The faith of scripture is nearly always diametrically opposed to the faith that is promulgated to the public.
If in Sunday School we learned, “Love your enemies as yourself,” rarely is this anywhere practised. “Hate your enemy,” might seem more apt.
But this cuts across all traditions.
In the Quran, we learn of great personalities tested by childlessness. The prescription given them? To be patient with affliction.
But move amongst Muslim communities, and we encounter a very different prescription — from scholar and ignoramus alike.
If your spouse cannot give you children, they will declare, divorce them. Abandon them to a solitary life wrought by loneliness.
Far from enjoining patience with God’s decree, we frequently hear of in-laws meddling in the affairs of a couple, petitioning them to part ways.
Yet this is but one small example. The Quran warns against those who commit fraud, and yet corruption is rampant in our countries and communities.
It also describes the act of freeing slaves as a work of rightousness, and yet some Muslim dynasties went on to institutionalise slavery.
Still, Muslims are hardly alone in this. Other traditions, which seem very egalitarian in their foundational texts, find themselves coopted by the most regressive cultural practices.
No wonder the journey of the seeker is so fraught with difficulty. How to reconcile the fact that practice so rarely reflects the message?
A quandary for many. One that can only be overcome if we make a conscious decision to practice what we preach ourselves.
Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?
Quran 2:44
Last modified: 1 July 2024
