NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY

BHOPAL

Subject: Sociology-I
Topic:
Religion: Detrimental in Today’s Society

Submitted by:
Submitted to:
1. Shriya Garg (2019BALLB96) Prof. Dr. Bir Pal Singh
2. Vachas Chaturvedi (2019BALLB106)
3. Vibhu Pahuja (2019BALLB101)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This is to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all those who helped us in putting this project together.
Many facets of this project wouldn’t be present if not for the support and guidance of certain
individuals. We are highly indebted to the prestigious University, that is, the National Law
Institute University, Bhopal for their assistance and for providing their resources thereby
allowing me to properly facilitate my research. Perhaps most importantly, we would like to thank
our Sociology Teacher Prof. (Dr.) Bir Pal Sir for his teaching me the core values of Sociology
and answering whichever doubts we had. His valuable attention and support has been integral to
this endeavour.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….4

1. Definition of Religion and its meaning by different sociologists: Karl Marx,Durkheim and
Weber…………………………………………………………………………………………...5

2. Comparing Different Sociological Viewpoint………………………………………………10

3. Sociologist’s beliefs and its application in the present times……………………………….11

4. Religious practices…………………………………………………………………………...11

4.1 Around the world…………………………………………………………………………...11

4.2 In India: Child marriage, Sati Pratha, Animal slaughter…………………………………..13

5. Law and order with special reference to religion…………………………………………...16

5.1 Indian Young Lawyers Association vs The State of Kerala……………………………….17

5.2 Shayara Bano vs Union Of India and Ors…………………………………………………..22

6. Religious movements…………………………………………………………………………25

7. Evolution of religion………………………………………………………………………….27

8. Comparison between religious practices in urban and rural India…………………………..32

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Introduction :- Religion refers to a set of beliefs and practices commonly agreed upon by a
group of individuals. These set of beliefs concern a specific cause and hold a particular purpose.
They generally contain a moral code governing the conduct of human civilisation.

Since the beginning of human existence we have demonstrated a natural inclination towards faith
and worship to appease anything we consider superior. This resulted in performing rituals (some
of them cruel and brutal) and keeping traditions or laws to earn goodness and/or everlasting life.

Many sociologists have given various their perspectives on religion. From Auguste comte’s law
of three stages and theory of positivism where he concludes that the future society might believe
in a scientific religion which would transform lives and create a genuine human society. To Karl
Marx, the concept of a new communist society seemed to be the most ideal of all. All throughout
his life his experiences had made him a critique of capitalism and he wanted to develop a society
of communist thought process .He believed this would be aided with the help of religion. He
wanted the inequality, injustice and exploitation in the society to get over which was created by
the bourgeoisie's merciless and exploitation of the proletariats. Emile Durkheim too worked on
the concept of elementary forms of religion.
These sociologists helped us expand our horizons and helped us understand religion in today's
society.

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Chapter 1: Definition of Religion and Theories Given by Different Sociologists.

As sociology became an established field of education many sociologists tried to study various
concepts of sociology that gained significance in their life time. Founding father of sociology
such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Auguste Comte focussed their attention towards the
prominent theme of waning of religion as a significant force in social life. Let us understand their
individual perspectives to inter relate them to each other and to the present times. Starting from
Auguste Comte:

AUGUSTE COMTE

Auguste Comte’s entire outlook was focussed on one basic concept of Positivism i.e the positive
philosophy. The idea is a purely scientific in nature. It talks about developing a scientific
understanding of the laws of society so as to conquer over it, by pre-empting the problems of the
future and vitiate the moral evals that would so arise. He essentially wanted to develop a post-
revolutionary (French revolution) society through the scientific study of politics and religion.
Auguste’s concept rested in the belief that science of society will unite all the knowledge, hence
every one would agree on the most essential intellectuals and moral principles, completely
eliminating anarchy. This would give birth to a new social consensus that would be the order of
the state. He was completely against any metaphysical i.e abstract understanding of the dynamics
of the world. In this context it is more important for us to understand how Comte related this
concept of positivism with religion, hence not going further into the depth of positivism let us
explore the nuances of his most famous law ‘THE LAW OF THREE STAGES’. Being one of
the most profound works of Comte, he devoted a large amount of his life time working on this.
Many researchers say he had become an absolute fanatic delving deep into his own theory which
resulted in the creation of a SCIENTIFIC RELIGION of the future. Comte believed that every
society goes through three phases which are essentially driven through the ever developing and
evolving theme of RELIGION. These stages are called Theosophical, Metaphysical and the
Positive stage.

Theosophical (Before 1300s) : is where man was in tangled in the misery of the natural
occurrences and truly believed that they are caused by a supernatural being like his own. “GOD”
he believed was the cause of all happenings who had the complete control of the universe. Man
used it to give himself an explanation of what he could not determine the cause of other wises.
This was purely an unscientific method which said that the universe is not governed by
invariable laws of sequence. Survival of every society is dependant upon a supernatural being
which humans consider superior to them, bestowed upon whom is the ultimate power to control
this world. He was the cause who let to the beginning of existence and that supernatural entity’s
continued action is leading to our survival. This stage had multiple stages with in which are
Fetishist, Polytheistic and Monotheistic.

Fetishist: this refers to the stage where inanimate objects held super natural power. Everything in
nature is said to be imbued with life analogous to our own. This could be a piece of stone or
wood, a skull head etc. This stage did not believe in the existence of priests but fetishes.

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Gradually due to the creation of too many such objects confection arose which led to the creation
of a new stage called polytheism.

Polytheistic :’Poly’ also refers to the concept of many. The only difference in this stage was that
instead of attributing supernatural power to objects man dwelled this upon natural phenomenon.
Each natural occurring had a god for itself. In this stage people started acknowledging the
concept of priests to gain a good well and blessing of god. But due to the existence of multiple
gods there still existed many contradictions .Finally a new stage was created called Monotheistic
stage.

Monotheistic: As the result of the confusion caused due to the multiplicity of deities the natural
instinct of the society led to the creation of a single god religion. Who was regarded as the
supreme entity and the maker of human destiny . This stage reflects the victory of human
intellect over irrationality. During this stage soldiers, kings and priests were given respect in the
society. Next in the major stage of evolution arises the Metaphysical stage.

Metaphysical ( form 1300-1800): This is the extension of theosophical stage. In this stage mind
presupposes abstract forces. ”Meta” refers to beyond the means of the material world. Here
super-natural force was given emphasis upon instead of supernatural being . It depicts a sense of
growth of rationalism developing within the society. One can observe that from the growing
understanding of GOD not standing directly behind every phenomenon. It insisted that God is an
abstract being. This stage discredits the belief in the concrete concept of god to a large extent.
Here human body was said to inherit the spark of divine being. This also developed a
surrounding which was devoted to law and conducive for the respect of lawyers and churchmen.
Although Law remained under the state. Finally as the society grew morally, intellectually and
rationally Comte said that the society finally led to an ultimate stage known as the stage of
Positivism.

Positive stage ( beyond 1800s) : Also known as the scientific stage was a time of major industrial
change all around the world and scientific awakening was at its helm. Thought process was
completely based on facts and these facts were gathered from observation and experience.
According to Comte’s anticipation dawn of 19th century would mark true beginning of
positivism the concept of god would have completely vanished. Human tries to establish a cause
and effect relationship based on scientific laws. Mind is in search of an ultimate cause rather than
relying on a metaphysical understanding. Comte said that the scientists would be given the
respect earlier devoted towards Gods. This stage would be dominated by Industrialists and
business men. Auguste also developed a model for this kind of a society which entailed the
ideals of a Scientific religion which I would be discussing in the next chapter. Now coming to
Emile Durkheim and his views on religion.

EMILE DURKHEIM

Out of the two most famous works of Emile Durkheim one focuses primarily on religion and is
known as “Elementary forms of religious life”. It gives us an in-depth analysis of Australian
aboriginals who respected the most basic, elementary forms of religion within a culture. Emile
durkheim wanted to establish that the inspiration of religion does not come from any super
natural order or divine element present in the society but in fact a product of the society.

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Durkheim believes that religion is an integral part of the society. It is critical for the functioning
of the system and upholding its structure.

According to the Emile religion is something elemently social, it provides meaning to life.
Through religion durkheim felt that a sense of social control and purpose can be brought within
the community. He wanted to say that this can't be an ultimate source of solidarity. It is the best
way to reaffirm social norms. Durkheim developed the idea the study of religion is very complex
and if understood in its most primitive an elementary form can only be accomplished. The exact
definition of religion according to Durkheim is " unique system of believes and practices relative
to secret things that is to say, things set apart and forbidden beliefs and practices which unite in
one simple moral community called Church, and all those who adhere to it."

