The Ethics of Critiquing Religions

From the beginning, reforming and improving ethics in the society have always been one of the most important objectives of the Prophets, which is in fact the very ethics that they have offered mankind. However, it is rather unfortunate that some of the religious leaders and the guardians of the faiths and their followers disregard ethics when confronting other people, while the full realization of the prophets’ message would take place only when the religions leaders, who are examples for the followers of the religions, practice such ethics first. Heeding ethics is necessary everywhere and for everyone, yet doing it seems more crucial for the religious leaders. Observing such ethics, especially when confronting other religions and while studying and pondering them, is of great importance. However, a historical survey of the confrontation of religions with each other does not depict an acceptable picture in this regard, as studying religions has always been accompanied by a sort of skepticism, misapprehension, and at times even contempt of others. Hence, it seems necessary to examine the ethics regarding the study of religions and faiths carefully so as to pave the way for putting it into practice. Finally, ‘fairness’, ‘proper apprehension’, and ‘refraining from contempt’ are among the most essential ethical principles to be observed during scientific confrontation with the religions.