and irrationalism. But then many highly educated people also believe in religion so it is not easy to assign it only to illiteracy alone. And all those who believe in religion are not superstitious. Many of them are quite rational and even accept science and scientific methods without reservation. Sir Syed even maintained that there cannot be a contradiction between the word of God (Qur’an) and the work of God (Nature and laws of nature). Moreover many great scientists have been believers in religion.

Then the question arises what it means to be truly religious? For ordinary people (including educated ones) religion is a mixed bag. It comprises dogmas, customs and traditions which come from our culture rather than religion. Religion, once it becomes a powerful establishment, represents vested interests rather than religious teachings and values. It loses its dynamism. Interests become supreme rather than the real spirit of religion.

Also, dogmas become more central than change. Change for many believers brings a sense of insecurity and uncertainty whereas belief in religion ensures inner security. Also, dogmas ensure constancy of leadership. Change can cause a shift from orthodox leadership to modern leadership and orthodox leadership is better able to manipulate and control people. For most people religion is a matter of belief rather than thinking and reflection.

In fact in its higher reaches religion is neither superstition nor dogma and mere rituals. Religion poses problems when it is made to serve different human needs and interests. As water finds its own level, religion too finds its own level in an unevenly developed society. For those who remain illiterate and backward it becomes a source of solace, which is better served by dogmas and superstitions rather than thinking and change.

However for highly educated and developed sections of society it becomes a source of values and philosophy and invites them to reflect on God’s creation. The Qur’an repeatedly says why don’t you think? Why don’t you reflect on God’s creation? The Qur’an, if understood in its proper spirit, creates intellectual ferment and dynamism rather than stagnation and dogmas. Dogmas were created by theologians and they put basic emphasis on these dogmas as they serve their needs and interests.

Also, for many, religion is ritual-oriented rather than value-oriented. By performing certain rituals and maintaining certain appearances they think they are religious. For many others, religion is a source of values rather than rituals. Rituals serve a sense of community and identity and often become mechanical exercises and hardly inspire any inner change.

Then how should one look at religion and being religious? There are five fundamental qualities for being truly religious without which one can claim to be religious but can hardly qualify to be one. These are 1) constant quest for truth; 2) to be humble; 3) to be compassionate and 4) to be anti-establishment 5) to be transcendent in vision.

We would like to throw some light on these essential qualities to be religious. In every religious tradition God’s name is truth. In the Islamic tradition one of the names of Allah is Haq i.e. Truth. Without being truthful and engaged in a constant quest for truth one can hardly be religious. All great founders of religion from Buddha to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) spent years of their lives in a quest for truth and were inspired to understand the truth. It should be a mission of one’s life to search for truth, in all its manifestations. Also, truth does not have one form and one manifestation. It is not stagnant or a dogma but dynamic and intellectually challenging.

Along with constant quest for truth humility is required. Any sense of truth being any ones monopoly leads to arrogance and destroys the very quality of truth. That is why the Qur’an says that All previous prophets came with truth and it requires Muslims not to distinguish between one and the other prophets, those who do so are not true believers. All prophets and great religious thinkers were committed to the quest for truth. Also, the Qur’an maintains that Allah has created diversity, not uniformity so that one could understand different forms of truth without leading to arrogance. Anyone engaged in the quest for truth has to have humility. The Qur’an strongly denounces mustakbitin (the powerful and arrogant). Most of the Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an were of humble origin.

The third important quality for being truly religious is being compassionate i.e. being sensitive to others suffering. Anyone who is not compassionate cannot be a true human being, let alone religious. Allah’s name in the Qur’an is Compassionate Merciful (Al-Rahman al-Rahim) and Prophet Muhammad has been described as Mercy of the Worlds (Rahmatan li-Al’alamin). Any Muslim who is not compassionate would never be a true Muslim.

Similarly a truly religious person has to be anti-establishment as most of the establishments represent vested interest rather than values. Some people try to control these establishments and do anything to retain their control over it. They tend to become authoritarian and try to eliminate their rivals. Also, a truly religious person would always be inspired by future vision rather than what is given. He or she would be engaged in creating a new world as what is given is never perfect. Those who have these qualities would indeed be religious people.

Asghar Ali Engineer, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai. 

This article was originally published in IFID-Friday Note Programme-parts 3 & 4-London, 2005.