Piety, especially of the new-found and over-zealous variety, comes with several pitfalls. For instance, a very high percentage of religious folks of this ilk fail to resist the temptation of looking down in contempt upon those who (in their opinion) have yet to see the light, and are therefore (in their view) stuck quite hopelessly in moral depths. It takes extraordinary and constant vigilance to guard against it. This danger for the religious folks is well-known. That many still succumb to it is another matter, however.
A relatively lesser-known danger that the more zealous amongst the religious folks are prone to; and which I propose to talk about today was summarized best, in his characteristically succinct and undiplomatic manner, by Prophet Jesus (AS). Addressing scribes and Pharisees, he had said: ‘Woe unto you, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel [Matthew 23:23-24].’ One marvels at the fact that despite the many paraphrases and translations that the scriptures have had to suffer, the eloquence and the impact of the words Jesus would originally have used to convey the thought are still very much intact.
Picking and choosing in religion; that is, obsessing about the relatively minor issues while ignoring the fundamental and vital ones, has some extremely deep roots in the psychology of men and women who sign up for a cause (for any number of reasons) but are not convinced enough to be quite committed to it. They are not willing to put in hard work for any significant improvement in their lives; but at the same time feel that appearances need to be kept up, for themselves if not for others. That is where stressing (in an exaggerated and overenthusiastic manner) on minor and insignificant issues comes in so handy as far as they are concerned.
Let us consider the Muslims of today, who are second to absolutely nobody when it comes to this sort of behaviour. To take up an example, the Quran explicitly instructs women not to display their ‘adornments’ to those who have no business seeing them [24:31]. The Arabic word (zeenat) has often been mistranslated and misconstrued (especially in the Indian subcontinent) to mean the women’s beauty. The word actually means anything done to enhance or accentuate a woman’s attractiveness. It therefore refers to things such as jewellery and make-up. Barring those who take the opposite extreme view– that it is mandatory to cover up everything including the face and the hair–, women for the most part– including the very religious ones– think absolutely nothing of wearing jewellery and make up at weddings and in mixed company otherwise. This, despite the issue having explicitly been settled by the Quran.
Where it gets interesting however is that many of these same women are perpetually fretting about questions such as whether it is all right to perform ablutions for prayer after they have put on nail polish. This is the sort of query that jurists and scholars have been answering for a very long time now, without any sort of consensus anywhere in sight. And understandably so, because such questions (and there are plenty of them) can (at best) be obtained indirectly from the sources of religion, since both the Quran and Sunnah are silent on such issues.
The intelligent individual realizes that this room is also God given; for had God willed otherwise, He could easily have been more explicit. Wisdom demands that in such matters, instead of tormenting one’s self or others by searching or advocating for the ‘correct’ answer, one chooses the best available option by exercising one’s best judgement.
Never ones to be outdone, men of this mindset are apt to passionately debate the issue of saying ‘Ameen’ loudly (or otherwise) behind the Imam, or of rafa yadain while going into and rising from ruku, or of the ‘proper’ length of the beard. And who among us has not been an eyewitness to some old man in the mosque throwing a fit over somebody passing too close (in his opinion) in front of somebody praying? These men are doubtless very conscientious when it comes to their religion. Sadly, not even a fraction of this care and caution is generally exercised when it comes to the vitally important matters of Tauheed or of financial and social dealings.
Of course, by no means do all zealous individuals amongst the religious folks answer to this description. There are plenty of exceptions, and some very notable ones at that. But as a rule, few are averse to disregarding explicit Quranic instructions or prohibitions; while in stark contrast, all energies are expended and much fuss made over matters that the Quran does not think important enough to warrant as much as a mention, and which therefore can only be addressed by way of analogy (qias), if at all.
This perfectly encapsulates the psychology of most religious folks. That is, ignoring vital and integral parts of religion, while worrying no end about relatively minor matters. Or leaving the explicit and emphasising what is merely implicit, at best. Or focussing on matters pertaining to worship and sweeping under the carpet matters of fundamental belief and social obligations.
In religion, as in any other sphere of life, the ability to differentiate between the central and the peripheral, the black-or-white and the grey, constitutes a major part of wisdom. The former category has explicitly and unambiguously been settled by the Quran and Sunnat. When it comes to the grey areas on the other hand, instead of a ‘right’ or a ‘wrong’ solution there is always room for disagreement even among well-meaning, sincere men and women regarding the best possible conduct.
The intelligent individual realizes that this room is also God given; for had God willed otherwise, He could easily have been more explicit. Wisdom demands that in such matters, instead of tormenting one’s self or others by searching or advocating for the ‘correct’ answer, one chooses the best available option by exercising one’s best judgement.
