Are Religious Laws and Injunctions Relevant in Today’s World?

Last updated on: January 29, 2016 at 4:45 pm by Muslims Writers Guild of America

Are Religious Laws and Injunctions Relevant in Today’s World? 2016-01-29T16:45:22-05:00 Muslims Writers Guild of America

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by Seidu Malik

Human civilization has progressed from the primitive ages of hunting and gathering food in the wild with no laws to a sophisticated modern-day society with a civilized code of conduct. One may argue that primitive life necessitated the need for religious laws and injunctions, and thus these are no longer needed in today’s advanced world where knowledge and technology reign supreme. We assume the human intellect is so advanced that we are more than capable of devising our own laws and ordinances to cater for societal needs.

This unfortunate assumption has led some people to even question the existence of God and the significant role divine laws and injunctions play in the well being of individuals and society. While the existence of God is difficult to prove without deeper reflection on natural events and processes (Quran 3:191-192), the effect of the disregarding divine laws and injunctions on individuals and society are obvious even to a casual observer.

Despite our remarkable intellect and advancement in science and technology, societies as a whole have not benefited from such intellect when it comes to law and order. Take for example our struggle with alcohol, gambling and drug control in society. We have regulated the age of the person (generally 21 years of age) and the concentration of alcohol in the body but we have not succeeded to reign in alcohol abuse. Narcotics are flooding the streets yet, despite our tough laws on drug possession and consumption which has seen a higher incarceration rate among some ethnic group in the country, we are still not on top of the situation.

To illustrate the problem further, equipment manufacturers often specify the best ways of managing their product for efficient performance per the instruction manual. It must be understood that, failure to follow the manufacturer’s manual does not result in instant damage to the equipment but will ultimately affect efficiency in the long term. Similarly, our disregard for divine laws and injunctions in today’s world may not be apparent to us now but the long-term effect on the individual and society cannot be disputed.

This goes to prove that only the maker of the product has complete knowledge of the hidden pitfalls that could potentially affect the equipment performance and thus failure to comply with the intended manual does not put the blame on the manufacturer for the defective product. However not providing a manual or not knowing the unforeseen pitfalls of the equipment will seriously put the credibility of the manufacturer into question.

Many people may despise the idea of God’s existence, and He having any role to play in modern world, but a deeper reflection of religious laws and injunctions proves that God created us and provided these laws to help individuals and society overcome some hidden pitfalls that our advanced intellect cannot resolve. As an example, the Holy Quran chapter 5: 91 states “O ye who believe! wine and the game of chance and idols and divining arrows are only abomination of Satan’s handiwork. So shun each of them that you may prosper.” Interestingly, our advances in medical research have shown that we have receptors in our brain that make facilitate addictiction to alcohol, drugs and gambling and thus God giving us prior warning about the dangers of these addictions due to our inherently limited knowledge is a mercy from Him. Removing a toddler or a child from the path of danger does not render the adult irrelevant because the child has no clue about the potential danger around him/her.

I would certainly not advocate for religious laws or injunctions to be implemented by governments, as has happened in some Arab countries, because there should be clear separation of state and church as preached and practiced by the Prophet Muhammad at Medina. Acting upon religious laws and injunctions by individuals based on conviction is the surest way of avoiding societal pitfalls.

Finally, modern societies despite our technological prowess are still dependent on the high heavens (sunlight, rainfall, snow, the moon, stars and the night times) for our sustenance. This clearly suggests that divine laws and injunctions are of benefit to society if we take the time and energy to reflect deeply about them instead of spending billions of dollars to solve the problem with no solution in sight.

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