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6. Which of the following people is more religious and why? a. Person A carries out a lot of religious actions (prayer, visits to religious places, etc.)
but does not follow the religion's principles in his daily life. b. Person B follows the religion's principles in his daily life but does not carry out many
(or any) religious actions.
This is a complex question to answer as it depends on the intentions of an individual. A person who carries out religious actions, but doesn't believe in daily application of the religious principles and behaviour to be important (Is he going to the mosque for the culture and the status of being seen there?) is not a true Muslim. A true Muslim is one who takes the principles of the faith as one, taking religious actions and good deeds hand in hand. Another person has good principles that make him more compassionate towards himself and the world around him but owing to unavoidable circumstances is unable to carry out religious actions. The question is, why doesn't he make the time to pray? As per the Quran the devil refused to obey God when he was asked to kneel to Adam. By not making the time to pray, that individual is also refusing to obey God. Is his refusal because he believes prayer isn't important or does he believe that God hasn't commanded it? Prayer doesn't have to take a long time. It can be as short as just five minutes. But if he is not praying because he does not believe in God's commandment then he is no better a Muslim than the one who does not take principles of faith as one. However, if his belief is strong in God but cannot pray due to external circumstances then his faith is superior to that of the former.
7. If a person has an equal amount of belief in all religions, does that person have faith?
It is very difficult to consider every religion as being equal. Many points of other religions are contradictory with the Islamic faith. In Islam, we believe in one God, for example; Hindus believe
in many Gods. These are two contradictory points and cannot be kept on the same platform. However, there has to be respect for other faiths. We can debate beliefs and work together because many principles may be common, but it is not possible to comment that all religions are equal.
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