Conversion through coercion

One problem with history is that it is amenable to many interpretations with its persistent misuse by the power elite through conscious efforts to paint a whole picture from a single event or distort reality by cherry-picking the facts. Embedded in books, folklore, artwork and traditions, historical accounts are presented as objective facts unrelated to and unaffected by the prevailing socio-economic and political conditions. History then shapes a community’s worldview that it uses to make sense of life and everything that affects it. In a sense history conceals as much as it reveals!

The role of history is particularly significant in the case of how Islam is promoted and promulgated today. Islam, contrary to popular history, made inroads into other regions not through the brazen use of sword but with its appeal to reason and the moral conduct of its followers. Force was occasionally used against the tyrannical governance systems and structures and not against individuals. Wars fought against the Makkan aristocracy and the Roman and Persian empires were all aimed at liberating individuals from the clutches of obsolete and suffocating socio-political systems.

Rather than restraining the creative spirit of human beings, Islam encouraged its followers to explore, to reflect, and to think critically about what they believed. Blind following of religious authority and the subsequent sectarianism was an offshoot of political struggle for power. Both the Umayyad and Abbasid rulers in general forced people into submission and unquestioned allegiance through selective use of religious doctrines. Religious scholars and Sheikhs (modern pirs) gradually adopted that practice by asking their students and disciples to accept their version of religion as final, absolute and binding. Taqleed (unquestioned obedience of authority) replaced tahqeeq (research and independent thinking) in the subsequent years throughout the Muslim world that continues until today.

I am particularly interested in debates on science/reason and religion. What intrigues me quite often is the challenge that modern science puts up to the traditional sources of knowledge including paranormal experiences (mysticism) and divine revelation in the form of scriptures. The former is associated with abnormal brain activities and the latter with superstition and wishful thinking. Science defends its legitimacy by depending on the scientific method where claims about truth are substantiated through empirical testing and independent verification.

I do not stand a judge or arbiter in the fight between science and religion here. The point to note is the changing nature of fight and how the guardians of faith, aka maulvis, try to win it. One can silence people with coercive tools (including fatwa to declare someone apostate and infidel) for expressing some ‘unorthodox’ views but, fortunately or unfortunately, the problem is that there are no chains to fetter the mind. The powerful clergy, assisted by the state, can poison a Socrates to death and condemn a Galileo for “vehement heresy” but no one, however powerful, can kill an idea with a gun or a bomb.

Today, we live in an era characterised by paradoxes, complexities and contradictions. Religion and modernity have conflicting demands on our identities, lifestyles and behaviours. The best option is to appreciate ambiguity and embrace diversity for peace to flourish and for the human potential to blossom into the common good. Imposed faith not only loses its meaning but also its force to bring about positive change in the world. Faith predicated on legislation and fear produces robots at best and hypocrites at worst! Let our faith be informed by reason and nurtured by high moral conduct rather than be dictated from above by the state or from below by self-proclaimed defenders of faith!

 

The holy Quran is quite explicit about human agency in accepting or rejecting faith. It says, “there is no compulsion in religion; Verily, the right path has become distinct from the wrong one” (Al-Baqara, 256). Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation but (He intended) to test you in what He has given you; so race to towards the good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will inform you concerning that over which you used to differ (Al-Maida, 48).

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2023.

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