SYEDNA Ali, the last of the great Muslim caliphs, is noted for both his courage and timeless wisdom. In fact, there’s a whole collection of his thoughts titled Nahjal Balagha (Pinnacle of Eloquence). There’s a line from Nahjal Balagha that my father used to quote: “Pay attention to what is being said, rather than who is saying it.” Put simply, it means it’s the message that matters, not the medium.
These days as the world increasingly debates about Islam and its followers, I often find myself revisiting this piece of wisdom.
On the one hand, we have these acts of extremist violence around the world — the most recent ones being the Delhi terror strikes and Marriott tragedy in Islamabad — ostensibly orchestrated by Muslims. On the other, there are people like us who insist whenever something like this happens that this has nothing to do with Islam and the perpetrators of these shameful acts cannot be Muslims.
So who should the world believe? More important, who really represents Islam? Us or Them? As a matter of principle, I agree with Syedna Ali that one should pay attention to the message, not the messenger. But does that really happen?
It is all very well for us to say Islam stands for peace — in Arabic it literally means peace — and mercy. The Holy Qur’an preaches universal brotherhood and it’s the first charter of human rights.
Whenever we make such claims, the world does not question them; it looks at us, the so-called believers. But do we really practice what we preach?
Islam celebrates life and all the beautiful things God has gifted us by way of this amazing planet of ours. And here some of us are celebrating a death cult, inventing ever new ways of blowing themselves up.
Look at the carnage in Islamabad. More than 60 people died in the attack on the Marriott Hotel last week, the third in the last couple of years. Most of the victims were families who had gathered at the hotel to break their fast, and security personnel at the gate. They had nothing to do with Bush’s war or the current and previous leadership of Pakistan.
I have been a fierce critic of this war and all that it has visited on the world in the name of democracy and freedom. And I have added my voice, for what it’s worth, whenever possible to the growing global outrage over the continuing atrocities from Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan.
I wouldn’t be surprised if those who blew up the Marriott with a truckload of explosives came from the northwest of Pakistan. You know the drill — cause and effect...action and reaction etc.
But even if you understand why these things are happening and why some desperate men are resorting to desperate measures taking their own lives and those of others, are these actions in anyway justifiable? Since some of us have been victims of these appalling crimes, are we justified to pass them on to others?
Perhaps those responsible for these attacks have suffered too much to care about morality and ethical justification of the whole business. But does that justify or in any way lessen the seriousness of these actions?
More to the point, what message does this send to the world? We may go on protesting this has nothing to do with the bombers’ faith. But like it or not, the world judges us by who we are. This is not limited to the current ideological and political conflict. There is a huge gulf between what Islam preaches and what its followers practice in almost all walks of life.
The world looks at all this as something that routinely happens in the Muslim world. I know this is not fair but that’s how the world works, folks.
No matter what we say in our defense or that of Islam, ultimately we are judged by our actions, not by our words. For medium is as important as the message. And many of us by way of our actions bring nothing but disgrace to our faith.
— Aijaz Zaka Syed is a Dubai-based commentator. Write to him at [email protected]
