Religion focuses on building man's self-awareness throughout the history of mankind. Thus, man is not a bewildered being who has a vague notion about his past existence. On the contrary, his existence extends deeply in history, in which an individual is part of a great human march that affects him and establishes a historical memory for him, creating a humanitarian legacy which he is a part of. Then, he would make a new history for himself by building a new future in culture, politics, economy, and being realistic in defining his goals and aims.
Thus, religion defines man's intellectual and practical roles, in a way that makes him feel that he is part of the universal order, whether in his existence that is controlled by objective laws, or in his awareness of himself, others, and life, and in the existential dependence on the other in social affairs.
Man, as a social being, will not be bewildered in abstraction, but rather, a living being that interacts and opens up to his social role in making history and in managing life as a process of opening up, commitment, and integration.
On the basis of what we have said above, we conclude that the active role of religion in social life involves all aspects of life, whether political, economic, or social, since they are all related to spiritual, ethical, social, and humanitarian values. This is because man's awareness of his responsibility toward Allah would make him mindful of his relation with himself and with others in all vital issues.
Actually, this is what we notice in some of our renowned supplications in which the believer asks Allah to prevent him from being unjust to the others, as strong as he asks not to be wronged:
"Oh God, as You do not permit that others wrong me, prevent me from wronging others."
This suggests that the religious feeling opens up to others in all matters, since it is based on fearing and loving Allah, as well as being responsible before Him.
Avoiding perversion is not a matter of personal interest or a sudden feeling. It is an issue of a religious conscience that considers the integrity of one's relations with the others one of the means that ensures his fate in the Hereafter, thus gaining a great significance in his life.
On the other hand, social and individual freedom plays an active role in man's social life, whether through the Divine and human principle that states that no man has an authority on the other, except the rights that Allah has decreed for individuals, or the commitments one undertakes before Allah or before other people. Thus, the individual and the society are governed by a general religious rule which ensures that the individual has certain rights on others and on society, while the society, in turn, has rights on the individuals. Thus, religion organizes the social and individual reality and enables it to live in stability. This is the positive aspect of the active role of religion.
Yet, there are those who claim that religion, being fixed, turns into a reactionary element that tends to keep the status quo; thus, securing the interests of the arrogant, and preventing the forces of protest and change from developing into a force of social change.
But this is not true, since enjoining good and forbidding evil is a religious duty on every believer, as well as on society. Neglecting it is a sin just as neglecting any other religious duty is. This makes the social duty of fighting injustice and arrogance a vital religious issue whose neglect is similar to the neglect of religious rites.
Religion, therefore, strongly directs the believer to be concerned with all that happens in reality, and be positively engaged in the major causes and practical issues, making both the individual and the society plant the seed of protest and revolution and ripen the conditions of social revolution.
Religion might be fixed in its doctrinal and jurisprudent lines, yet it is dynamic in its social capacity, especially when it comes to righteousness and deviation, for it calls for inner change as a means to achieve external change. It drives man to rebel against himself and change his thought and practice, and calls for enjoining good and forbidding evil as in Allah's saying:
"And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful." Surah Aal Imran (03:104)
Another verse declares that these two points represent the basis of value in the nation:
"You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah. If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient." Surah Aal Imran (03:110)
Therefore, we refuse the Marxist claim that religion is the opium of nations, or a set of value systems that prevent constructive struggle and impede change and revolution. Religion is an active element in revolting against injustice internally and against arrogance on the international level. Facing injustice and arrogance is an integral part of the profound commitment to religion. Religion considers being neutral between justice and oppression, and between the arrogant and the downtrodden, as a negative value, for the one who is silent about the truth is a silent devil. Moreover, it considers commitment to the causes of truth and justice as a positive value: "Be an enemy to the oppressors and a helper to the oppressed."
Translated by: Ghassan Rimlawi