Mystery of
Religion
The following is an english translation of the first few
pages of Mashriqi's striking book Tazkirah.
RELEGION is the greatest mystery of all that is
believed
and practiced in the world. What is this 'worship'? Why is this
'bowing down'? Why do there exist dogmatic 'beliefs'
and conventional 'rituals', Brahman's 'blots' and idol
worshipper's 'statues', Muslim's 'sacrifices' and
Hindus's 'offerings'? Why the bonfire of the fire-worshipper?
What the Christian's 'son of God'? Garlands of beads, rites of
haj, pilgrimages, prayers, 'tappasia', alms, offerings, donations,
presents, long flowing beards, confirmed appearances, amulets, baptism,
dances, baths etc. etc. are such continuing mysteries of religious
practices and customs as the common man does not consider necessary to
fathom. And in spite of this, everybody performs them with extreme sense
of devotion and duty, and does not utter a word about their truthfulness
or falsity, genuineness or incorrectness. The ignorant and the informed,
the insensate and the wise, all participate in this unknowable exercise,
and consider the pursuit of these practices, as far as in their power, a
vital purpose of life. In the entire history of man's presumption and
belief, in fact, in much of what constitute an account of his struggle and
action, Religion alone is that persuasive and quiet catalyst the amazing
influence of which is visible almost on every individual. And Religion,
too, is such an undebatable, unarguable and unceasing heritage of man that
everybody considers it his inherent right to keep it unquestioned
custody.
It is surprising that, in spite of the general learning towards
Religion,
it has not been possible, ever since man's creation, to establish which
Faith is true; which is strictly in accord with the Will of the Creator;
what the criterion of a Faith being true is; nay, what Religion itself is
and what its real object is. It has not been possible, so far, to find
an irrefutable and unanimous argument even about the Being of God and His
real Will. The great secret of life lies utterly unexplored; in spite of
billions of people having died, the profound mystery of death is entirely
unfathomable. Human beings are unanimous on the facts of mathematics;
not even an iota of difference arises on any of its propositions. The
entire mankind is united on the findings of physics; it witnesses them
with own eyes; it draws conclusions from them and arrive at new openings
to power. Nay, the whole world is at last unanimous on the orbital
motion of the earth or the relative rest of the sun, too; everybody is
wonderstuck as if the visible evidence is a visual deception. There
exists not a single follower of Aristotle's false 'religion' that the
earth is stationary. All untrue theories of olden times have
disappeared, but the difference between the Hindu and the Budhist, the
Zoroastrian and the Brahman, the Muslim and the Christian continue as
ever. Why have the dwellers of the earth presumed Religion to be such a
thing as keeps them so divided? Why does not the all-embracing nature of
truth bring them round to a common reality? Why is it that every man
considers his own own Faith true and the rest a mere falsity, although
these Faiths appear poles apart? Why is there a conflict, and if
conflict is there, what is this claim of being TRUE?
These questions throw every sane person into a welter. However, their
final solution for the collective good of mankind has a universal
importance because much of the bloodshed in the world, its most
horrifying wars, its great conflicts and massacres have born out of
DIFFERENCE IN FAITHS. Often a people has
massacred another because it
had a different 'religion'; because it professed a different 'Faith',
worshipped another 'god', had somebody else its Prophet and leader. If
these bloodsheds and massacres, civil wars and killings were actually
initiated at the instance of the leaders of mankind, and resulted out of
the conflict in their messages or their conscious distortions, and if
these conflicts continue in their present form for generations, it must
then be the DIVINE WILL that mankind should one
day perish through
internecine warfare or keep on fighting till eternity. Mutual
co-operation and integration is incomprehensible in the face of this
SUPREME WILL; the evolution of a common plane of
peace is contrary to the
course of Nature. if, however, mankind is really one race, if it has the
same ancestry and has been brought into being by the same motive power,
if man was actually created for the same purpose and is evolving to the
same objective, then all this mutual conflict is UNNATURAL;
it is contrary to the Providential purpose; it is suicide and
self-annihilation; it is stupendous injustice and a death in folly.
