What is Faith? What is Religion? How were the rules of religion written? Is There Divine Justice?

I am writing this article knowing that the rate of those who understand what they read in Turkey is approximately 40%. 

In other words, I estimate that 6 out of 10 people who read will not understand what I have written. 

Or they will misunderstand.

I am not saying this, this is a fact!

So let me say from the beginning, please try to understand what I have written. 

If you don't understand it, read it again from the beginning, because this is not an exam and there is no time limit for you to understand it.

You can reread it as many times as you like and think about what is written below as much as you like. 

I don't want to be misunderstood, so I wanted to give this warning from the beginning.

***

Those of you who follow me know that sometimes I get stuck on a word and I try to analyze the meaning of that word, either etymologically or by looking it up in dictionaries, various sources, even encyclopedias.

Today our topic is religion!

Yes, that's why I felt the need to give a warning from the beginning. 

Usually as soon as I touch this topic, there are those who object, "What are you saying about our holy religion?

My aim is not to say anything about anyone's holy, I just want to analyze the historical development of religion in my own way. 

In this way, I think that maybe I can contribute to some of the misconceptions.

***

Yes, let's start then.

The TDK dictionary lists a few meanings for religion.

1. A social institution that systematizes the belief in and worship of God, supernatural powers, and various sacred beings; religion. (By the way, the definition for religion is the state of being fully committed to the rules of religion)

2. A system that collects and provides beliefs of this nature in the form of rules, institutions, customs and symbols.

3. An idea, belief or ideal that is believed in and adhered to, a cult.

In other words, a general definition has been made. 

In short, faith!

(It is also stated that it has passed into our language from Arabic. I ignore religion, which is the unit of power used in physics, or other irrelevant meanings).

However, I understand which religion is being referred to when one says "this man is out of religion". 

For some reason, the dictionary does not specify this "Islamic religion" meaning of the word "religion" used in society.

***

Let's dig a little deeper. Let's look at the etymological dictionary.

Etymologies of words can sometimes be really useful for understanding their meanings correctly.

The etymological dictionary says that the word "din" from the Arabic root "dyn" means "law". 

Then the source of this word is explained.

The Persian word "dēn" has the same meaning, and the Avestan word "daenā" has the same meaning and its first use is specifically the religion of Ahuramazd or Zoroaster, i.e. its laws.

In Aramaic/Syriac, the word "religion" is cognate with the word "judgment". When the root is the same, there is naturally a relationship of meaning.

In other words, when the subject is "law", the "judgment" made according to those laws is a word from the same root. 

I think it makes sense!

It is said that the beginning of all of them is the Akkadian word "dīnu", which has the same meaning. The Akkadian word "dīnu" means "law" and also "judgment". 

The oldest known use is in Babylonian Akkadian.

It was first transmitted to Persian through Elamite and old Babylonian Akatha, and from there it spread to other languages.

Hebrew/Aramaic/Syriac/Syriac... means "religion=law" in all these languages.

Düyun, düyun-ı umumiyeh. This word also comes from the same root.

Although Düyun-ı Umumiye means "General Debts". So here "Düyun" means debt. 

In this case, law, judgment and debt are related words.

But faith is not among its historical meanings! 

Historically, religion meant law! 

It is also judgment according to the law! 

On the one hand, debt! Maybe the law of debts.

***

The oldest known written laws are those written in Mesopotamia by the Babylonian king Hammurabi.

These laws date from 1760 BC.

The laws of Hammurabi!

Actually, there were people who wrote laws before that.

For example, there is a book of laws by Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, dating from 2050 BC.

Then there is the law book of Eshnunna from 1930 BC.

Then there is the law book of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin from 1870 BC.

But the Code of Hammurabi is both the best preserved law book among the remains found in archaeological excavations, or perhaps we should call it a law inscription, a monument, and its content is perhaps the most meaningful laws even today.

For example, a few of its articles on justice are as follows: 

1. If a man files a criminal complaint accusing another man of murder, but cannot prove it, the accuser shall be executed.

