From Big Bang to Baghdad: A Brief Story of the Origin and Evolution of Religion by Dr Qazi Ashraf, book review

Qazi Ashraf’s “From Big Bang to Baghdad: A Brief Story of the Origin and Evolution of Religion” is a book that attempts to do something both daring and necessary: to place religion into the broader story of humanity without either glorifying it as an unquestionable revelation or dismissing it as mere superstition. What distinguishes this book from other accounts of religious history is its narrative range. Ashraf starts not with prophets or scriptures but with the Big Bang, thereby underscoring that religion belongs within the larger sweep of cosmic and human history. This approach makes the story more coherent, showing that religion is not a sudden imposition upon human life but a gradual construction shaped by awe, fear, survival, imagination, and social need. It is as much a response to mortality as it is to mystery.

Reading the book from a historical perspective, one notices that Ashraf excels in tracing the social, political, and cultural functions of religion. In Mesopotamia, priest-kings presided over rituals that ensured both spiritual legitimacy and temporal power. The myths of divine floods or heavenly punishment reflected both natural forces and human anxieties. What struck me was the way Ashraf demonstrates how religion was a tool of governance even in its earliest forms. Temples were economic hubs, rituals reinforced hierarchy, and divine narratives kept populations in line. The parallel with modern societies, where religion continues to intertwine with politics and economics, is unmistakable. The book encourages us to see continuity rather than rupture between ancient and contemporary uses of faith.

From a cultural perspective, the book is equally rich. Ashraf highlights how religions did not evolve in isolation but constantly absorbed influences from neighbours and rivals. Indian traditions, for instance, developed intricate philosophies in response to internal debates and challenges posed by heterodox systems, such as Jainism and Buddhism. Similarly, Christianity grew by adopting Hellenistic ideas, reshaping a Jewish sect into a universal religion. Islam, too, absorbed aspects of Arabian culture while positioning itself as a corrective to earlier traditions. Ashraf’s emphasis on cultural exchange and adaptation demonstrates that religions are not sealed boxes but porous entities shaped by their encounters. For readers like myself, this cultural analysis helps explain why religions worldwide share striking similarities in their symbols, myths, and rituals, despite geographical differences.

Philosophically, Ashraf’s reflections stand out. He treats religion not as a simple set of rules or creeds but as a complex attempt to grapple with existence. He demonstrates that behind the sacrifices of Vedic India or the covenant of Israel lies the same human impulse to make sense of death, morality, and suffering. The book takes seriously the intellectual contributions of figures such as the Buddha, who rejected ritual in favour of mindfulness, or Jesus, who placed compassion at the centre of his teaching. Yet it also shows how these teachings were later transformed into systems of doctrine that often betrayed the simplicity of their founders. I found this philosophical discussion stimulating because it forces readers to separate the essence of a message from the structures that grew around it.

Another powerful point of view the book engages is the psychological one. Ashraf argues that religion is rooted in human fear and imagination. The terror of death, the unpredictability of nature, and the longing for meaning created fertile ground for the development of belief. Yet it was not only fear but also creativity that gave rise to myths and rituals. From cave paintings to elaborate temples, human beings externalised their inner worlds through symbols that made sense of life and death. The emphasis on the role of language and storytelling in this process was especially thought-provoking for me. Ashraf persuasively argues that once humans gained the ability to narrate, they gained the ability to imagine gods, afterlives, and moral universes. Religion, in this view, becomes the most enduring story humanity has ever told.

The book also speaks to readers from a personal perspective. While deeply researched, it constantly invites reflection on one’s own experience of belief and tradition. I found myself considering how rituals I grew up with might have roots in much older attempts to mark transitions, celebrate fertility, or ward off danger. Ashraf’s narrative makes one feel connected to a long human continuum, where even modern practices echo ancient impulses. For believers, this can deepen appreciation; for sceptics, it can offer understanding without condescension. The book bridges personal reflection and historical analysis in a way that few works manage.

Stylistically, the book deserves praise. Ashraf writes with clarity and restraint, striking a balance between scholarship and readability. He neither overwhelms with technical detail nor trivialises complex histories. His tone is respectful, even when critical, which makes the book accessible to a broad audience. Unlike works that take an antagonistic view of religion, he recognises its enduring role in giving comfort, shaping morality, and fostering community, while at the same time unmasking its misuse for power and violence. This fairness is one of the reasons I found the book persuasive and engaging.

By the end of From Big Bang to Baghdad, the reader is left with a sense of religion as both fragile and resilient. Fragile, because it has always adapted to the pressures of time and culture. Resilient, because it has never disappeared, continually reinventing itself in new forms. This paradox is at the heart of the book’s argument. Religion is human, and therefore it evolves with human societies, reflecting their contradictions, struggles, and aspirations. To read this book is to realise that the story of religion is inseparable from the story of humanity itself.

For readers who wish to understand religion not merely as a belief but as a complex interplay of history, philosophy, psychology, and culture, Ashraf’s book is invaluable. It challenges simplistic views, whether of blind devotion or outright dismissal, by placing religion within the full context of human experience. As someone who has often viewed religion as a matter of personal or cultural identity, I came away from this book seeing it as a grand human project that spans millennia, uniting awe, fear, imagination, and power. It is a work that leaves the reader more informed, but also more reflective about one’s place in this continuing story.

Click here to get a copy – Amazon India

Review by Amit for The Last Critic