I am convinced that the various Prophets, wherefrom they came, brought
the same message. They viewed the Universe with he same sense of wonder;
they were moved by looking at the wondrous species of man from the same
high plane; sensation of wonder and stirrings of knowledge and awareness
entered their bodies through the same passage. They grappled with the
question of "WHAT is all this and
WHY is all this". In the piercing
commotion of this longing and love, the Masked Reality offered them a
glimpse of Itself from behind the curtain, whispered something and again
disappeared. But whatever was said was the same; the enchanting tune was
the same; the message of kiss was the same; the bewitching wink was the
same; the word of confidence was the same. These Knowers of Mysteries
kept on proclaiming the Secret as long as they lived; they faced gallows
and slanders but kept on inciting people to act; they united them on one
objective and one programme. But when the unknowing and unseeing took
over, they tore humanity apart; by misquoting the Divine Message, they
lined up people behind them. God Almighty's vengeful wrath on the earth
to-day is primarily due to this rift and revolt. It is the arrogance of
stupidity and obstinacy of pettiness which have made the world a
slaughter house. And if this state of affairs continued for some time,
God alone knows what will befall the human race.
Thus, the conflict between various religions is, in fact, born out of
stupidity and ignorance, petty-mindedness and narrow outlook, oblivion of
the original teachings and ignorance about their universality; it is
certainly not the conflict of KNOWLEDGE and
REVELATION. Knowledge
everywhere gives birth to unity and consensus, security and peace, effort
and action. It disarms everybody; when it takes birth, conflict becomes
impossible, doubt is rendered inconceivable, inaction is unlikely. No
two persons have fought that water is not fluid, that fire is cold, or
heavy body falls towards the sky, because all have the necessary
KNOWLEDGE about them; because all have seen the
reality with their own
eyes; because everybody experiences them every moment and in every
state. If, exactly in the same way, all Faiths are examined on the
touchstone of Knowledge; if there reality and message, too, were
explained to humanity after testing them as a science; if all the
conventional masks with which people have, through ignorance and lapse,
covered and distorted the truth, are removed, and attention is focussed
on the common bias, the unadulterated truth and the FUNDAMENTAL
REALITY,
which constitutes the real anchorsheet and basis of world Faiths, which
is operative everywhere and in every state, which is visible to
everybody, by manifesting which the science of Prophethood united all,
then mankind can forthwith be integrated and unified exactly as at the
time of its creation; all massacres can again be ended immediately; the
earth can again be put on the right course. In every domain of research
and inquiry, the revealing effort of Science is such a powerful corrector
of human actions and opinions that conflict at least at that particular
proposition is rendered impossible. The object of Knowledge everywhere is
to integrate, to narrow down the dividing gulf and by evolving a common
basis, to enforce a universal agreement. But Knowledge must really be a
Science; it must be an EVIDENCE of the Ears and
the Eyes; it must not be
a non-sensical 'belief', a supposed 'faith' or an illusion. If this
materialises anywhere, the whole world finds it compulsive, in fact,
natural to accept it, as is the case with algebra or gravitation.
But the question arises what this message really was; what that
VAST
TRUTH and fundamental verdict was; what its nature was; what
its SCIENCE
was; what it was that was unmade after having been repeatedly made, and
continued to be reconstructed as long as the Prophets came? If human
sense can find an objective solution to these vital and profound
questions from a higher plane, then the answer is that whatever the
Master of Time and Space and the Unseen Keeper of the Universe disclosed
to these longing souls in His Imperious Indifference, certainly He did it
for the GOOD OF MAN himself; it was stated with
man's welfare in view.
The revelation must have been--and it certainly is so--HOW the children
of Adam should live in the world; what this ignorance and unwise creation
should do in contrast to other animal species; how should it conduct
itself; what is it that will, in this perpetual struggle for existence,
grant PEACE to the human race, ensure its
security and evolution,
survival and stability. This was the substance of the great News which
the Prophets got from the Exalted Administration of the Universe, and
this constitutes the essence of PROPHETHOOD;
this is the climax of
knowledge and information, the supreme revelation and disclosure. In
comparison to this , the knowledge of everything else is nothing,
information about all lesser affairs has no significance, science of
reality of things is valueless, knowledge of world's creation is vain.
