In the Name of God

The main points in this article are derived from a series of research discussions of Ostad Seyyed Ali Mousavi on the following question:Does acceptance of religion result from a person's thought or faith? Ostad Mousavi says: "O world! Be aware. He who is filled with scientific religion based on contemplation from within and not religion based on prejudice will under no circumstances be separated from religion. He who embraces religion with scientific and research bases will by no means abandon true religion in these days of artificial joy and merriness of the exteriors of the world."Man has not come to this world to accept all that the machine age enforces upon him. He has to think 'alive' and not 'dead.' New thoughts and new movements should govern the world, but with truthful patterns. If these righteous patterns (guardianship of Imam Ali [AS], prophecy and infallible wisdom of Fatima Zahra [SA]) did not exist, the world would be a vacuum, the same vacuum that Nehru talked about, the vacuum which if filled will move all heedless people towards being controlled by the reality. Yes, Nehru was heedless when he was very young. However, his condition transformed in the last days of his life and his spirit softened and he started contemplating. When he was asked why he was thinking, he replied, "I see a vacuum both in the world and within myself. I am empty from within and seek a reality."They asked, "What is this vacuum?" He replied, "It is nothing but an aspect of spirituality. As long as this vacuum is not filled, the world will be filled with stress and people will fight and destroy each other. The powerful will oppress the weak." They asked him, "What is that vacuum?" He replied, "It is religion. If this vacuum in the world is filled with religion, powers will calm down. However if there were no religion, power would be the cause of uproar like an animal. This state is called religious sadism."Religion does not allow the paws of the one who is powerful to land upon the face of the oppressed. If religion exists in a strong form, it is followed by conscience, humanity and righteousness. Otherwise, if religion is weak, conscience will shrink back. We see that a lot of people have no mercy upon their parents and relatives. Such people are superficially religious, but not in reality. The entire world requires religion in order to become organized. We shall now do some research on the word "religion" and the principle of religion.What is meaning of the world Deen (religion)?1.    Religion is called De'na in the language of Avesta. Sometimes it is said that a person is religious. If the word Deen (religion) is analyzed, it means Sana that means thanking but that which is with no condition. 2.    In Sanskrit, religion (Deen) is the name of an angel.3.    Sometimes it is a contract that people should observe.4.    Sometimes religion (Deen) means submission and obedience.5.    At times religion (Deen) means retribution (You shall be treated the way you treat others). 6.    Religion (Deen) means taking deeds into account which will happen on the Day of Judgement.7.    Another meaning of religion (Deen) is perfection. It is stated in Qadir Sermon, "Your religion was perfected".8.    It is stated in another place that religion (Deen) means that which springs from within, not command and prohibition that strike the person from the exterior.9.    That which is documented and binding is religion (Deen).10.    Religion (Deen) is a contract tied to God with one's soul, not something on the sideline of man's life.11.    Another meaning of religion is the acceptance of the rule of God and performing the wishes of our master.12.    Religion means that which comforts one's will, action and being.13.    Religion is that which a person performs causing his anxieties to be wiped out.   In the Al-e Imran booklet, part 1, page 62 Ostad Mousavi says,"Religion is the extract of monotheism, the essence of the Unity and the nectar of Divinity of God. Therefore, religion is in reality the same as Divinity and Unity of God.When did religion and doctrine find a visage?Max Muller who was a German linguist, orientalist and an expert in legends says, "When man was born, he was not aware of Monotheism and naturally was not aware of religion either." Muller says, "Before the appearance of fire, there was no religion. Following the emergence of fire, both Monotheism and religion appeared."However, Ostad Seyyed Ali Mousavi, who is a researcher in divine philosophy says, "We have evidence that this very religion under discussion did exist before the appearance of fire. Yes, we agree that those people were pagans; but the roots of Unity and religion are not formed after the Stone Age or the age of fire. Before the age of fire, when it was the age of detection of the needs of trees and plants, when they wanted to move towards a plant, they used to do so with an invocation. In other words, when they wanted to pick a plant from the earth, they used to do so with a feeling of assurance. That very belief is called Monotheism and religion. Certainly some prophets were among those people. The world of fire, the discovery of fire, the world of agriculture, the world of plough, the world of grooves and the digging of the earth and the age of caves, big and small, all had a connection between themselves and their God. This has been named Monotheism and religion. Why did they have a relationship between themselves and God? This was a consoling factor.Their connection with God was through singing together, reciting the oldest prayers like Paternoster which was a prayer, the vocabulary of which was in keeping with that age and time.His excellency, Ostad Mousavi emphasizes, "Do you think that religion is merely uttering: In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Ever Merciful. All praise is due to God? Saying these does not mean that we have mastered religion? Before us did no other person have anything to do with God? No, it is not so. Rather, these prayers have existed since millions of years ago. This very prayer of Paternoster consoled and comforted our fathers." The second invocation, Kairdow, means we should trust God.The third prayer, Ave Maria, which was an indication of Unity was said whenever connection with God was needed.  The fourth prayer was a collective thanksgiving ceremony and it is believed that formal church prayers as a rule started from here.Why should prayers be said at all and why get close to Unity of God?Some, based on their own customs and traditions, were of the belief that the True Companion should be praised and others like Muller and others believed that there was no religion at the beginning and it emerged later. The purpose of the latter group was to drive away people from connection with God and to prevent religious acts. This group dispersed people and encouraged them to go against Divinity. They would urge them to study stars and spirits of idols.This state of affairs was very prevalent before the advent of Islam; but with the approach of Islam different sects and idol worshipping lost color since the religion of Islam did not have sinuosity and untruthfulness. Wrong and indecent beliefs and idols gave way to the religion of Islam.Yes. Max Muller used to say, "Religion emerged after the age of fire. But his excellency, Ostad Mousavi, through deep research, some of which has been discussed, stated, "Religion existed since the time of Adam. In reality, religion was connected to Unity and is Unity itself and from the time Oneness (of God) and Monotheism existed, religion was also there, but this religion was perfected with the arrival of our dear Prophet, the Apostle of God and our master, Imam Ali (AS)." Just like the fourth verse of the chapter Maida states: "Today your religion was perfected and I bestowed upon you my favor." This means that Noah came; Abraham came; all the preceding prophets came and brought the true religion. They introduced the limits, but all had defects. They came so as to pave the way for the lovable Prophet (PBUH). In the religion of Ahmad, all this was perfected and reached its culmination, since the stronger the bearer of the message, the stronger the message itself will be. Furthermore, today religion has been completed with the Wilayat (guardianship) of our master, Imam Ali (AS).