Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Tuesday, April 16th, 2024

Superstitions are Misleading

Human beings possess different sorts of ideas, beliefs and feelings, which have their different sources. Not all the thoughts and beliefs are based on rationality and logic. There are many beliefs and thoughts that are the outcome of the traditions and upbringing. And, then there are many others that are largely influenced by emotions and feelings. Thus, all the thoughts and beliefs are not rational and logical.
Though, it is not something unusual to see irrational or illogical thoughts and beliefs within our societies, but sometimes, these illogical thoughts and beliefs give rise to many serious issues and therefor, they become problematic. Many of such thoughts are now the part of different sorts of superstitions that influence different societies in various ways.
Superstitions are illogical and irrational and they are based on beliefs which are supernatural and not necessarily governed by physical laws. They basically try to prognosticate the happenings in daily life on the basis of certain incidents that have already occurred. In this way the result of a particular happening or incident is necessitated by an earlier happening not based on the theory of cause and effect and they, in scientific interpretations, are much apart from each other. The clear example of a superstition is an omen. For example, if a black cat crosses your way it is considered a bad omen and is believed to bring bad luck, though in logical sense both the mentioned incident and its result are not related to each other clearly.
Superstitions exist in most of the cultures of the world. They are able to make their way through the generations as a part of inherited beliefs. Superstitions are also linked with the religions, but they are not the production of religions. However, there are superstitions existing in most of the religions of the world. Further, the religious people are more likely to accept the superstitions than the non-religious people.
One of the basic reasons of the transmission of superstitions and their survival is through the sanctity that is preserved for traditional values and the interests that are maintained for the folk stories and legends. In addition, there is a tendency in most of the people not to question the superstitions that are transferred to them. At the same time it must also be kept in mind that most of the superstitions are taught to the people as a part of their nourishment, while they are too small to differentiate between what is logical and what is not. So, they are already inculcated in them by the time they become young. It can also be observed that superstitions are more common in backward societies that are marked with religious fundamentalism and hard-line traditional values.
Superstitions may affect people in different ways. First of all the most dominating impact of superstitions is that it keeps the people away from finding out the real cause of a particular happening. Relying on the given interpretations of the happenings they do not strive for the truth and remain unbothered. This does not guarantee any struggle on their part for the improvement of their ideas and the eradication of false ideas from society. Moreover, the minds that believe in superstitions can be easily utilized by those who have their business based on such superstitious beliefs.
Afghan society is a kind of society that is marked with extremist religious beliefs and traditional values. There is great shortage of analytical way of thinking in ordinary life. Most of the Afghan people do not bother to challenge the superstitious ideas that are transferred to them from their ancestors. They believe on them blindly and even suggest others and their next generations to keep them intact.
Afghan women in particular are overwhelmingly influenced by the superstitions. Because of their limited exposure to the external world and modern thinking their sets of beliefs are dominantly marked with superstitions. The dominating role of superstitions in Afghan society provides a golden chance to those who know how to utilize them to earn money. Traditional Mullahs in this regard play a dominant role. They hijack the superstitious thinking and keep on filling their pockets. We can find a lot of people in our society seeking for the services of Mullahs for making their present problems disappear or guaranteeing a prosperous future. Moreover, there are not many people who dare to question whether such acts are religious or not.
Superstitions are undoubtedly illogical and take us away from reality, making us create a world of imaginations where things happen on the basis of false interpretations. Superstitions should be completely neglected and must be questioned seriously, especially in the societies like Afghanistan. Our people need to have proper understanding of the matters concerning their life and society and have to carry out necessary measures to curb them.
They have to develop a thorough approach, wherein they have to challenge the superstitious beliefs that are transmitted to them from different sources, most of which are untrustworthy. They also have to keep in mind that superstitions are not appreciated by religion Islam.

Islam has clearly asked human beings to think appropriately before forming a belief. There are three stages in Islam that a Muslim has to go through before establishing firm beliefs. They are Ilm-ul-Yaqin, Ain-ul-Yaqin and Haq-ul-Yaqin. It is important to keep them in consideration while forming our beliefs.