We are living in the times of extreme economic crisis and really concerned about finding ways to resolve this catastrophe and return back to our normal wonderful lives ,but what’s more disturbing is our obliviousness about the fact that this is the time of a huge crisis of faith aswell.
when we are seeing alarming rise in the number of people completely rebelling against the idea of any faith.They’re demanding for “religiousless societies”.They see religion as a barrier between their zealous partying spirits ,as their idea of entertainment is hindered because of the restrictions that any religion carries. And then here comes the entertainment industry, adding fuel on their raging spirits.The media and all the fantasies it sells attracts them, their inspiration are these weed smoker , drug user, clubbing and drowning themselves in alcohol kind of celebrities.
For the Youth ,the sanctity of the religion is a prison, that stops them from dancing, singing ,drinking alcohol using drugs having extramarital affairs or sacrifice their desires, or have children out of wedlock, in simple words religion is a problem for them.The most heartbreaking fact is their ignorance, they do not even try to understand it,their fear is based on their ignorance or misguidence. Rumi said “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it“.
Unfortunately in the present times religion is getting defined by the culture.From Afghanistan to Indonesia, from the European muslims to the Middle Eastern muslims , their way of life , dressing ,manners,thoughts ,its their culture ,traditions, local beliefs and practices defining the religion for the present generation.Which is absolutely confusing ,because our elders are not well educated about the religion, for them it is the length of the clothes that are worn by a women or the beard of a man representing the holiness and vice versa.They think by keeping woman locked in the house, not giving them opportunities to go out ,or get education and work is their religious duty.According to many cultures their rigidity towards women is due to the verses in the Quran ,which they take out of context and impose it on the society, without realising the fact ,they’re not doing a favor but spreading terror.
When the religion should be shared and taught with love and kindness, acceptance and open-mindedness.The religion of Islam does not stop anyone from living their lives.If we study islam, it inspires humans to experience an explore this world.Indeed we are asked to watch our limits for our own good, but it should be free of oppression.
The extremist mentality of our elders and the so-called religious scholars is responsible for creating the negative ideas in the minds of the youth,that they see the religion as a threat,some close minded, conservative ,backward cavemen rule. They’re scared of touching the Quran , opening the book and reading it.Because they are forced to believe that their destiny is hell due to their lifestyle, for the music they listen to ,or the five times prayers they do not perform. Because they do not wear certain clothes that are defined by the culture,When only with the message of love for the creator and his Prophets, with the truth of forgiveness and mercy, alot can be changed. Aristotle said “When the storytelling goes bad in society, the result is decadence”…. I see it like, when we are not telling the message of the creator with acceptance and kindness, free of our cultural interpretations and personal additions , we are responsible for creating a crisis of faith.
By Khuş Editor-at-large WEDA