Clerics often disagree with each other and as a result, arguments arise amongst followers
PESHAWAR: In Islamic culture, the religiously learned person is known as a Maulvi. To become a Maulvi, one has to get a religious education from a seminary. The process of religious education takes years before one can be called a Maulvi. This process begins with the fundamentals of religion and is followed by complex issues that are difficult for ordinary people to understand. Therefore, the purpose of religious education is to help ordinary people solve complex problems.
The actions of the above mentioned people often contradict the purpose of religious education. What saddens me the most is the lack of unity between the clerics. Unity is one of the many lessons of religious education, which unfortunately is rarely found among Muslims. Clerics have a lot of influence over the general public and what they say has an enormous impact. They often disagree with each other and prefer their opinions more than the opinions of other clerics. As a result, followers start arguing with each other, which eventually provokes indecent behaviour. Instead of uniting the masses, clerics instill hostility in the people. Moreover, the difference in opinion, between clerics on critical issues, tends to confuse the ordinary people. An ordinary person relies on the cleric for matters related to religion. But soon he finds himself confused by the multiplicity of opinions.
The honour and respect of clerics are declining day by day. The lack of unity is the key factor behind this decline. Our religion has laid emphasis on unity. Despite that, clerics lack unity. This raises a simple question: when clerics themselves lack unity, how can the common man be united?
Our religion supports peace, harmony, tolerance and unity. First and foremost, clerics should unite. They are regarded as representatives of Islam. Therefore, their actions must not contradict the lessons of religion. Unity among the clerics will convince the common people to unite as well.
Hammad Khalil
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2019.
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