Different Between Deen And Religion

Introduction:

Islam is not only a religion but also a Deen, which means a complete code of life. Religion deals man‘s relation with God whereas Deen deals both with man‘s relation with God and his fellow beings. Religion deals with private affairs of life whereas Deen covers all aspects of life, individual as well as collective. In other words Deen is all embracing term which includes religio-socio-politico-economic system. It touches upone the material as well as spiritual dimensions of human existence and insists that all our thoughts and deeds should be performed with the will of God.

What is Religion?

The word religion is commonly used in a narrow sense, its scope limited to a set of dogmas, some rituals for worship, and a number of social customs to celebrate important life events. Religion deals with individual life only.

What is Deen?

Contrary to religion Deen covers all aspects of human life. It covers both spiritual/scared matters and mundane/secular affairs of this world. In brief, religion deals with man‘s relation with God; while Deen deals both man‘s relation with God as well As his fellow beings. Deen provides guidance in the individual and collective affairs. It offers a belief system, concept of worship to fulfill the spiritual and metaphysical needs of individual, and provides social, political, economic, legal codes and cultural norms for the betterment of society-taken as one community. When the term Deen is used for Islam, it obviously means a system of life where Allah is worshipped and obeyed, not just in the narrow religious sense, but in a manner that includes all aspects of human life. ―This day, I have perfected your Deen for you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your Deen.‖
Hence an impartial critic like Dr. Michael Hart is compelled to confess that ―My choice of Mohammad to lead the list of the world‘s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level.

Meaning of Deen

There is several meaning of Deen.
a. One meaning is honour, government, empire, monarchy and ruleship.
b. The second meaning is quite opposite to it i.e. subordination, obedience, slavery, servitude and subjection.
c. Third meaning is to account, to give judgment, and dispense reward and punishment of actions.
The word Deen has been Used in the Quran in all these three meanings.
Allah says ―Deen with Allah is al Islam.‖ (3:19)
―And whosoever seeks a Deen other than Islam, it will not be accepted from Him.‖ (3:85)
―And fight them until persecution is no more and Deen is all for Allah.‖ (8:39)

Total Implementation of Islam: Requirement of Islam as Deen

The essence of true and authentic Islamic thought consists of the idea that it is not enough to practice in the personal life only, but that the teaching of the Quran and those Sunnah need also be implemented in their totality in the social, economic, and political fields. In other words, it implies the establishment of the sovereignty of Allah in the ―religious‘ as well as ―Mundane‖ domains, or the removal of the dichotomy between collective life and state authority on the one hand and Divine guidance on the other. The underlying and pervasive ideas in this context, which is also an integral part of the Islamic evolutionary thought, is that the struggle to establish unqualified and unconditional ascendancy of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is obligatory upon all members of the Muslim Ummah. The goal of this is to achieve the domination of the true way of life (Deen al Haq), so that the Islamic system of social justice which is the most balanced synthesis of human freedom, fraternity, and equality, and which embodies the Divine attributes of Benevolence, Providence, and Justice- can be established on earth.

Comparison of Deen and Religion:

A comparative study of religion or Madhab, and Deen, would help us understand the vital and fundamental characteristics of each and the differences between the two:

Madhab/Religion
Deen

Madhab is merely some sort of subjective.

Deen is an objective reality and a system of experience and is concerned only with the so-called private relationship between God and man.
collective life.

Every follower of a Madhab is satisfied that he established a communion with the Almighty, and the objective of each individual is his own salvation.

The aim of Deen the other hand is the welfare and progress of all mankind, and the character and constitution of a society indicates whether or not it is founded upon the Divine Law.

Madhab does not afford us any objective criterion by which we could determine whether or not our actions are producing the desired results.

In a social order governed by Deen, the development of a collective and harmonious life correctly indicates whether or not the people are pursuing the right course.

Madhab is hostile to scientific investigation and is an adversary of of reason, so that it could flourish unhampered with the aid of a blind faith.

Deen helps in the development of human reason and knowledge, allows full freedom to accept or reject on the basis of reason and arguments, and encourages investigation and discovery of all the natural phenomena to illumine the path of human life and its advancement in the light of the permanent Values.

Madhab follows the susceptibilities and prejudices of me and pampers them.

Deen seeks to lead men to a path of life that is in harmony with the realities of life.

In every age, therefore, Madhab sets up new idols and mumbo-jumbo in order to keep the people‘s attention away from the real problems of life.

But Deen is rational and radical: it breaks all idols, old and new, and is never variable in its principles Madhab includes a perpetual sense of fear in the minds of men and seeks to frighten them into conformity.

While Deen treats fear as a form of polytheism and seeks to make men courageous, daring and self-reliant.

Madhab prompts men to how before every seat of authority and prestige, religious as well as temporal.

Deen encourages man to walk about with his head erect, and attain self-confidence.

Madhab includes man to flee from struggle of life.

But Deen calls upon him to face the realities of life squarely, whatever the hazard.

Madhab encourages beliefe in fatalism, and this tends to dissuade man from active life and self-development.

Deen gives man power to challenge fate, and provides energy for a life of activity and self-development.

Madhab enjoins religious meditation in the name of worship and thus induces self-deception.

Deen exhorts men to assert themselves and struggle perpetually for the establishment of the Divine Social Order, and its betterment when attained. Worship in Deen really means obedience to the Laws of God.

Madhab denounces everything new and declares all innovation as sin.

Deen holds that the needs and demands of human life keep changing with the change in the conditions of life; change and innovation are, therefore, demanded by life itself. Only the Divine Laws are immutable.

Difference between Deen and Shariah:

The meaning of Shariah is mode and path. When one has acknowledged God as one‘s sovereign and accepted His servitude and has also admitted that the Messenger is the tangible ruler holding authority on His and that Book has been sent by Him, it will mean one has entered Deen. After this, the mode in which Muslim to serve God and the path he has traverse in order to obey him is called Shariah. This mode and path has been indicated by God through his messenger who alon teaches the method of worshiping the Master the way to become pure and clean. The Messenger shows us the path of righteousness and piety, tha manner in which rights are discharged, the method of carrying on transactions and dealings with fellow-beings and the mode of leading one‘s life. But the difference is this that while Deen always was, has been, and is still one and the same, numberous Shariah came, many were cancelled, several were changed but these alternations did not change the Deen. The Deen of Noah was the same as that of Abrahim, Moses, Jesus, Shuaib Saleh, Hud and Mohammad (PBUH) but the same Shariahs of these prophets varied from each other to some extent. The modes of saying prayer and observing fast were of one kind with one prophet and of another kind with the other. Injunction about Halal and Haram, rules of cleanliness and codes of marriage, divorce and inheritance somewhat differed from one Sharrah to another. In spite of this, all were Muslims the followers of Noah, the followers of Abraham, the followers of Jesus and those Moses, and we are too Muslims because Deen is one and the same for all. This shows that Deen is unaffected by differences in the rules of Shariah. Deen remains one though modes of following it differ.