Foe humanity, the greatest and the most valuable information is what the
ADMINISTRATION of the Earth and the Heavens is,
how it adjudicates, what
principles and laws determine the divine decisions; how nations emerge
supreme, how they are pushed to the depths of degradation; what the
criterion of punishment is, what course ensures recompense. These are
the awesome issues which determine extinction and survival of mankind.
In comparison, the question of an individual's welfare is meaningless,
search for personal benefits is vain, thought of individual losses is
valueless. What is basic and final is that this Colossal Workhouse is
functioning on perfect justice and equity; it is operating with vigour
and harmony, courage and confidence, might and majesty. Whatever happens
here, it does after scanning and scrutiny, selection and sifting,
orderliness and method, study and examination. Its Almighty Motivator is
that All-Hearing and All-Seeing who witnesses everything with extreme
care; Who scans the wast expanse of the earth, watches the human race,
views actions of communities and efforts of individuals; Who is scanning
the bad and the good, the small and the big, the rich and the poor, the
high and the low. There is not a trace of TYRANNY in this orderly,
mighty, awesome and flawless administration; there is absolutely no
injustice, certainly no excesses and deficiencies; really no whimsicality
of Nabob. I believe that all the Prophets were aware of this vital
section of the administration of the Universe; it was the Knowledge of
this basic law governing the award of reward and punishment which they
unfolded to mankind. They taught man the proper way to live on earth;
they indicated to him the course to collective survival; they stated
principles governing the rise and fall of nations; they demonstrated
Divine Administration's complete freedom from tyranny, and evaluated
correctly the punishment in the world and recompense in the hereafter;
they explained what an individual's conduct should be; they put their
people on the right course, and ensured their stability and survival for
centuries; they exhibited before the very eyes of the people how
non-believers met their bad end. This was the 'DEEN' they brought, and
it was this 'DEEN' (Course of
Action) which God wanted man to adopt. If
man has no fixed law to determine the course of his conduct in the world;
if his behaviour is is mere supposition and guess-work; if decisions
about his happiness and grief, poverty and plenty, punishment and reward
are not taken according to any logic and method; if in this Universe man
alone is that wretch whose conduct is unrelated to any principle, who has
no appointed 'religion', although lesser animals and vegetations follow
their appointed path and 'religion', and carry out their assignments;
nay, when the sun, too -- 1.3 MILLION TIMES
bigger than the earth -- in
spite of its majesty and grandeur, rises at the appointed time with
extreme precision and urgency, sends light to the dwellers of the earth,
is bound by the command of some Incomparable Administrator, abides by an
awesome and dreaded law; yes, if all this has been laid down for others
and no such thing exists in the case of man, then in this world all
recompense is a tyranny, happiness and distress are an injustice,
annihilation and survival are a fraud; they are unbecoming of the Divine
Dignity; they conflict with the honour of the Administration; they are
contrary to the Ways of Allah and the Habit of the Creator of the
Universe. The earth is certainly no fit abode for man if its
administration is based on complete tyranny to him. And if the Designer
of the Heavens and the Earth did not reveal to Prophets THIS
course of action, this constitution, this law, He certainly revealed nothing to
them.
Thus, it is man's correct course of conduct in the world which, in fact,
is his 'religion', and it is his bounden duty to comprehend the Immutable
Law which governs the rise and fall of nations. The Knowledge of this
alone constitutes SCIENCE OF RELIGIONS;
(
)it is this course which is
everybody's urgent need. It were the parts of this whole or the whole in
its entirety which the Prophets brought to mankind at different occasions,
and for centuries enabled human beings to tread the path indicated by
it. The entire sense of good and bad, true and false, right and wrong,
developed in the 'ignorant' animal of man only though this Knowledge.
