Here is a simplified, modern English translation of Raja Rammohun Roy’s treatise, as interpreted by me using Large Language Models.The original work was in Persian and written between 1803-1804
This does not reflect my personal opinion or idea and in most cases I have tried to retain all of Rammohan Roy's original philosophical ideas and arguments. However , in case you think there is a deviation or a meaning lost in the interpretation, please let me know in the comment box below.
Tuhfat ul Muwahhidin
The Trap of Custom and Blind Faith
Blessed are those who can tell the difference between habits forced upon them by society and the natural instincts we are born with. These wise individuals impartially seek the truth about different religions and question popular beliefs, regardless of how powerful the people promoting those beliefs might be. Understanding the true nature of the world and the hidden consequences of our actions is the essence of human perfection, but it is extremely difficult. Taking advantage of this difficulty, religious leaders have historically invented dogmas to gain fame and power. They use fake miracles and persuasive speech to make the masses follow them blindly. As a result, people lose their own sense of right and wrong, blindly submitting to their leaders and fearing that it is a sin to question them.
Blinded by this faith, people even come to believe that terrible crimes—like murder, theft, and torture—are virtuous acts if done in the name of religion. They believe that simply having strong faith in their religious leaders guarantees salvation, even if they commit horrible, destructive sins like lying, stealing, or adultery. They waste their time reading impossible myths to strengthen this blind faith. If a rational person ever tries to question these beliefs, they are quickly frightened into stopping, believing that their doubts are temptations from Satan that will doom them in this life and the next.
The Power of Brainwashing and Intolerance
People become trapped in these beliefs because they are brainwashed from childhood. By constantly hearing impossible stories and praises of their specific religion when their minds are most easily influenced, they develop a stubborn faith that they refuse to give up, even if the teachings are clearly absurd. When they grow up, rather than seeking the actual truth, they use their education to stubbornly defend their inherited beliefs. Some even try to become religious scholars by inventing fake logical arguments to support their faith. The common people then blindly use these weak arguments to boast about their own religion and attack others. If anyone dares to question these beliefs, the religious majority will either kill them (if they have the power) or ruin their reputation with vicious slander.
The control of these leaders is so absolute that people actually worship stones, plants, or animals, believing that dying or killing others to protect these objects is a glorious act that earns them heaven. Worst of all, religious leaders abandon honesty and invent fake, "logical" arguments to justify these absurd practices, purposely keeping the gullible masses in the dark.
The True Purpose of Religion vs. Harmful Rituals
Humans are naturally social creatures who must live together. To maintain a peaceful society, we need language to communicate and laws to protect property and prevent oppression. Religious beliefs were created to help organize society. The foundation of these religions is the belief in a soul and an afterlife where people are rewarded or punished. Even though the afterlife is a mystery, teaching this belief is justifiable because the fear of divine punishment stops people from committing crimes.
However, religious leaders have ruined this useful concept by adding hundreds of pointless rules about eating, drinking, purity, and lucky or unlucky days. Instead of helping society, these extra rules only cause division, suffering, and confusion. Fortunately, every person has an innate, natural ability to find the truth. If an unbiased person uses their reason, they can separate the truth from lies, free themselves from harmful religious rules, worship the One Creator of the universe, and focus purely on doing good for society.
The Myth of the "Chosen" Religion
Followers of every religion claim that God created humans to follow their specific rules, and that anyone who disagrees will be tortured in hell. Because these supposed rewards and punishments only happen after death, no one can prove or disprove them in this life. This unprovable debate creates hatred and division among people. Yet, if we look at the real world, it is obvious that God does not play favorites. The sun shines, the rain falls, and people experience both happiness and suffering equally, regardless of what religion they follow.
Anyone who simply observes the wonders of nature—the changing seasons, the movement of planets, or the natural love animals have for their young—can logically figure out that a single, wise Creator governs the universe. Sadly, people ignore this simple truth and instead just blindly copy the religion of their community. Some believe in an angry God, some worship nature, and others worship created things. People fail to realize that recognizing a Creator is a natural instinct, but all the specific religious rituals are just invented customs. They falsely believe that bathing in a river, becoming a monk, or buying forgiveness from a priest will wash away their sins. These rituals have no real power. If they did, they would work on everyone, not just the believers. After all, if a person eats poison thinking it is a sweet, it will still kill them; true effects do not depend on belief.
The Illusion of Miracles
Religious founders invented the concept of "miracles" to make themselves look divine and gain followers. In reality, everything in the universe operates on the laws of cause and effect. When uneducated people see something they don't understand, they assume it is magic. Ambitious leaders take advantage of this ignorance and claim they possess supernatural powers. In India, people are so obsessed with miracles that they attribute any amazing event to ancient saints instead of looking for the real cause. Even modern European inventions or the tricks of a juggler seem like magic until you learn how they work.
