More thoughts on non-violence and the Lebanese situation

Violence and hatred can in no way lead to peace and brotherly love. How much damage must be done in order to realize that we have been going at this the wrong way? How much blood must be spilled before we realize that raising arms against one another will only lead to those arms bringing destruction until ultimately they bring the destruction to those bearing said arms? Why do we look at Social and political leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and call them weak? Why are we so near sighted that we cannot see that if we overthrow anything with violence it will only lead to more violence?

Life is worth living, ironically the value of life is so heavily weighed that life itself is worth dying for, but it should never lead to a life worth killing for. Once you cross that fine line you become one of the oppressors. The individual that uses might to prove a point only does so because they lack the strength to do otherwise. In a true test of strength only the strong willed will survive, anyone can shoot a bullet at another living being, but only few can withstand the test of self-restraint in order to achieve peace. The ultimate goal in our daily lives should be to live in the moment while setting the foundations of tomorrow. How, then, can we expect to a better future if the foundations we set are based on hating an enemy, internally or externally? We must stop pointing fingers at each other and show solidarity in our ideals. We must not accept our rights to be taken away from us, but we cannot defend our rights by taking the rights of others away. If every time someone strikes us, we strike back it will give cause for more strikes. However, to take those strikes and negative emotions and move on, without retaliating in the same way is to show true strength. Do not submit, be strong but strong willed not strong armed. Show respect for life, even when that respect is not granted to you. This is not a sign of weakness it is a sign of truly understanding that we are ready to build the proper foundations for a health and brighter future.

I do not expect many people to agree with me, in fact, I know most won’t. But I have faith that within time all the people that believe I am too soft, or don’t have a grasp on reality, or don’t understand the politics or history of the region will too believe in what I am saying. Once people can let go of the violence and hatred in their hearts they will read this differently. Before I end this I would like to leave you with this one thought: throughout history it has taken bold men to challenge the way of thinking, way of life and most of those men have died for their cause; but at least paved the way for future generations to carry on their battles. I may not be a Gandhi or a Martin Luther King Jr. but I am someone who believes in the greater good of humanity and that we can overcome any obstacle with the kindness and respect. Let our weapon of choice be knowledge and respect.

It is easier to deal with a wound of the flesh than it is to deal with a wounded conscience.

Reaction to "Innocence of Muslims"

I start this piece with the recognition that I am a Muslim living in the Middle East. I also would like to define my recognition/understanding of my belief system in Islam. I am a spiritual person who has tied my spiritual roots in the findings of Islam, and if I were to be honest, it is because I was born into a Muslim family;, nothing more; nothing less. My religious belief is not what defines how I think or behave in certain situations; it is my spiritual belief that guides me to being a better person.

This is a reaction piece to the current situation that has risen due to poor judgment on the part of an amateur filmmaker. The way the movie Innocence of Muslims has been received in the Arab world is ridiculous, and what is even more appalling is the reaction. Rioting, Flag burning, bringing up hurtful moments in history (Egyptians dancing around disgracefully and reminding the Americans about 9/11) and worst of all, attacking embassies and killing innocent people. Now this is not only about the Arabs or the Muslims, it is also for the people in the West.

People on both sides of this problem need to start showing tolerance for each other. Mitt Romney, a Rep. running for President of the USA goes out and slams President Obama’s cabinet for speaking out against the video. A public figure should look at more that just what will get him votes, a true public figure should look at what is best for the people he represents. Barack Obama and his cabinet did just that, he knew that there would be public outcry at what happened and tried to soften the blow by denouncing the movie. I am not saying that the Obama administration is taking sides, they are just looking out for Americans around the world. Romney’s reaction is a publicity stunt to gain the popular vote, because if something is said condemning such a movie, it is viewed as infringing on the freedom of speech. While that may be accurate, let’s look at this from a different angle; you may have the right to free speech, however, you cannot yell false claims that may create panic or violence; for example, it is against the law to scream “fire!” in a crowded movie theater. People should not shout false claims and wait to watch the havoc and destruction unfold.

Islam is not about violence in so much as it has been misrepresented by the media-mongering faux-Muslim preachers. Every religion has its vocal, misguided believers, yet we cannot begin to claim that they are the face of that religion. The Bin Ladens and Hassan Nassrallahs of the world are not religious leaders; they are political leaders using false pretenses, to reach their people, not unlike Elijah Mohammad and the Nation of Islam in the US.  Is it fair to say that Terry Jones, the preacher who wanted to burn the Quran in Florida, is the new face of Christianity?

I read some comments to this video and am appalled that people claim that this is the way the Prophet lived. None of us were there to claim that anyone lived in a specific manner. Having said that, that is why we should take the texts of all religion with a grain of salt.

Every religion, at the root of it, preaches to making us a better people. It should not matter whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or of any other faith, what matters is that we accept that we are all God's creations. You can call the Creator by any name it will not change the fact that we all were created by the same entity. Why then should we claim to be better than another people just because we, as individuals, believe we understand the "true" word of God?

Who cares that some ignorant person who is trying to incite violence and hatred among people created a movie depicting his understanding of the Prophet Muhammad? The value given to this character in this movie is exactly the amount of value each one of us viewers gives it. If we can truly look beyond this movie and see what it is, a dramatic production of someone's fantasy world, then we can simply say that the character is nothing more than a misrepresentation of someone of historical and religious importance and leave it at that.

