Love and Happiness: To Love, Get Down To The Basics

By M YUSUF KHAN

No religion in this world preaches violence; yet down the ages horrible killings have taken place in the name of religion. Why? There is no simple answer to this question. Perception definitely has a role in this.

The fault somehow always seems to lie with the other religion. Could it be that we perceive other ideologies with bias or ignorance? Perhaps this explanation would have made sense in the dark ages when distance made communication very difficult. Today, it's different - there is free flow of information. There is a great deal of intermingling and intercourse between individuals and communities across the world. Outwardly there appears to be no reason for any acrimony to exist on the basis of one's faith, yet not only does irascibility exist, it is getting to be more pronounced.

It is human to find fault with others. We also tend to give our own interpretation to doctrines. We get conditioned unconsciously through subtle environmental influence. The prejudices thus acquired blunt our power to reason and we become less receptive to new thoughts and ideas. In other words we happily close our minds and kill the spirit of inquiry and drift away from the truth.

Truth is one; but spirituality, through which we seek it, has many hues. It is the same Supreme Being who created the universe that sustains the sinners and the sinned against. If He were to stop His bounty flowing to those who flouted His rules, what would happen to the world? That does not mean that He will not hold us accountable for the misdeeds but before that He has given us a long rope in the form of free will. He does not physically prevent us from wrongdoing. He has already warned us. This world is transitory, a testing ground of human conduct. Reward and punishment is reserved for the next life. If the Creator Himself has not imposed His will on us, who are we to impose ours on others or condemn others for holding beliefs different from our own?

When God sent down His messengers, their brief was to caution us against evil and encourage those who obeyed the Creator's command. The messengers were there to spread His word and certainly not to force obedience. Then where is the scope for clash? Those who love their Creator can never hate His creation. Man on the one hand proclaims to be the servant of his Creator and worships Him. On the other hand he regards His creation unworthy of his affection solely because of difference in faith.

The Creator has never commanded us to hate someone because of his belief. He has taught us to be mindful of all life forms. So we have no right to denounce another's religion or faith. Many a time, fighting in the name of religion has very little to do with faith. It is economic interest, hunger for power and territorial gain that spurred people to violence. How-ever, the fact remains that religion continues to exercise strong emotional appeal and therefore it becomes an effective rallying point and tool to grab power.

All religions strive to bring order into society, not disruption. But man ignores the core teaching. Reformists have dedicated themselves to focus attention on righteousness throughout the ages but there are some who have continued to do damage to human relations.

True, over the years, we have sharpened our language skills enough to couch our real intention in sophisticated arguments and exotic terminologies. But deep down, our basic instincts remain... only to resurface at the slightest provocation. We have to grasp the essence of our individual faiths to be able to contribute to peaceful living on planet earth.