The Alienation of the Muslims

[akulion]

The leader and lamp of knowledge of the Muslims, Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, the last and final messenger of Allah Almighty, once said, "Education is a compulsory duty on all Muslim men and women". In another saying his eminence Peace be upon him said, "Gain knowledge even if you have to travel to China", and indeed the Muslims did travel to China and gained much knowledge from there, learning from the Chinese in humility and sharing what they knew. One of the technologies that the acquired from the Chinese and infact refined it was the gun powder. Prior to that only the Chinese had possessed the knowledge and use of gunpowder. However the Muslims did not proclaim "Do not use it, it is imitating the kuffar" but in fact embraced this knowledge and technology.

In the universities of Baghdad, engrossed deeply in the pursuit of deeper insight, sat together scholars from China, India, Persia, Arabia, Jeureslem, some parts of Europe even. Muslims, Christians, Jewish, Hindus, Buddhists, all united under a banner of peace working together for the quest for knowledge. What was most notably unique about these meetings, history records, is that they were not over shadowed by religion. The Muslims did not declare things haram or halal and the hindus would not be doing yoga and the Christians were not pinning crosses on everything. But infact they kept these research groups plainly scientific, arguments and counterarguments were derived from knowledge of science and observation and not fom religious view point. Ah yes this was Islam, a way of life which harmoniously blends in with the pursuit for knowledge, making life simple not complicated.

In Muslim ruled Jeuresulem, Christian, Jewish and Muslim citizens lived side by side in peace, aiding each other in normal everyday life activities. Churches, Mosques and Synigogs all existing in the same city, freedom of worship and liberty. The people united because of the justice that prevailed in the lands. One famous story is that of a Christian Bishop inviting the Leader of he Muslims to pray in a Church because there was no mosque around. He said, "It too is a house of God, then pray in it." The Muslim leader out of care and thoughtfulness replied, "I fear that if I pray in the Church then future generations of Muslims may make it an excuse to descerate Churches and turn them into Mosques." Wonderous Islam, the path of Peace and love, people of different colors, way of lives all existing together in Peace. Making life simple, not complicated, this was Islam.

In another time period prior to the ones mentioned above, a prominent companion of his eminence Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, is robbed of some property. The one known as Ali, blessings be upon him, is robbed of his sheild by two Jewish men. Majority of those present in the trial know the truth and recognize the sheild. Both parties stand in front of the judge in a court, the court session is now in order. The presiding judge is a Muslim, and the land is Arabia under Islamic rule. The first question of the judge is directed towards Ali, blessings be upon him, he asks, "Do you have any witnesses to this crime? If so bring them forward". Ali, blessings be upon him, replies the only witnesses I have are my own family members. At this the judge replies, "The testimony of your family members could be biased and so the court does not accept it, do you have any independant witnesses?" Ali, blessings be upon him, replies in the negative. The judge declares that since the party which brought the case forward has no evidence to support their claim, then the accused are innocent and the sheild belongs to them. The two Jewish men who had this day come with certainty in their hearts that they would be found guilty, for they had commited a crime against one of the four most prominent companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, are flabergasted at this judgement. Before even anyone has time to leave the court, they proclaim, "we are guilty, we stole this sheild from Ali, blessings be upon him. And seeing this justice, we proclaim faith in Islam and testify to the oneness of God" The sheild was returned to Ali, blessings be upon him and the men were pardoned. Ah this was Islam, unbiased and just. Making life simple, not complicated.

Even earlier in the same era we find a man walking into a mosque and peeing against a tree! His eminence, Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, is present as this incident takes place. The companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, get up to stop the man, but instead find themselves being stopped by the Prophet, peace be upon him, who says, "Let him finish then summon him to me nicely." After the man is done, he is summoned and the Prophet, peace be upon him, says in a polite manner, "This is a mosque, our place of worship, please refrain from relieveing yourself here." The man replies, "I do apologize, for I was not aware of this." And then leaves. The companions are instructed to clean the place where the act was done and that is the end of this affair. This was Islam, beautiful and tolerant. It made life simpler not complicated.

Fourteen centuries later what has occured to change all that? For Islam is still the same beautiful way of life, but it is the Muslims who have changed. In the stories above we read about tolerance, love, peace, knowledge, justice, patience and striving. All things which pertain to human beings, either we harvest them in ourselves, or we dont. Either we practice them or we dont. If we dont, we only alienate ourselves from everyone else and from Islam itself, but if we do harvest and practice them then we achieve our true goal as Muslims.

Once a prominent Muslim personality said, "Islam is serving of food and pleasant talk." and indeed it is, the way of life known as Islam is in majority composed of commandments concerning hospitality, caring, love, good dialogue and sharing, whether it be with Muslims or non Muslims is never a question, for Islam is for all humanity. The saying is that of the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, who tought us to live together, share and care for one another. But it is we who have now tought ourselves to live apart and alienate ourselves. So let us take heed and not make excuses for excuses are a million under the sun, but what remains is the fact that the deed was left unfulfilled.

To conclude I would simply say as the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, Gain knowledge even if you have to travel to China. The reason I choose to say this is because it is the key to a door out of alienation, for if we were to go to China, we would have to live amongst non Muslims, move amongst them, interact with them, learn from them, teach them and so would come into practice all that is mentioned in this essay.

============================The End=============================

[Woodrow]

I moved this over to
World Affairs because this goes beyond a simple introduction to Islam. It shows the need and Justifications of how and why we all need to learn to be tolerant of each other. I find the last paragraph to be very meaningfull for todays world.

[akulion]

No problem - jazak Allah khair bro :)