Spirit of Islam, Sept-Oct 2025

V ery often, religion is dragged into communal controversies. Time and again, political and communal disputes are turned into religious issues. This further inflames people’s passions and deepens communal divides. As a result, many people have turned against religion altogether. They argue that human beings do not need religion, and that only by destroying religion can communal harmony be achieved. This, however, is an extremist response to an extremist problem—a secular extremism countering religious extremism. Such an approach is neither wise nor desirable. In itself, religion is not the problem. The real problem is the political exploitation of religion by certain individuals and groups. It is this exploitation— not religion itself—that must be challenged and eliminated. Religion has two dimensions: the personal and the collective. The personal refers to beliefs, worship, morality, and spirituality. The collective pertains to political and social laws. In general conditions, it is wise to focus on the personal dimension and to invest all efforts in promoting the true spirit of religion. The political and social aspects should not be highlighted until society itself is prepared for them—for they can only be established when the entire community is willing to abide by them. RELIGION AND POLITICS TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE We often talk of peace in the context of war. But this is a very narrow and restricted notion of peace. Peace is deeply linked with the entirety of human life. Peace is a complete ideology in itself. Peace is the only religion for both—man and the universe. It is the master-key that opens the doors to every success. Peace creates a favourable atmosphere for success in every endeavour. Without peace, no positive action—small or big—is possible.