The Mullah And I

Recently, while reading a blog by popular Pakistani columnist Nadeem F Paracha in the Dawn newspaper, I came across an interesting comment by a certain Anjum Hameed. It raised the most interesting and pertinent points.



The comment was: “Out of curiosity, I want to know WHY we can’t take on our friendly, neighborhood mullah??...you think he will ex-communicate us??...he can’t...our religion allows us to pray and worship God in our own homes, in our own corner…”



There are several aspects that Hameed’s views have highlighted. Three of them are.



1. The relationship between the general populace and ecclesiasts.

2. The difference between spirituality and religion.

3. The primordial need to belong.



Let us analyze these three in detail.



1. The Mullah and I



Why is it that I cannot voice opinion against the neighborhood Mullah? And, if I were a Christian, against the padre of my congregation?



It is not the fear that I will annoy my one-point contact with God. I am certainly saner than that. If I believe in a ubiquitous and omnipotent god, then I for sure realize that I don’t need a go between such as the Mullah or the Pandit.



The answer is that by some historical quirk of fate a handful of people assumed the right – or perhaps were inadvertently bestowed with the right – to ‘guide’/‘direct’ the flock in matters religious and spiritual. Eventually these guys also assumed the right to ‘guide/direct’ the entire community as a unit.



And now I am scared of not belonging to that community/unit, which the Mullah/Padre/Pandit is quite capable of ensuring if I do not follow his diktats.



2. Religion or Spirituality?



That brings us to the next point.



So essentially organized religion – as represented by its modern day leaders — is nothing but a tool to herd people into a single unit for political purposes. It is not very different from a political party. The only difference being that religion uses the garb of spirituality after maligning/ twisting it big time.



3. Insecurity



But the bigger question is, why should I belong to a particular community at all in the first place?



The answer is simple: Insecurity.



Human being has always found security in numbers. For all our dramatic modern achievements, human beings are frail – physically and mentally; frail, because in spite of our achievements, we are not secure in our skin.



We view each other with suspicion. If the other is of a marginally different physical and mental make-up, we completely distrust him/her. The corollary to that is our tendency to join hands with those with the same physical and mental make-up as our own.



And religion (particularly organized religion) is the biggest expression of that insecurity of ours.


In short: to hell with Organized Religion — be it the anachronistic Hinduism, putrid Islam, redundant Christianity or decadent Buddhism.