The Crisis of Unintellectual Preachers
By: Syed Rizwan Bukhari
There was a time when people would gather around a preacher (a Molvi sahib) to listen to his words. Relishing in his smooth rhythm of sayings and the Quranic verses, disciples would take them seriously and implement them in their lives.
The preacher’s gaze was enough to straighten the followers’ bent and behavior. No one dared to break the discipline between the preacher and the preached. It was a harmonious relationship, one that resembles a father-son bonding.
The recent past has unfolded differently, though, with regard to our religious context. In contemporary discourse, we witness those standing on pulpits often without an influence. Gone is the charm, and dead is the close bonding.
With the shift from the religious way of life to the ultra-modernistic adoption, youngsters have nearly forgotten about their religion and culture. They are embracing the ethos unbecoming of Muslims.
Today, the majority of Mosque-going people are the elderly, who – out of trepidation, accountability and dying devotion to the Almighty – count Tasbeeh and take refuge in prostration. Whereas it’s appreciable to harbor the fear of the unseen, it is depressing to witness our young generation nowhere in this context.
They are visibly absconding – something that is not promising. “Belief in the almighty results in the unfolding of good deeds from the humans’ end: it gives life a meaning,” as someone has best put it.
In the broad scheme of things, young people are reeling under the confusion of whom to trust and what to discard and what to adopt: forever oscillating between becoming occasional staunch believers and unbridled liberals.
Personally speaking, I have myself seen teens and adults pray five days a day for some days, and then in the following set of days, they flat out refuse to knock on the door of a Mosque.
The mosque and the Islamic principles aren’t to be put at fault. They are beautiful and soothing as such. If a problem exists, it lies solely with those entrusted with guiding the community: our preachers. Several of today’s preachers lack intellectual curiosity and sufficient awareness of the true essence of Islam. Islam, in its essence, doesn’t contain only rituals, it goes beyond it. It is a stepping stone to building a life of knowledge, wisdom, and prosperity.
Mosques, apart from providing a platform for prayers and Zikr, can be centers of comprehensive learning, where people are taught spirituality, accounting, mathematics, science, and every skill that enables them to grow and contribute positively to society.
Ancient Arabs contributed to science and mathematics, why are contemporary Muslims failing at scientific disciplines? Why have we restricted ourselves to strict literalism? Why haven’t we gone out of the box and explored other facets? Why have not we expanded the horizons of our mindscape, even as centuries passed by?
With this intellectual insufficiency and ascending concrete, mosques have become empty in spirit and attendance. Youth feel disconnected because discussions in mosques often revolve around sectarian differences, trivial altercations or ‘who has a more say in what matter’, stimulating negativity, much less unity. The teachings of Islam that encourage empowerment, growth, and worldly contribution are largely absent.
People come to shrines to seek blessings for sustenance, health, and well-being: things that mosques and preachers should have taught them to achieve through knowledge and action. I am in no way hurting the sentiments of people, but can’t we see things from different perspectives, while at the same time keeping our culture and beliefs secure?
Such concerns have attained heights. Yet, discussions, deliberations, and search for the truth are nowhere. If we do not resolve such issues, a time may soon come when mosques will be visited only by the elderly, while the youth wallow in their depressive states; spiritually lost, and unprepared to carry forward the legacy of Islam.
The youth cry for contemporary modernist discourse intertwined with conservative religious ethos. The youth have an appetite for moderation in our religious discourse. The youth expect preachers to engage in open debates and discussions, factoring in disciplines that go beyond religiosity. Something democratic, welcoming and promising, however lost they are.
To truly flourish and thrive in our socio-cultural landscape, we must revive our mosques as centers of true intellectual and practical learning, led by knowledgeable scholars who can inspire both spiritual devotion and worldly excellence.
Amid irresistible foreign cultural invasion, the tendency of it to affect our regional etiquette, values and religious beliefs, and the folks fast adopting it and instantly getting rid of their deep-seated values, the future of Kashmir smack of aliens walking here and there, with the ism of Kashmiri dead.
It’s an onus on those who guide people to steer their stance accordingly: a little bit of less intensity while preaching, more democratization and the dissection of the Islamic philosophy to satiate the ever-curious minds of the modern adult race.
(The author hails from north Kashmir’s Sopore area. He’s an entrepreneur and a social activist)
