Religion For Peace: Peace Through Justice

RELIGION FOR PEACE:

PEACE THROUGH JUSTICE

Dr. Muin-ud-Din Ahmad Khan

In the present day world RELIGION has come to be a hotly debated subject. Religion for peace? Religion for war? Religion- a nomadic concept? Religion- a feudal concept? Religion- a hand-maid of capitalism? Religion- an opiate for the oppressed multitude? Religion- a danger to socialism? Religion- a backward step towards the past? And many similar questions can be similarly asked and forcefully debated from historical, philosophical and scientific points of view.

Still, however, for good or for bad, the fact remains that RELIGION played a vital role in moulding human civilization in the past. In the historical perspective of the human civilization, it can easily be seen that in spite of its faults, RELIGION provided with the most determined and sustained activating stimulus for the preservation and progress of human life, specially at the social level. So much so that, those human societies, which remained untouched by RELIGION, tended to remain outside of the pale of human civilization and progress.

But as the most familiar terminology in human history, the word ‘RELIGION’ and its equivalent in different other languages, have often been over-employed for good use as well as for abuse. The consideration of RELIGION in the context of the present-day human society and human progress, specially by the socialist world, therefore, makes it incumbent on us to determine, first of all, the real meaning of this terminology in its (a) seed and (b) development, so as to make it sure about the nature of its (c) fruit. (1) It may also be proposed as an hypothesis that our success in determining the degree of definiteness and certitude in the meaning of RELIGION in its (a) seed and (b) development, will also determine the degree of definiteness and certitude in the meaning of its (c) fruit, which, we have chosen to discuss here, as PEACE.

A : The Seed

It would be generally admitted that among the civilizing agents of mankind, RELIGION is the oldest; and; at the present stage, the highly complicated development of human civilization ahs also compelled religion to pass from complexity to complexity. As such, it has difficult to break through the barriers of complexities of numerous religious systems, churches, sects, groups and schools and reach back into the roots or seed of RELIGION. A sample survey or examination may be as follows :

i) In Bengali language, the word for RELIGION is Dharma, which is a Sanskrit word, and which is the same as Dhamma in the Pali language. Dharma means a lot of things with a focus on (a) Judgment in the next life, (b) Justice in the present life (c) morality and conscience, (d) to behave chastely in conformity with the original nature of a thing, and so on and so forth. In the popular parlance of Bengali language, it points mainly to ‘devotion to the divine’.

ii) The concept of Dharma of the Hindus and that of Dhamma of the Buddhists, being begotten of Aryan culture, the two terms may be equated in their seeds with the Western terminology of RELIGION, which is equally of Indo-Aryan origin and rooted in the Roman and Greek cultures. One could, therefore, surmise that coming from the Aryan Mother-stock, Religion would mean the same as Dharma. Probably, it was really so at the beginning. But in course of the last two thousand years, this Aryan concept was heavily loaded by the Semitic connotations of RELIGION, which is best expressed in the Islamic terminology of DIN.

iii) In the Semitic sense, in Hebrew and Arabic, DIN would generally mean the same thing as Dharma. It will focus upon (a) the Last Day of Judgment in the next life, (b) morality, (c) responsibility, (d) conscience and accountability for actions, (e) God as the Creator, Nourisher, and Judge of everything.

The difference may be that, while to Dharma and Dhamma, conformity to the

original nature is pivotal; to the Semitic concept of Din, a dept or obligation to

act with responsibility (as against the capabilities provided to mankind by God)

is pivotal. Moreover, while the Semitic concept is ploy-theistic (trinitarian) and

the Buddhists remain content with Divinity as the Highest Good.

(iv) There is also a good deal similarity between the Aryan and Semitic concept of

RELIGION and that of the pharaonic idea. For instance, let us consider the

Pyramid as a triangle meaning so to say “we come from Heaven and return to

Heaven”. Let us consider the THREE magnitudes of the ‘triangle’ as

representing THREE points of human life : (a) birth (b) death and (c) return. If

we identify the whereabouts of our existence before birth, with the point of our

return, then the human life ‘here and hereafter’ becomes a triangle.

If this is so, why not then stretch the imagination a little further and surmise that, while the ancient Egyptians thought of human life as triangular (or tri-point-ic), the ancient Indian Hindus worshipped THREE GODS holding sway over the three points of life: (a) Brahma as the Creator (i.e. bringing to birth) and (b) Vishnu as the nourisher (since birth until death) and (c) Mahadev as the God of Death and Judgment (from death and beyond).

Is there any harm to surmise even further that the monotheistic Muslims probably see the THREE POINTS of human life through their triadic Tasbih : SUBHAN-ALLAH, ALHAMDU-LILLAH, ALLAHU-AKBAR- pointing to the facts that (a) before birth I was in the domain of Allah, the Creator, whom I praise, (b) from birth to death, I am living under the domain of Allah, the Nourisher, to whom I express my gratitude for providing me with all the amenities of life, and (c) after death, on the Day of Resurrection, I shall be in the domain of Allah, the Judge, Whose Majesty would be supreme on that Day as all the self-governing powers of the human beings bestowed by Him as vicegerent (khalifah) would be put to an end and everyone would be called to the accounts of his actions, therefore, I praise His Greatness?