The definition of religion that the sociologist arise at is" religion is an independent system of
beliefs and practices regarding things which are sacred, that is to say ,apart forbidden ,beliefs and
practices which unite all those who Follow them in Single moral community called Church." the
concept of Church is added to the concept to sacred and to the system of believes in order to
differentiate religion from magic, which does not necessarily involve the consensus of the
faithful in one Church. In his book the sociologist has rejected two earlier theories of religion,
before giving his own theories one is animism and second is naturism. Animism: animism was a
popular concept from E. B Tylor book "primitive culture" published in 1871. Animism is a
religious belief which rests in the concept of spirits. It basically says that humans constitutes of a
two fold nature. Consisting of a body and Soul which together combines to make a man
experience its being. Primitive man who had lack of knowledge and concept of scientific thought
failed to understand dreams, shadows ,hallucinations, sleep and death. Hence in that society
existed the viewpoint that stated : when a man is asleep he is visited by a spirit ,especially when
he is experiencing dreams. It was difficult for a primitive man to differentiate between who
experiences dreams and who experiences reality. Hence he attributed the experience of the dream
to be of his spirit while the experience of reality to be of his own.

Gradually as man's belief in spirit grew he extended this idea to objects as well .which led to the
development of concept of animism. According to Tylor the concept of animal is the basis of all
religions. According to Herbert Spencer the concept of religion originated in Ghost fear. Ghost
had the power to manipulate human affairs and natural forces.

Naturalism: It states that men worship transfigured natural forces. Naturism simply suggests that
this is the type of religion which has emerged out of people’s abstract forces of nature. Believing
worship of nature as supernatural or transcendental is called Naturism. Durkhime did not believe
in these two concepts as he believed they failed to explain the key distinction between sacred and
profane. He said the very belief is based upon a wrong concept of religion which was
interpreting religion as an illusion.He call this the reductionistic fallacy. He mockingly said this
is like collective hallucination over religion,by making the mankind appease unknown natural
forces like spirits simply in their fear. He is the man who truly saved religion while maintaining
its original sanctity.He talked about believing in the real and authentic forces.He admitted that
God does not really mean reality, he believed that it might be something right below god which
could be society.

Durkheim's concept of religion was divided into two categories Sacred and Profane.

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Sacred: The sacred refers to things human beings set apart; including religious beliefs, rites,
deities or anything socially defined as requiring special religious treatment.

Profane: is just the opposite of Sacred, which is not sacred that is called profane. The sacred
world cannot survive without the profane world to support it and give it life and vice versa. In
general, those aspects of social life given moral superiority or reverence are considered sacred
and all other aspects are part of the profane. The right mix of sacred and profane helps society
develop the correct concept of religion. Emile also mentions that there is an essential
requirement of three other features to complete the concept of religion which are set of religious
beliefs; a set of religious rites and a church. The religious beliefs are “the representations which
express the nature of sacred things and the relations which they sustain, either with each other or
with profane things.” The religious rites are “the rules of conduct which prescribe how a man
should comport[conduct oneself] himself in the presence of these sacred objects.” A religion
requires a church, or a single overarching moral community. The interrelationships among the
sacred beliefs, rites and church led Durkheim to give the definition of religion. Beliefs and rites
or practices unite people in a social community by relating them to sacred things. This collective
sharing of beliefs, rituals etc. is essential for the development of religion.

Religion is society transfigured. Transfiguration means society is given the shape of god or
religion which we believe and start worshipping. Belief refers to a type of conviction, making the
people to do or accept which otherwise they shall not do or shall not accept. According to
Durkheim, there are three types of ritual practices, following from specific sets of beliefs namely
positive, negative and piacular practices or rites and practices of expiation.Positive practices
refer to those which people are obliged to follow. Negative practices are reverse to positive. It
refers to those practices which people are obliged not to follow or practise.Piacular practices
refer to the practice of awarding punishment to those who have deviated from the norms and
dictates of established beliefs. It is otherwise known as punitive practice. Durkhime according to
his study finally pressented the general theory of religion.

General Theory of Religion: Durkheim’s book “Elementary forms of Religious life” is devoted
to elaborating a general theory of religion derived from an analysis of the simplest, most
primitive religious institutions. This general theory of religion is otherwise known as his theory
of totemism. Instead of Animism or Naturism Durkheim took the totemism among the Australian
tribes as the key concept to explain the origin of religion. In the Australian tribes studied by
Durkheim the totem is represented in various ways. Each totem has its emblem. In almost-all
clans there are objects, pieces of wood or polished stones, which bear a figurative representation
of the totem. Ordinary objects, which are referred to as ‘Churinga’ are transfigured once they
bear the emblem of the totem. They share the sacred quality that is associated with the totem.
Durkheim writes: “Totemism is the religion, not of certain animals or of certain men or of certain
images, but a kind of anonymous and impersonal force which is found in each of these beings,
without however being identified with any one of them”. Based on this Durkhime developed
certain generalizations. Durkheim’s generalization can be conclusively stated as below:

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1. All the essential elements of religious thought and life ought to be found at least in the most
primitive religion. Durkheim stated that the first attempt should be made to study religion in its
simplest form. Then it can be possible to go deeply into others including the religion in advanced
society. To say that totemism is the simplest religion implies an evolutionist conception of
religious history. If Durkheim asserts that it is the simplest most elementary religion he is
implicitly acknowledging that religion has own evolution from a single origin.

2. More generally Durkheim’s view of religion as socially determined led him to seek to
establish causal relation between features of social structure and the content of religious
believers and ritual practices. Now let us understand Karl Marx take on religion.

KARL MARX

Marx actually said very little about religion directly; in all of his writings, he hardly ever
addresses religion in a systematic fashion, even though he touches on it frequently in books,
speeches, and pamphlets. The reason is that his critique of religion forms simply one piece of his
overall theory of society—thus, understanding his critique of religion requires some
understanding of his critique of society in general. According to Marx, religion is an expression
of material realities and economic injustice. Thus, problems in religion are ultimately problems
in society. Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom. It is used by oppressors to make
people feel better about the distress they experience due to being poor and exploited. This is the
origin of his comment that religion is the “opium of the masses”—but as shall see, his thoughts
are much more complex than commonly portrayed. According to Marx, religion is one of those
social institutions which are dependent upon the material and economic realities in a given
society. It has no independent history but is instead the creature of productive forces. As Marx
wrote, “The religious world is but the reflex of the real world.” According to Karl Marx, religion
is like other social institutions in that it is dependent upon the material and economic realities in
a given society. It has no independent history; instead, it is the creature of productive forces. As
Marx wrote, “The religious world is but the reflex of the real world.” According to Marx,
religion can only be understood in relation to other social systems and the economic structures of
society. In fact, religion is only dependent upon economics, nothing else—so much so that the
actual religious doctrines are almost irrelevant. This is a functionalist interpretation of religion:
understanding religion is dependent upon what social purpose religion itself serves, not the
content of its beliefs. Marx’s opinion was that religion is an illusion that provides reasons and
excuses to keep society functioning just as it is. Much as capitalism takes our productive labor
and alienates us from its value, religion takes our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us
from them, projecting them onto an alien and unknowable being called a god.

Marx has three reasons for disliking religion.

First, it is irrational—religion is a delusion and worship of appearances that avoids recognizing

underlying reality.

Second, religion negates all that is dignified in a human being by rendering them servile and
more amenable to accepting the status quo. In the preface to his doctoral dissertation, Marx
adopted as his motto the words of the Greek hero Prometheus who defied the gods to bring fire

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to humanity: “I hate all gods,” with the addition that they “do not recognize man’s self-
consciousness as the highest divinity.”

Third, religion is hypocritical. Although it might profess valuable principles, it sides with the
oppressors. Jesus advocated helping the poor, but the Christian church merged with the
oppressive Roman state, taking part in the enslavement of people for centuries. In the Middle
Ages, the Catholic Church preached about heaven but acquired as much property and power as
possible. Now that we have understood the view point of different sociologists on religion lets
explore the similarities and differences in their perspectives.

Chapter 2: Comparing Different Sociological Viewpoint.