2. If a man accuses another man of bewitching him, but cannot prove it, the accused shall go to the holy river, dive into the holy river, and if the holy river defeats him, the accused shall take possession of his house. If the holy river shows his innocence and he is saved, his accuser will be executed.

3. If a man bears false witness in a case or does not prove his testimony, if the case involves life, he shall be put to death.

4. If a man bears false witness about grain or money, he shall bear the penalty for the case.

5. If a judge passes judgment, gives a verdict, gives a judgment duly signed and sealed, and then changes his judgment, he shall be called to account for the change of judgment, and shall be made to pay the penalty 12 times over, and the assembly shall expel him from the judgment seat.

6. If a man steals the property of a god (i.e., from a temple) or a palace, he shall be put to death. And he who takes the stolen property from him shall also be put to death...

11. If the owner of the lost property does not bring witnesses to identify his lost property, if he has attempted to commit fraud, if he has caused sedition, he will be executed.

The articles go on like this.  

Many articles talk about property rules. Many articles are also written about slaves.

There are even rules about women in Hammurabi's laws, or more precisely, those who were slaves and prostitutes at that time.

26. Slave women and prostitutes shall not cover their heads. If women who are required to be uncovered violate this rule by covering their heads, they will be punished along with those who see them and do not report them.

Apparently, covering one's head was a sign of social status in those times. 

Slaves and prostitutes had to walk around with their heads uncovered, they were not allowed to cover their heads!

I wonder why? Because they were hiding? Maybe because with their heads covered, no one would know.

Anyway, it doesn't matter why, but there are very strict punishments in the law, aren't there? 

Many crimes are punishable by death!

Living as a society throughout history requires certain rules and obeying these rules, otherwise it is not possible to maintain order!

But slavery, and punishing almost every crime with death... 

The laws of those days were quite strict.

***

So how did "religion", i.e. "law", come to mean "belief" as we understand religion today?

After all, when it comes to "law", laws can change according to the conditions of the day. 

If you are a king like Hammurabi, you can write the law you want, you can abolish it, you can write a new one as you wish. 

Aren't you the law maker after all?

No!

Even Hammurabi could not write the laws in his own name.

He had them written on a monument erected in the temple of Marduk, the patron god of Babylon.

But aren't you the king?

Write there that they are the king's laws! Erect a monument in the heart of the city, let everyone see it and read it!

But no, this monument was placed in the temple of Marduk.

In other words, they wanted to use the power of the greatest god of that time so that the laws would be obeyed.

Moreover, Hammurabi said that the sun god Shamash informed him about the laws. 

In other words, he had to tell the people as if the laws were not Hammurabi's own laws.

You are the king, aren't you! Go on, these are my laws! This is what I want!

But no, even Hammurabi needed the moral support of Marduk and Shamash to enforce his laws!

***

Today we can make such an interpretation because we know that neither Marduk nor Shamash are gods, the laws were Hammurabi's laws, but they were hidden behind gods so that they could be enforced, so that people would accept them without comment.

I wonder if at that time King Hammurabi himself really believed that he was the spokesman of Shamash? 

Or did he choose to exploit the people's belief?

It is no longer possible to know today, he is dead and gone.

Even if he is alive, only he himself can know what he is going through in his inner world.

Doesn't this apply to you, to me, to anyone else?

How can you be sure who believes what?

It shows itself! It shows in the way he lives, in his worship, in his behavior, in his words...

Yes, human beings love to show off!

And if the role he plays suits him, he knows how to act!

Since our subject is Hammurabi, we can say that Hammurabi was acting since we know that his gods are not real gods today.

At least it is certain that he used the power of the gods to get his laws accepted by the society.

***

At this point, the connection between "law" and "belief" is established. 

In other words, we can say that the word "religion" is related to "belief". 

Religion is on the one hand the law, but on the other hand those laws are the laws of the gods, and if you don't obey them, the wrath of the gods will be upon you! 

People fear the gods, but this fear alone does not work. There is death at the end of laws that are not obeyed.

