The disappearance of religiosity

Not very long ago people used to be religious. They used to hold on to religion and make it their life rope. Their lives revolved around religion. Constitutions of countries were based on articles of faith. Not many people denied God nor questioned whether God exists or not, because for them, the answer was obvious. In fact, I just saw a video of Magic Johnson when he gave a speech on behalf of the US basketball dream team, and the first thing that he mentioned was God. Similar to Hakeem Olajuwon when he was admitted into the NBA hall of fame, where the first thing he said was “I thank God.” I believe that we wouldn’t hear that kind of opening from this generation of NBA players.

Look at how degraded we have become. The quality of our religiosity and the religiosity of the society has dropped so far that it has come to the point where many don’t even want to admit/believe in God. Nowadays, by rejecting God, people feel as if they’re cool, smart, and liberated. Feeling a false sense of superiority, believing that they’re modern thinkers, thinking ahead of others. Of course we are free to think what we want to think. But feeling superior because of not believing in God is absurd.

The root of the drop in religiosity is perhaps ignorance (which leads to concluding things with inadequate amount of knowledge), greed, and arrogance (which results in rejecting the truth even if he has inclination towards it).

Nevertheless, God is Merciful and opens some doors of guidance to us from time to time. He gives us opportunities to “snap out of it” at certain periods. These opportunities might come through spiritual experiences, interaction with pious people, or maybe through shock therapies that He gives us.

One story about this is eloquently told in the Qur’an. Although I am paraphrasing, I hope that I don't distort it.

There were people that owned a productive and beautiful garden. They benefited from the garden very much and had overwhelming confidence in their skills. They eventually shifted their mindset from attributing their success to God, to attributing their success to themselves and their garden. This mistaken way of thinking is a result of ignorance and arrogance blended together. Forgetting the true nature of things (that God is the one who gives success) and feeling self-sufficient, not needing God. They also developed a selfish attitude, wanting to have all the harvest to themselves without giving any portion to charity. They had a drop in their religiosity.

But then God, being merciful as He is, reminded them through shock therapy. Just as they were about to harvest their crops, they found their garden burnt to ashes. Through this, they “snapped out of it” and realized their mistake in being ignorant, arrogant, and selfish (greedy).

The disappearance of religiosity is most probably attributed to the mentioned traits. We are indoctrinated that success is the fruit of our effort only and that we are entitled to enjoy it alone without sharing it with others.

When we wake up, prepare for work, how many times do we direct our intentions for serving God? When we look at our career and our successes, how many times do we thank God and see it as a blessing that He has blessed upon us? When we receive our monthly payroll, how often do we think about giving a portion of it to charity? If the answer is in the negative, we should try to get back on track and not make the same mistakes of the people of the garden, lest lose our religiosity and share the same destiny.