Observing similarities between the ideas of Auguste Comte and Emile Durkhime

There are two comparison is drawn between the sociologists

First: as stated by Emile Durkheim in his theory of Totemism a community makes a non human
object its symbol and thinks of it as sacred and something that protects the community. This
object is the focus of the Clans myths and rituals. Being a secret object it possesses Special
Powers. It has a force attached to it which causes this totem to be worshipped. Believing it to be
an external force that will protect the community at large. This is very similar to auguste comte's
fetishism which refers to praying to an object as it possesses divine powers and giving it the
status of God. Here blind following of this object was done as natural forces were attached to it.

Second: just like in the concept of positivism auguste comte tries to bring about a scientific
temperament to understand social laws and finally tries to build a scientific religion of the future
which is realistic in nature far away from any metaphysical thought. Similarly emile durkheim
completely negates the fictional concepts of animism and naturism which try to take religion far
away from reality. He brings religion back with authentic forces.

Observing similarities between the ideas of Auguste Comte and Karl Marx

Firstly: Both wanted to develop a postmodern society which was based on a new thought
process. Why eliminating the past turmoil with the help of religion.

Secondly: Just like Karl Marx was a major critique of capitalism and wanted to develop a society
that was equal for every one without any concentration of power with a few hands. (Which
excited in the case of bourgeoisie and proletariat),he wanted this to be aided by religion. Auguste
Comte also wanted to avoid too much power in the hands of future scientists who according to
him would lead the societies. Hence in his future model of scientific religion he suggested the
division of power between scientists and sociologist. There sociologist according to him would
represent the society At large and would have basic knowledge of everything. They would have
the rightful power to question these scientists (who would take policy decisions for the citizens
of the community) and reclaim the rights of common man if ever put to question.

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Chapter 3: Are the Sociological Viewpoint still applicable today?

These sociological viewpoints are definitely applicable today though not in totality. These
sociologists were definitely correct when they talked about the waining of religious sentiment
among individuals. And the development of a rational thought process.It is true that a thinking
developed within us which consisted of a element of scientific curiosity which believed only
facts and not abstract concept. We stopped blaming the divine being for the unnatural
occurrences of nature and started analysing the real cause. But at the same time Auguste Comte's
Scientific religion definitely failed. Deities are not completely replaced with Scientists. Both
concepts exist parallely, and simultaneously. One can have a scientific outlook but still pray to
God for general well being and satisfaction.

Chapter 4: Religious practices

4.1 Around the world

Activities

The two-best realized religious activities are petition and penance. The broadest religious activity
is supplication. It very well may be done unobtrusively by an individual in solitude, yet
individuals can likewise supplicate in gatherings utilizing melodies. Penance is likewise a
broadly spread religious activity. Supplication and penance frequently structure the premise of
other, increasingly entangled religious activities like journey, parades, or counseling a prophet.
Numerous customs are associated with a specific reason, similar to commencement, custom
refinement and planning for a significant occurring or assignment. Among these are likewise the
purported ceremonies of change, which happen at significant snapshots of the human life cycle,
similar to birth, adulthood/marriage, affliction and demise. An exceptional religious activity is
soul ownership and religious bliss. Religious pros, for example, ministers, vicars, rabbis, imams
and pandits are associated with numerous religious activities.

Evasions

A religious evasion is the point at which an individual stop from something or from some
activity for religious reasons. It tends to be sustenance or drink that one doesn't contact on
account of one's religion for quite a while (quick). This forbearance can likewise be for a more
drawn out time. A few people don't engage in sexual relations (chastity). Or then again one stays
away from contact with blood, or dead creatures. Surely understood models are: Jews and
Muslims don't eat pork; the chastity of Catholic ministers; the immaculateness principles of
Hinduism and Judaism.

These shirkings, or 'taboos', are regularly about nourishment and drink. discourse; a few words
are taboo (reviling) biting the dust, passing and grieving

Religious shirkings are frequently not effectively conspicuous as (a component of) religious
conduct. Whenever asked, the devotees regularly don't inspire this sort of conduct unequivocally

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as religious however state the evasion for wellbeing reasons, moral reasons, or on the grounds
that it is clean.

Scholastic examination

Religious conduct is rarely read for itself. When it is given consideration by any means, it is
normally examined as a representation of the religious pictures, as in relative religion and social
human studies, or as a feature of the investigation of man in the sociologies.

Faction (religious practice)

Religion is truly the "care" (Latin cultus) owed to gods and to sanctuaries, holy places, or
chapels. Clique is typified in custom and service. Its present or previous nearness is made cement
in sanctuaries, places of worship and houses of worship, and faction pictures, including religion
pictures and votive contributions at votive locales.

In the particular setting of the Greek saint faction, Carla Antonaccio composed,

The term religion recognizes an example of custom conduct regarding explicit items, inside a
structure of spatial and worldly organizes. Ceremonies would incorporate (however not really be
constrained to) petition, penance, votive contributions, rivalries, parades and development of
landmarks. Some level of repeat set up and redundancy after some time of custom activity is
fundamental for a religion to be established, to be rehearsed.

Historical underpinnings

Cicero characterized religion as cultus deorum, "the development of the divine beings." The
"development" important to keep up a particular god was that god's cultus, "faction," and
required "the information of giving the divine beings their due" (scientia colendorum deorum).
The thing cultus begins from the past participle of the action word colo, colere, colui, cultus, "to
tend, deal with, develop," initially signifying "to abide in, occupy" and along these lines "to tend,
develop land (ager); to rehearse farming," a movement basic to Roman personality
notwithstanding when Rome as a political focus had turned out to be completely urbanized.
Cultus is frequently deciphered as "religion" without the negative undertones the word may have
in English, or with the Old English word "revere", yet it suggests the need of dynamic support
past latent love. Cultus was required to issue to the divine beings as an exhibit of regard, respect,
and love; it was a part of the authoritative idea of Roman religion (see do ut des). Augustine of
Hippo echoes Cicero's definition when he proclaims, "religion is nothing other than the cultus of
God."

The expression "religion" first showed up in English in 1617, got from the French culte,
signifying "venerate" which thus began from the Latin word cultus signifying "care,
development, love". The signifying "commitment to someone or something" is from 1829.
Beginning around 1920, "clique" obtained an extra at least six positive and negative definitions.
In French, for instance, areas in papers giving the calendar of love for Catholic administrations
are going Culte Catholique, while the segment giving the timetable of Protestant administrations
is going culte réformé. Inside the Catholic church the most conspicuous Cults are those of the
holy people.

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Outwards religious practice

Outward religious practice in love are customs, services, formality or reviews, which may
include spoken or sung words, and frequently include a disregard for one's own needs. Other
outward signs of the clique of a divinity are the safeguarding of relics or the production of
pictures, for example, symbols (more often than not suggesting a level painted picture) or three-
dimensional cultic pictures, slandered as "icons", and the determination of sacrosanct spots,
peaks and mountains, crevices and caverns, springs, pools and forests, or even individual trees or
stones, which might be the seat of a prophet or the adored site of a dream, nebulous vision,
supernatural occurrence or other event honored or reproduced in outward religious practice.
Consecrated spots might be distinguished and explained by development of places of worship,
sanctuaries, and houses of worship, on which are loped open consideration at religious
celebrations and which may turn into the middle for journeys.

In Christianity

In the Catholic Church, outward religious practice in cultus is the specialized term for Roman
Catholic commitments or reverence stretched out to a specific holy person, not to the love of
God. Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church make a noteworthy qualification between
latria, the love that is offered to God alone, and dulia, which is love offered to the holy people,
including the adoration of Mary, whose reverence is regularly alluded to as hyperdulia.

4.2 SOCIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA

1. There are trends of revivalism in every Indian religion today. More and more people are
taking greater interest in knowing about and participating in their religious practices.
More and more books and articles are being written and ceremonies and worships in
public with a great deal of fanfare are being done, but all this is external. But very few
people are in reality making efforts for their moral betterment. Evidently, hypocrisy is
fast growing in tune with growing materialism in India.
2. Secularism – the tendency of appreciating and tolerating others’ religious beliefs and
practices and participating in their ceremonies and functions –is increasing due to spread
of education, urbanization, industrialization etc. Osho has made a unique contribution to
modern spirituality in the 20 century.
th

3. Dalit leaders are trying to persuade more and more of their followers to leave Hinduism
and join Buddhism.
4. There is growing nexus among religious leaders, politicians and capitalists in India.
Politicians frequently visit religious and Indian spiritual gurus like Sri Sathya Sai Baba
not because they are spiritual seekers, but with the goal that public may consider them, by
seeing their photos in newspapers with the saints or by hearing of their closeness to them,
to be honest, gentle, spiritual politicians concerned with the welfare of humanity, while
they in reality are neck deep-in corruption and immorality. In turn, the religious and
spiritual saints also need the patronage and help of the ruling politicians in order to seek
many kinds of concessions and benefits from them in their income tax liabilities and in
their ashram projects and in ignoring their underground and corrupt practices. The
capitalists and bureaucrats can get their objectives fulfilled from the ruling politicians
through the so-called godmen, swamis and saints who act as agents or middlemen.

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 5. Many ashrams are closed social institutions like prisons or mental hospitals. In them, the
will, reasoning power and independent thinking of the devotees and visitors are so
rigorously crushed that they become fatalists and psychologically totally dependent on
the Gurus and do not question and various kinds of latent (hidden) malpractices and
economic and moral corruption in them. In many ashrams like Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s
Prusouthi Nityam Ashram at Puttaparthi (Andhra Pradesh) there are posh shopping
complexes and hundreds of rooms rented out to devotees, which are sources of income to
the Gurus and their patronized suppliers and capitalist devotees.
6. Elections are now fought on the basis of religion and castes in secular India.
7. Although all religious leaders now talk of Love, Universal Religion, Peace and coming of
New Age they all work separately. Each of them seems to be jealous and suspicious of
the other swamis, each proclaims that he alone is the GOD or the only genuine Spiritual
Master, Godman.
1. All swamis and gurus in India are talking about GOD, Atma, Moksha etc. But
none of them is like the genuine missionary reformists such Swami Vivekananda
and Swami Dayanand. None of them has launched a crusade against the growing
corruption, sex immorality, dowry menace, illiteracy, beggary, corrupt politicians
and industrialists and businessmen, dangers of globalization, privatization,
religious hypocrisy etc. Many of their devotee politicians, bureaucrats and
businessmen are not upright people.

Sati

"A lady"

Does the value of a lady exist just in connection to a man? Is it legitimized with respect to the
extremist double-dealing society to aggrieve a lady for the sake of securing her or for the sake of
doing more prominent great of individuals? Is it even human to endanger the opportunity,
desires, singularity and life of a lady by tying her up in the shackles of authoritative opinions and
pernicious nonsensical standards?

This article is a sociological point of view on a training that is a through and through resistance
of humankind and discourtesy of the privilege to life of the sexual orientation that is unduly
disparaged the whole way across our general public.

Sati is the training among some Hindu people group by which an as of late bereft lady either
intentionally or by utilization of power or compulsion ends it all because of her better half's
passing. The best-known type of sati is the point at which a lady consumes to death on her better
half's memorial service fire. Anyway, different types of sati exist, incorporating being covered
buzzing with the spouse's carcass and suffocating. In the present period of raising women's
liberation and spotlight on equity and human rights, it is troublesome and not right to process the
merciless Hindu routine with regards to sati. Surely, the training is banned and illicit in the
present India. The law presently sees no difference amongst inactive onlookers to the
demonstration, and dynamic advertisers of the occasion; all should be held similarly punishable.
Different measures incorporate endeavors to stop the 'glorification' of the dead ladies. However,
it happens up to the present day under pressure or by deliberate consuming is still viewed by
certain Hindus as a definitive type of womanly dedication and penance.

14
In a nation that avoided widows, sati was viewed as the most noteworthy articulation of wifely
dedication to a dead spouse. It was regarded a demonstration of excellent devotion and was said
to cleanse her of every one of her transgressions, discharge her from the cycle of birth and
resurrection and guarantee salvation for her dead spouse and the seven ages that pursued her.
Since its advocates praised it as the required direct of equitable ladies, it was not viewed as
suicide, generally restricted or disheartened by Hindu sacred writing. It won't not be right to
make reference to here that the general public has constantly discovered approaches to shroud its
vindictive standards and practices.

Rise, come unto the universe of life, O lady: come, he is dead by whose side thou liest.

Wifehood with this thy spouse was thy divide, who took thy hand and charmed thee as a darling.

While the song really requires a widow to ascend from the wharf of her dead spouse and now
proceed onward to take the hand of her new husband. Along these lines, this horrible
misrepresentation was made to legitimize the consuming of the widows to belittle Hinduism.

There is have to comprehend the sociological idea of Sati. Humanist Emile Durkheim in his great
examination Suicide: A Study in Sociology, characterized Suicide and recognized four
fundamental sorts of suicide as per causation. Two of them are significant to the current subject.
In a philanthropic suicide, the individual is excessively unequivocally incorporated into society-a
general public which supports or even requires the person to forfeit their own life. A fatalistic
suicide is probably going to happen when duty to aggregate standards is unnecessarily solid.

Sati has for long been viewed as a benevolent suicide as the spouse was required to end it all on
her significant other's passing. What should be comprehended here is that the act of Sati isn't
only an outcome of over incorporation into the general public yet additionally in light of the
oppressive and unbending standards drifting over ladies. Subsequently, it's totally defended to
state that Sati comes surprisingly close to Fatalistic suicide.

Another critical point to be noted here is that Sati was a scripted type of suicide and since it is
somewhat unambiguous regarding what degree a lady's will was engaged with this, it is rendered
more similar to kill than suicide.

All things considered, it must be perceived that the convention of Sati in India has various
aspects and just a veracious and clever sociological examination of the equivalent can help in the
more profound comprehension of the marvel, and further give recommendations to killing it.
Since, regardless of the presence of the state- and nation-wide laws forbidding the demonstration
and its glorification, episodes keep on happening each year and might be on the expansion, the
events affirm that profoundly established and profoundly treasured standards can't be changed
basically by sanctioning laws regardless of how unfavorable, corrupted and prejudicial they
might be. As these social shades of malice both start from just as hamper the general public
itself, the above all else need of great importance is that the individuals must teach a positive,
reasonable and helpful methodology in order to evacuate them and clear a dynamic way for the
general public.

15
Chapter 5: Law and order with special reference to religion

Law and religion

Law and religion are the interdisciplinary investigation of connections between law, particularly
open law, and religion. Voge Magazine reports that during the late 1900, another law and
religion approach rose that dynamically manufactured its very own commitment to religious
examinations. Over twelve academic associations and councils were framed by 1983, and an
insightful quarterly, the Journal of Law and Religion, was first distributed that year. The
Ecclesiastical Law Journal started production in 1987. The Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion
was established in 1999. The Oxford Journal of Law and Religion was established in England in
2012.

Numerous divisions and revolves have been made the world over during the most recent
decades. For instance, the Brigham Young University graduate school in 2000 made "The
International Centre for Law and Religion Studies." It has a global mission and its yearly
symposium (which started in 1993) has brought to grounds more than 1000 researchers, human
rights activists, made a decision from preeminent courts, and government pastors managing
religious undertakings from in excess of 120 nations.

Starting at 2012, noteworthy law and religion associations in the U.S. included 500 law
educators, 450 political researchers, and experts in various different fields, for example, history
and religious investigations. Somewhere in the range of 1985 and 2010, the field saw the
production of approximately 750 books and 5000 academic articles, as per Emory Law Professor
John Witte, Jr.

Researchers in the field are not just centred around carefully legitimate issues about religious
opportunity or non-foundation yet in addition on the investigation of religions as they are
qualified through legal talks or lawful comprehension on religious wonders. For instance, The
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion looks to cover: social, lawful and political issues including
the connection among law and religion in the public arena; near law points of view on the
connection among religion and state foundations; improvements with respect to human and
protected rights to opportunity of religion or conviction; contemplations of the connection among
religious and common lawful frameworks; experimental work on the spot of religion in the
public arena; and other notable territories where law and religion communicate (e.g., religious
philosophy, legitimate and political hypothesis, lawful history, theory, and so forth.).

Types take a gander at ordinance law, regular law, and state law, frequently in similar point of
view. Experts have investigated topics in western history in regards to Christianity and equity
and leniency, principle and value, control and love. Normal themes of intrigue incorporate
marriage and the family, and human rights. Moving past Christianity, researchers have taken a
gander at law and religion connects in the Muslim Middle East, Asian hereditary religions,
mysterious quarrels, agnostic Rome and any domain in which religious convictions structure the
premise of or negate administrative law.

Inside Christianity, considers go from literary investigation of early Christians' association with
Jewish Law, the impact of law on the Protestant Reformation, and cutting-edge issues like gay

16
associations, the appointment of ladies to the diaconate and brotherhood, and still, small voices
dissidents to war.

Significant investigations have showed up with respect to secularization. Specifically, the issue
of wearing religion images in broad daylight, for example, headscarves that are restricted in
French schools, have gotten insightful consideration with regards to human rights and woman's
rights.

National investigations

Thailand

In Thailand, the sacred government that was built up during the 1930s coordinated conventional
Buddhist ideas of inestimable law and religion with present day techniques for open organization
and legitimate specialist. The outcome was the arrangement of a novel metro religion dependent
on the three-path recipe of country, religion, and authority. This new custom has advanced and
gives a system to both the emblematic talk just as useful activities in present day Thai legitimate
culture.

5.1 Indian Young Lawyers Association vs The State of Kerala

Background: -

Sabarimala Sree Dharmasastha Temple is a temple complex located at Sabarimala inside Periyar
Tiger Reserve in Pathanamthitta District, Kerala, India. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the
world with an estimate of between 17 million and 50 million devotees visiting every year. The
temple is dedicated to the Hindu celibate deity Ayyappan also known as Dharma Sastha, who
according to belief is the son of Shiva and feminine incarnation of Vishnu.

The deity in Sabarimala temple is in the form of a Yogi or a Bramchari according to the Thanthri
of the temple. The God in Sabarimala is in the form of a Naisthik Bramchari, and this is the
reason why young women are not permitted to offer prayers in the temple. Since the deity is in
the form of a Naisthik Brahmachari, it is therefore believed that young women should not offer
worship in the temple so that even the slightest deviation from celibacy and austerity observed
by the deity is not caused by the presence of such women.

The temple is open for worship only during the days of Mandalapooja (approximately 15
November to 26 December), Makara Sankranti” (14 January) and Maha Vishuva Sankranti (14
April), and the first five days of each Malayalam month.

The pilgrims have to observe celibacy for 41 days before going to Sabarimala. They are also
required to strictly follow a lacto-vegetarian diet, refrain from alcohol, not use any profanity and
allow the hair and nails to grow without cutting. They are expected to bath twice in a day and
visit the local temples regularly. They wear black or blue clothes, do not shave until the
completion of the pilgrimage, and smear vibhuti or sandal paste on their forehead.

The exclusion of (a class of) women from the Sabarimala Temple was justified on the basis of
ancient custom, which was sanctioned by Rule 3(b), framed by the Government under the

17
authority of the 1965 Kerala Hindu Places of Worship (Authorisation of Entry Act). Section 3 of
the Act required that places of public worship be open to all sections and classes of Hindus,
subject to special rules for religious denominations. Rule 3(b), however, provided for the
exclusion of “women at such time during which they are not by custom and usage allowed to
enter a place of public worship.” These pieces of legislation, in turn, were juxtaposed against
constitutional provisions such as Article 25(1) (freedom of worship), Article 26 (freedom of
religious denominations to regulate their own practices), and Articles 14 and 15(1) (equality and
non-discrimination).

In response to a PIL filed in 1991, the Kerala High Court had judged that the restriction of entry
of women ages 10-50 to the temple was in accordance with the usage prevalent from time
immemorial, and it directed the Devaswom Board to uphold the customary traditions of the
temple.

However, on 28 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India overturned the restriction on the
entry of women, declaring it unconstitutional and discriminatory. The Supreme Court had ruled
that women, of all age groups, can enter Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The apex court in a 4:1
majority said that the temple practice violates the rights of Hindu women and that banning entry
of women to shrine is gender discrimination.

On 2 January 2019, two women under the age of 50 finally entered the shrine for the first time
since the Supreme Court verdict, after attempts by many others failed due to protests by
devotees.

Facts

The Sabarimala temple is one of Kerala’s most famous temples and it is dedicated to the worship
of Lord Ayyappa, who is also referred to as ‘Dharmashastha’ or Lord of Dharma and is
worshipped as a ‘Naishtika Bramhachari’ or a celibate for life. Therefore, as per a notification by
the Devaswom Board that manages the temple, women belonging to the menstruating age are not
permitted to enter the temple. The Sabarimala temple is managed by the Travancore Devaswom
Board. The centuries-old restriction that restricts women of menstruating age from temple entry
had been challenged now and then.

1991: Kerala High Court upheld an age-old restriction on women of a certain age-group entering
Sabarimala temple. A two-judge bench decreed (on April 5) that the prohibition by the
Travancore Devaswom Board that administers the hill shrine does not violate either the
Constitution or a pertinent 1965 Kerala law.

2006: A famed astrologer conducted a temple-centric assignment called ‘Devaprasnam’, and

declared having found signs of a woman’s entry into the temple some time ago. Soon, a well-
known Kannada actress-politician Jayamala claimed publicly that she had entered the precincts
of Sabarimala in 1987 as a 28-year-old. Even she claimed to have proudly touched the deity
inside the sanctum sanctorum as part of a film shoot, adding doing connivance with the priest.

2006: The allegation led the Kerala government to probe the matter through its crime branch,
but the case was later dropped.

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2008: Kerala’s LDF government filed an affidavit supporting a PIL filed by women lawyers
questioning the ban on the entry of women in Sabarimala

2016: The India Young Lawyers Association filed a PIL with the Supreme Court, contending
that Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules 1965
that states “Women who are not by custom and usage allowed to enter a place of public worship
shall not be entitled to enter or offer worship in any place of public worship” violates
constitutional guarantees of equality, non-discrimination and religious freedom.

November 2016: Kerala’s Left Front government favoured the entry of women of all age groups
filing an affidavit to the effect.

28 September, 2018: The hon’ble Supreme Court of India, by a 4:1verdict, granted women, of
all age groups, entry into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple, breaking the temple’s age-old tradition of
restricting menstruating women from entering its premises.

The five-judge bench, headed by then CJI Dipak Mishra with Justices RF Nariman, AM
Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra pronounced the verdict, with Malhotra
dissenting.

Issues Raised

The issues raised in this case were: -

1. The rule that disallows women from entering temples for the sake of custom was challenged
so as to prove that it violates Articles 14 and 15(3) of the Constitution on the grounds of sex.

2. Whether the practice constitutes an ‘essential religious practice’ under Article 25?

3. Whether a religious institution could assert its claim to do so under the right to manage its own
affairs in the matters of religion?

4. Whether the exclusionary practice based on a biological factor exclusive to the female gender
amounts to ‘discrimination’?

5. Whether Sabarimala temple had a denominational character?

Arguments Advanced: -

Prohibiting entry of women from 10 to 50 amounts to untouchability:

Senior counsel Indira Jaisingh stated that prohibition of women entry is a form of untouchability.
“The sole basis of restriction is menstruation of women. To keep away menstruating women is a
form of untouchability. Menstruating women are seen as polluted.”

Restriction to entry not connected to religious practice:

19
The petitioners argued that restriction on the entry of women in the Sabarimala temple is
nowhere connected with the religious practices performed there. The question of it being the
essence of the said religious denomination does not arise at all.

Sabarimala Temple not a separate religious denomination:

It was argued that the Lord Ayyappa temple was not a separate religious denomination for the
purpose of Article 26 because the religious practices performed in Sabarimala Temple at the time
of ‘Puja and other religious ceremonies are not distinct and are akin to any other practice
performed in any Hindu Temple.

Article 25(2) (b) was not a mere enabling provision:

Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran who was appointed as amicus curiae in the matter stated
that the right of women to enter temple and offer worship flowed from Article 25(2) (b) as it was
not a mere enabling provision which permitted enactment of law to make Hindu temples
accessible to all sects and classes, but granted a substantive right.

Justice Indu Malhotra cited example of a temple which ban entry of men:

Justice Malhotra had cited the example of Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Kerala, which is
exclusively for women devotees, and asked whether exclusion of men was discriminatory.
Responding in affirmative, Surendranath submitted that it was equally discriminatory.

How did Travancore Devaswom Board justify the ban?

Lord Ayyappa was a celibate for life, a ‘Naishtika Brahmacharya’: Senior Advocate Abhishek
Manu Singhvi, who argued for the Devaswom Board, justified the impugned practice as being a
bonafide one, one originating from the character of the deity at the Sabarimala Temple. Lord
Ayyappa was a celibate for life, a ‘Naishtika Brahmacharya’, and the practise was firmly rooted
on this belief of hordes of devotees.

Woman cannot complete 41 days of penances:

Observance of 41 days of penances was essential for undertaking a pilgrimage to Sabarimala. It

was an essential religious practice. It was not physiologically feasible for women to complete the
41 days of penances.

Sabarimala temple case: Written submissions supporting women’s entry

In the written submissions, senior advocate Ms. Indira Jaising had submitted that prohibiting
women from entering the temple is similar to the practice of untouchability because menstruating
women are perceived as” impure” and “polluted.” She further submitted that the restriction
offends the concept of gender justice, psychologically impacts women and their ability to have
normal social interactions with the rest of the society as well as family members and perpetuates
practices that are derogatory to women. The devotees of Ayyappa do not constitute a religious
denomination as they are Hindus and even if one were to assume, they are a religious
denomination, such a practice still cannot disallow Hindu women from entering a temple.

20
Senior Advocate Ms Indira Jaising pointed out that since this is the sole reason for restricting
women from temple entry, it is a form of untouchability. Her arguments supporting women’s
entry was centred around Article 17 of the Constitution of India.

Senior Advocate Mr. Raju Ramachandran had been appointed as the amicus curiae in the matter.
His submission was that women’s right to enter the temple comes from Article 25(2) of the
Constitution and that a restriction on women’s entry is also invasive of a woman’s right to
privacy as it amounts to making a disclosure that she is no longer menstruating.

Sabarimala temple case: Submissions against women’s entry:

Representing the Nair Service Society, senior advocate Mr. K. Parasaran dismissed arguments
pertaining to patriarchal mindsets being a reason for the restriction on women’s entry in
Sabarimala temple. He pointed out that Kerala follows a matrilineal system. Therefore, it is
incorrect to assume the practice related to Sabarimala as one that is based on patriarchy. He also
stated that the women of the state are known for being well-educated, socially forward and
independent in their roles as decision makers. Referring to the presiding deity Lord Ayyappa as a
Naishtika Bramhachari, he pointed out that it is the celibate nature of the deity that forms the
basis of the practice and not misogyny.

Article 15 of the Constitution does not apply to religious institutions and Article 25(2) pertains to
only secular aspects and it is only pertaining to social issues, not gender or religious based issues.
In particular, the senior advocate also pointed out that Article 15(2) provides citizens with the
right to access to places such as hotels, shops and so on but nowhere does it mention public
temples. He asked the SC bench to consider the deity’s unique nature while going into the details
of the constitutional validity of the temple practice.

The Hindu religion, as per senior advocate K. Parasaran’s argument, has always upheld the right
to equality and he cited the example of Lord Shiva being worshipped as ‘Ardhanarishwara’
which embodies half-male and half-female.

Representing ”People for Dharma”, Advocate J. Sai Deepak, in his written submissions, pointed
out that the petitioner’s position suffers from a grave error as it fails to distinguish between
diversity in religious traditions and discrimination and that the petitioner has turned a discussion
on the deity’s celibacy into alleged notions of impurity associated with menstruation. He further
submitted that the rules of Bramhacharya when it is observed by women devotees, also requires
them to avoid all contact with men. He further stated in the written submission that the practice
of Naishtika Bramhacharya has been given a misogynist hue in a baseless, ignorant and
extremely mischievous manner.

The bench, on September 28, 2018, lifted the ban and ruled that women, of all age group, can
enter Sabarimala temple in Kerala. With a 4:1 majority, the bench in its verdict said that the
temple practice violates the rights of Hindu women and that banning entry of women to shrine is
gender discrimination.

Significance of the Verdict

21
By the majority judgment, it is amply clear that the underlying basic principle that the
Constitution of India is supreme. The hon’ble Chief Justice and his companion judges in
different words unequivocally upheld that even in matters of religious faith, Governments,
religious and other institutions and the people of India are bound by the constitution of the
country.

This historic verdict supersedes all other laws of the land and customary practices and beliefs
and traditions of different religions/faith which are contrary to it. Thus, on the one hand, it
proclaims the triumph of women’s rights towards equality with men and on the other it
establishes the supremacy of Constitutional morality over customary laws, rituals and traditions.
The far reaching socio-economic and political consequences of this historic verdict will unfold
themselves as the country moves forward.

Critical Analysis of the Judgement

Religion has morphed into different configurations in modern societies and hence we need more
holistic approaches to comprehend its complexities.

The rationality of any religion or a particular ritual is mostly determined and propagated by the
male leaders and members in the group. In order to perpetuate their domination, they tend to
devise customs, often by the irresponsible interpretation of traditional texts, which consequently
results in the subordination of women.

Justice Malhotra sets a dangerous precedent by stating that courts should not delve into the
rationality of religious practices. One should not forget that if it were not for the judiciary’s
activism, the rigid societal structures would have still clawed on to the unbending orthodoxy. A
prerequisite of this judgment, however, would have been to find ways to sensitise the community
and garner support from men and women equally.

5.2 Shayara Bano vs Union of India And Ors.

Summary:

Shayara Bano was married for 15 years. In 2016, her husband divorced her through talaq–e-bidat
(triple talaq). This is an Islamic practice that permits men to arbitrarily and unilaterally effect
instant and irrevocable divorce by pronouncing the word ‘talaq’ (Arabic for divorce) three times
at once in oral, written or, more recently, electronic form. Ms Bano argued before the Supreme
Court of India that three practices – triple talaq, polygamy, and nikah halala (the practice
requiring women to marry and divorce another man so that her previous husband can re-marry
her after triple talaq) –were unconstitutional. Specifically, she claimed that they violated several
fundamental rights under the Constitution of India (Constitution) namely, Articles 14 (equality
before the law), 15(1) (prohibition of discrimination including on the ground of gender), 21
(right to life) and 25 (freedom of religion). Her petition underscored how protection against these
practices has profound consequences for ensuring a life of dignity. Further, it asserted that failure
to eliminate de jure (formal) and de facto (substantive) discrimination against women including
by non-State actors, either directly or indirectly, violates not only the most basic human rights of
women but also violates their civil, economic, social and cultural rights as envisaged in
international treaties and covenants.
22
In this case, the Court focused solely on the practice of triple talaq. In August 2017, the Court, by
a majority of 3:2, set aside the practice of triple talaq. Of the justices who voted against the
practice, two held it to be unconstitutional while the third relied on case precedents to reiterate
that such practice was impermissible under Islamic law.

The majority judgment held triple talaq to be unconstitutional under Article 14 read with Article
13(1). In this regard, the Court held that the practice had been sanctioned as a matter of personal
law by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. The Court clarified that “…an
action that is arbitrary, must necessarily involve negation of equality” and determined, as triple
talaq provides that “…the marital tie can be broken capriciously without any attempt at
reconciliation so as to save it”, this arbitrariness violates Article 14. The Court concluded that the
1937 Act is void to the extent that it recognizes and enforces triple talaq, on the basis that as per
Article 13(1) all laws in force immediately before the commencement of the present Constitution
(which includes the 1937 Act) shall be void in so far as they are inconsistent with the
fundamental rights set out in the Constitution. The Court also considered whether triple talaq is
protected under Article 25 but, following a review of relevant precedents and Islamic
scholarship, concluded that it is not essential to the practice of Islam.

Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes:

This decision means triple talaq is no longer legal throughout India. Following the judgment, and
on its own initiative, the government introduced a bill criminalizing triple talaq. The Lok Sabha
(Lower house of India's bicameral Parliament) passed this bill in December 2017 and in
accordance with India’s legislative process, it is currently before the Rajya Sabha (Upper house)
where a united opposition has demanded that it be sent for review to a parliamentary committee.

Groups involved in the case:

(a) Bharatiya Muslim Mahima Andolan

(b) Bebaak Collective
(c) National Women’s Commission

Significance of the Case:

Women’s rights groups and other human rights and social justice organizations in India have
widely celebrated this historic judgment, which advances the essential constitutional values of
equality, dignity and secularism. While Muslim women have challenged triple talaq in courts
previously, this was the first instance where a Muslim woman had challenged a triple talaq
divorce on the basis that her fundamental rights under the Constitution had been violated. While
the Court did not address gender discrimination explicitly, it is instructive to note that even the
dissenting judgment noted “…that all concerned are unequivocal, that besides being arbitrary the
practice of ‘talaq-e-biddat’ is gender discriminatory.”

The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), a rights-based mass organization led by
Muslim women, and a party in the current case, conducted a study in 2015 which found that
approximately 1 in 11 Muslim women were survivors of triple talaq, the majority receiving no
alimony or compensation. This practice has left thousands of women destitute, at times rendered
homeless overnight along with their children. In India different religions (for example, the
23
Hindu, Muslim, and Christian communities) are governed by their own personal law in family
matters, pertaining for instance, to inheritance, property rights, marriage, divorce and so on. It is
possible, to an extent, to opt out of these personal law systems. However, these systems remain
widely prevalent and often incorporate systemic discrimination against women. One
commentator notes that, “the subtext of all personal laws, regardless of religion, is that women
are not equal to men.” This reality undermines the ability of women to realize their other human
rights, including in relation to housing, land and resources in general. As reflected in a 2013
consultation with members of the International Land Coalition’s network, “widespread gender-
based discrimination in laws, customs and practices cause severe inequalities in [women’s]
ability to access and control land and other natural resources, and limit their participation in
decision-making in land governance, from the household to local and national institutions.” The
decision is particularly relevant because it addressed a practice within the ambit of personal law
through the lens of structural equality and within the framework of fundamental rights. Now, in a
limited way, it will be feasible to test and challenge other discriminatory personal laws against
fundamental rights.