Logical reasoning protects us from being tricked by these fake miracles. Even if we cannot explain how something happened, it is much more rational to admit our own ignorance than to believe that the fundamental laws of nature were broken. There is absolutely no reason to believe ancient stories about people rising from the dead or flying to heaven. It is strange that in everyday life, people demand logical proof for how things work, but in religion, they blindly believe that a chanted prayer or a magic charm can cure a disease.
When asked to explain these illogical miracles, religious leaders simply demand blind faith, claiming reason has no place in religion. But how can a thinking person accept something that has no proof and defies logic?. Clerics argue that because God is all-powerful, He can do impossible things, like bring the dead back to life. However, even if we pretend that is possible, it does not prove that the specific miracles of their ancient leaders actually happened. Furthermore, if we allow "miracles" as an argument, all logic and debate break down because anyone can claim anything is a miracle. In truth, even the Creator cannot do things that are logically impossible or contradictory.
Why Ancient Traditions Cannot Be Trusted
Because these miracles supposedly happened so long ago, religious leaders use ancient historical traditions (passed down from generation to generation) as "proof". But this is a weak argument. If we cannot even trust the people living right now to always tell the truth about religion, how can we blindly trust the reports of unknown people from thousands of years ago?. These ancient traditions are full of massive contradictions. A true historical report is only reliable if it describes something that is naturally possible and doesn't contradict reason. For example, historical records about ancient kings fighting wars are believable because wars naturally happen. But stories about people being born without parents contradict the laws of nature. Even in normal history, if two books give contradictory accounts of a king's life, we reject them as unreliable. We should do the exact same thing with contradictory religious myths.
The Contradictions of Prophets
Some argue that God uses prophets to guide humanity. But if God controls the universe directly, He doesn't need middlemen. Prophets and their "revelations" are human inventions. This is obvious because what one religion calls divine truth, another calls an evil lie. Some clerics try to excuse these contradictions by saying God updates His laws for different eras, just like human kings do. This is a terrible comparison. Human kings change laws because they are imperfect and make mistakes; a perfect, all-knowing God would not need to constantly fix His own rules. For instance, Hindu Brahmins claim God ordered them to worship idols forever, while Muslims claim God ordered them to kill idolaters. Would a wise and loving God issue completely contradictory orders that force His creations to slaughter each other?. Any sensible person must conclude that these are not the commands of God, but the violent fabrications of men.
Dismantling Religious Fallacies
Religious leaders often use fear to keep followers, arguing: "Even if my religion might be false, you should believe it just to be safe. If there is no hell, you lose nothing. But if my religion is true and you don't believe, you will go to hell". This is a deeply flawed argument. First, a rational person cannot simply force themselves to believe something that makes no sense just to play it safe; true belief requires proof. Second, blindly following dogmas causes massive harm in the real world, leading to bigotry, hatred, and deceit. Finally, if this logic were valid, you would have to practice every single religion on Earth to be perfectly safe, which is impossible. Therefore, you must use your reason to find the actual truth.
Another common argument is that we must follow the religion of our ancestors, and that questioning it is deeply disrespectful. This is also illogical, because every single founder of a new religion had to rebel against and abandon the religion of their ancestors. Changing one's mind is a natural human behavior. God gave us a brain to distinguish between right and wrong; we are meant to use our intellect, not just blindly follow the herd like animals.
Many people boast that their religion must be true because it has the most followers. But truth is not a popularity contest; you must follow the truth even if you stand alone against the whole world. Furthermore, every major religion started with just one founder and a tiny handful of followers. If a small number of followers means a religion is false, then every religion was false when it began.
Conclusion: The Four Classes of Mankind
The only universal truth of religion is the belief in One Almighty God. Instead of realizing this, people choose to believe in invented rituals and bodily motions, thinking these actions will change an unchangeable God's mind. True, natural religion simply consists of loving your fellow human beings, treating everyone with affection regardless of their race or creed, and using your intuition to do good.
In summary, humanity can be divided into four groups when it comes to religion:
- The Deceivers: Corrupt leaders who invent religious rules to gain power and divide people.
- The Deceived: The gullible masses who blindly follow without ever questioning.
- The Zealots (Both Deceivers and Deceived): People who are brainwashed themselves, and then actively try to force their beliefs onto others.
- The Rational Seekers: Those who, with the help of God and their own intellect, refuse to be deceived and refuse to deceive others.
The ultimate rule of life is best captured by the 14th-century Persian mystic poet Khwaja Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi:
Mabāsh dar pey-e āzār-o har che khāhī kon
Ke dar tarīqat-e mā gheyr az-īn gonāhī nīst
Do not seek to harm others, and do whatever else you wish
For in our spiritual path, there is no sin other than this
Reference: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.45303/page/n5/mode/2up
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