Religion and Moral Standards

[Southie]

Re: Religion and Moral Standards

@redvelvet

I think we do. If not hold them to a higher standard, then we at least expect them to adhere to the basic rules. Many of us say things like, “Oh she wears hijab, but she does xyz”…or …“she prays namaz and speaks of deen but look at what she did”…“he has a fist-length beard and is always seen at the masjid but look at his contradictions.” I’ll admit I’m guilty of this too. Then you have the folks who don’t consider themselves to be religious …but… when they see their more religious brethren commit a mistake or sin…they will say/think “Well at least I’m not a hypocrite. At least I don’t portray myself to be religious. At least I don’t go around talking about deen when I can’t follow basic tenets. At least I am who I am…at least I am more transparent than that maulvi or hijaban or that paanch waqt ki namazan.”

Not too long ago tariq Jameel brought up this issue in a brief lecture. He said that a mistake is a mistake…a sin is a sin…whether committed by the religious or the less religious. The sin itself does not increase or decrease in gravity depending upon who committed it unless it was done in ignorance. But when we say things like “ooh she prays but then she gossips”…“he goes to the masjid but then he’s does bla bla”…what we are doing is “kisi ki naiki uchaalna.” It’s like trying to invalidate their good deeds or naikiyan when only Allah knows how much sincerity those deeds were performed with. Perhaps those 5 minutes spent in prayer (before they committed a mistake) were ones of utmost sincerity. The one who is religious is flawed just like the one who isn’t. We all make contradictions in our words and actions. If someone is religious doesn’t automatically mean they’re a saint. If they are committing a sin, it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with namaz or any other ibadat they’re doing…it means that their relationship with Allah is deficient and needs to be improved upon. And that is an ongoing process of ups and downs.

Good post.