A lawyer involved in this case noted, “the most important takeaway is that it has unleashed the
energy of Muslim women who for the last 25 years have been working on this issue.” The case
was driven by relentless grassroots activism and led from the front by women affected by the
practice, strengthening the galvanization of women activists from the Muslim community
working towards the realization of a range of human rights.

While this case is a significant recognition of women’s experiences and confirmation of their
rights, subsequent events are a reminder that a sustained advocacy strategy is needed to ensure
that other groups do not frame decisions to support their own interests. The National Alliance of
People’s Movements (NAPM) highlights this tension by noting “…the propensity of the current
ruling dispensation...to appropriate…this judgement and…use it to brand the Muslim community
as regressive.” For example, the government bill has been criticized by certain commenters as
being less about gender justice and more about political persecution of a minority community.
NAPM notes further, “…the need to re-emphasize that patriarchy needs to be fought within and
across religions and legal reform must move in that direction, in consultation with women [and
that] demonizing minority religions, with a majoritarian and authoritarian approach, will be
challenged, by all progressive forces”.

Justice Indu Malhotra

24
Chapter 6: Religious Movements

In this contemporary era, as we can see the society progressing day by day and adapting itself to
new changes every day, it is deemed by many that religion acts as an obstruction in the progress
that the society is to achieve. It is usually put forth that religion, no matter in what form,
organized or unorganized leads to conservatism and therefore is a factor leading to various issues
in today’s world, such as xenophobia, and thereby inhibiting social progress. But however, the
world has seen movements achieving its objectives which are otherwise from the
aforementioned, amounting to progressing social growth and at the same point of time,
promoting the religious values as well. In this chapter, we shall be discussing some social
movements across the globe that helped in bringing up social revolution.

1. Chartist Movement: The Great Britain, from the time span of 1838 to 1850 witnessed a
great religious movement, commonly referred to as the Chartist Movement, which
primarily aimed at achieving freedom and social justice. The movement started during
the economic depression in Great Britain, wherein the unemployment was present in the
entire country following the Poor Law Amendment of 1834. The movement used the
Methodist thought so as to perform the first ever labor reform in the country for which,
they incorporated the teachings of Christ in the movement and by the virtue of which,
they consequently had a wider support base in the country. This movement has a
significant remark in the history of the country in terms of widening social thoughts and
providing social freedom to the citizens. One of the major developments led by this
movement was of granting voting rights to the working class of the society. Various
social institutes played a significant, adding to the success of this movement, for which
we can take examples of various Chartist churches which were impacting the movement,
out of which, twenty alone in Scotland played the above mentioned role. These churches,
in order to create a stronger impact, amalgamated their ideologies with the Christian
teachings. Generally, there was a distribution of pamphlets at such churches by the virtue
of which, the movement acquired a larger support base.

2. Muslim Women’s Association: Zainab Al-Ghazali, an Egyptian activist, gave rise to the
foundation of MWA(Muslim Women’s Association) during the 1930s, which aimed at
expanding the scope of rights of women under the Islamic framework and believed that
the women should be liberated, and the rights imposed upon them shouldn’t be so highly
restrictive in nature as compared to that of men. Zainab Al-Ghazali believed that under
the ambit of Islam, women possessed many rights and due to which, MWA focused on
fighting for the same. MWA performed various actions, such as mediation of family
disputes, educational access to women in Islam and furthermore, they worked towards
upliftment of women from all the backgrounds, particularly those with poor economical
conditions. Zainab Al-Ghazali’s ideology of feminism primarily focused on using Islam

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 and its proposed teachings so as for liberation of women, and to uplift them, both in
socio-economic aspects.

3. Environmentalism: This is one of the most famous movements in the contemporary era,
which aims at preserving the mother earth. Due to challenges such as global warming and
other factors of pollution, it is very well known that the environment is under serious
threat nowadays. The religious groups and organizations are also aware of this danger
and by the virtue of which, they are coming together to fight this grave problem so as for
sustainment of the future generations. This can be explained with various examples, of
which, one constitutes various religious groups coming together so as to save Ganges in
India, which is one of the most polluted rivers in the country. Furthermore, there are
several Christian1 Organizations which encourage its believers to work towards a greener
way of living in order to protect the environment.

4. Fundamentalism: Fundamentalism, by the very definition of it, worked towards

resolution of conflicts that mainly arose between the scientific advancements, in
comparison to the religious ideologies. It was fundamentally a theological movement
(Christian), it focused on working towards ad accommodation of Protestant Christianity
in the modern society. So as to gather support of their ideology, they established
connect/link between scientific advancement and their religious ideologies, by which it
was established that this particular religion worked in correlation to scientific
advancement. Hence, fundamentalism developed to be one of the most essential
movements in modern day era.

1
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smj.234

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Chapter 7: Evolution of Religion

The argument for religious behavior as an adaptation can only be fully understood within
the larger context of kinship and cultural tradition. First, however, it is necessary to
briefly review the phenomena of learning in general, and the evolution of social learning
in particular, for this is the foundation of a great many patterns of human behavior,
including religious behavior. Discussion of the evolution of learning will lead into an
examination of the mechanisms and evolutionary significance of trans-generational
continuity of socially acquired behavior patterns, or traditions, and how traditions, like
genes, are subject to the process of Darwinian selection. This is followed by an
examination of traditional religious behavior, and its effects on the evolutionary success
of ancestral humans. Lastly, the concept of adaptation is revisited and a case is therefore
made for viewing religion as an adaptation. So as for the computation of the
aforementioned context, we need to understand the evolution of religion in two various
aspects, which are as follows:

1. Religion: an original adaptation or a by-product?2

From an evolutionary perspective, the fact that individuals often make sacrifices for
the benefit of genetically unrelated others is a problem that calls for an explanation.
Given the extraordinary sacrifices that humans often make in the service of religion, it
is, on a general presumption, argued that religion, especially god beliefs, has emerged
as an adaptation designed to facilitate intra group cooperation. This argument is
presented in several slightly different forms, which could be elucidated below. Our
central thesis is that the specific, high level of cooperation observed among human
populations is only possible because we evolved moral intuitions about norm-
consistent and inconsistent actions, and thus, intuitive judgments of right and wrong.
This view forces a distinction between intuitive and explicit moral processes, in the
same way that we must distinguish between intuitive religious beliefs and explicit
ones. Thus, the question of how religion might have contributed to the evolution of
cooperation can be asked at two different levels: intuitive beliefs about right and
wrong and explicit norms and values of individuals and legal institutions, on the one
hand, and intuitive religious beliefs and explicit doctrines and religious affiliations,
on the other.

(a) Religion as an originally evolved adaptation

It is a general presumption that there is a cognitive system, dedicated to form illusory
representations of psychological immortality and symbolic meaning, which evolved
as a response to the unique selective pressures of the human social environment.

2
“The Origins of Religion: evolved adaptations or by-product?” by Ilkka a Pyysiainen and Marc Hauser

27
Although specific afterlife beliefs are not direct products of natural selection, ‘‘an
intuitive pattern of reasoning’’ that does not hinge on the presence of explicit
religious concepts has been selected for. Thus, ‘‘the general idea of an afterlife is not
so much implanted in people’s heads by way of ‘exposure’ to counterintuitive tales,
as it is already present’’ in human cognitive structures. Religion is a set of ideas that
survives in cultural transmission because it effectively parasitizes other evolved
cognitive structures. A ‘‘representational bias for envisioning personal immortality’’
has ‘‘impacted the net genetic fitness of individual humans in ancestral
environments’’. Thus, beliefs about ghosts and afterlife are generated by a
mechanism producing illusory but adaptive beliefs. Although this view is presented as
an alternative for epidemiological by-product theories, it remains somewhat unclear
where the difference actually lies. A second line of reasoning for religion as an
evolved adaptation suggests that religious beliefs and rituals serve as costly signals of
commitment to the group; free riders that try to exploit others’ willingness to
cooperate can be recognized because free-riders do not engage in costly displays of
commitment using such hard-to-fake signals as giving money, devoting considerable
time to religious activities, or willingly undergoing physical pain in rituals. Religious
rituals and taboos, as costly signals, thus promote intra-group cooperation based on
cultural selection. One explanation for how religion fosters cooperation is that belief
in spirits or all-seeing gods, as found in larger populations, effectively blocks
defection by triggering the feeling that one is being watched and subsequently
rewarded for cooperative behavior and punished for cheating. Thus, not only will
human cooperation be promoted if people believe in supernatural punishment for
moral transgressions, but the fear of such punishment is an adaptation favored by
natural selection. Support for such ideas comes from studies showing that
commitment to the same supernatural agent could have lowered the costs of
monitoring individuals’ behavior in communities that span large geographical areas
and include different ethnic groups. Religious pro-sociality might have provided the
critical mechanism to support the evolution of stable levels of cooperation in large
groups – a context in which reciprocity and reputational concerns are insufficient. It is
thus god beliefs in particular, and not merely the communal aspect of religion, that
reduces cheating and increase generosity toward strangers.

