Jesus also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves, thinking they were righteous, but who looked down on everyone else: “Two men went up to the Temple (in Islam, a mosque) to pray. One was a Pharisee (a devout believer like an Imam or Ulama), and the other was a tax collector (an unworthy person with faults and problems). The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, “O God, I thank you that I’m not like other people, thieves, dishonest people, adulterers, or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of my entire income.’ (I pray five times a day, fast during Ramadan, give zakat etc.)

“But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven. Instead, he continued to beat his chest and said, “O God, be merciful to me, the sinner that I am!’

Jesus tells you, this man, rather than the other one, went down to his home justified, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 18:9-14)

Jesus warns everyone who believes that one can be saved by observing rituals and blindly keeping to rules and regulations. According to Jesus, such people are like “whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. They outwardly appear righteous to others, but within they are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Mt 23:27–28). Often, religious people “preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they are unwilling to move them with a finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others” (Mt 23:3–5). This is not what God is looking for. He is searching for “true worshipers who worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him (2 Ch 16:9).