A religion touches almost all aspects and physical and spiritual states of a human life.

These aspects and states include but not limited to beliefs, feelings, experiences, actions, practices, behaviors, thoughts, ethics, education, training, development, working, dressing, eating, drinking, sleeping, worship, and way of living.

Thus, a number of modern scholars from areas of philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, religion and history have remarked on the problem of providing an all-encompassing definition of religion.

Many attempts to define religion failed either because they focus on too narrowly covering only a few aspects of religion or they define it too generally resulting into meaningless generalities. As Kile Jones wrote in his essay on defining religion:

“It is apparent that religion can be seen as a theological, philosophical, anthropological, sociological, and psychological phenomenon of human kind. To limit religion to only one of these categories is to miss its multifaceted nature and lose out on the complete definition.” ₁

According to Paul Connelly:

“There are several problems in trying to make a definition of religion that is not overly vague and general, but that still is “inclusive enough” to not leave out any of the beliefs and practices that seem religious to most intelligent people. By their nature, religious beliefs tend to motivate other aspects of human behavior beyond those which would strictly be considered to be of religious concern.” ₂

We provide many attempts to define the word “religion” from well-known dictionaries and scholars.

Barns & Noble (Cambridge) Encyclopedia (1990) acknowledges that “…no single definition will suffice to encompass the varied sets of traditions, practices, and ideas which constitute different religions.“

The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1990) defines religion as “Human recognition of superhuman controlling power and especially of a personal God entitled to obedience”

The Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines religion as “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.”

Webster’s New World Dictionary (Third College Edition) : “any specific system of belief and worship, often involving a code of ethics and a philosophy.”

It is clear that all these definitions do not include all the aspects as mentioned in the beginning of this article and exclude at least one important feature of a human life.

Dr. Irving Hexham of the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, has assembled a list of definitions of religion from various authors and theologians. A few are:

William James: “the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto.”

Alfred North Whitehead: “what the individual does with his own solitariness.”

George Hegel: “the knowledge possessed by the finite mind of its nature as absolute mind.” 3

Again, all these definitions are fraught with the similar difficulties and none are completely satisfying. For information on more definitions, references, and concepts related with religion, visit the Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia. 4

It appears appropriate to find a definition of religion that balance somewhere between overly sharp definitions on one hand and meaningless generalities on the other.

At the same time, the chosen definition, must cover all aspects of human life such as beliefs, feelings, experiences, actions, practices, behaviors, thoughts, ethics, education, training, development, success, failure, happiness, material needs, spiritual needs, talking, dressing, eating, drinking, sleeping, worship, and in general a complete way of living.

Some of the most prominent Islamic scholars provide a more comprehensive definition of religion:

According to Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i: “Religion refers to the beliefs and a series of practical and moral instructions that the prophets have related on behalf of God to guide and lead human beings.” 5

It is not difficult to see that this definition captures all the aspects of human life. It points to the recognition of one controlling power, God, who, as the sole creator, guides human life towards its ultimate perfection by adopting a set of principles and by obedience of specific code of practical ethics. One interesting element which is quite often not mentioned in other definitions of religion is the role of prophets.

In Rationality of Islam (1978), another definition of religion is provided:“Religion is an all-round movement in the light of faith in one God and a sense of responsibility for the formation of thought and belief, for the promotion of high principles of human morality for the establishment of good relations among members of the society and the elimination of every sort of undue discrimination.” 6

Here again all the dimensions of human life are covered explicitly or implicitly. Also, it recognizes God as the controlling power, who wants to guide humanity towards perfection through responsibility and practical principles of high morality to establish a society free of any discrimination of color, race, culture and language.

In a nutshell, we can integrate the last two definitions of religion in the following way:

Religion is a system and a way of life that God has chosen to lead humans to the ultimate goal of their creation by guiding them through a set of beliefs and a series of practical and moral instructions that were conveyed and demonstrated by his chosen prophets.

According to the last three definitions, a religion is composed of three parts

Beliefs
Ethics and
Commandments

Beliefs in Summary

If we use our commonsense and conscience, we realize that this world of existence with its wonderful order could not be created by itself and this astonishing order of the world of creation could not be achieved without an organizer.

Undoubtedly, there is a Creator Who has created this vast and magnificent world with His infinite capability and knowledge and who has established the world of creation with exact order by the invariable and unchangeable rules that He has set up throughout the world of existence. Nothing has been created uselessly and extravagantly. No creature falls outside the purview of the laws of God that govern the world.

Can it be believed that such a compassionate God with all the grace and blessings that He has toward His creatures would leave man, the masterpiece of His creation, on his own? And that He would leave human beings to man’s wisdom which is mostly victim of carnal desires and is, as a result, faced with aberration and misery? The reply to this question is self-evident.

Consequently, God must send instructions to human beings by prophets – who are free from any kind of sin and error – to lead men to happiness and prosperity by following them.

We realize that in this world, the signs and valuable benefits of adherence to religious principles do not become completely evident. Neither the righteous are rewarded, nor the criminals and oppressors are punished for their deeds.

From this, we understand that another world must exist where people’s deeds are closely investigated, so that if one has done a charitable act, he would be rewarded or if he has committed an indecent deed, he would be castigated.

Religion encourages people with these tenets and other rightful beliefs and warns them of paganism and ignorance.

Ethics in Summary

Religion decrees that we adopt praiseworthy qualities in life, have a good nature, and accomplish ourselves with good and commendable attributes.

We should be conscientious, benevolent, philanthropic, kind, faithful, good-natured, pleasing to meet, and just. We must defend our own rights. We should not transgress our own limits and rights and should not encroach upon the property, reputation, and lives of people.

In search of knowledge and civility, we must not spare any effort for self-sacrifice and self-denial whatsoever. Finally, we must have equality and moderation in all affairs of life.

Commandments in Summary

Religion decrees that we perform acts that are beneficial to ourselves and to our society during our life and refrain from acts that cause corruption and immorality. It also teaches us to engage in reciting prayers, observing fasting, and performing similar other duties which are signs of servitude and obedience towards God.

These are the laws and instructions the religion offers and invites us to perform. As it is evident, some of them are doctrinal, others ethical, and some others practical. As mentioned before, acceptance and performance of these principles is the only means of happiness and prosperity, for we are aware that man should be nothing but realistic and should live with good ethics and praiseworthy deeds.

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References

The following sources are used to prepare the above article. Some hyperlinks may not be still active.

1. Kile Jones, Defining religion http://www.religioustolerance.org/jones01.htm

2. Paul Connelly, Definition of Religion and Related Terms (1996) http://www.darc.org/connelly/religion1.html

3. Irving Hexham, By Religion I Mean…, http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/

4. Wikipedia, The free online encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion#Definition_of_religion

5. Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’I, Islamic Techings in Brief, Ansariyan Publication6. Group of Scholars, Rationality of Islam (1978), under the auspices of Ayatullah Sayyid Abu’l Qasim al-Khu’I, Publisher: IslamicSeminary Publications, Pakistan