When Religious People Indulge In Immoral Acts

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 3 March 2023 The news that Iranian schoolgirls are being forced to watch porn to dissuade them from protests against hijab has shocked the world. Isn't it a blatantly immoral act, committed by the so-called religious people? Schoolgirls across Iran joined the protests triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death, with many videos on social media showing them taking off headscarves and chanting anti-government slogans, including on school premises. (Twitter) ----- Now when Mr Naseer says that there cannot be morality outside religion and belief in Hereafter, I ask him with utmost respect and decency, how'll he evaluate these 'religious' people's immoral act of forcing young girls to watch explicit flicks? Aren't these rascals scared of Islam and Roz-e-Qayamat? And if you say that these people are not Muslims, then a very big chunk of Muslims cannot be called Muslims! It's not that such elements are found only in Islam. All religions have followers who despite having faith in religion, god and agla janm, commit all sorts of heinous acts. I must cite the example of the six perpetrators of Nirbhaya Episode that shook the country in Dec. 2012. Out of six, Afroz ( the youngest one) succeeded in cheating the gallows as he was underage. All others were Hindus who had faith in god and were regular chanters of Hanuman Chalisa. Their Hanuman is an eternal celibate but his devotees brutally raped a young woman and were hanged. Did their faith in god and fear of punishment in the next birth dissuade them from committing such a ghastly crime? The point is, a morally upright person is moral, irrespective of any religion and eschatological fear/belief. Rene Descartes, who gave the famous dictum Cogito Ergo Sum ( I think, therefore, I'm) to the world coined a term Decontextualised Morality. He was a believer but believed that morality must be decontextualised. To elaborate it, one's moral behaviour is independent of religiosity or not in the context of religion. In one of the novels of German Nobel laureate Gunter Grass, a character says, " If you're good, you're good. Your conscience is your moral guide which needs no religion and angels to be good." In my whole life, I've come across best of humans from religion and no-religion. The teacher who exempted me from attending religious class in Iran was a devout Muslim who loved me like his son despite my non-belief. He's still in touch with me and never talks of religion with me. When fanatics assaulted me and left me profusely bleeding, it was my dear Muslim friend Shoaib Huda who saved my life. He's a believer. And a complete non-believer like my mentor Dr Zaifa Ashraf gave away her whole body for medical research. I know the girl who sees the world with my mentor's eyes. Dr Zaifa never hurt a single soul in her entire life. Here on this site, my young but very mature friend and a totally irreligious person, Prakhar Garg writes to Unknown and says, let's spread love and peace on this forum. It's his sublime morality which's not regulated by religion. I'm a complete apatheist but I too have pangs of morality. I feel that at times, I behaved too casually and flippantly by calling some readers imbecile, vulture, fools, among others. I should have refrained from using such intemperate terminology. That was my mistake. But my in-built morality has always cautioned and warned me. So, please Mr Naseer, look at things from a fresh perspective as well. There's no harm in admitting that you've erred as I've openly accepted that I've erred. Life's an ongoing process of learning and accepting one's mistakes and erroneous views. An individual's morality is his/her conscience or inner voice. ------- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/religious-immoral-acts/d/129236 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism