Religion is an Obligation

<p>One of my favorite words in Arabic is دين&nbsp;<em>din &mdash; religion.&nbsp;</em>This translation is appropriate because the Arabic approximates to the Latin verb&nbsp;<em>religare &mdash; to bind&nbsp;</em>which is nominalized into&nbsp;<em>religio &mdash; obligation/ bond.&nbsp;</em>Anyways, the Arabic word comes from the same triliteral root which connotes &ldquo;judgement&rdquo;. In Hebrew, this identical root is דין and forms the basis of the name דניאל&nbsp;<em>daniel &mdash; God is my judge.&nbsp;</em>What connects religion to judgement? The answer lies in the notion of having obligations towards God. In the Semitic scriptures (i.e. the Bible and the Quran), God is the&nbsp;<em>ultimate judge par excellence.&nbsp;</em>He, and he alone, is judge precisely because it is he who created the world and gives it function<em>.&nbsp;</em>Surat Ar-Rahman describes the act of God setting the &ldquo;measure of balance&rdquo; at the beginning of the world so that the human beings and jinn do not transgress that balance. In other words, he creates a natural order which is to act as a &ldquo;law&rdquo; of sorts.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/@webproductions28/religion-is-an-obligation-c4ed191f0e0b"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>