By
Allama Inayat Ullah Khan Al-Mushraqi
RELIGION is the greatest mystery of all that is believed and practised in the world. What is this 'worship'? Why is this 'bowing down'? Why do there exist dogmatic 'beliefs' and conventional 'rituals', Brahman's forehead ranarks and idol worshipper's 'statues', Muslim's 'sacrifices' and Hindu's offerings':? Why the bonfire of the fire-worshipper? What is the Christian's 'son of God'? Garlands of beads, rites of haj, pilgrimage, prayers 'tapassia', alms, offerings, donations, presents, long flowing beards, conformed appearances, amulets, baptism, dances, baths etc. etc. are such continuing mysteries of religious practices and customs as the common man does not consider necessary to fathom. And in spite of this, everybody performs them with extreme sense of devotion and duty, and does not utter a word about their truthfulness or falsity, genuineness or incorrectness.
The ignorant and the informed, the insensate and the wise, all participate in this unknowable exercise, and consider the pursuit of these practices, as far as is in their power, a vital purpose of life. In the entire history of man's presumption and _belief, in fact, in much of what constitutes an account of his struggle and action, Religion alone is that persuasive and quiet catalyst the amazing influence of which is Visible almost on every individual. And Religion, too, is such an undebatable, unarguable and unceasing heritage of man which everybody considers his inherent right to keep in unquestioned custody.
It is surprising that, in spite of the general leaning
towards Religion, it has not been possible, ever since man's creation, to
establish which Faith is true; which is strictly in accord with the Will of the
Creator; what the criterion of a Faith being true is; nay, what Religion
actually is and what its real object is. It has not been possible, so far, to find
an irrefutable argument even about the Being of God and His real Will. The
great secret of life lies utterly unexplored. In spite of billions of people
having died, the profound mystery of death is entirely unfathomable. Human
beings are unanimous on the facts of mathematics; not even an iota of
difference arises on any of its propositions. The entire mankind is united on
the findings of physics; it witnesses them with own eyes; it draws conclusions
from them and arrives at new openings to power. Nay, the whole world is at last
unanimous on the orbital motion of the earth or the relative rest of the sun,
too; everybody is wonderstruck as if the visible evidence is a visual
deception. There exists not a single follower of Aristotle's false 'religion'
that the earth is stationary. All untrue theories of olden times have
disappeared, but the differences between the Hindu and the Buddhist, the
Zoroastrian and the Brahman, the Muslim and the Christian continue as ever. Why
have the dwellers of the earth presumed Religion to be such a thing as keeps
them so divided? Why does not the all-embracing nature of truth bring them
round to a common reality? Why Is it that every man considers his own Faith
true and the rest a mere falsity, although these Faiths appear poles apart? Why
is there a conflict, and if conflict is there: what is this claim of being
TRUE?
These questions throw every sane person into a welter.
However, their final solution for the collective good of mankind has a
universal importance because much of the bloodshed in the world, its most
horrifying wars, Its great conflicts and massacres have been given birth by
DIFFERENCE OF FAITHS. Often a people has massacred another because it had a
different 'religion'; because it professed a different 'Faith', worshipped
another 'god', had somebody else its prophet and leader. If these bloodsheds
and massacres, civil wars and killings were actually initiated at the Instance
of the leaders of mankind, and resulted out of the conflict In their messages
or their conscious distortions, and if these conflicts continue In their
present form for generations, it must then be the DIVINE WILL that mankind
should one day perish through Internecine warfare or keep on fighting till
eternity. Mutual co-operation and Integration is inconceivable In the face of
this SUPREME WILL: the evolution of a common plane of peace is contrary to the
course of Nature. If, however, mankind is really one race, If It has the same ancestry
and has been brought Into being by the same Motive Power, if man was actually
created for the same purpose and is evolving to the same objective, then all
this mutual conflict is UNNATURAL; it Is contrary to the Providential purpose;
It is suicide and self-annihilation; it is stupendous injustice and a death in
folly.
I am convinced that the various Prophets, wherefrom they
came, brought the same message. They viewed the Universe with the same sense of
wonder; they were moved by looking at the wondrous species of man from the. Same
high plane; sensations of wonder and stirrings of knowledge and awareness
entered their bodies through the same passage. They grappled with the question
of "WHAT is a" this and WHY is all this". In the piercing
commotion of this longing and love, the Masked Reality offered them a glimpse
of itself from behind the curtain, whispered something and again disappeared.
But whatever was said was the same; the enchanting tune was the same; the
message of kiss was the same; the bewitching wink was the same; the word of
confidence was the same. These Knowers of Mysteries kept on proclaiming the
Secret as long as they lived; they faced gallows and slanders but kept on
Inciting people to act; they united them on one objective and one programme..
But when the unknowing and the unseeing took over, they tore humanity apart; by
misquoting the Divine Message, they lined up people behind them. God Almighty's
vengeful wrath on the earth to-day is primarily due to this rift and revolt. It
is the arrogance of stupidity and obstinacy of pettiness which have made the
world a slaughterhouse. And if this state of affairs continued for some time,
God alone knows what will befall the human race.
Thus, the conflict between various religions is. in fact,
born out of stupidity and ignorance. petty-mlndedness and narrow outlook, oblivion
of the original teachings and Ignorance about their universality; it is
certainly not the conflict of KNOWLEDGE and REVELATION. Knowledge everywhere
gives birth to unity and consensus, security and peace, effort and action. It
disarms everybody; when it takes birth, conflict becomes Impossible, doubt is
rendered Inconceivable, inaction Is unlikely. No two persons have fought that
water Is not fluid, that fire is cold, or a heavy body falls towards the sky,
because all have seen the reality with their own eyes; because everybody
experiences them every moment and .in every state. If, exactly in the same way,
all Faiths are examined on the touchstone of Knowledge; if their reality and
message, too, were explained to humanity after testing them as a science; if
all the conventional masks with which people have, through ignorance and lapse,
covered and distorted the truth, are removed, and attention is focussed on the
common basis. The unadulterated truth and the FUNDAMENTAL REALITY. which
constitutes the real anchor sheet and basis of world Faiths, which is operative
everywhere and in every state, which is visible to everybody, by manifesting
which the science of Prophet hood united all, then mankind can forthwith be
integrated and unified exactify as at the time of its creation; aI/ massacres
can again be ended immediately; the earth can again be put on the right course.
In every domain of research and inquiry, the revealing effect of Science is
such a powerful corrector of human actions and opinions that conflict at least
on that particular proposition is rendered Impossible. The object of Knowledge
everywhere is to integrate, to narrow down the dividing gulf and by evolving a
common basis, to enforce a universal agreement. But Knowledge must really be a
Science; it must be an EVIDENCE of the Ears and the Eyes; it must not be a
nonsensical 'belief', a 'supposed faith' or an illusion. If this materialises
anywhere, the whole world finds it compulsive, in fact, natural, to accept it,
as is the case with algebra or gravitation.
