Hazara Islamicus (Jun 2014)
The Religious View of Social Welfare and Development
Abstract
Religion has played a significant role in human's individual, social, spiritual and material uplift. The exponents of various religions and their true followers have struggled in all ages to strengthen the thoughts and actions of the individual so as to put the society on the path of development. Therefore, the followers of every religion not only adopt sacred books and writings as their constitution but also hold the lives of pious people as their role model. A great portion of every religion pertains to the guidelines which help in guiding practical actions. Human history also shows that people infused with religious fervor have a significant contribution not-only in character building but-also in the activities of social welfare. In the present era of globalism, humans are notonly confronted by spiritual and material conflicts but also poverty, scarcity of resources, and natural calamities. Consequently a greater majority of people live without basic necessities. Globalism makes a serious demand on the part of religious circles to minimize hatred and focus on the comprehension and teaching of those concepts which promote happiness and welfare. The present study presents a brief picture of the concept of social welfare and development in the light of the world's major religions.
