... What Religion Means to Us?

This article in arabic

In today’s world, we find that there is a controversy about what “religion” is and the role it plays in our lives. Some view “religion” as a set of meaningless rules that serve to do nothing but to tie man’s freedom. Others view “religion” as the key to man’s liberation. This obvious contradiction in the way people view religion, is rightly related to the practice and understanding of religion.

For a moment let us forget about words, names, and definitions and think about a message that emphasizes peace and love and condemns violence and hatred. Let us think of a message, that attempts to teach man about himself, and through that teach him about his God. Let us think of a message that wants man to see that he is more than a social animal, but that within him lays the power of all creation. Let us think of a message that attempts to liberate man from all forms of slavery. Now, let us call that message and our method to achieve it our religion.

All messengers of God, have called for this message. They were this message. They’ve spread the seeds of truth and left it up to man to nourish them. Every living thing evolves with time. While religions evolve in the heart of true believers, its representation and meaning is corrupted by people seeking to serve themselves under the disguise of people of serving God. As such, the word religion has become distorted, and what it stands for, misrepresented. Religion, any religion, calls for peace, yet shamelessly, killing of the innocent is carried out under the banner of religion. Religion calls for freedom, yet the religious institution is used to force man into the worst kind of oppression. It is indeed amazing that religion is used, or rather misused, to achieve what is has come to abolish. But, the seed, the secret is in man. Man has the choice to be enslaved, or to rise above slavery.

Just like the fact that every person is unique, every human being's relationship with God is also special and unique. Religion is everyone's personal experience, but it is universal because when seeking truth everyone has something to add and to learn.

What man calls himself is not important, but how he lives his life is. Rituals associated with various religions, are not unimportant, but when stripped from all meaning, we might as well be worshipping idols.

We believe in truth, without boundries. We believe in truth accessible to everyone. We believe in truth that transcends names and literal descriptions and to truth seekers, we address our ideas. We believe that our lives are governed by a law supreme and divine. It is our purpose to seek and understand that law within ourselves, and from all that surrounds us. It is our desire to share our thoughts with others.

As such, we believe that there is one religion that is expressed in different ways, in different places. This is the primordial religion which is named in our language “Islam”.

Before we go further, we should also point out to the fact that we do not mean by naming that approach or that orientation towards life “Islam”, that we differentiate between “ Islam” and other religions, or that we are aiming at converting any one from his religion to name himself a “Muslim”. We choose “Islam” to express our orientation, because it carries our message.

The word Islam in Arabic connotes layers of meaning that solve the puzzle of our existence. It originates from the verb sallama which means in one of its aspects “surrender” . The same root can be read differently to give another meaning, “salema”, that is, one who was rescued, and became safe and secure. “Salam” is a word that is driven from the same root, meaning “peace”.

“Surrender”, “security or safety”, and “peace” are the cornerstones of the message. To surrender to God, is to chose a way that will make you safe, secure, and in peace with yourself. Surrender to God is built on understanding who you are, what you are looking for, how to realize your humanity and to continue to grow spiritually. To surrender to God is to follow the eternal law and allow yourself a chance to fully realize your spiritual potential.

Spiritual growth follows divine laws. As a seed can not grow into a full blown plant if it is not placed in fertile land and nourished by the proper elements, man cannot grow spiritually if he does not nourish his spiritual side.

The law works whether we are aware of it, or not. The most important thing is to provide the right conditions for the seed to grow. Our civilization started when man learned how to cultivate the land. Mother nature conveys a message to us. Can we read it? Understand it? Can we cultivate our own life so that it becomes fruitful?

There is no way to be convinced that there is a law of life, unless you believe in the order that governs the whole universe. This order contains what we know and what we don’t know and also what is unknowable.

The unknowable side of the law is related to the unseen power that transcends the natural world, yet it is omnipresent within. To believe in God is not merely to utter words, or to understand mentally and logically that there is a creator of the universe, rather, it is to put your faith in the eternal law of life and its power. You are not your body, and your soul is not an outcome of the biological function of that body. There is more in you and for you. You are divine. Your divine self needs to be nourished. When you allow it to be exposed to the source of life, it continues to work for you. That is what religious teachings are meant to be for.

The teachings of the messengers were represented not only by words, but also through the way they lived, sought the Truth, expressed their love to all of us. We consider them all one man. Prophet Muhammad came to continue those teachings, reveal them bold once more before the whole world. Whoever lives according to those teachings, under any named religion, is attached to the presence of the prophet as a spiritual guide and in this sense, he is witnessing the messenger of God. That is the way we understand the first pillar in Islam.

Whoever surrenders to the divine law, is a Muslim whether he calls himself that or not.