Faith without courage is just empty ritual

By Muneeb Nasir

Religion is meant to be a living force of justice, courage, and moral clarity.

Too often, it becomes a tool of political convenience.

Around the world, authoritarian rulers enlist “court scholars” to sanctify their rule, urging the faithful to endure oppression and portraying silence as obedience to God. 

This quietism corrodes the very soul of religious faith, stripping it of its purpose and its very heartbeat. 

In her powerful essay “Starving the Soul of Humanity,” (sermonsatcourt.substack.com) Dr. Farah El‑Sharif documents how regimes co‑opt scholars to enforce silence: dissent becomes a sin, obedience a sacred duty, and justice postponed until the hereafter. 

Religion is hollowed out, stripped of its prophetic call to challenge wrongdoing.

Dr. Farah El‑Sharif contends, “The religious class has failed to respond to the gravity of the genocide that has unfolded in this land of gentle, Cana’anite descendants of saints, companions and Prophets. Instead of calling upon their rulers and governments to end their complicity in the crimes against the Palestinian people, they are stuck in a world of rote technicalities. A ‘least common denominator’ Islam. A ‘plausible deniability’ Islam.”

It would be easy for Canadian Muslims to dismiss this as a problem “over there.” 

But quietism is alive here too. 

Too many mosques and organizations align with politicians, flattering officials at events while staying silent on Canada’s complicity in global injustice.

We are seeing this during the genocide in Gaza. 

Canada’s political leaders equivocated, offering muted words while continuing military ties with Israel.  

And how did many institutions respond? 

With sermons on personal piety, platitudes about prayer, and statements issued too late, too cautious, and too disconnected from the urgency justice demands. 

These statements are carefully curated soundbites of a religious bureaucracy afraid to offend. 

A petition recently circulated by Canadian Muslims called on community leaders and institutions to take ethical stances in their mosques and organizations and to stop shielding politicians from moral accountability (Iqra.ca). 

The petition emphasizes the need to "preserve our sacred spaces from these politically theatrical performances and the passive or active actors complicit in the oppression of the civilian populations of Gaza and the West Bank.”

That such a petition was even necessary speaks volumes about how deeply quietism has infected our communities.

When mosques avoid “politics” to protect donors or curry favour with officials, they betray the religion whose core value is standing uncompromisingly for justice—“Uphold justice and bear witness to God.” 

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) confronted injustice; he did not sidestep it. 

Faith without moral courage is hollow. 

This quietism has costs: It conditions Muslims to see religion as irrelevant to the struggles of justice and reduces our institutions to cultural clubs or charity machines, rather than beacons of conscience.

Worst of all, it tells the oppressed—whether in Gaza or here in Canada facing Islamophobia—that their suffering is not worth raising our voices for.

Canadian Muslim leaders often speak of justice in sermons and at fundraising banquets. 

But when justice risks political relationships, their voices are muted.

This is the poison of quietism: faith domesticated into compliance.

Yet too many incline, flatter, and remain silent.

Canadian Muslims do not need “court scholars” in polite Canadian moderation. 

We need voices that speak truth to power, even at the cost of funding, reputation, or political access. 

Quietism may keep politicians comfortable, but it starves religion of its moral force—and leaves our faith anemic.