For those of you who will claim that the Prophet has stated that we should kill all infidels, I leave you with this quote that has been attributed to him, I was not there so I cannot claim as a fact that it is he who said it, but history tells us it was:

“The strong man is not the good wrestler; the strong man is only the one who controls himself when he is angry.”  - Prophet Muhammad

Where then is the strength of all those true believers? Where is the patience and understanding that this saying hints to? To control yourself when you are angry means to have control over your emotions. To have control over your emotions means you are thinking logically, and if you are a logical thinker and still believe then you are a believer through conviction, not emotion. The path to peace lies in ones ability to differentiate between, and act upon what is right and what is wrong. A reaction, no matter how justified it may seem, that involves the infringing on other peoples God-given rights (the right to live, the right to believe) is never the solution. In fact, more often than not it leads us into a cycle of more violence. Which brings us to where we are today.

The only thing that the people who have taken to the streets have proven is that the creator of this movie was right; as a people we come off as barbaric in our inability to conduct ourselves when faced with issues we do not approve of.

On the Arab-Israeli conflict

We need to forget about '67, we need to forget about '48, we need to look at 2012 and beyond. The only problem is that when an Arab speaks out against Israel we always go back to terrorist versus soldiers, we always dwell on who fired the first bullet or threw the first stone. None of that is important anymore, what's done is done. We need to put our efforts into ending this cyclical battle.

I know that change takes time and we may not be able to make a big difference now, but who's to say that if enough people aren't convinced by what is said that we can't start something. If we reach enough people with a non-violent message, a message for the future, a message preaching the right to live in a society in which one will not be judged based on a name; whether it is Eli or Ali, Moses or Mohammad, you can live freely, you can live without fear. You can live. This is the message that we need to pass on. The greatest movements in the world all began with a simple thought. My thought is this, if you want an end to our problems we need to educate the youth. We need to avoid the indoctrination of Arab-Israeli hate and focus on what we hope to attain: peaceful, understanding, respectful citizens on both sides of the border. Instead of filling our youth with hatred for an enemy they do not know, we need to educate them so that they can see the truth, the truth that we are all God’s children, regardless of our individual understanding of who or what God is. I’ve said this in the past; you can call God Yahua, Allah, or Jesus that doesn’t change the fact that we are all His children.

We need to educate our children on the basics of humanity. Be good, love, listen, respect, and help others. Be good; be good for goodness’s sake don’t be good because of an ulterior motive. Be good because you truly want to be good, if we can achieve that level of kindness: an unselfish, deep well of kindness we can achieve the next step of love. Love; if we can teach our children to truly love one another then we have eliminated hate. If we can eliminate hate, or at least relieve the strangle hold that it has on us, then we can promote understanding. Once we have understanding we can then teach respect. Respecting others’ right to live, to exist in a world in which one does not have to fear for their child’s life every day, or when the next rocket attack will come, or when the next air raid will be. Once we have a grasp of how to respect we will then understand that we must respect each individual’s opinions as just that, an individual opinion. Once we achieve the ability to respect each other’s opinions we have learned to listen. Once we learn how to respect each other’s opinions we have learned to speak softly. We will no longer feel the need to raise our voices to get the point across. Respect and you will be respected. Love and you will be met with love. Listen to others and they will listen to you. Be good for the sake of being good, and goodness will find it’s way back to you. If we as a people can do this, then we can begin to help each other move forward.

We need to educate our youth and get them out of their current situation. We need to promote equality. We need to promote virtues that will make us better human beings if we hope to have a positive, peaceful future. Violence will never be met with peace; the olive branch will only grow if the environment is right for it.

Current logic seems to be that if I fire 150 rockets in one day, the enemy will tell me they want to live side-by-side. This is not the proper environment for peace. From the on-set this logic tells you that we don’t want peace. We want complete control, we want the demolition of the other state. This is wrong! We cannot exist in a world where we feel violence is the solution to our problems. We cannot flourish as a people if we don’t exercise self-restraint. What is happening in Gaza is not resistance, it’s not even self-defense, it’s pure selfishness. It is a group of people who refuse to accept that there is a stronger military force lurking right behind the wall. If we truly wanted peace we would stop the shelling. We would put our arms down and head to the round table for discussions. Look at are our demands. Look at what we are asking for. Land. It’s time we change our demands. Instead of asking for land, we should be negotiating for, demanding, a better standard of living. Our concern should be ensuring a proper education for our youth, building better schools, providing better health care, and setting the foundation for future generations to build on. Instead, we waste our time and money on the physical battle with a people who have inherited a war in which they cannot back out of. The other side of this war is not only fighting for land, they are fighting for their existence.  The only way to stop this war is to eliminate that concern, offer the chance to peacefully co-exist and they have no more opportunity to fight.

Teach our youth to love and we will have love, teach them to hate and we will have hate. The children are our marble slate and education is our chisel. We can shape them any way we choose, let us not misuse this power and create more destruction. Let the light within us shine and guide our children through the darkness. Let the map to the future be drawn with olive branches and white doves.

 “We must either learn to live together as brothers, or we are all going to perish together as fools”.  Martin Luther King Jr.