You may have heard the axiom ‘easy come easy go’ associated with inheritance and even love, which is predicated on the notion that you fail to value what you get easily, thereby, you loose it. The same predicament lies with inheriting a faith or a belief system. Be it money or love or faith, you can only know its value when you work for it and it does not happen in a jiffy. You need to undergo an intellectual rigour coupled with practice to comprehend the pith and substance of the faith—which cannot be inherited.
If you’re born into a family that follows an organised religion you are most likely to be a part and parcel of it whether you like it or not, which means that you’ll grow up to read a certain sacred text, by a preferred cleric, the sayings and traditions will be orally transmitted that you can not question even if it contravenes the faith, and you will be expected to practice the tenants of the faith at a chosen sacred space, and there is really no wiggle room whatsoever. In crux, you inherit faith to the letter.
Faith is supposed to be blessing in times of trials and tribulations as it gives you hope in the darkest moments of life and words like “it is darkest before dawn” or “every night has a day” uplifts the spirit. BUT in instances when the world is marred by the threat posed by COVID-19 it has become exceedingly hard to keep people of faith from holding congregational prayers, even though the call to prayer from across the Muslim world commands people to pray at home. This is a classic case of cultural Islam—a faith that is merely inherited but not inculcated.
When you inherit money, you spend frivolously. When you love at first sight, you act frivolously. And when you inherit the faith, you indulge in frivolous practices. Most inheritors of faith suffer from what I call the superman-syndrome. The reason is obvious: Nothing ill can befall them; if it does, it is a blessing; and if they die in the process, they are elevated. The reality check is that there is absolutely no brownie points for going to prayers in these trying times. Is it better to pray at home. Yes. Can you reason this with worshippers who are flocking to the mosque? No.
If you reckon for a moment that a worshipper is invincible, then you have essentially undermined the lives of all prophets across the Abrahamic religious traditions, saints and sages. Two things that are common to all prophets in the Abrahamic faiths: They were all shepherds and they all struggled throughout their lives, faced with enumerable trials and tribulations which they endured patiently.
When faith itself becomes a cause of tribulation to you and others, the source of it is idiocy garnished with a fistful of arrogance. It has nothing to do with the religion.
I sincerely hope that religion does not become a curse in these trying times and works towards only lifting the spirits of the ill, the vulnerable, those who lack provisions and those struggling with grief, anxiety and depression. We really need that glimmer of hope, that light at the end of the tunnel that spirituality in faith can offer.
Wishing all humanity health and safety, and prayers for a better tomorrow.
Fahad Faruqui is an educationist, writer and a broadcaster. He can be reached at fahad@caa.columbia.edu
