Fossilized Beliefs, Ossified Practices: Religious Irrationalities Are Somewhere Tied To the Hoary-Old Practices in The Past

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 26 October 2022 We Foolishly Follow A Dictum And Never Bother How And In Which Circumstances It Originated In The Hoary Past. It Becomes All The More Ludicrous, When We Try To Justify Our Idiocy By Advancing Recondite Theories And ' Profound Commentaries ' Just Like One Straightforwardly Pejorative Word Kafir For Infidels And Polytheists In The Quran Is Glossed Over By Some Congenital Fools By Resorting To All Types Of Mental Gymnastics. ------ “Insaan Ki Tamaam Mazhabi Bewqoofiyon Ke Taar Kahin Na Khain Daur-E-Qadeem Ki Bhooli-Bisri Aadaton Se Waabasta Hote Hain." -Syed Ameer Ali (1848-1928), A Muslim Modernist (All our religious irrationalities are somewhere tied to the hoary-old practices in the past) Each time the guru sat for worship with his students, the ashram cat would come in to distract them, so he ordered them to tie it when the ashram was at prayer. After the guru died, the cat continued to be tied at worship time. And when the cat expired, another cat was brought into the ashram to make sure that the guru's orders were faithfully observed at worship time. Centuries passed and 'learned' treatises were written by guru's 'scholarly' disciples on the liturgical significance of tying up a cat while worship is performed. Most of the humans are like that only. 'Guru's cat' is a metaphor for our obstinate as well as irrational allegiance to customs and practices that have no significance for us any longer, yet we strive to perpetuate them. We foolishly follow a dictum and never bother how and in which circumstances it originated in the hoary past. It becomes all the more ludicrous, when we try to justify our idiocy by advancing recondite theories and ' profound commentaries ' just like one straightforwardly pejorative word Kafir for infidels and polytheists in the Quran is glossed over by some congenital fools by resorting to all types of mental gymnastics. Remember, naked is always naked even if you say and use euphemisms like ' in the buff ' 'sky-clad' or au naturel. Not only that, we try to immortalise our stupidity by giving a religious twist to a practice with a view to lending credence to our archaic and arcane thinking. In his monumental tome, “Man and his superstitions," Sir Carveth Reid states,” If we study the origin of the religious practices, we'll come to know that all of them originated in a particular era with a specific need and purpose. Whether it was a 'thread investiture' or a 'tonsure ceremony' among the Hindu 'vipras' (Brahmans) or the circumcision among the Jewish and Muslims, the socio-geographical reasons were much more overwhelming than any religious requirements. Since religion has a tendency to usurp a purely anthropological act and turn it into rigidity as time glides by, we've a mass, rather moss, of mindless customs." We dare not question why a particular custom is still prevalent lest it should jolt the collective sensibilities of the larger group we're a part of. “You’re not allowed to be the fulcrum of it," Reid further writes. Why should the door of a mosque open towards the 'Qiblah' (the west, the direction Mecca's situated) only? Where's it written that the 'west' is the holiest? When the first mosque was erected in Arabia, while Muhammad was alive, it was a jerry-built construction and the west was found to be the only direction from where the tempestuous sandy storms were relatively less intense. But who cares to get to the roots? Who has the time as well as inclination to get past the facade of ostensible representation of truth and spirituality? A practice gets fossilised when it's not resisted or questioned. Humankind is actually a complacent lot. Frightened it is, but more than a persistent sense of fear, it's a human proclivity never to bother about the traditional perpetuation of a number of things. Most of us are just blind followers. Very few of us are awakened seekers, seekers of truth and even beyond that as the Cambridge-based late physicist Stephen Hawking so aptly said, “Go beyond the stars, galaxies, milky ways and the universe itself, many more truths are awaiting you." Pick up the gauntlet and reassess your established truths, premises, practices and customs. "Bashar Ke Zehan Pe Qarnon Se Jo Musallat Hain / Badal Raha Hoon Gumanon Mein Un Yaqeenon Ko" (I'm out to turn the long-held 'truths', the minds of men are saddled with for ages, into potential doubts). ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/fossilized-beliefs-ossified-practices-religious/d/128264 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism