Thursday, July 26, 2012 | Ramadan 7, 1433
2665 Villa Creek, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234
2665 Villa Creek, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234
Today is the 7th Iftaar,
and after the Salat (prayers) and dinner, I decided to catch up with reflecting on
Ramadan.
Although I have addressed the above in bits and pieces, I wanted to focus on it and hope our Imams can address it in their Juma Khutbas (Sermon).
Stereotyping
is a common pit that most of the humanity keeps falling into over and over
again. It is judging the whole community, ethnicity or a nationality from the
experience with one. As Muslims we get frustrated when we hear dumb statements
like Muslims are terrorists, Arabs are rude, xxxx are not trust worthy…. and
stuff like that, and yet shamelessly we indulge in it ourselves.
A few Arabs think that the Pakistanis are not Muslim enough, and the Pakistanis don’t see Indian Muslims to be Muslim enough, and Indian Muslims don’t think the Bangladeshis are Muslim enough and I guess they don’t think the Rohingi Muslims are not Muslim enough and there is no end to this baseless thinking and is contrary to the teachings of Islam in this case.
A few Arabs think that the Pakistanis are not Muslim enough, and the Pakistanis don’t see Indian Muslims to be Muslim enough, and Indian Muslims don’t think the Bangladeshis are Muslim enough and I guess they don’t think the Rohingi Muslims are not Muslim enough and there is no end to this baseless thinking and is contrary to the teachings of Islam in this case.
Most Muslims enthusiastically quote Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) last sermon that no
one is superior to the other… the question is, do we really mean it? Does it reflect in our words and actions?
Much of the wisdom and guidance in Quraan boils down to the things we need to do to keep a balance in the society, where no one has to be afraid of the other. Islam in one word: Justness.
Much of the wisdom and guidance in Quraan boils down to the things we need to do to keep a balance in the society, where no one has to be afraid of the other. Islam in one word: Justness.
Don’t
we realize that Islam was a solution to generate peaceful (Islam) societies by knocking
the arrogance out of individuals and communities? Arrogance is the root cause of most conflicts and troubles. God's wisdom is crystal clear; whom he likes the most and the least, the forgivers and arrogant people respectively. Just as you
want your home to be in order, Allah wants his creation to be in order, and that
order is harmony among people and things.
The note
from my African American friend is a common thing with most of the humanity, but as
Muslims we have specific instructions and guidance to avoid judging others. The
word Taqwa has become a technical term and seems to have lost its essence.
You can
argue all you want to argue about African Americans, Arabs, Pakistanis, Indian,
Bangladeshis, Rohingis, Somalis or any one… but the fact is you will be buried
with the same respect as others whether you are a Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya or from any
religion, and your body will decompose at the same speed as others. You are not
superior to the other when you are in that grave, your grave will get exact
same sunshine, rain or winds as others.
Look at the practices in Islam - the Salat and fasting for instance, what do they do to you, and what is the cumulative effect of it? Allama Iqbal said it well, “Tujhe kya milega namaaz may” what do you get out of fasting and prayer, if it does not make you a humble person. Humility broadly means treating, feeling and acting equal with your employee, spouse, kids or others; Muslim or not. How do we measure up?
Pathetic material came up in the Economist yesterday, how Shia and Sunni are denigrating each other and calling each other infidels? Do they throw the Prophets’ last sermon out of window? Do they follow the Sunnah? I hope our Imams are urging their congregants not to denigrate others, absolutely not, for their own good in the long haul - so they can live in a safer society.
Look at the practices in Islam - the Salat and fasting for instance, what do they do to you, and what is the cumulative effect of it? Allama Iqbal said it well, “Tujhe kya milega namaaz may” what do you get out of fasting and prayer, if it does not make you a humble person. Humility broadly means treating, feeling and acting equal with your employee, spouse, kids or others; Muslim or not. How do we measure up?
Pathetic material came up in the Economist yesterday, how Shia and Sunni are denigrating each other and calling each other infidels? Do they throw the Prophets’ last sermon out of window? Do they follow the Sunnah? I hope our Imams are urging their congregants not to denigrate others, absolutely not, for their own good in the long haul - so they can live in a safer society.
Religion, ethnicity, nationality and race should never be slapped with false labels for the acts of a few. Statistically, if you meet “one” Muslim, Hindu, Christian or a Jew and he or she turns out to be a bad person; you can claim that 100% of Muslims, Hindus, Christians or Jews are bad.
And if you meet two of each and only one of them turns out to be a bad dude, your statistic is halved; only 50% of Muslims, Hindus or others are bad.
But when you meet 1000 of them in each group, most likely the following statistics will emerge.
95% of people in every religious group get their religion right
02% of people in every religious group are enforcers, tyrants
02% of people in every religious group are easy goers
01% of people in every religious group are intolerant ones
The statisticians can tell what a reliable sample is, which will yield similar results no matter where and when you test. This has been my observation of several groups that I have been a part of for nearly 20 years, and a part of my e-lists that I mail to Atheists, Baha'i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, Sikhs, Wicca, Zoroastrians and others.