(b) Religion as a by-product

The view of religion as by-product is based on a two-step argument. First, ‘religion’
is a vague category with no clear boundaries or essence; thus, it is difficult to
determine whether a particular belief or action is religious or not. This poses a
problem for any explanation of ‘‘religion’’ as an entity-like whole. The by-product
view avoids this problem by using ‘‘religion’’ as a heuristic term that refers to a fuzzy
set of beliefs and behaviors without any clear boundaries. It is not an explanation of

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‘‘religion’’ but, rather, a denial of the claim that all aspects of ‘‘religion’’ emerged at
once at some point in history.
Second, although such concepts as ‘God’ or ‘life eternal’ are regarded as religious, no
specifically religious cognitive mechanisms have been specified and nor would they
be expected according to the by-product view. For example, drawing inferences from
the concept of God requires mindreading mechanisms that also mediate inferences
about all agent concepts. Thus, the concept of God is based on extending to non-
embodied agents the standard capacity of attributing beliefs and desires to embodied
agents. According to this view, religious beliefs are a by-product of evolved cognitive
mechanisms. These cognitive mechanisms enable us to reason about the intentional
states of others and to recursively embed intentional states within other intentional
states, and make it possible for us to think what others think, including absent or even
dead persons, fictional characters, and also supernatural agents. There is no need to
invoke a set of dedicated, input-restricted mechanisms for religion, or for representing
God. As to cooperation, there are numerous non-religious and pro-social cognitive
mechanisms in humans. All of these evolved independently of supernatural or
religious beliefs and operate in similar ways in people with or without such beliefs,
including young children who have yet to be inculcated into a religion. Such general,
evolved cognitive mechanisms make it possible for us to represent supernatural agent
concepts without invoking a separate evolutionary trajectory for religion. Here again,
religion stands on the shoulders of cognitive giants, psychological mechanisms that
evolved for solving more general problems of social interactions in large, genetically
unrelated groups. Psychological experiments and behavioral measures yield valuable
information about the cognitive underpinnings of what is commonly regarded as
‘‘religious’’ belief and behavior. However, they are insufficient to support a move
from function to evolutionary causes. A more plausible view, it can be suggested, is
that most, if not all, of the psychological ingredients that enter into religion originally
evolved to solve more general problems of social interaction and subsequently were
co-opted for use in religious activities, including thoughts about God as well as
cooperation. Religious concepts and beliefs can therefore motivate and even inspire
the expression and justification of morally-relevant norms and values, but do this on
the basis of cognitive mechanisms that are also used to motivate solidarity among
members of any group, from those associated with team sports to the departmental
members of academic disciplines. According to this view, religion was not selected
for in its origins but, once in place, could have been a target of selection, assuming
that the observed variation had some heritable component. Indeed, religion seems to
offer such a cognitively inexpensive way of processing moral ideas, and such a
powerful means of creating and enhancing group solidarity, that it is often argued that
morality is impossible without religion

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 2. Furthermore, when we talk about the evolution of religion, now by-standing the
theories, we also need to examine how various religions evolved after a certain
point of time through proliferation of various facts, beliefs and ideas, which
altogether came together to form a particular religion in totality

(a) Axial Stage (900-200BCE)

In this era of history, it was laid out that in simultaneous and independent manner, the
spiritual foundations of humanity were laid down and if we technically look at it, these
are the foundations upon which humanity still subsists in the present day world. During
this stage, foundation of various influential and philosophical traditions was laid down,
such as monotheism, Buddhism etc. The aforementioned ideas were later laid down into
texts, which attracted a number of followers, thereby establishing the concept relating to
religious scriptures.

(b) Middle Ages

Most of the religions established themselves in the middle ages, wherein it was laid down
that there was a spread of religions due to various occurring conflicts that took place
during that point of time. Consequently, conquests took place, due to which there was a
shift and spread of ideology in the world, by the virtue of which, we can establish that
ideologies such as religion were also spread consequently. This can be explained with the
example of Arab conquest of Iran/ Muslim conquest of Persia wherein there was a
downfall of Sasanian Empire of Iran (Persia) and a consequent decline of Zoroastrian
religion and there was a significant rise in Muslim religion in the aforementioned region.
Just like the aforementioned, various other reforms and evolutions in the mediaval period
took place consequently. Many medieval religious movements emphasized mysticism,
such as the Cathars and related movements in the West, the Jews in Spain, the Bhakti
movement in India and Sufism in Islam. Monotheism reached definite forms in
Christian Christology and in Islamic Tawhid. Hindu monotheist notions
of Brahman likewise reached their classical form with the teaching of Adi Shankara (788-
820).

(c) Modern Period

Modern period saw the proliferation of various religions as a result of making colonies at
that period of time. For instance, we can take into account the European colonization
during 15th-19th centuries which consequently resulted in the spread of Christianity in
various regions globally, an example of which include Sub-Saharan Africa, America,
Australia. One of the major discoveries that helped in spreading the European colonies

30
during the modern period was the invention of printing press. It played a major role in
spreading of religious ideologies then, such as the protestant reformation under various
leaders, Martin Luther being just one of many. Thereafter, various wars on religion broke
out, the ‘Thirty Year War’ being just of them. When we talk about the aforementioned, it
is generally followed that in this, initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic
states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually developed into a more general
conflict involving most of the European great powers. Thereafter, from 18th century
onwards, the concept of Secularism started to develop and this ideology did not take a lot
of time to mark its prominence around the globe. It gained its absolute resilience during
the French Revolution and thereafter by the 20th century, religion had declined in most
parts of the Europe due to secularism. In recent cases, he people started to use internet as
a means of attaining or affiliating themselves to religious beliefs. An example for the
same could be derived from ‘Beliefnet’, wherein various contexts were provided, such as
that related to topics of inspiration, spirituality, health, family, etc.

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Chapter 8: Difference in Religious Practices between Rural and Urban India

The geography, the living conditions, the society; religious exercises of a community are
affected by all of its external environmental factors. Hence, there are drastic differences between
the practise of religion in rural and urban communities.
Certain distinctions in characteristics of the populace is what majorly influence the choice,
preach, enactment and propagation of religion in a community; they are individually deliberated
upon, as follows.
The degree of homogeneity in the masses is the first factor that affects religious beliefs
and practises. Rural societies have homogeneity in ethnicity, languages, uniform, profession and
customs and traditions. This makes the propagation of religion easier and all religious
ceremonies take place on a large scale as a bigger number of people participate. While, in urban
societies, there is more diversity (presence of migrants) which leads to smaller scale community
religious celebrations, for not enough people take part in them.
The size of families in rural areas is relatively bigger as compared to urban areas where
nuclear families are a commonality. Joint families consist of elderly who preach religion to
younger minds and are strict about following religious traditions; thus making religion a more
widespread concept in rural households.
Owing to factors like globalization, better education and secular crowds, the quality of
mindset of urban communities is more evolved unlike various rural communities that are quite
orthodox in their beliefs; which why many religious traditions and customs that are non-existent
in urban cities, are still widespread in rural areas.
Lastly, the function of religion in the two communities is contrasting. In urban
communities, religion serves as a means of leisure, festivals and holding up family traditions. On
the other hand, rural communities put more pressure on religion; it acts as the foundation of the
society’s rules, system of functioning, means of recreation and preserving social order.
In conclusion, it is evident that the structure and functioning of religion and its practice in a
community is greatly affected by whether it is a rural or an urban area.

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