It is, therefore, clear that instead of philosophizing and indulging in the absurdities of abstract thinking, if we look at the concrete out-lines of RELIGION with a sharp microscope view, we find many a similarity in all the religions of the world. Thus examined the SEED OF RELIGION comes out before us as a SET of the following elements :

a) Belief in life after death,

b) Bidding of the conscience,

c) A sense of moral responsibility for actions,

d) Therefore, accountability after death.

e) Faith in God or Faith in Divinity, as the be-all and and-all of everything in the Universe.

If we view RELIGION deeply enough, or religiously in depth, all the above five

elements would appear to be the minimum basic requirements of RELIGION qua religion. For a common place simile, let us compare it with the functioning of electricity and let us say :

‘a’ stands for a ‘positive pole’

‘b’ stands for a ‘negative pole’

‘c’ stands for a connecting wire between the two.

‘d’ stands for the magnetic field of the generator.

‘e’ stands for the wiring system and the switch.

If the FIVE-ELEMENTAL SEED OF RELIGION stands to religion as an electric light stands to electricity, then the five elemental seeds have to be viewed as a single indivisible entity, in which minus any one element will take the life out of it.

Let us, therefore, contend with a sense of experimental wisdom that the SEED of RELIGION is a FIVE-ELEMENT SINGLE ENTITY.

B : Development

If the SEED of RELIGION is five element, its network of life, as we have already seen, is THREE DIMENSIONAL. Let us go back to the triangle of the Pyramid with ‘a’ on the top, ‘b’ at the left angle and ‘c’ at the right angle. Let us imagine that my ‘existential consciousness’ as a person or as a separate entity or individual-begins at the point ‘a’ and I get born at ‘b’ and I meet with my death at ‘c’ and return to the original ground at ‘a’. In this context, let us say, as religious entity I carry with me the SEED of RELIGION at ‘a

b’, then I develop my mundane life acting with a sense of responsibility at ‘b c’,

and finally for the accountability at ‘c a’ looking forward to an eternal life of rewarding PEACE or chastising punishment beyond it for whatever I have done in between ‘b’ and ‘c’ (b to c). Therefore, as a religious entity, I would naturally regard every action of mine, here and now, in between birth and death, as most meaningful, significant and crucial for my life through eternity beyond death.

Thus, in a deeper sense, the religious consciousness of an existential entity of a human being, makes the mundane life most important. To say that, the sense of accountability in the next life, determines the attitude towards here and now, -is not the same as saying that religion is other-worldly. Rather, we might say that, from a religious point of view, human life here and now is the farm-land for life hereafter: as you will sow, so you will reap.

C : Fruit

If the SEED of RELIGION is five-elemental, and its development in human life is THREE DIMENSIONAL, then the Fruit of its BALANCED development is PEACE. As against the balanced development of the SEED, as it has already become clear, the result of its unbalanced development is bound to be SORROW, torment, chastisement, probably worse than the prospect of an eternal death.

For a simile, we may turn again to the common place example of electricity. As in electricity, the balanced development of the molecules, in between the positive and negative charges, leads to peace in the atomic world, so also, the balanced development of human life, in between ‘a conjunction with b’ and ‘c conjunction with a’, leads to peace in the human world.

A

B C

Thus, the most fundamental objective of RELIGION is PEACE. RELIGION stands for PEACE. RELIGION is all for PEACE. Because, beyond or besides peace, RELIGION has no objective. Judaism and Christianity aim at Salvation as the be-all and end-all of human life. Salvation is nothing other than PEACE. In Buddhism expressly strives eternally for PEACE. IN Hinduism, O^m Shanti or Divine PEACE is the highest good. For Islam RELIGION itself is PEACE. Islam means peace.

In the present-day strife-torn world, where peace is being maintained at the point of the gun, it is good to contemplate about PEACE. As such, it would certainly be good for the secularizing world of today to rediscover the real significance of the PEACE of RELIGION, as it would be equally good for the world of RELIGION to rediscover the real import of LIFE in this mundane world, so that PEACE can be re-established in the world at large on the basis of LOVE between man and man.

But, to establish PEACE between man and man is not as easy as it can be thought of. It is difficult owing to the limitations of human nature, which often blurs the distinction between good and evil. Hence through trial and error, all RELIGIONS have laid down the problem of strengthening the mind and judgment of man and woman to choose correctly between good and evil as the universal principle of all RELIGIONS-PEACE through JUSTICE.

Again human nature being subject to ‘trial and error’ and RELIGION being ‘humane-different religious systems have developed through evolutionary process different mechanisms for the application of justice to the human situation.’

In this respect, Islam also took certain special steps to ensure PEACE through JUSTICE. In the first place, the holy Quran enjoins in unambiguous terms: ‘to judge with justice’, and not merely according to the law. Secondly, a FOUR DIMENSIONAL CALCULUS was devised by the Prophet of Islam to measure the justness of justice, which is still current in the court proceedings of the Muslim countries, namely, (a) Muqaddima, (b) Evidence of the Mudda’i, (c) Evidence of the Mudda’a Alaihi, and (d) Rai of the Qadi. Thirdly, the Quran directs the Muslims to bear witness in truth for the sake of God be it even against one’s own self or against one’s parents and relations. PEACE through JUSTICE at home and abroad, in war and in peace, to citizen and alien, to individual and society, to man and God and even to one’s own self, can thus be termed as the Gospel of Islam, which, in fact, expresses the essence of all religions of the world.

Before finishing my paper, I heartily congratulate the religious communities of the Soviet Union and the Organizers of this grand International Seminar on Religions of the World, for providing a golden opportunity to all sections of the human family for new thinking on life and religion in the context of the present-day nuclear age.

Wassalamu-alaikum.