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Pallbearers carry the casket of Clarissa Jean-Philippe, a police officer killed during the Paris attacks, during the funeral in Sainte-Marie, Martinique, Jan. 19. The country is tense since 20 people, including three gunmen, were killed in the Jan. 7 rampage. It began at the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, where12 people were killed.
(AP file photo/Wilfrid Tereau)
By Yasser Soliman
Anyone paying attention to world events today would surely conclude that the days of Jahiliyyah are back in our midst.
It is no surprise that what is happening in the world today on both a small and large scale is due to severe ignorance of divine guidance. This is not about people not believing in God, but rather about so-called believers in God being ignorant of the creator’s message for humanity. So many atrocities committed today are done in the name of the divine, but in truth reflect ignorance of the divine message.
The epoch of pre-Islamic Arabia was known as the days of Jahiliyyah. It was one of many societies built on ignorance in every sense of the word. It was a society that championed tribalism and eschewed truth and justice. Tribalism meant that every member of society exhibited strong loyalty to his own tribe or social group, manifested by strong chauvinism, i.e. blind patriotism. In this setting, a tribe defended and protected its members whether they were wronged or were the ones who committed the wrong. There was no justice or truth-seeking.
Islam took this ignorant lot from darkness to the light by spreading the truth of the divine. It cultivated a lawless people into the world’s leading believers and thinkers. Indeed, every prophet of God came to spread the light of God. So, what is happening to people today that we are reverting back to ignorant times? How could we allow ourselves to resort to ethnocentrism to the detriment of everyone around us who is different or believes differently?
It is a sad commentary on our society that we have devolved to this level. The examples are too numerous to recount. They occur on the local, national and international level almost daily. One wrong begets another wrong and we tailspin into a vicious cycle of violence, with so many innocent human beings violated in every way. No one is spared; not the young nor the old nor anyone in between. We cry, we mourn, we demonstrate and demand justice, but it all falls on deaf ears. Indeed, it is very sad that we are unable to bring about positive change.
It no longer matters who’s right and who’s wrong or who started it. What matters is that we must stop it or it will consume us and lead to our destruction as a civilized society.
When God created man and introduced him to the angels, their first question was, “Will you place on Earth those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, while we glorify thee with praises and thanks and we sanctify thee? God’s response was, “I know that which you do not know.” (Quran, chapter 2:30)
So why is it that God had so much trust in humanity that he created us despite the misgivings of the angels? Islam teaches that he gave us free will to choose right from wrong, and even when the wrong far exceeds the right, he can still forgive us our sins. Mercy is the answer.
Man should not seek to determine the will of God but rather wait patiently until his will is done. Too many times, we witness man trying to take the law into his own hands and practice an-eye-for-an-eye justice. In time, we will come to realize that form of justice never succeeds. It is only when we forgive and show mercy toward our fellow human beings that the healing begins.
Only by seeing the humanity in each other, even though we have different views, can we still find common ground and achieve peace and justice. Then a pluralistic society is born on the principles of respect and understanding.
Nowhere do the teachings of the creator exhort us to kill someone because he or she is different or belongs to a different group. On the contrary, he teaches us to be tolerant of our fellow human beings and to reach out and take care of each other.
Humanism is a system of thought in which human interests, values and dignity predominate. Believers in God need to realize that humanism is an integral part of God’s teachings, not something relegated to those who have been turned off by organized religion. Those who believe in God are living examples of his teachings and what we say and do can open hearts or close them. It is our duty to determine how we can open the hearts of our fellow human beings.
My hope and prayer are that blind faith and ignorance be removed from our hearts and minds and we teach our children to be better human beings. All too often, believers enter mosques, churches, synagogues and temples to hear beautiful sermons and teachings of the divine, and as soon as they exit the doors of these places of worship, they are right back to hating and killing and destroying each other. The world can learn much from the wisdom of the young Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who said, “You must fight others, but through peace and through dialogue and through education.”
Yasser Soliman is executive director of the Mahdy Community, a local organization based in Hamilton Township whose mission it is to seek to bring peace and understanding among the world's religions.
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