Does religion cause disorder and strife?

Dr Ali Kashif, UK

The assertion that religion causes disorder and strife is entirely incorrect, and those who have reached this conclusion have made a grave error. There are several responses to this question. The first response is that belief in God naturally and instinctively fosters feelings of love and mutual brotherhood. Faith in God eliminates all national and racial prejudices, creating a global fraternity, and without belief in God, the achievement of global brotherhood is never possible. So how can faith in God lead to conflict and narrow-mindedness? Conflict and narrow-mindedness have no connection with the concept of God. It is logically unacceptable that the concept of God, who is not a national or racial deity but the Creator and Lord of all humanity, manifests in the form of narrow-mindedness, national prejudices, conflict, and sectarian divisions. No rational person can find a causal relationship between these two. Therefore, if religions lead to disorder, narrow-mindedness, and national prejudice, the cause must be sought elsewhere, and instead of unjustly and unnaturally attributing it to belief in God, we should seek the cause elsewhere.

Unfortunately, those who make such criticisms are looking at religions from which nothing remains but their names. This criticism is specific to the present age, and unfortunately, the followers of all religions have strayed from the essence of their faith. Currently, no religion is observed whose followers truly adhere to it; rather, the image of religions has been greatly distorted by human interference, giving atheists an excuse to protest against religions. But the truth is that the greatest factor in establishing global peace and intellectual enlightenment is religion, and whenever people adhered to the essence of their faith, thoughts based on futile conflicts and strife declined, and foresight, dignity, and tolerance increased. Study the history of any religion, and examine the period when its followers adhered to the essence of their faith, and you shall see how noble, open-minded, compassionate, and peace-seeking people were in that era.

Now, observe the followers of this time, who have strayed from their original religion and are only nominally and formally associated with it. Among them, you will find a tendency towards narrow-mindedness, a lack of steadfastness and tolerance, unwarranted national prejudices, harshness over trivial disputes, and the breaking of peace. I claim this without any doubt or hesitation, and I assert this about every religion and nation, and I am confident that anyone who sincerely researches this in history will reach the conclusion I have mentioned. By the grace of God, I am a Muslim, and I take pride in counting myself among the servants of the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa . Yet, I cannot help but make this sorrowful confession that, these days, Muslims too, like other nations, are afflicted with the dangerous and calamitous disease called narrow-mindedness. Unjust national prejudices have overcome the exalted and sublime sentiments of humanity, and conflict and a tendency to break peace over minor differences have penetrated their hearts. But is Islam to blame for this? Never. These things did not exist when Muslims practised the true teachings of Islam, and the Islamic spirit was alive within them. At that time, they were an enlightened, tolerant, benevolent, and compassionate people who sacrificed for others and illuminated the entire world with the rays of their universal light.

This also applies to other nations. The early Christians were a great example of self-sacrifice and sympathy for humanity. They sought peace and reconciliation. However, when Christians strayed from the teachings and true spirit of Christianity, they surpassed all others in injustice, oppression, bloodshed, and religious prejudices. The history of the Protestant Reformation is sufficient evidence of this claim, and the narrow-mindedness, unwarranted prejudices, conflict, murder, and plunder displayed by the so-called followers of Jesus^as during the Reformation period are unlikely to be found in the history of any other nation.

The history of Hinduism, Sikhism, and other religions reveals much the same pattern; indeed, among the Hindus and Sikhs, this issue appears even more alarming. All these examples prove that, in reality, the fault does not lie with religion but with those who abandon the essence of their faith. Unfortunately, all the nations of the world have lost the spirit of religion, giving harsh and shortsighted critics the opportunity to blame religion for narrow-mindedness and violence. So, the notion that religion is a cause of intolerance, conflict, and war is due to the prevailing conditions, otherwise, a study of world history clearly shows that when people adhere to the true spirit and essence of religion, they develop more broad-mindedness, enlightenment, peace-loving, self-sacrifice, and tolerance than others.

Furthermore, if you examine religions based on their teachings, you will find that no religion inherently teaches conflict, war, and intolerance. Therefore, narrow-mindedness and strife may result from forgetting the teachings of religion, but observing those teachings can certainly not lead to violence. The second response is to dispel another doubt; if considered carefully, it is logically impossible for someone who understands the truth and purpose of religion to cause strife. The concept of religion is not like a country or nation limited by geographical or national boundaries that cannot be expanded. On the contrary, religion, as its name suggests, includes teachings, concepts, and codes of conduct related to the rights of God and the rights of people. Someone who accepts religion as the truth strives to convey this truth to others. Therefore, religion is like a building with doors open to all, regardless of nation or country, and every devout person invites others to this building. Thus, anyone who genuinely seeks to fulfil the purpose of religion can never be narrow-minded or engage in conflict. Instead, with excellent morals and peaceful preaching, they make every effort to attract others to their belief and avoid anything that hinders the acceptance of religion. Consequently, it is impossible for a person who understands the essence and purpose of religion to engage in intolerance, strife, or corruption.

