CULTURAL VERSION OF ISLAM
Religion or Culture
A SCHOLAR in the history of religion has rightly observed: ‘Religion begins as an ideology but after some generations it is reduced to a culture.’ This observation applies to all religions including Islam. Present-day Islam practiced by Muslims is no more than a culture. Although the form is preserved, the spirit is absent.
The only exception with the religion of Islam is that the scriptures of Islam are totally intact. All those deteriorations among Muslims exclusively pertain to the Muslim community. The key formula for the right understanding of Islam is to differentiate between Islam and Muslims. You have to form an opinion by studying the scripture rather than the practice of Muslims. Anyone who wants to know the real picture of Islam can refer to the scriptures and discover the true version of Islam without fail.
It is said that Buddhism is a godless religion but this is not a monopoly of Buddhism. Present religion of Islam adopted by Muslims also seems to be a godless Islam. The supreme concern of Islam is God; unfortunately, if you examine the Muslim agenda or conversations and concerns you will find that God does not figure in any of them.
The Quran is the most authentic source of Islam. In the Quran ‘Allah’ —God—by name is referred no less than 2,700 times. Apart from Allah there are other names (asma) and if you include these names the number may almost get doubled. Keeping this fact in mind one can say the religion that the Quran presents is a God-oriented religion.
The greatest concern of Islam is God. Quran is the Book of God. The mind the Quran builds is a God-oriented mind. A believer is one who discovers God, whose thinking is God-oriented thinking, whose speech is God-oriented speech, whose behaviour and character are totally based on the concept of God Almighty.
The Quran emphasizes several times that believers should “remember God often”.
(THE QURAN, 33: 41, 62:10)
It means that a believer is so overwhelmed with the concept of God that every moment he is bound to remember God. There is a Hadith (the sayings and deeds of the Prophet) that the Prophet used to remember God on every occasion. It means that he was able to turn every occasion into a point of reference for the remembrance of God. The Prophet was a role model and the same conduct is required by every believer. This is the only sign of a true believer in God.
The other sign of cultural Islam is that although in terms of form every Islamic teaching seems to be present among Muslims but it is without the inner content of the teaching. Spiritless form is a common phenomenon that may be observed in every degenerate community. This phenomenon was mentioned as a prediction in a Hadith, in these words:
There will come a time when nothing will remain except the name of Islam and the script of the Quran.
(SHUAB-UL-IMAN, AL-BAIHAQI)
Another similar Hadith is:
Islam began as a stranger. And, finally, it will again become a stranger. Let, then, the strangers be blessed.
(SAHIH MUSLIM)
The present Muslim generation all over the world is an example of this Prophetic prediction.
When degeneration sets in, Muslims develop the notion that Islam by birth is as good as Islam by choice. But according to the scriptures this definition of Islam is completely wrong. This is mentioned in the Quran in these words:
Believers, believe in God and His Messenger and in the Scripture He sent down to His Messenger, as well as what He sent down before.
(THE QURAN, 4:136)
In other words: ‘O believers, re-discover Islam. If you are Muslim by birth, make your religion your choice.’
One other phenomenon of the degenerate community of Muslims is that they derive their concept of Islam from history rather than the original scriptures—Quran and Hadith. Present Muslims are examples of this kind of deviation. For the present Muslims the immediate reference of Islam is that of later history. They fail to go beyond history and derive Islamic concepts directly from the original scriptures.
Islam in its later history emerged as a political empire while during the Prophet’s time there was no such political empire. Due to this change in focus Muslims developed a very curious type of psyche: consciously or unconsciously they feel that Islam and a position of strength are inseparable. If they find themselves in a modest position they feel deprived and frustrated.
From the above examples, it is evident that the Islam as portrayed by Muslims nowadays is not the true religion but a version corrupted by Muslim culture.
Triumph over negativity
The power of positive behaviour can triumph over the power of negativity, while the power of negativity cannot win anything — it can only lead to destruction.
