Satisfied religious books may be upheld as tribal symbol (5)
I believe the answer is:
totem
'tribal symbol' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'satisfied religious books may be upheld' is the wordplay.
'satisfied' becomes 'met' (as in 'met the conditions of his contract').
'religious books may' becomes 'ot' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'be upheld' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'met'+'ot'='metot'
'metot' reversed gives 'TOTEM'.
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for totem that I've seen before include "Thing of veneration (on a pole?)" , "Primitive object of worship" , "Natural item of spiritual significance" , "Emblem of a clan" , "Native American symbol" .)