The third response to this objection is that if sometimes followers of various religions cause conflict and war, do not other factors also cause disputes? Many things in the world lead to conflict and war between individuals and nations. Can we abandon all of them for this reason? Dozens of factors like national and political differences, national interests, commercial and economic issues, etc., cause conflict and war between the nations of the world. Similarly, without a doubt, hundreds of issues cause disputes among individuals. Should we abandon all these simply because they sometimes disturb peace? If so, everyone must abandon everything in life and become reclusive to avoid interactions with others, thus preventing the possibility of conflict and disputes altogether. Look at world history; most wars that occurred were certainly not due to religious differences. They resulted from national or political conflicts, national interests, economic and commercial issues, and, at times, other factors. In the recent World War, no religious factor was involved. All the bloodshed, whose scale and devastation are unparalleled in world history, was motivated solely by political aims. So, should we abandon politics as well because it sometimes leads to war? All these issues arise from ignorance and a lack of awareness. There is no particular connection between religion and intolerance, war, or conflict. Rather, like other causes of breaches of peace, religion also occasionally leads to disputes, but compared to other causes, it causes much less conflict and only under circumstances where people have not understood the true teachings of their religion.

In the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, Jews and idolaters waged aggressive wars and injustices against innocent Muslims because they had completely abandoned the true teachings and objectives of their religion. As a result, Muslims were forced to defend themselves and establish security, leading to a state of war. During this time, Muslims were never the initiators of war and only engaged in it to establish peace and uphold the principle of freedom of belief.

Hence, it is entirely baseless and meaningless to think that religion causes war and conflict. In reality, religion is the only force that can effectively end strife, turmoil, and corruption, and it is the deviation from the essence of religion that causes breaches of peace and conflicts. Even if, hypothetically, we accept that religious differences lead to war and conflict, opponents have no right to abandon religion altogether based on this. As mentioned earlier, many other things in the world also lead to breaches of peace and conflict, but no rational person would abandon them for this reason. The reality is that if any disagreement is handled poorly, it will lead to regrettable consequences. This issue is by no means unique to religion. Poor management of political, national, commercial, and economic disputes leads to war. Similarly, the misuse of religious differences can also lead to war. The only difference is that while the misuse of other factors leads to breaches of peace, the correct use of them does not specifically lead to peace, cooperation, and brotherhood. However, if religion is practised in its original form and correctly implemented, it particularly leads to peace, cooperation, unity, brotherhood, and compassion. This is a fact if one wishes to accept it.

The fourth response to this doubt is that critics have misunderstood the term ‘religion’. They probably think that religion only signifies belief in God, and when someone abandons this belief, they have abandoned religion. In other words, they think religion is something that can be abandoned. However, someone who abandons belief in God, though commonly called irreligious, if we contemplate the meaning of religion, we find that religion is an essential part of human life, and it is impossible to completely leave its bounds because religion actually refers to the beliefs, doctrines, practical methods, and lifestyle that a person adopts for living and dying. It is evident that, from this perspective, it is logically impossible for a person to separate from religion because everyone adopts a certain way of life. It can be said that one dislikes this or that religion, but one cannot be said to be entirely independent of religion. As long as a person is alive, they must have beliefs about life and death and must follow some method. The totality of one’s beliefs and practices is called their religion. At most, one may detach themselves from recognised revealed religions and invent a new religion for themselves. However, according to the definition provided above, one cannot be labelled as without religion. Whatever way of life one adopts will be their religion. If someone believes in God, that is their religion, and if they deny God, that too becomes their religion. In summary, religion comprises the way of life and beliefs one adopts, and it is evident that from this perspective, separation from religion is impossible.

You may detach yourself from Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other recognised revealed religion, but you cannot entirely detach from religion itself. You must accept some form of religion, even if it is one you have invented yourself. Either you believe in God or you deny Him. If you believe in Him, you must affirm some of His attributes. If you deny Him, you must have some belief regarding the origin of this world and the beginning of life. You must adopt a method of dealing with friends, enemies, relatives, non-relatives, spouses, servants, masters, kings, the general public, and so on. This method and your thoughts are called your religion. In short, religion has an unbreakable bond with life, and no one can step outside its bounds. When someone is said to have become irreligious, it simply means they do not follow any recognised revealed religion but have instead invented their own religion. In this sense, no one can truly be without religion.