In the famous and historic city of Herat there is present the mausoleum of a famous saint by the name of ‘Ghaltan Wali’. Name of the saint may be something else but ‘Ghaltan Wali’ means the ‘saint who moves or rolls’. Adjacent to the mausoleum is a ground about which there is nothing special. It is just like an ordinary, mud ground with its flat, equal level surface. But it is a famous visiting spot for large number of people who come to visit the mausoleum but more than this, they come here to judge themselves. It is supposed that if a person lies on the ground, he or she is rolled by some hidden force associated with the saint. The ground is more than ten meters and whoever goes to the mausoleum, also lies on the ground. It is believed that if a person is innocent and not sinful, he is rolled down to the other end of the ground but if the person had committed sins or immoral acts in his past life, the person is not rolled at all. Usually people visit the place in form of groups and they lie on the ground one after the other. Most of the people end up by rolling down and reaching to the far end of the ground but some of the people keep lying and waiting and nothing happens. One who is declared to be innocent and pure is congratulated by the relatives or friends. On the other hand, the unfortunate one who is not rolled feels guilty and tries to hide away from the people around him. A person also visited the place and shared his experience with me. According to him, ‘I am sure there would be some kind of spiritual power in there but I have seen that most of the people have made it a place to show themselves better than others. In order to appear triumphant, pious and innocent in the eyes of others, majority of the people themselves push hard to roll down the other end of the ground. It is a rule that a person should lie down there and leave himself completely still and wait for any hidden power to roll but most of the people just start rolling themselves and in the end, declare themselves to be pious and innocent. I don’t remember to have committed any such sin but when I lay there, nothing happened. On the other hand, there are so many people who are well-aware of their sins and other activities so as they went there, they showed as if they were blown away by any kind of strong force that rolled them down to the other end of the ground. This has become a place of religious hypocrisy where people try to befool themselves and the people around them’.
This is not the first example of its kind when the religion and its practices have been turned into something absolutely different. Religion and its practices were aimed to bring ease and comfort to the lives of people but so many strange practices have been given birth that in some cases, they come out of the circle of religion itself.

In one of the rural and backward areas, with very low education, there spread a word of mouth and it spread like the jungle fire. It was believed that if we keep a potato in the sack of flour, it would turn into gold. Some of the people objected but they were silenced giving the example of many who had changed their fate by using the similar method. But it accompanied a condition. For obtaining gold, one must pray after every prayer and with the power of these prayers, the potato is changed into gold. Large numbers of people, especially the housewives, were very much enthusiastic about all these but the first month passed and nothing happened. When there were no results at the end of second month as well, people’s belief started shattering and then it came to an end silently.

Spreading the religion and making people more aware of its different aspects is a good duty but at the same time, we must not forget to address the intellectual and rational demands of our time as well. No doubt, almost all the religions are based on different sets of beliefs but if these sets of beliefs are explained in more rational ways, they can be more attractive for the followers. At the same time, any work done with complete understanding may leave behind its more durable and long-lasting impacts.

But the worst can happen when people may get indulged in so many stupid and meaningless practices on the name of religion. Such acts can harm the religion more than anything else. One of the most influential preachers and scholars of atheism of present time is Richard Dawkins. Richard Dawkins’ ideas about atheism and against religious beliefs are so strong that anyone with minor knowledge and understanding of religion can soon lose his belief on religion and may convert into an atheist. I am sure that Richard Dawkins is a very intelligent person with in-depth knowledge about different religions and his belief of atheism. He has a very deep study of almost all the scholars of atheism and those who talk in favor of logic instead of any faith or belief. But he draws most of his points in favor of atheism and against the faith and religion from the meaningless and often ridiculous practices done on the name of any specific religion. When he comes to talk against Islam, his strong points to criticize this religion are terrorism, blind follow-up of religious rituals without understanding, and believing in and practicing some of the stupid practices that are not mentioned in Islam but we have entered them into our religion because of our personal desires or lack of knowledge. On the other hand, our scholars repeatedly preach that Islam is a universal religion that addresses all the people of all the times.

Now is the time to revert attentions more on learning and understanding our religion instead of merely focusing and working on external appearances and some practices of worshipping. The more one reads about the religion, the more he becomes surprised that it is far improved and mature and is not the set of mere sermons, recitation and repetition of some words or improving our external appearances. It is rather a set of beliefs that equally addresses an educated and an illiterate, a professor and a thinker and so on. But for this, our scholars not only need to change their minds but also bring changes in the concept of a typical ‘Mullah’. There is present a ‘mullah’ and then there is an ‘aalim’ and the difference between the two is of knowledge and understanding. ‘Aalim’ is a person who not only has a religious appearance but also has a deep understanding of the religion and its teachings. Such an ‘aalim’ can bring the true picture of Islam to people and revive again the spirit of this universal religion.