Consequences of Religous Icons

Religion is a touchy subject at best. Even the mention of God to some people can cause a rant that may seemingly have no end. I have seen this before and when the topic is brought up I try to keep my views to myself and let whoever else is talking have their own opinion. However when religion dominates a country or region, we begin to see conflict. Those who hold certain “Holy Lands” with much respect, or even consider icons to be the foundation of their religion often start more wars in the name of God to stand up for their beliefs without realizing others are entitled to their own different beliefs. Every person has a right to worship any “God” they choose and no conflicts should arise from this, but this is often hard to achieve.

In Salman Rushdie’s East, West the short story, “The Prophet’s Hair”, tells of a moneylender who comes across a silver vile containing the Prophet Muhammad’s Hair. This was a famous relic that had been stolen from its shrine at the Hazratbal mosque, and had caused the town to go into a pandemonium rioting and searching the streets. The moneylender, Hashim, feels that it is not best to return the relic to its rightful place rather than keep it for himself because “the Prophet would have disapproved mightily of this relic-worship” (pp 44). By doing this “favor” to the town Hashim and his family experience the consequences associated with owning a sacred object for oneself, rather then having it on display for all to worship.

Immediately after coming into possession of this we see Hashim change as a person. He snaps at his family, curses his wife, and even beats the truth out of his daughter and wife when the possession goes missing. The family is being torn apart and the daughter, Huma, and the son, Atta, determine they must get rid of the hair “at all costs” (pp 50). Atta sets out to hire a theif, but is beaten to a coma. Huma hires the great Sheikh, the Theif of Theives, to steal the hair. Horribly the robbery is foiled when the son dies, the mother wakes the father, the father stabs the daughter, and then kills himself.

Rushdie shows the consequences of worship with through his series of tragic consequences. By trying to keep a piece of worship to himself, when it should be in a place to be freely viewed, Hashim condemning himself and family to death. We even see this in regions with religious conflict. One group believes they have the best interest and so does another group. Neither being right, while both being wrong when it escalates into war. If these regions could put aside the religious differences only then may they see how similar their views are and how trivial the wars have been.