Social science is a branch of science that deals with human society. European Renaissance is the cause of the existence of social sciences, such as the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. In addition to this, the people of that era showed their artistic essence in the field of aesthetic work, arts, music, sculpture, and literature which became the forerunner of the Enlightenment Reformation and Industrial Revolution.
In the early sixteenth century, the intellectuals there played a major role in freeing them from the shackles of outdated Christianity. In the current splendor of Europe, Martin Luther was a priest who questioned the stereotypes of traditional clergy. Because life is constantly changing and changing with the demands of circumstances, obsolete Christian teachings have not been flexible enough to move forward with time. This was the period in which different thinkers, according to their understanding, keeping in view the objective conditions, came up with various new interpretations for the solution of social problems which later became due to the manifestation of different disciplines. Sociology, economics, politics, anthropology, and history are at the top of the list.
Regarding sociology, August Comte was the first to say that there should be a discipline in which human society is studied. August Comet also presented the popular theory of the evolution of human society in three stages. According to this theory, the most advanced stage of the evolution of human society is the third stage, which he calls the positive stage in his theory. At this stage, human beings have a complete scientific view of everything, and religion loses its grip. Then came the famous German economist Karl Marx, who saw the outdated Christianity behind the capitalists and took religion in stride. Seeing the exploitative nature of religion, religion was insulted and even called opium. Similarly, many thinkers believe that religion is necessary for social evolution.
When Pakistan came into existence, there were only two fields of social sciences. One was economics and the other was history. In 1960, sociology and social work were introduced as a discipline. In 1983, the various departments of the social sciences numbered over thirty, and at present, there are countless departments of the social sciences in various universities. Where thousands of students are studying. Reading Western literature reveals the secret to the student of the social sciences that religion has always sided with the oppressor in the class struggle.
Outdated Christian theology had declared man to be evil by nature, in addition to which the mentality of luxury stood behind him, promoting sectarianism and factionalism. Religion itself declared man to be static and undeveloped, and religion was unable to keep up with cultural progress. Religion has compromised with thousands of evils. In addition, religion and the holders of religion, instead of encouraging the man to live, spread a web of fear around man. Instead of teaching the conquest of the universe by locking the human intellect, the religious class played an important role in making their actions useless. Religion also played a key role in depriving them of their social intellect and consciousness by waiting for accidental and incidental consequences.
Looking at the role of the outdated Christian religion, some questions inevitably arise in the mind what is the role of religion in human life in the present age? How much flexibility is there in our religion for the evolution of civilization? Does religion just scare or encourage you to live? It is a state of mind in which a young person tries to reach the facts through personal search and the lack of proper guidance leads to dissatisfaction and disillusionment with religion.
The hunger of the stomach is quenched by eating something, but the hunger of the mind is very painful. There is a lot of detailed guidance regarding the dead, the rules of travel, the rules of modern equipment, the issues of marriage, etc., but when there is a need for guidance on the social, political, economic, and historical aspects of religion, there is no answer.
According to Mulana Shaukat Ullah Ansari, it is certain that the emergence of irreligion in any society is proof that the religious leaders there did not pay attention to social issues. According to a study, aversion to religion is found in Pakistani university graduates.
The need now is for the religious class to make a serious effort to rationally satisfy the contemporary youth by presenting the precepts of Islam based on reason and consciousness given the objective conditions of this modern age. There is chaos there. Take a moderate approach and encourage the youth to unite and move forward. The idea and practice of a better and sustainable future is the guarantee of success in life.
The religious class must listen, understand, explain, and accompany the youth. Otherwise, it will be too late. The youth are still at a point where a return is possible with just one call.