It is not possible to establish social order in any other way.

In order for people to obey the laws you set, you need to take advantage of the fears in their world of faith.

Belief in God! 

Also the fear of God. 

This is how religion came to have its current meaning of belief!

Life after death, the dilemma of heaven and hell. 

And at the same time the rules of life on earth. The rules of being a society.

***

Marduk, the chief god of Babylon at that time! The god of Jupiter.

There are many gods in Babylon. 

Anu, the sky god, Nannar, the moon. Bel or Baal, the earth. Even each family has its own god they pray to.

Another one is Shamash, the god of the sun.

Marduk is the "Great Lord", the lord of earth and heaven. He is also the representative of power. He is also a symbol of wisdom.

It is believed that he always uses his power to help the good and the poor and to punish the bad.

Hammurabi is both Marduk's representative on earth and Shamash's spokesman on earth. 

Another name of Shamash is Utu!

Shamash, Utu, watches what happens in the world every day, sees everything that happens, and as the representative of justice, he tells Hammurabi what to do for justice. Protector of the people and travelers.

Utu, Shamash, is also a divine judge and the god who decides who goes where in the underworld, the land of the dead.

If you obey the laws, you go to heaven. If you don't, you go to hell!

***

People believed in gods because gods had power.

When the gods were angry, they made the sky thunder, they made lightning flash, they sent thunderbolts and started fires. 

They could send smoke billowing from the tops of the mountains and pour fiery lava, they could make earthquakes and shake the whole place.

But they also made sure that it was bright in the daytime, that there was good weather, and when necessary, they made it rain, so that the crops were plentiful.

So if you worshipped and offered gifts to the gods, they treated people well.

See, if you do that, the gods get angry! There is always something that is thought to anger the gods. You have an eyebrow above your eye, you wiggled it, the sky god got angry, he thundered the sky!

***

People both believed in the power of the gods and felt the need to respect them.

Because they were afraid, because they had not yet understood nature and its workings. They had no choice but to attribute the events in nature to the gods!

They were also afraid of death, no one wanted to accept that death was a rule of nature.

On the other hand, the consciousness of being a society gradually emerged, and the rulers of the society, the kings, realized that it was much easier to rule the society when they had this power of the gods behind them.

***

What about today?

Today we have a great understanding of how nature works. 

We now know why lightning flashes, why lightning strikes, why earthquakes happen, why floods happen. 

Even if we do not take the necessary precautions, we now know that earthquakes are not the wrath of God. 

We also know that it is not a fate to be buried under the rubble in an earthquake. If we build durable structures, if we settle in the right place, we will not experience those sufferings that some people call fate.

No matter how much we pray to God not to send us earthquakes, we now know that if we have built a building on a fault line, that building will one day collapse in an earthquake. 

And yet we build cities and erect buildings right there.

And then we resent our fate!

***

I didn't want to stray from the topic, but I thought I couldn't avoid the subject of earthquakes while I was at it.

Yes, we now know how nature works and we realize that natural events are no longer the wrath of the gods. 

That's why the old gods don't exist today.

Therefore, the laws of those old gods do not exist either!

***

We are not in the old times, but at the same time we still need to live together as a society.

So we still need social rules, i.e. laws, in a sense we still need "religion" in the old sense of the word.

Will religion, the laws, be the laws of God? 

Or will they be the laws of human beings?

Or let me ask this question again from another angle: 

Do you think we still need God's support to obey the law? 

Do you think that for a healthy social life we should seek divine support for the laws that we ourselves have written, that we all accept? 

Or should we say that we are a society, so we are already aware that we have to obey the laws necessary for social life?

I think this is the real question we need to answer.

***

Some people still say, no, God also sets the laws of earthly life. 

Let me be more specific, there are many people in Turkey today who say that we should live by God's laws. 

Sharia! 

There are even people who openly declare that those who do not want Sharia are infidels.

There are millions of people not only in Turkey but also in the world who share the same view, that is, that we should live by God's laws, by the rules of the church, by the rules of the synagogue. 

