The
relationship between ritualism and values is inversely
proportional. The more one sees a society engrossed in
rituals, putting on the garb of holiness and sanctity,
the less respectful it becomes of the values. It grows
more concerned with image than character. Rituals often
have the tendency of raising a faade, putting on a mask,
covering up the real face and robbing the individual or
the society off the substance. People of faith, be they
Muslims, Christians, Hindus or others, often camouflage
their action under ritualism to put on a cloak of sacredness.
Rituals
are a tricky business. They have an outward form and infinite
capacity to deceive the onlookers. Politicians deploy
them as diversionary tactics to expand their appeal among
the nave men and women. Spiritual industrialists and the
modern age gurus practice them for multibillion transactions.
Peddlers of dubious and spurious wares survive and thrive
on its strength. They have all the element of business
what with these gurus flaunting colour, sound, symbols,
and flags.
In
contrast, values have to be practiced, are difficult to
be observed, demand sacrifice, are intangible and therefore
take long to be recognized and respected. Shorn of publicity,
bereft of impressive array of followers, and devoid of
noise, these have to be perceived only through behaviour,
dealings, manners, etiquette and ones conduct in private
and public. They are not superficial. They have a tendency
to be latent, an obsession with subtlety, a passion not
to be discovered and shy of being evident.
A
cursory glance over the Muslims around the world would
convince that over the last few decades, the community
has come to betray several outer manifestations of Islamic
rituals and symbols. There are more millions who gather
for Hajj every year. The number of those who seek forgiveness
on the 27th night of Ramadan at the Haram Mosque in Makkah
has surpassed the number conglomerating for the annual
pilgrimage. Beards have lengthened and hemlines of trousers
have gone up. Headscarf has emerged as the universal bond
of Islamic sisterhood. More people perform Itikaaf while
millions of lambs are sacrificed on Eidul Azha. More rosary
beads, miswaks and musallas find buyers. The most ungodly
of the nations, China, has made the most of this Islamic
religious fervour. They now manufacture and supply the
Islamic prayer rugs (often compass studded), tasbeeh calculators,
takbir clocks and plastic Ganesha idols in millions and
rake up billions of dollars. Similarly, rituals like vaastu,
homa, havana, yagya, Ganapathy poojas, grihaparvesham,
have found popularity among Hindus. It has become a fetish
to indulge in exhibitionism when it comes to matters religious.
These manifestations of religiosity that characterise
the religion or the religious people, are not unique to
Islam or Hinduism alone. All across the globe, ritualism
is on the rise.
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Lament
is that even if underlying piety has not changed that
much, religions role in public life plainly has. Amid
the noisy trumpeting of religious slogans, the lives of
people are getting sterile of values. People are eager
to make repeat performance of Hajj even by impersonation,
beating the rules of legal disability. Just as the acquisition
of an American Green Card has become a symbol of the Indian
(and, perhaps, elsewhere too) elite, performing Umrah
during Ramadan has also emerged as a status symbol. Treatment
of an ailing neighbour, marriage of the poor ageing spinster
in the back lane, or a child of the housemaid withdrawn
from the school owing to lack of resources do not occupy
their priority. People do not feel qualms in flaunting
Haza min Fazli Rabbi (I owe it to my Lords bounty) on
mansions raised through illgotten wealth. Individuals
who find themselves ill at ease while doling out paltry
sums for the poor, do not bat an eyelid on sacrificing
a dozen goats on the eve of Eidul Azha. Spirit of sacrifice
for the needy around does not even touch them. The very
Imams who tirelessly pontificate on virtues of retaining
the traditional syllabus for madrassas, somnolently make
a beeline for admission of their wards in modern missionary
run schools.
We
indeed reside in a world that has made a business of religion
and rituals. It is a soulless world, sterile of values
of integrity, love, compassion, generousity, forgiveness
and transparency. Spirit that characterize these rites
has vanished into thin air. It is time we addressed the
issue threadbare. Rites without values are like form without
content, style without substance and body without a soul.
Let us be reminded that religions survive by distinctions
and differentiation. But values are one and the same all
across the substrata of all faiths. In the final analysis,
the religions differentiate, but values unite. It is up
to us to choose.
*****
By:
Mr. Maqbool Ahmed Siraj,
Bangalore.
Email: maqbool_siraj@rediffmail.com
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