The collective virtues and 'fitness' of action, which form the second
nature of every individual of a live nation from the very beginning, are
derived from these teachings; they are bits of the same Science. The
principles of survival and stability which today are assiduously pursued
by all progressive nations are the remnants of this supreme Science. The
Prophets got the knowledge of this exhalted Department of Providence
through a unique sense of understanding; they attained it through a total
view of the Universe by intense meditation and deep thought, broad
outlook and lofty vision; they got it by climbing to the high altar of
learning and the SUPREME HORIZON of
perception, by lifting themselves
several stages above the earth, rather by reaching the
OBSERVATION OF
STARS; nay, they got it from the HEAVEN and its Dweller, GOD ALMIGHTY;
they acquired it through revelation and prophethood, humility and
passion, meditation and communion. During a prophet's lifetime, his
prophethood had been so earth-shaking and activating a force, that every
band of people entering his fold did whatever he said. The great leader
would, through his immense knowledge and ceaseless struggle, inspiring
teachings and invigorating instructions, lucid explanations and revealing
expositions, illustrate, like two and two make four to every companion
the Divine Law and its supreme capacity to secure peace and stability.
Multitudes of activated people then swarm around his moth do to a candle;
in a short time would such a people emerge victorious and supreme, and in
this abode of struggle serve for long as a beacon of light for future
generations. Human communities often forgot the Divine lesson; many a
times they foltered and lost the track. They repeatedly renounced the
Divine PLEDGE, partly on account of time lapse,
partly though
mispropagation, partly due to misconception and the wrong leadership of
the misinformed, partly on account of man's inherent tendency to twist
and distort, some through pious intentions of wishful thinkers and some
through dishonesty and conceit of imposters. But the Prophets revived
the lesson after some time, generated action by reiterating the Divine
Law; replaced prolonged phase of frustration and degradation by courage
and confidence. They made the Directive more complete through additions
to the old lesson; they designed new weapons of actions because of new
situations and dispensed with the older modes, which had no bearings on
the fundamentals, as ineffective and unnecessary; they adopted fresh and
effective means to enforce the same Basic Law. In short, whatever form
and complexion the teachings assumed, only the ORIGINAL
'DEEN' was
revived, rather perfected. None of the Prophets carved a contrary
course, a new Faith or different Religion. They all stated afresh the same
original and the fundamental, the same unadulterated truth and boundless
reality, the same RELIGION OF NATURE and the
Divine Law which viscous
and rebellious human societies repeatedly forgot and after dreadful
sufferings met their end. In short, they based their convictions,
actions and efforts, practices and conventions on the same infallible
law. Subsequent generations took exteriors and procedures, which were
only devices to follow the Divine Law, as fundamentals of the 'Deen';
they accepted subsidiaries as the fundamental code and ignored the basic
reality; they became entirely concerned with superficial and the
conventional, and totally lost sight of the actual efforts. On the other
hand, various communities displayed undue exaggeration in personal
devotion and difference to their leaders, and allotted unnecessary
priority to the commandments of their own liking. They considered it an
insult to give up the rituals of one Prophet and enter the fold of the
new. Then, instead of following, through the Prophets, the Divine Law
and taking it as the true source of knowledge, they became partisan by
lining up behind them. Instead of believing in God and thus becoming
'Muslim', they became Mosesites, Budhists, Christians and MOHAMMEDANS; they considered it a vital part of
Religion merely to heap praises on Prophets and to idolise them. Reality
was totally distorted in this tumult of conceit and conflict; the Divine
Law was pushed out of view; Religion became to denote only a few useless
rituals and baseless customs; their real significance completely
disappeared. The Hindu went too far in his defense for the cow and
started worshiping it; he carved out a symbol in the form of a 'diety'
for each Divine attribute on the pretext of emphasizing its external
significance; the Christians actually began to uphold Jesus as Son of
God; the Muslims accepted beards, 'tehmads', 'miswaks' and earthren balls
as Islam; the Jews ran after the beaded strings; the Budhists were
immersed in "chilla kashi"; the Zoroastrians took glow of fore to be
God. Then haj, pilgrimages, prayers, zakat, fasting etc., etc., all
became purposeless rituals and fruitless performances; Religion became a
senseless thing; it ceased to have any concern with brain and logic.
God-made Law of Action and KNOWLEDGE
communicated by Prophets totally ex-communicated the God-given BRAIN. To-day, alienation between Religion and
Science, and the internal and external factiousness of world communities
are mainly the result of forgetfulness of the original message and a
DISTORTION OF RELIGION.
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