Islam for Non-Muslims

• RELIGIOUS FAITHS VS IRRELIGIOUS IDEAS
• 1 The Present State of the World Religions
• 2 Religious System as a Historical Reality
• 3 The Evidences of God across the Universe
• 4 The Absolute Oneness of God
• 5 The Reality of the Afterlife
• 6 The Growth of Irreligious Ideas
• 7 Worshipping Natural Elements
• 8 Worshipping Imaginary Idols
• 9 Worshipping Human Beings
• 10 Inventing Relationship to God
• 11 Inventing the Idea of Reincarnation
• 12 Inventing the Theory of Evolution (Darwinism)
• 13 Inventing ‘Nature’ as the Creator of the Universe
• 14 Importance of Religion in this Secular World
• ISLAM AS A RELIGION
• 15 Addressing the Criticisms of Islam
• 16 Islam as a Magnet for the Non-Muslims
• 17 The Quran as the Original Divine Book
• 18 The Quranic Reality in Archeological Findings
• 19 Muhammad (pbuh) as the Great Prophet
• 20 Islam as the True Religion
• 21 Islam as the Universal Religion
• 22 Islam as the Eternal Religion
• 23 Islam as a Practicable Religion
• 24 Islam as an Enjoyable Religion
• 25 Islam as the Peaceful & Savior Religion
• 26 Islam as the Progressive & Rational Religion
• 27 Islam in Health & Hygiene
• 28 Islam in Promotion of Science
• 29 Muslims in Practices of Science
• 30 Islam & Other Monotheisms: Similarities & Differences
• 31 Islamic Tolerance for Other Religions
• 32 Islamic Rights for Non-Muslim Citizens
• ISLAM AS A WAY OF LIFE
• 33 Islamic System vs. Human Ideologies
• 34 Moral & Social Impacts of Islamic Rituals
• 35 Moral Discipline in Islam
• 36 Sinning of 3 W’s: Women, Wine and Wealth
• 37 Dignity & Equality of Man in Islam
• 38 Human Rights in Islam
• 39 Social Duties in Islam
• 40 Dignity & Rights of Labor in Islam
• 41 Dignity of Women in Islam
• 42 Rights of Women in Islam
• 43 Marriage & Family Life in Islam
• 44 Political Philosophy in Islam
• 45 Economic Principles in Islam
• 46 Islamic Economy vs. Capitalism & Communism
• 47 Patriotism & Internationalism in Islam
• 48 Understanding Controversial Issues in Islam
• 49 Conversion to Islam: Problems & Prospects
• 50 Conclusive Message to the Non-Muslims

14:  IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION IN THIS SECULAR WORLD

Introduction: A remarkable segment of the present world has come under the influence of atheism due to historical reasons.  Accordingly, somewhere active atheism or open hostility to religion has been staged and elsewhere materialistic secularism has stepped in, leaving religion only to play a less than potential role.  These irreligious societies apparently have obtained remarkable material progress but they are lagging behind on the scale of morality.  The absence of religious values has inflated the number of various social infractions, crimes etc. adding to miseries of the society. The attempt of the law enforcing agencies to eradicate these vices can achieve only a limited success, at it cannot set an axe to the root cause of the problem, i.e. the vicious mind being the incubator of sins and crimes. 

Utility of Religion:  Religion, by contrast, can play a powerful role in bringing about qualitative changes in our personal and social life in the following manner:

(1)  Social Discipline through Spiritual Development:  Practically speaking, religion is the only permanent institution that can tone up your soul which is the mother of all noble actions.  It requires you to believe that all your actions, however private may be, will be subject to watchful eyes of “(God) from above” and “He set (the angels) as guardians over you” as well (6:61). As a believer, you are fully aware that “you are to meet Him (in the Afterlife)” when you have to answer for your actions (2:223).  In this process, religion makes you inwardly competent to avoid sinful actions and feel inspired to do good deeds lured by the prospect of your “best home in the Hereafter” (7:169).  As a result, there is no need for police or probation to help modify your behavior.

    The limitations of the policing authority in crime detection are quite obvious.  It can only deal with your external behavior but it can hardly clear your mind of criminal tendency.  For example, the police can achieve limited success in cutting down your visible crimes, but they have very little, if any, control over crimes committed beyond public eyes. The offenders can “hide (their crimes) from men (police) but they cannot hide (themselves) from God” (4:108). Moreover, in the absence of religion, the criminal population is likely to swell so much that the police will have nightmare to control them even after their massive reinforcement at tax payers’ money. Thus, religion appears to be the most effective agent in building social order and discipline.