I hope the Imams can pull verses from Quran and
emphasize the ills of prejudice and stereotyping, instead of frightening with
hell fire, which means nothing to many. God loves us all and wants us to live
in peace and that is the summary of God’s will.
As a fellow human, you can count on me to treat you with full respect for who you are, and as a symbolic gesture, I will visit your sacred place without hesitation, simply to honor your uniqueness that God has endowed you. I will not agree with you, and you may not agree with me, but we can respect each other; both of us are God's will.
Thank God for his guidance, I have made the time to visit every denomination among Muslims and have been with Aztecs to Zoroastrians and every one in between. I am confident of my faith Islam, that I follow and give respect to every one who is confident about his or her faith. When you do not have a strong faith, you shy away from knowing others and run from others, God wants us to know each other (49:13), so together we can create cohesive societies that are good for you and I and every one around us.
This is what God wants, to get along and keep the social, economic, spiritual and emotional world in balance and harmony with oneself and with others, and I believe that is God's will.
About My Israel-Palestine trip in Ramadan.
The pictures in the link above are of Ifaar and Suhoor at Masjid-al-Aqsa and Bait-al-Muqaddas and a street in Jerusalem before Iftaar. If you wish to see 250 pictures of entire Israeli and Palestinian lands, let me know, I will send you the link. I have traveled from Jerusalem to Golan Heights in the north and from Haifa down to Tel Aviv and in between been to Jericho, Nablus, Nazareth and other cities.
The bus tour guide was giving mis-information about Islam, she said Islam has six pillars, the first one is Jihad and she explained it means killing the infidels. It was not easy, but I am not going to let falsities go unquestioned, finally the tour operators agreed to change to five and also the right meaning of the word Jihad. Jihad is like nuclear power, in the right hands it is beneficent to the whole humanity and in the wrong ones, it is hell. Jihad in itself is a word, neither bad nor good, it is the struggle to fight our own conscience and win over the humanist ills like anger, hate, malice, jealousy etc. It is the user of Nuclear power that is good or bad, and not the word. Less than 1/10th of 1% abuse nuclear power, Jihad, Religion, presidency, chairmanships of corporations etc. They are dangerous, and we need to round them up and not what they are affiliated with; family, religion, nation, pastor or their holy book.
The pictures in the link above are of Ifaar and Suhoor at Masjid-al-Aqsa and Bait-al-Muqaddas and a street in Jerusalem before Iftaar. If you wish to see 250 pictures of entire Israeli and Palestinian lands, let me know, I will send you the link. I have traveled from Jerusalem to Golan Heights in the north and from Haifa down to Tel Aviv and in between been to Jericho, Nablus, Nazareth and other cities.
The bus tour guide was giving mis-information about Islam, she said Islam has six pillars, the first one is Jihad and she explained it means killing the infidels. It was not easy, but I am not going to let falsities go unquestioned, finally the tour operators agreed to change to five and also the right meaning of the word Jihad. Jihad is like nuclear power, in the right hands it is beneficent to the whole humanity and in the wrong ones, it is hell. Jihad in itself is a word, neither bad nor good, it is the struggle to fight our own conscience and win over the humanist ills like anger, hate, malice, jealousy etc. It is the user of Nuclear power that is good or bad, and not the word. Less than 1/10th of 1% abuse nuclear power, Jihad, Religion, presidency, chairmanships of corporations etc. They are dangerous, and we need to round them up and not what they are affiliated with; family, religion, nation, pastor or their holy book.
I must give credit to the Israelis on that thing. I am not sure, if I would have been thrown out of the bus in Islamic nations if I had stood up and wanted to correct mis-information. However, I have also seen the disgraceful walls of apartheid which weakens and gurantees insecurity to the Israeli society for years to come. As Mother Teresa says, they need to dialogue. Insha Allah, I will be in Jerusalem again in December and hope to work for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Two Dutch Imams and I was on the bus, we did our Iftaar with the dates and we gave the Adhan as well in the bus. If you have an interest in seeing my individual share of work, please visit http://www.israelPalestinedialogue.com
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Two Dutch Imams and I was on the bus, we did our Iftaar with the dates and we gave the Adhan as well in the bus. If you have an interest in seeing my individual share of work, please visit http://www.israelPalestinedialogue.com
# # #
Please mark your calendar for the Unity Day
USA, a positive event that brings all Americans Together to rededicate our
pledge for a peaceful, prosperous and secure America. We are a part of America
and we need to feel and live it. If you
liked some of the article, you will like the description of Unity Day USA at www.UnityDayUSA.com
A few other Articles to read if you have the
time:
What does God really want?
What does God really want?
1 comment:
You refer to "disgraceful walls of apartheid". Comparing the number of Israelis murdered by homicide bombers previous to the barrier to the number of Israelis murdered after its construction, why do you disparage it? Let's face it, Israeli lives are not the only lives it has saved. Yes, the barrier is an eyesore, yes it is an inconvenience to Palestinians, yes it is unfortunate that it had to be built. But if you are meditating on and seeking peace and peaceful co-existence during Ramadan, and if you're being truthful, you have to admit that the one reason the separation barrier was needed was because of Palestinian terrorism. Once (if) the Palestinians decide to live in peace with a Jewish nation, the barriers can come down.
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