Difference between religion and superstition | Mufti Abu Layth

right i want to say a few words on how do you what is the distinction between superstition and religion and this doesn't have to be a long reply but it's an incredibly important one i don't know i mean you can think in your own mind that how would i distinguish would i say i believe it's just it's just god in the equation changing it all not at all because somebody could say i believe in a particular god that makes me that tells me to you know stand on one foot

every wednesday and and then do something and you know every it doesn't it's not the concept of a god that makes the difference the what distinguishes religion or if you want some people have called it true religion but just religion real religion in that sense from superstition is that religion in essence is based on a on a pursuit of intellectual

or reason based and that's what i mean by intellectual intellectual and meditative inquiry what they would say in arabic to the okay and tafakur or as the theore muslim theologians using their books nother they say nother which doesn't exactly mean sight it means reason or reflection so this kind of reflective meditative inquiry is what fundamentally demarcates separates religion from superstition

superstition for the most part are irrational beliefs that play on mostly mostly play on people's hopes and fears so that's the distinction now some people may say there's an overlap in certain things depends on the perspective but that's what really demarcates and delineates separates these two that so in islam you have the

you have many traditions of the prophet salallahu salem for you know a significant period going through this reflective meditative um solitude where he would go to you know or he would go to cave hera and he would be in a reflective meditative state of personal reflection and inquiry and and that's and you see that then this is why the quran really does say on so many

occasions even though whether people do it or don't but it says do they not then get into this reflective pondering state whereas superstitions would never ask you that's not their road at all they would never say oh ponder over these things or reflect or you know get into a meditative kind of a mindfulness inquiry or they would never do that they would just play of hopes and fears and i think that's an incredibly important distinction to know because if you take faith seriously

this is my view it should not be based on fears hopes and fears i think if you take it seriously i mean if you want to it's your choice it's your life it's your faith it's absolutely fine but i feel and this is really the language of the quran that it doesn't say to people just do it out of this some people could use certain verses to mean that but most the verses speak about a pondering speak about reflection a mindfulness most verses speak about that we're a superstition so if you you know this is something we've got to ask

ourselves like where are we you know but i thought it's important to share that cool all right so