Religion: A Divine,

Not a Social Phenomenon

If nuclear energy is taken to be an American social phenomenon, it will be taken to mean the manufacture of lethal weapons which destroy life. One is bound, in that case, to be opposed to it. But if nuclear energy is taken to be a natural phenomenon, it will be considered on its own merit. It will not matter how America or any other military power uses it. In spite of being opposed to the atom bomb, one will continue to support atomic energy.

No one makes the mistake of thinking of nuclear energy as a social phenomenon of any nuclear power. But there are many who make this mistake in the study of religion. Religion is essentially divine truth. But anthropology usually treats it as a social phenomenon. For this reason, people have formed a mistaken concept of religion. Worst of all, this method of study prevents the student from being able to distinguish between theory and practice. Many people think of the practice of Muslim nations, for instance, as the true Islam. It is this method of study which has led people to write books like The Dagger of Islam and Militant Islam in recent years. The authors of these books saw that Muslims are habitually “daggers drawn” and militant in their demands. So, according to their concept of religion, they came to the conclusion that these were the features that made up Islam.

But if one thinks of religion as a truth revealed by God and preserved in the text of the Quran and Hadith, then Islam ceases to be a social phenomenon and becomes an ideology. Now one begins to look at Islam in the light of the Quran and Hadith instead of in the light of the practice of Muslims.

If one wishes to understand Islam, one must look at it apart from the Muslims. One must think of it as a divine belief, rather than as a social phenomenon. Only then can an accurate and fair picture of Islam be formed. □