Practice or don't. But don't preach

Here is a question: Who do you like more?

1. A person who spends his time praying in a religious house (any that appeals to you).

2. A person who spends his time trying to get food to the hungry, and has not time to pray.

That’s rhetorical. If you liked the first person more, please don’t read ahead (and unfriend me on Facebook). Now, if person Number 1 tells you what you should be doing for the next month to get ‘good deeds’ in your account, you start wondering what good means to them. Don’t get me wrong, I do not have anything against strict religiosity. But I have everything against using that like a beating stick to make everyone think and behave like you.

We are all individuals with unique likes, strengths, fears and fingerprint swirls. We also have our own one-of-a-kind predilections and laughter and tears.

What is it that makes a few very ignorant people think that any two of us will have the same idea about our relationship with God?

Religion, I have always believed, is the most personal, most private belief a person has. No one else has the right to dictate what you should feel, think, or do. Of course we are affected by other: impressed by genuine good, disgusted by pontification, inspired by selflessness. We imbibe, we change, and with any luck, we grow spiritually. But sending messages and stickers about how many prayers you need to do in a specific time just shows the absolute ignorance and vanity of the sender.

I have the privilege of knowing some amazing women who are very visibly Muslim. I have learnt so much from them, and most of it has been through how they live, how kind they are to others, and how they have helped me. I have also met amazing people from other faiths who have taught me much, and brought me immense solace. So I really cannot, just cannot, abide with people acting as if they are exclusively good solely because of what they profess to practice.

I know people who have published books on religion, and they are the nastiest people I know. They can be seen performing all the prayer, fasts, and other rituals expected from a committed Muslim. But you cannot be a good Muslim unless you are a good person. You cannot be a good Hindu, a good Christian, a good Wiccan, or a good atheist unless you are a good person. Without kindness, tolerance and acceptance, you can only be a good fraud. I have said this again and again. And there are so many more who have said it better. If superficial religious propriety is all you are good at, you are not good at your religion. Your beliefs are a lie.

 When Mohamed Salah prostrated at the soccer field, some people took it as a validation of their faith. How? Why? He could be prostrating to the football gods, or paying obeisance to the ground. And if he was doing the Islamic sijdah, it is his action. Not yours. His faith, not yours. Using another person’s act to define yours is equivalent to the misguided notion that blames one community for the action of a few evil crazies. Another person’s goodness or expertise does not define yours, however representative it may be of your faith. You have to do your own good, develop your own faith, effect goodness and admiration on your own actions. And giving sweeping unsolicited advice on what another person should do is not an act of faith. Do or do not. The choice is yours. As it is for everyone else.