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"Bismillah
hirRahman nirRahim" (in the Name of Allah, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful) ~ Holy Qur'an
Whether one is deeply religious or not, the progressive
improvement of life for all in the Middle East area from Darfur
to Palestine and Iraq, and in fact the entire world will depend
on one thing: a new and gracious humility.
There is a sometimes accurate, sometimes vanity driven view held
by many Arabs and Muslims toward the U.S., the West and the rest
of humanity, in great part the result of painful historical
experiences with the non-Muslim world.
It is the one that
non-Muslims are too materialistic and spiritually shallow.
There is also an Arab proverb, "Consider not the person who
speaks, but what is spoken."
What follows was written by a fellow human being, an American
citizen, yet only its proposal matters: to finally dare an
unflinching and overdue planetary spiritual honesty. The
kind that any child understands and of which we all have the
responsibility to walk in the mosques, churches, and temples of
our ordinary lives. Especially after 9/11.
At dusk years ago in Jerusalem, a television reporter and
cameraman were walking back from an assignment down one of the
narrow deserted side streets in the old Arab quarter. Suddenly,
a door in the corridor of buildings flew open out spilling
light as an elderly Arab man strode out into the middle of the
street screaming at everyone and no one. Instinct prompted the
cameraman to record the old man who ranted on for a few minutes
and then strode back through his door slamming it shut.
ABC World News carried the incident as a sign-off piece on
Easter weekend that year. Peter Jennings who had been ABC's
Middle East Bureau Chief introduced it in his usual professional
manner, yet with few words and a subtle winch of sadness in his
last sentence, "It speaks for itself." It
certainly did, and we will get to its essence shortly.
Our Arab elder belongs in this article because you could accept
or reject its suggested views based any number of biases towards
me. But he and billions of Muslims and non-Muslims alike speak the same language,
the one each one of us can speak and hear, if we so choose: the
simplicity of Truth itself -- that of the genuinely honest and Merciful kind.
This Truth knows of every swirling galaxy created and of every
photon dancing in your eyes as you read this. It also
knows of all past and present beauty and viciousness of
humankind within every community, culture, and religion, and yet
It gently dismisses our fearful insistences on historical self
importance. |
Truth can do this
for it knows that your eyes, this planet, and the Universe are
not the property of
Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or of any other religions,
ideologies, cultures, or of our addictions to glorify or crucify
others or ourselves.
It knows also that we can continue to
incinerate trillions in global capital to fuel egotistical
political and religious power struggles, terrorism,
anti-terrorism, and war machines -- instead of truly serve in
Its name:
To peacefully honor our collective human and spiritual duty to
feed, house and restore hope, dignity and opportunities to the
hundreds of millions of disenfranchised people in the Middle
East, Africa, and so many other places on our shared planet.
Our Arab friend had spoken of this in his own way: "All this
killing for so long among the three religions of Ibrahim! But I
ask you: When you get to heaven, do you really think the Divine
will take sides?" You may ridicule his childlike, grief
stricken anger, but I dare you to argue with Truth. Especially
after 9/11:
"Not one of you is a believer until he desires for his
brother what he desires for himself." Islam - 40 Hadith of
An-Nawawi 13
"Do to others what you would have them do to you, for
this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Christianity
- New
Testament, Matthew 7:12
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that
is the whole Torah. All the rest of it is commentary."
Judaism - Talmud, Shabbat 31a
We can continue to cleverly rape Truth's utterly simple
instructions, whether given to us through religions or anything
and anyone else that speaks Its language. Our varied mutual "holy wars"
today are but more brutal divisive delusions of our fear fueled, Truth-deaf historical
vanities. However one thing is certain:
The infinite genius of Truth will triumph one day for It is the
ultimate power -- and the light within all genuine spiritual and
human self-honesty, nobility and intelligence -- which
graciously grant mercy, dignity and equality to all. How much
longer we choose to disgrace and war against such exquisitely
vast, and yet practical earthly Compassion is entirely up to
each of us.
So on which side are you?
The devious and prideful
brutality of fearful
divisions -- or the gently invincible and Most Merciful Truth?
Philip Steven Knight is an
independent
writer and multimedia content creator in the United States.
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