Today, there is a state that says that this is the promised land and commits atrocities against the inhabitants of that land!

And if we talk about Sharia, this is a country ruled by Jewish Sharia.

***

Another view is the opposite.

There are millions of people who say that the conditions of the modern world have changed, that we should live according to the laws that people have made for themselves, and that religious rules and religious laws concern the afterlife.

When it comes to life in the world, the prevailing view today is that life in the world should be according to the rules that people make for themselves.

And many people say that these world laws should be in accordance with the requirements of the age, that they should be universal laws.

***

Which one is right?

Laws based on divine powers, supported by divine powers? 

The human writing of the modern world, universal laws?

Let everyone live how they want, what they believe in!

But we are a society and the laws are rules for us to live together as a society. 

It comes down to judgment, property and punishment. In many countries, even the right to life of the individual can still be taken away by the decision of society, by human hands.

There are not a few people in the world who have been executed for a capital offense.

Although many countries no longer have the death penalty, unfortunately there are still countries where it is practiced!

***

We cannot be a society if everyone tries to live according to the laws that they themselves accept!

Is there such a thing as an individual law?

Laws exist because we are a society.

I have my own rules, of course, but even these rules are compatible with the laws of the state.

Can I say this is my rule, my friend, I can rob whoever comes my way?

Even if two people come together, there has to be a law between them. 

We have personal freedom limits and areas of freedom. 

What was that during the pandemic? 

Social distance, yes, we need to know our social distance when interacting with one another.

***

Laws are indispensable rules for the life of society.

And people make laws! 

Because laws are necessary for human life, for being a society, for being a state.

What God says about how man should live is clear. 

You have to be a good person, you have to be kind, you have to respect others. 

And for yourself, if you believe in the afterlife, worship how you want to worship, worship how you want to worship.

No one has the right to say anything to you, no one has the right to object! 

But you have no right to interfere in anyone else's worship and lifestyle!

***

At this point we come to another issue.

Society must live the way I say!

Why?

Because I want it that way, because I think this is the right way to live!

Those who are in charge of society can think like that. 

Why? Because they say I have the power!

They say that I think this is better for the future of the country.

And if they have the support of the people as part of democracy, which is today's form of government, who's holding you back!

Write the rules!

Who objects to the rules you write, when you say that Allah's rules are not like this, the proof is obvious, open the holy book if you want to look at it! 

And you don't need to make comments, many things are clearly written in the holy books.

***

Yes, I think this is what we have to decide: 

Are we going to live according to the laws written by social consensus? 

Or according to the laws of Allah?

It is not like now, when sometimes you say nas and do this and then that, when you say that the law should be obeyed according to the situation as it suits you, and when you don't obey it yourself, when you feel like it, you say there is a constitution, brother, and when the written rules don't suit you, you don't even care about the constitution.

Let's know the rules and let's all follow the rules. 

Even if it is Hammurabi, let's obey the rules, even if it is a plain citizen, let's obey the rules.

***

By the way, I liked a law from the Code of Hammurabi that also concerns us builders. The penalty is still death, but in principle I think the logic is correct.

21. If a builder constructs a building for any person, and it is improperly constructed and collapses, and the owner dies, the builder shall also be put to death. (Article 229)

Tit for tat, that was justice once upon a time.

Today's justice is the universal declaration of human rights!

Starting with the Magna Carta, when people's own law is mixed with the rules of divine justice (not the justice of the gods, but divine justice!), life will be much easier for all of us.

Religion is the law, you can't break religion, you can only break religion, and even then, if the written law is just, there will be few who will not obey it. 

And if they don't obey it, they will suffer whatever the punishment is.

Only Allah knows who is an infidel and who is not, it is not for you to decide!

***

Yes, today I wanted to touch on a topic that I think is quite difficult, forgive me if I've been sloppy. 

The article has gotten too long, even if it was just a little bit. 

I wish you all a life together, in harmony and in accordance with the rules of society.

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow