{"id":14022,"date":"2026-08-02T22:48:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T20:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/?p=14022"},"modified":"2026-08-05T22:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:49:15","slug":"between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/","title":{"rendered":"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Some questions seem simple at first, yet the longer they linger in the mind, the more unsettling they become. One such question has stayed with me for years:<\/p>\n

Why do we worship God?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Does God need our prayers? Does our worship add anything to Him? Is His sovereignty diminished if a person chooses not to pray or fast?<\/p>\n

For me, the answer is clear.<\/p>\n

If God is the Creator, the Absolute, and entirely self-sufficient, then worship cannot be something He needs.<\/p>\n

It is we who need it.<\/p>\n

From that realization, the question itself changes. Instead of asking, What have I given to God when I prayed?<\/em> I ask:<\/p>\n

What has prayer done to me?<\/em><\/p>\n

What has fasting changed within me?<\/em><\/p>\n

How has zakat transformed my relationship with wealth and with other people?<\/em><\/p>\n

What remains within me after the pilgrimage?<\/em><\/p>\n

That is where the journey moves from ritual to meaning.<\/p>\n

Human beings need rituals. We cannot live by abstract ideas alone.<\/p>\n

We need to translate meaning into action, memory into occasions, love into words, grief into farewell, and belonging into symbols.<\/p>\n

Even outside religion, we create our own rituals. We celebrate birthdays, stand for the national anthem, and place flowers on graves. Their value does not lie in the physical act itself but in the meaning it carries. The flower never reaches the deceased, yet it does something profound for the living.<\/p>\n

Ritual gives meaning a tangible form.<\/p>\n

The problem begins when we forget the meaning\u2014when the means become the end.<\/p>\n

We pray, bow, prostrate, and conclude with the greeting of peace. But does prayer truly end with the words, “Peace be upon you”<\/em>? Or does its real test begin only after we leave it behind?<\/p>\n

It begins when we interact with other people.<\/p>\n

When we become angry.<\/p>\n

When we hold power over someone weaker than ourselves.<\/p>\n

When we have the opportunity to commit injustice without anyone seeing us.<\/p>\n

That is where prayer reveals itself\u2014not in the number of units we perform, but in the effect it leaves behind.<\/p>\n

The Qur’an says:<\/p>\n

“Indeed, prayer restrains from immorality and wrongdoing.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If a person prays, yet prayer does not restrain them from injustice, dishonesty, or contempt for others, then the ritual has been performed, but its purpose has not been fulfilled.<\/p>\n

Human beings naturally gravitate toward what can be measured.<\/p>\n

How many prayers have I performed?<\/p>\n

How many days have I fasted?<\/p>\n

How many times have I completed the pilgrimage?<\/p>\n

Numbers are easy.<\/p>\n

Character is not.<\/p>\n

There is no certificate declaring that you have become more compassionate. No counter records the number of times you conquered your anger.<\/p>\n

That is why religiosity is so often measured by visible rituals, while inner transformation remains known only to the individual and to God.<\/p>\n

Here lies a dangerous illusion: believing that frequent religious practice necessarily reflects profound faith.<\/p>\n

Any action can become habit, continuing long after the awareness that first inspired it has faded.<\/p>\n

Fasting, outwardly, is abstaining from food and drink.<\/p>\n

But is that really its purpose?<\/p>\n

If a person refrains from eating for hours yet cannot refrain from humiliating another human being, what has truly been learned?<\/p>\n

Fasting is an exercise in freedom.<\/p>\n

It is the human soul saying to its own desires:<\/p>\n

“I can postpone my response.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“I am not a slave to my cravings.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Its real value appears when this same discipline extends to anger, greed, and the desire for revenge.<\/p>\n

Then fasting becomes a school of self-mastery.<\/p>\n

If it remains nothing more than temporary hunger, the form has survived while the meaning has been lost.<\/p>\n

And what of zakat?<\/p>\n

Does God need our money?<\/p>\n

Certainly not.<\/p>\n

We give because wealth can possess us more completely than we possess it. We fear losing it and often measure our success by it.<\/p>\n

Zakat reminds us:<\/p>\n

Not everything in your hands belongs to you alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is another person.<\/p>\n

There is responsibility.<\/p>\n

It becomes a discipline that teaches us to move beyond self-centeredness.<\/p>\n

But what if someone faithfully pays zakat while building wealth through exploitation?<\/p>\n

There we discover the difference between charity and justice.<\/p>\n

Charity is giving someone something from what I own.<\/p>\n

Justice is refusing to take what rightfully belongs to them.<\/p>\n

Building a just society is far more difficult than distributing charity, because justice transforms the relationship itself.<\/p>\n

And then there is the pilgrimage.<\/p>\n

Millions of people from different races, cultures, and backgrounds wear clothing that erases visible distinctions and stand together as equals.<\/p>\n

It is one of humanity’s most remarkable images of equality.<\/p>\n

But what happens after they return home?<\/p>\n

Do they come back more humble?<\/p>\n

More aware of the unity of humankind?<\/p>\n

If they return exactly as they left, what remains of the journey?<\/p>\n

The true pilgrimage is not merely arriving at a sacred place.<\/p>\n

It is returning as a transformed human being.<\/p>\n

Here lies a paradox visible in many societies.<\/p>\n

The outward signs of religiosity increase, yet justice does not.<\/p>\n

Places of worship become crowded, while bribery persists.<\/p>\n

People fast, yet continue deceiving one another.<\/p>\n

One reason is that we have separated worship from ethics.<\/p>\n

We have treated worship as our relationship with God and morality as something entirely different.<\/p>\n

But how can I claim closeness to God while wronging His creation?<\/p>\n

How can I ask for mercy for myself while denying it to others?<\/p>\n

Perhaps my relationship with God is revealed more clearly in the way I treat people than in the words I speak about Him.<\/p>\n

Ritual is easier than transformation.<\/p>\n

Ritual has a beginning and an end.<\/p>\n

Moral growth does not.<\/p>\n

I can complete two units of prayer in a few minutes.<\/p>\n

Humility may require a lifetime.<\/p>\n

I can give money in an instant.<\/p>\n

Freedom from greed is much harder.<\/p>\n

I can fast for a day.<\/p>\n

Mastering my anger must happen every day.<\/p>\n

Pilgrimage may occur once in a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Seeing all human beings as equals requires constant self-examination.<\/p>\n

We are naturally drawn to rituals because they provide a sense of completion.<\/p>\n

Ethics, however, reminds us each day that another test awaits.<\/p>\n

So why do I worship God?<\/p>\n

Worship is not a service the Creator requires.<\/p>\n

It is a profoundly human need.<\/p>\n

I need to pause.<\/p>\n

I need to step outside my own self-centeredness.<\/p>\n

I need to examine myself honestly.<\/p>\n

I need to confront my weaknesses.<\/p>\n

I need to remember my responsibilities.<\/p>\n

The true value of worship lies not only in what I do while performing it, but in who I become because of it.<\/p>\n

If a person performs every ritual and every act of worship yet emerges unchanged, has worship truly been fulfilled\u2014or only its outward form?<\/p>\n

I pass judgment on no one, for I do not know what lies within people’s hearts.<\/p>\n

I ask only myself:<\/p>\n

What has my prayer done to me?<\/em><\/p>\n

What has my fasting taught me?<\/em><\/p>\n

Have I become more compassionate, more just, more truthful, and less intolerant?<\/em><\/p>\n

Has my faith made me more humble\u2014or merely more convinced that I am better than others?<\/em><\/p>\n

These are the questions of genuine worship.<\/p>\n

I do not seek a world without rituals, nor a religion without sacred practices.<\/p>\n

Human beings need both.<\/p>\n

But rituals are a path to meaning, not a substitute for it.<\/p>\n

Prayer is a path to conscience.<\/p>\n

Fasting is a path to self-discipline.<\/p>\n

Zakat is a path to responsibility and justice.<\/p>\n

Pilgrimage is a path to detachment from worldly distinctions and to human equality.<\/p>\n

When the means become disconnected from their purpose, the outward form may remain beautiful, but the spirit quietly departs.<\/p>\n

And here an even more difficult question arises.<\/p>\n

Some rituals are intrinsic to religion itself.<\/p>\n

Others accumulated over centuries, gradually becoming intertwined with what people consider sacred.<\/p>\n

How, then, do we distinguish between what was revealed through divine revelation and what was fashioned by history?<\/p>\n

Which practices belong to the very essence of religion, and which are human traditions that, over time, came to be mistaken for sacred obligations?<\/p>\n

It is here that the true journey of faith begins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some questions seem simple at first, yet the longer they linger in the mind, the more unsettling they become. One such question has stayed with me for years: Why do we worship God? Does God need our prayers? Does our worship add anything to Him? Is His sovereignty diminished if a person chooses not to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14018,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[280,288,103,16,197],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-collective-activities-articles","category-al-azhar","category-all-articles","category-articles-by-dr-badrawi","category-translated-articles"],"yoast_head":"\nBetween the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi - Dr. Hossam Badrawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi - Dr. Hossam Badrawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some questions seem simple at first, yet the longer they linger in the mind, the more unsettling they become. One such question has stayed with me for years: Why do we worship God? Does God need our prayers? Does our worship add anything to Him? Is His sovereignty diminished if a person chooses not to …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dr. Hossam Badrawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hossambadrawi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hossambadrawi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-02T20:48:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-05T20:49:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1535\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Hossam Badrawi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HossamBadrawi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HossamBadrawi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr. Hossam Badrawi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dr. Hossam Badrawi\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71dac15488abcc9dd96527db12aee32a\"},\"headline\":\"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-02T20:48:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-05T20:49:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1349,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71dac15488abcc9dd96527db12aee32a\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"2026 Collective Activities & Articles\",\"Al-Azhar\",\"All Articles\",\"By Dr Badrawi\",\"Translated Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/\",\"name\":\"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi - Dr. Hossam Badrawi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-02T20:48:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-05T20:49:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1535,\"caption\":\"Screenshot\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dr. Hossam Badrawi\",\"description\":\"Official Website\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71dac15488abcc9dd96527db12aee32a\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71dac15488abcc9dd96527db12aee32a\",\"name\":\"Dr. Hossam Badrawi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/dr.-hossam-logo-e1762983997572.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/dr.-hossam-logo-e1762983997572.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/dr.-hossam-logo-e1762983997572.png\",\"width\":526,\"height\":272,\"caption\":\"Dr. Hossam Badrawi\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hossambadrawi.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/dr.-hossam-logo-e1762983997572.png\"},\"description\":\"He is a politician, intellect, and prominent physician. He is the former head of the Gynecology Department, Faculty of Medicine Cairo University. He conducted his post graduate studies from 1979 till 1981 in the United States. He was elected as a member of the Egyptian Parliament and chairman of the Education and Scientific Research Committee in the Parliament from 2000 till 2005. As a politician, Dr. Hossam Badrawi was known for his independent stances. His integrity won the consensus of all people from various political trends. During the era of former president Hosni Mubarak he was called The Rationalist in the National Democratic Party NDP because his political calls and demands were consistent to a great extent with calls for political and democratic reform in Egypt. He was against extending the state of emergency and objected to the National Democratic Party's unilateral constitutional amendments during the January 25, 2011 revolution. He played a very important political role when he defended, from the very first beginning of the revolution, the demonstrators' right to call for their demands. He called on the government to listen and respond to their demands. Consequently and due to Dr. Badrawi's popularity, Mubarak appointed him as the NDP Secretary General thus replacing the members of the Bureau of the Commission. During that time, Dr. Badrawi expressed his political opinion to Mubarak that he had to step down. He had to resign from the party after 5 days of his appointment on February 10 when he declared his political disagreement with the political leadership in dealing with the demonstrators who called for handing the power to the Muslim Brotherhood. Therefore, from the very first moment his stance was clear by rejecting a religion-based state which he considered as aiming to limit the Egyptians down to one trend. He considered deposed president Mohamed Morsi's decision to bring back the People's Assembly as a reinforcement of the US-supported dictatorship. He was among the first to denounce the incursion of Morsi's authority over the judicial authority, condemning the Brotherhood militias' blockade of the Supreme Constitutional Court. Dr. Hossam supported the Tamarod movement in its beginning and he declared that toppling the Brotherhood was a must and a pressing risk that had to be taken few months prior to the June 30 revolution and confirmed that the army would support the legitimacy given by the people\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/hossambadrawi\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/HossamBadrawi\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi - Dr. Hossam Badrawi","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi - Dr. Hossam Badrawi","og_description":"Some questions seem simple at first, yet the longer they linger in the mind, the more unsettling they become. One such question has stayed with me for years: Why do we worship God? Does God need our prayers? Does our worship add anything to Him? Is His sovereignty diminished if a person chooses not to …","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/","og_site_name":"Dr. Hossam Badrawi","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hossambadrawi\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hossambadrawi\/","article_published_time":"2026-08-02T20:48:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-05T20:49:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1535,"url":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dr. Hossam Badrawi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@HossamBadrawi","twitter_site":"@HossamBadrawi","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr. Hossam Badrawi","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/"},"author":{"name":"Dr. Hossam Badrawi","@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/71dac15488abcc9dd96527db12aee32a"},"headline":"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi","datePublished":"2026-08-02T20:48:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-05T20:49:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/"},"wordCount":1349,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/71dac15488abcc9dd96527db12aee32a"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg","articleSection":["2026 Collective Activities & Articles","Al-Azhar","All Articles","By Dr Badrawi","Translated Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/","name":"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi - Dr. Hossam Badrawi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-02T20:48:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-05T20:49:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/765818118_1786186476630795_3019753654795617084_n.jpg","width":2048,"height":1535,"caption":"Screenshot"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/between-the-meaning-of-religion-and-its-rituals-by-hossam-badrawi\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Between the Meaning of Religion and Its Rituals By Hossam Badrawi"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/","name":"Dr. Hossam Badrawi","description":"Official Website","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/71dac15488abcc9dd96527db12aee32a"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/71dac15488abcc9dd96527db12aee32a","name":"Dr. Hossam Badrawi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dr.-hossam-logo-e1762983997572.png","url":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dr.-hossam-logo-e1762983997572.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dr.-hossam-logo-e1762983997572.png","width":526,"height":272,"caption":"Dr. Hossam Badrawi"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dr.-hossam-logo-e1762983997572.png"},"description":"He is a politician, intellect, and prominent physician. He is the former head of the Gynecology Department, Faculty of Medicine Cairo University. He conducted his post graduate studies from 1979 till 1981 in the United States. He was elected as a member of the Egyptian Parliament and chairman of the Education and Scientific Research Committee in the Parliament from 2000 till 2005. As a politician, Dr. Hossam Badrawi was known for his independent stances. His integrity won the consensus of all people from various political trends. During the era of former president Hosni Mubarak he was called The Rationalist in the National Democratic Party NDP because his political calls and demands were consistent to a great extent with calls for political and democratic reform in Egypt. He was against extending the state of emergency and objected to the National Democratic Party's unilateral constitutional amendments during the January 25, 2011 revolution. He played a very important political role when he defended, from the very first beginning of the revolution, the demonstrators' right to call for their demands. He called on the government to listen and respond to their demands. Consequently and due to Dr. Badrawi's popularity, Mubarak appointed him as the NDP Secretary General thus replacing the members of the Bureau of the Commission. During that time, Dr. Badrawi expressed his political opinion to Mubarak that he had to step down. He had to resign from the party after 5 days of his appointment on February 10 when he declared his political disagreement with the political leadership in dealing with the demonstrators who called for handing the power to the Muslim Brotherhood. Therefore, from the very first moment his stance was clear by rejecting a religion-based state which he considered as aiming to limit the Egyptians down to one trend. He considered deposed president Mohamed Morsi's decision to bring back the People's Assembly as a reinforcement of the US-supported dictatorship. He was among the first to denounce the incursion of Morsi's authority over the judicial authority, condemning the Brotherhood militias' blockade of the Supreme Constitutional Court. Dr. Hossam supported the Tamarod movement in its beginning and he declared that toppling the Brotherhood was a must and a pressing risk that had to be taken few months prior to the June 30 revolution and confirmed that the army would support the legitimacy given by the people","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hossambadrawi\/","https:\/\/x.com\/HossamBadrawi"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14023,"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14022\/revisions\/14023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}