The modern age has altered the approaches and perspectives of man toward religion. The inclination of man towards religion has subsided to an extreme degree. Obedience to its precepts has been replaced by aversion and animosity toward it. Man has turned indifferent and neglectful towards religion, thinking that religion and life cannot coexist. The former is deemed as a crippling and curbing force on the latter. This rupture has complicated matters for human beings. They struggle to combine the two, but they fail.
Liberal ideologies circulated and decentered the religious grounds, hurling humans into a bottomless abyss from which they never climbed up again to restart their lives based on the directives of religion. The absence of and antipathy to religion has landed humans in a meaningless world where the driving forces of life—joy, hope, and God—have disappeared. Samuel Beckett describes this world in his masterpiece, “Waiting For Godot,” through the characters of Vladimir and Estragon. These characters lack hope, joy, certainty, and security, waiting hopelessly and joylessly. We are all Vladmirs and Estragons dwelling in a world devoid of religion, faith, hope, and God.
Hazrat Ali (AS) says that we hate what we don’t know. The fundamental cause of antipathy to religion is not knowing the religion. People have not taken the time to peruse and understand its place in their lives. The distorted and contorted version of religion propagated by charlatans has led to antipathy toward religion. A profound study of religion will reveal its true significance in life. This adventure is to be taken to have a deeper understanding of religion. Knowledge leads to obedience, while ignorance leads to adamancy. Knowledge of religion leads to following it, and punctuality in executing the obligations of God and His religion. The negligence in practising the duties of religion is due to ignorance of the importance of religion. The supplication goes, “O! God, I disobeyed you due to ignorance.” Sins can only be eliminated by knowing their detrimental consequences. If one truly knows the effect of sin on their life, they will never commit it.
Innovations in religion have additionally caused antipathy to religion. Strange customs and practices have been innovated, making it repelling and repugnant. People have socialized religion to make it flexible, assimilating different socially constructed customs and stereotypes. Irrational beliefs, such as considering a black cat crossing your path ominous or Tuesday being inauspicious, have repelled people from adopting a religion. No revealed religion promotes these unreasonable beliefs. The modern age is dominated by rationality and enlightenment. These customs present religion as a ludicrous set of doctrines. Superstitious doctrines have harmed the true essence of religion, making it a hackneyed thing of the past. The schism has developed between religion and life, seeming unbridgeable now. If religious tenets are not interpreted as per contemporary requirements, the time is not far when people will lose their grip completely on their lives.
Another reason making religion repelling is the behaviour of religious people. Religious people are considered the epitome of religion, and their behaviours represent the principles of their religion. When religious people act contrary to their beliefs, people hate their beliefs. If religion does not humble its adherents, it is not a true and divine religion, and its message is not truly understood and implemented. People don’t have time to go through the scriptures of any religion; they instead look at their followers and conclude the teachings of their religion. C.S. Lewis has rightly said that of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst. Religion has been more harmed by its own adherents than by others who never espoused it. Religious men who remain unhygienic repel others to espouse their religion. M.K. Gandhi has rightly remarked that cleanliness is godliness. That religion is hated because its followers are not hygienic. Religious men who blindly obey insane customs and traditions present religion as a repugnant thing to others.
Poverty is also one of the reasons for antipathy to religion. Dr. Ali Shariati maintained that if poverty enters through the front door, religion exits through the back door. If a person does not have a morsel of food to feed themselves, they cannot think about performing the duties of religion. If the basic amenities of a person are not fulfilled, it is impossible for them to think about religion. Poverty impedes the spiritual growth of a person. Hazrat Ali (AS) says that poverty handicaps great people to the extent that their thoughts and ideas are not considered valuable. There is no greater curse than poverty. Hazrat Ali (AS) holds that had poverty has been a person, I would have killed it. How can those who execute the duties of religion who don’t have a house to stay, food to eat, and clothes to wear? Most lives begin with the struggle to satiate the stomach and end with an empty stomach.

The writer can be reached at [email protected]

Fida Hussain Bhat