In accordance with holy scripture:
“Religion with Allah [ god almighty ] is the surrender [ to his will and guidance ] … and whoso seeks as religion other than the surrender, it will not be accepted from him/her, and he/she will be a loser in the hereafter; … set your purpose for religion as a man/woman by nature upright …there is no altering in Allah’s creation. That is the right religion, but most men/women do not know – [ that the right religion is ] turning unto him [ god ] only, and to upkeep worship, and not to be of those who ascribe partners [ unto god , or to be ] of those who split up their religion and became schismatics, each sect exulting in its tenets “. – holy qur’an chpt. 3 verses 19, 85; and chpt. 30 verses 30 to 32.
Here, and from this scriptural definition, religion is not simply a matter of belonging to christianity or to islam or to judaism or to whatever.
Rather, it is a matter of:
“Submitting or surrendering oneself sincerely to doing god’s will ”.
It is a matter of:
“Sure faith and good deeds in submissive reverence and obedience to doing the will of the one and only ever-living true god almighty ”.
Even in daily prayers, both christians and muslims do, respectively but unknowingly, define what religion is by asking god, saying:
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven ”, … “ lead us the straight path. The path of those whom you favored; not the path of those who earned your anger, nor that of those who went astray “. – see bible book of matthew chpt. 6 verse 10 and holy qur’an chpt. 1 verses 6, 7.
So, …
In whichever way you choose to define it, religion is not merely a matter of having degrees in theology. It is not merely a matter of offering sacrifices. Or a matter of performing miracles, or a matter of observing fasts and prayers and worships. Or a matter of giving tithes, or a matter of dressing religiously, and so on.
In short, all these acts are good. But, true religion accounts greatly with the “ innermost self ”.
Yes!
True religion is a matter of having:
“Sincere mind and acts of love; of peace; of pity; of caring; of forgiveness; of humility; and particularly of having a sincere mind and acts of real fear and remembrance of god almighty ”.
Prophet muhammad [ s.a.w ], in one of his teachings, did at least identify some of the most heartless deeds that nullifies someone’s religion as:
“He/she that can never be trusted ”;
“He/she in whose hands his/her neighbors are unsafe ”; and,
“He/she who will eat his/her fill whilst his/her neighbor is lying hungry “.
In a further and a more clearer definition of what truly is religion, the holy scripture still stated that:
“[it is ] to free the slave. To feed in day of hunger, an orphan near of kin. Or [ to feed ] some poor wretch in misery. And, to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and to exhort one another to pity; … have you observed he / she that bellies religion? That is him / her that repels the orphan. And, urges not the feeding of the needy.
Ah! Woe unto worshippers who are heedless of their worship; who would be seen by men [ at worship ]. Yet, prohibits [ even ] little kindness “. – holy qur’an chpt. 90 verses 12 to 17 and chpt. 107 verses 1 to 7.
Back there in the bible, this same further explanation of what truly is religion, is equally given, saying:
“ religion that god accepts as pure and faultless is this:
To look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world “. – see bible book of james chpt. 1 verse 27 as well as bible book of proverbs chpt. 28 verse 27.
In a nutshell, every human being is a creature of choice. But, know that god almighty is impartial. And, as for religion, it is never a matter of color or of race or of language or of tribe or of nationality or of heritage.
Rather, it is a matter of one’s personal inner choice and decision and efforts. It is something between god and the individual. In short, religion is not, and can never, in any way be made a force or a compulsion upon any sane matured person.
At least, if your choice and religion is judaism; please be a good jew. If yours is christianity; please be a good christian. And, if your own choice and religion is islam; please be a good muslim.
for the very god that we all are worshipping the world-over, is only one indivisible god. His path is straight-forward; peaceful, and unburdening.
And, if there is no other reason, god almighty himself did, at least make it very clear to we humans, saying:
“There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he / she that rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never break, … so, remember me, i will remember you. Give thanks to me, reject me not “. – holy Qur’an chpt. 2 verses 256 and 152.
