Self-Appointed Gatekeepers of Orthodoxy

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Religion is a vehicle in the search for truth.  It is useful insofar that we thread the path of gnostics and theologians before us.  But it becomes an anchor when we allow ourselves to be sidetracked into joining this or that group simply to fit in.  In doing so, it is no longer about our stages of realisation, but the impressions of another.  There is no worth in any religious group that demands subscription and proscribes understanding.  Then, it is superstition where some contentions are so sacralised that to even question them is blasphemy.  In such a case, it is important to leave these pretenders of piety. 

Every Muslim has their own “Islam” insofar that we all have pieces of an infinite mirror.  Some may be cut by the edges, and some may have pieces occluded by grime and rust. But every piece can only reflect what is looking at it.  Doctrine is a guide, and dogma is a beacon.  But they are still figures drawn in the sand; easily changed when the winds blow.  True realisation is found not in looking at other people’s pieces or allowing them to impose their limitations on us; true realisation is understanding the reflection we see.  No man is our gatekeeper of orthodoxy.  Whoever usurps that mantle is to be discarded like yesterday’s effluent.