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At the beginning of a new millennium,
many people were surprised
and even shocked by
cartoons of the Prophet
Muhammad by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The world witnessed
an extreme manifestation of the deep
hurt felt by virtually all Muslims. In
fact, humanists and atheist who live
amidst Muslim societies and know the
central position of the Prophet
Muhammad in Islam, were also disturbed
with the publication of the cartoons. Of
course, they approached the matter as
a question of respect, not freedom.
On the other hand, it is ironic and even interesting to observe that
Muslims can understand and tolerate atheist who live among them, but
not anyone who offends the Prophet Muhammad. The late Annemarie Schimmel
once underlined that
“the commonest
cause of the offence, generally
unwitting offence, given by
Christians to Muslims, arose from
their complete failure to understand
the very high regard all Muslims
have for the person of the Prophet”.
Therefore, misunderstanding the
role of the Prophet has been, and still is,
one of the greatest obstacles to West’s
appreciation of Muslim interpretation of
Islamic history and culture. In fact, great
scholars and students of Islam in the
West, such as W.C. Smith, M. Watt, H.
Corbin, also were aware of this phenomenon
for a long time. Smith, for example,
devoted his life to study and understand
Islam and Muslim culture. He
spent a great deal of his life among
Muslims. Then, when he came back to home and Harvard to teach Islam,
he reminded his students a fact about Muslims at the beginning:
“Muslims will allow attacks on Allah; there are atheists and
atheistic publications, and rationalistic societies; but to disparage
Muhammad will provoke from even the most ‘liberal’ sections of the
community a fanaticism of blazing vehemence”.
Recent events and overreactions,
from Morocco to Indonesia, once more
proved the central position of the
Prophet Muhammad in Islam and deep
respect of Muslims for him. Therefore, it
is said earlier that we should approach
the matter as a question of respect for
others, not of freedom of expression.
The Prophet Muhammad once said
that “the scholars are the heir of the
prophets”. Therefore, scholars of the global
village cannot live in their intellectual
ivory towers. They have the responsibility
of enlightening their respective communities
and societies about “the other”,
who is their room-mates, employers,
employees, children, wife, husband, etc.
Our well being, peace and security depends
on our conception of each other.
A good example is Ramakrishna Rao,
a professor of philosophy from India. He
wrote about Prophet Muhammad some
40 years ago as one of “the greatest minds
among all the sons of Arabia”. He
claimed that Muhammad
“means so
much more than all the poets and kings
that preceded him in that impenetrable
desert of red sand. When he appeared
Arabia was a desert -- a nothing (italics
added). Out of nothing a new world was
fashioned by the mighty spirit of
Mohammad -- a new life, a new culture,
a new civilization, a new kingdom which
extended from Morocco to Indies and influenced
the thought and life of three
continents -- Asia, Africa and Europe”.
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I think the recent debate over the Danish
cartoons once more teaches us a lesson. We must be very careful
when we talk about others. When we look at the present
population of the world, Muslims and Christians, for example,
together make up more than half of the world population today.
Better understanding, communication and peaceful relations
between their communities are not only good but they are
essential for our well-being and for the well-being of the world
at large. |
What is interesting is the fact that
professor Rao was not a Muslim.
However, his deep respect for “the other”
did not stop him to study his life and
appreciate “the mighty spirit of
Muhammad” and how this spirit has
been changing the life of humans over
15 centuries. When we look at history,
Mr. Rao is not alone. There are
many sincere scholars of Islam in the
West, who join him. They teach us
that we can appreciate the great minds
and spirits of humanity without subscribing
to their personal faith and convictions.
In fact, this is why we teach
their ideas and life to our children.
But today, at the dawn of a new
millennium and in an ever globalised
world, we see some writers or artists
who can easily give a distorted picture/
representation of these great
minds in the name of “freedom of expression”;
forgetting or neglecting how
this misrepresentation will hurt the reality
and feelings of not only 1.3 b
Muslims, but all humans who developed
a sense and spirit of tolerance
and respect to members of other faiths.
In fact, it took centuries for humanity
to develop such a spirit of tolerance.
Therefore, this achievement of humanity
should not be destroyed so easily for
our personal and artistic whims. Yes, we
have to respect freedom of expression,
but more than ever we have to respect our fellow
humans’ feelings and convictions, too.
I think the recent debate over the
Danish cartoons once more teaches us
a lesson. We must be very careful
when we talk about others. When we
look at the present population of the
world, Muslims and Christians, for example,
together make up more than
half of the world population today.
Better understanding, communication
and peaceful relations between their
communities are not only good but they
are essential for our well-being and for
the well-being of the world at large. To quote Rao:
“our lives are bound
with the lives of others willingly or unwillingly,
directly or indirectly. We eat
the food grown in the same soil, drink
water, from the same spring
and breathe the same air . Even while
staunchly holding our own views; it
would be helpful, if we try to adjust
ourselves to our surroundings, if we also
know to some extent, how the mind
of our neighbor moves and what the main springs of his actions are .
From this angle of vision it is highly desirable that one should try
to know all religions of the world, in the proper sprit, to promote
mutual understanding and better appreciation of our neighborhood,
immediate and remote”.
Therefore, to develop a spirit and
habit of understanding and tolerance is
an imperative for the well-being of
modern society in the 21st century.
Today, as Rao underlines, there is a
deep conviction that “our past, present
and future all hang by a soft delicate,
tender silk cord”. This also explains
why some concerned and visionary religious
and political leaders of our time,
such as late Pope John Paul, Dalai
Lama, Nelson Mandela, F. Gulen, etc., have
been working to create a culture of dialogue
and understanding for our common
future. Rev. Robert H. Schuller,
founding pastor of the Crystal
Cathedral summarizes the common vision
of these leaders as follows:
“True believers in God must learn
to come together as partners in peace;
we must move our society and our
world from compatibility to compatibility;
from intolerance to tolerance,
seeking justice, mercy and compassion
for all. For the sake of all the unborn
generations to come, we, here and
now, must begin the task of working
together as partners for peace.
I have a dream, that Christians
and Muslims once finding each other,
caring for each other, and helping
each other, can and will write a new
history, a new legacy for the world:
from collision to coalition”.
Today, all concerned humans, -
Jewish, Christians, Muslims, Buddhist,
and humanists- have a responsibility to
create a common future for us and our
unborn generations. Therefore, dialogue
for a common future is an imperative for
all concerned and sensible souls.
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