(2) Promotion of Virtues by Lifting Human Spirits:  Religion not only helps fighting social crimes, it has been acting as a guardian of morality since time immemorial. There is no other long-lasting institution to assume this role.  From time to time, some historic people (other than prophets) like Mahatma Gandhi, Confucius, Mother Teresa etc. take credits for initiating some noble actions. After their death, hardly any people follow their tradition of good deeds on continued basis despite casual praises for their achievements from those who know them mainly from history books.

In actual reality, every human being “is certainly prone to evil” (12:53) as they follow their instincts leading to sins. Particularly people without religious background generally perform fewer good deeds as they do not have any positive motivations like pleasing God, Afterlife salvation etc. Whatever good deeds sometimes you see them doing mostly aim at gaining social fame or praise, often linked with negatives like “reminders after charity” etc. (2:262)

On the other hand, religion aims to overcome such problems by infusing morality for the sake of Afterlife salvation. Under eternal influence of the religions, religious people always tend to do virtuous deeds (like charity, good advice etc.) to gain Paradise and refrain from bad deeds (like murder, rape, wastefulness, illegal income etc.) to avoid Hellish sufferings. As a potential cure for criminal way of making money, the Quran advises you not to “envy people for what God gave (others) of His bounty” (4:54). It also warns that “the mutual rivalry for piling up (of earthly fortunes) diverts you (from more serious things of Afterlife) until you (soon) visit the graves” (102:1/2). In this way, people in general tend to be better behaved after becoming religious compared to their past time. In consequence, you will often see average religious people are filled with enthusiasm for piling up good deeds with an eye on Afterlife salvation.

(3) Complementary to Science: Even in these days of modern science, the utility of religion is looking up than down.  While science/technology mainly teaches us how to make inventions, religion advises us about how to make proper use of them.  Most scientific inventions are liable to both good and bad uses.  Science finishes its job by only making inventions, but within its realm there are no suggestions as to how to use these inventions for social benefit. That is where begins the role of religion that gives moral guidelines about how to use these scientific inventions.

Examples: The importance of this ethical role of religion can never be overstated. For example, billion dollars of investment in nuclear programs will be worthless if it is used for producing deadly atomic bombs instead of generating power for peaceful use. Similarly, iron may be used in both helpful and harmful ways but the religion inspires you to use it for “many benefits of mankind” like defensive instead of offensive purposes (57:25). Likewise electronic devices like television, internet etc. have powers to make or break the moral fabrics of the society particularly the youngsters and the religion will insist on using them only for benevolent programs. For example, religiously motivated students will use internet source for writing an academic essay instead of viewing pornography to go off-track. Similar examples abound but are meaningless to multiply.

Einstein’s View: In this manner, religion can play a vital role in coordination with science, towards promoting the common cause of human welfare.  Such inter-reliance between science and religion has led Einstein, the greatest scientist of the 20th century to comment "Science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind". He also vented his emotional feeling: “The more I study science, the more I believe in God”. Parallel to his example, there had been many more famed scientists like Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, Francis Bacon, Marconi etc. who left permanent mark in history through their scientific efforts inspired by God.

(4)  Defusing Frustration through Afterlife Promises:  Religion acts as a tonic for frustration in personal life brought on by hard realities.  It calls for belief in the predestination, which in the exact sense of term means that you must put in your best possible efforts towards your desired goals.  But the achievements of your efforts may not match your expectations.  However, you must gladly accept the results of your destiny and in the case of its unkind treatment, you must show patience in order to qualify for better compensation in the Hereafter. 

                This divine provision built within the faith system offers best available solutions to the problems of “despair of the unbelievers about (the life) of those (buried) in the graves” (60:13). The Afterlife salvation offers a sense of hope and peace of mind to the ill-fated religious persons who otherwise could suffer from terrible frustrations often leading up to suicidal deaths. This also explains the usual higher suicide rates in many advanced but irreligious societies compared to religious communities.   

Conclusion:  In view of overwhelming importance of religion, there is no point in condemning it in general on account of imperfect roles ever historically played by any religion in particular.  Rather it is sensible for you to compare among the living religions of the world and choose the best one for making your own.