FGD TRANSCRIPT
Jagrika
Q1. What is the first word comes to your mind when I say the word ‘religion’?

G: faith
F: faith
E: I think the word religion is derived from the Latin word ‘religiō’ which means faith, to seek, to try to pursue.
B: peace
A: belief
C: faith
D: It is a way to the upper life.

H: I think religion is a stigma forced upon children when they are to young to understand the concept.
M: can you just sum all of this up in one word?
H: forceful;

Q2. How does each one of you define religion and what constitutes of religion?
E: I think religion is a set of belief that is followed by an individual that according to him probably leads to a Supreme Being or power. What constitutes it, ummm… lets say: faith, belief. It serves as a moral compass for human beings. It is a sort of guideline.
For me there are two extremes: heaven and hell. Hell indicates the bad and heaven is for the good. The preacher who actually came up with this idea wanted us to maintain the delicate balance and stay in the center. So yeah, it is a guideline for me.
G: it is probably a way of life. Our faith tells us how to live our life, keeping in mind the afterlife
M: And what constitutes it?
G: my religion has five basic pillars: shahada (faith) which is the declaration stating that there is only one god, the Allah, the creator of all beings; salat (prayer); charity; fasting and pilgrimage.

G: i think it is a way to live our life

E: yeah, but that’s kind of subjective as, I mean we don’t actually worship any type of god. Look at Hinduism, they have many gods, all different but they worship all of them. So, god in fact has many forms and shapes. It can be anything whether it’s a being, air or other inanimate object.

B: exactly, I fell that religion is set a belief and guidelines; it is not necessary that it should have some definite shape. It