By Suleiman Muhammad Murkthar (U15MM2021)
From the imam with an overgrown beard and a traditional regalia, to the pastor in a well ironed suit, religion has since time immemorial been the bane on the contemporary society. An atheist once said; “Religion is a lie told to men to pry on their gullibility to believe in anything supernatural to solve their problems.” One can argue that this atheist must have been myopic in his saying seeing as he called religion a “lie” however, one can also argue that he was true in his words. Men in time have come to believe that the solution to every problem is them hunkering down in their very position and waiting on the heavens to open and bring forth its seeming miracle.
My father once said; “that heavens helps those who helps themselves is not a verse in the bible nor is it in the Qur’an does not mean that it isn’t true”, men, (black men especially) are most oft times the prey of this dilemma. Tracing the history of slavery, the then white masters used the guise of religion and the missionaries preached the “Gospel” to the colonies and slowly but surely the planted into the subconscious of the black men that black skins depicted that they were not equal to the white men as they were bestowed from God their skin “white” as sign of their purity above the blacks thereby making them slaves and the white the masters. Also, the early crusaders used the camouflage of religion to conquer lands and forcefully drive through cities. These, which inevitably brings us to the 21st century and its own thorns. From the creation of the Taliban in Afghanistan, to the uproar of the Al-Qaeda in Pakistan to the Al-Shabab in Syria, The Boko Haram in Nigeria and the ISIS in Syria religion has always been a forefront for the operations of almost every act of terrorism that have surfaced the ends of the earth. Lord Frederick Lugard once wrote in a piece from 1929 that ; “the average black Nigeria likes his toys, his toys that hurts his fellow men and he hides under the pretence of his religion and culture to justify his gruesomeness…” he further posits that the African is oblivious to his surrounding, that he is infinitesimal in the eyes of all that he holds dear and all that he holds dear is that which kills him the most and all that he holds dear is his religion and culture.
The sad reality that exists in the bane that has been associated with the concept of religion is that religion itself was a way out of man’s already existing bane in society, a way to bring men closer to the creator of all creations, hence, easing and enabling direct contact to God.
In a primitive society, without modern means of technological developments, religion could have been less conflicting as it is now. Religions were necessary to build society and creates advancements to bring about a well-developed and stable society however, in the said modern world, the deep-set beliefs and growing fanaticism amidst well-educated people have led to it causing more harm than good. In the then times, development and was a result communal contributions and collective efforts, irrespective of norms and beliefs it was easier to coexist, however religion became a race, a need to prove who is better and the superiority of one deity over the other.
We are all created for a reason, irrespective of what we believe in and where we are from we are all together the force that brings the world together that rotates the world as it revolves around the sun and that we must know that come what may, a society will only grow if the concept of religion is supressed.
In a common Nigerian adage; “na two hands dey wash each other”
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