There is a lot of money to be made from religion. Think about it – in an ordinary business, one has to bring a product or a service in exchange for remuneration mostly in the form of cash.
Not so with a religious trade. With that sort of a trade all one has to do is to say that God blesses you, or there will be a “get in for free” guaranteed for you in at the pearly gates or “you are now part of the chosen few” and voila!
You now have a convert who will do anything to win that intangible approval. There are actually people who carry cards guaranteeing their salvation.
This is not to impute on all religious activity, however.
Yes, religion can be a great scamming opportunity for the immoral, but it is also a great source of empowerment for others.
Religion contains spirituality through which people evolve to higher levels of consciousness.
Yet it is true that those who have been “born again” can be very annoying, preachy and judgemental.
But there are also the “born agains” who strive to bring happiness to the world. These are the people who have discovered spirituality from their various religious traditions.
It is not a black and white picture at all.
Malaysia, I think it is fair to say, has become increasingly more religious in the last few decades. This is especially true in the case of Islam.
Muslims have had an increased level of Islamic propaganda fed to them and in turn, have shown an increased awareness of their Islamic identity.
A most superficial example is how Malay words pertaining to Islamic concepts such as “agama”, “sembahyang”, “puasa” and “hari raya” have now been respectively Arabicised to “deen”, “solat”, “sawm” and “eid”.
It is almost as if our own language is not pious enough to convey these concepts!
As in the case with all industries, when there is an increased level of activity, there is bound to be varying levels of quality.
The IT industry is a great example of this with the IBM PC being the ultimate brand in those days and the cheaper PC-compatible models coming in various prices for more economically conscious consumers.
Religion is no different. While we have top quality spiritual material propagated by equally top quality scholars, we also have con artists who win to cash in on the religious gold rush.
This is where we need to be more discerning.
A very obvious case of this religious scammery came to me in the form of a video.
In this video, we have an MP, Mumtaz Md Nawi, peddling a special prayer to save someone from a heart attack or stroke.
She says that this prayer constitutes 90% of the treatment to such patients whilst any medical treatments only constitutes the other 10%!
This kind of chicanery is highly dangerous if taken seriously and could cost lives.
This lady should be removed from Parliament for this irresponsible remark.
Another lucrative avenue for religious scammers is through the act of “haj by proxy” (haj badal).
Haj badal is the idea that when a Muslim has passed away without performing the haj or is alive but too ill to go, a proxy undertakes that responsibility for him or her.
In such instances, the proxy’s costs (flight, accommodation, food) is paid for by the family members of the deceased or person who is too ill.
Not only that, the proxy is also given a “token” for his troubles. There are grades of proxies though.
Some proxies cost more since they are more pious (although how their piety is quantified is left up to the imagination).
These higher quality proxies can even guarantee haj mabroor – a hajj accepted by Allah and thus able to efface the haji of all sins.
This is an obvious scam and goes against the Quran, in my understanding.
The haj of the Quran is about the gathering of mankind in order to understand the system of peace and justice.
It is not a point scoring exercise to gain a free pass into heaven. Chapter 22, verses 25-40 of the Quran clearly shows this.
Perhaps the greatest form of chicanery among Muslims is the use of Prophet Muhammad as a means of gaining followers.
Prophet Muhammad’s name is gold among Muslims and so various products can simply be branded by the “nabi” label and thus be sold efficiently. A good example of this is “capal nabi” (the Prophet’s slippers).
There are also relics from the Prophet such as his hair which attract visitors. It should be noted that this form of “spirituality” has no basis in the Quran whatsoever.
On the contrary, I would say the Quran sees this as mere superstition. Prophet Muhammad was an ordinary human being who brought Allah’s message.
His hair and slippers were simply part of his human experience, nothing more.
The use of Prophet Muhammad’s name to score points is bad enough, what if one claims to actually have met the Prophet?
This is a far sight more heinous! No less than the PAS mursyidul am himself, Datuk Haron Din spins a great tale of him meeting the Prophet.
In this video, there is even some advertising to get the video on CD.
Prophet Muhammad’s name carries a lot of weight. How does our dear Mursyid know that he is talking to Prophet Muhammad?
He would tell you that the the devil cannot impersonate Prophet Muhammad and that is proof.
Unfortunately, he needs to understand that dreams are the product of his subconscious.
Religion is usually shrouded in superstition but it does not need to be.
Spirituality can be derived if only one remains rational and critical in one’s thinking.
Do not simply swallow every morsel of information given. – November 11, 2015.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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