After The Barbaric Slaughter Of Margaret Hassan Let’s Remember This About Islam By Ali Al-Hail

After The Barbaric Slaughter Of Margaret Hassan Let’s Remember This About Islam

By Ali Al-Hail

Al-Jazeerah, November 24, 2004

In the aftermath of Margaret Hassan’s killing by a bunch of criminals whom ‘only God knows to which ‘Machiavellian evil’ they belong’, it has become vitally important to send this message about Islam to all concerned.

Especially, to those who had never failed to show the Globe that their obsession, with ‘manufacturing’ carnages with the most sophisticated weapons ever existed on Earth is the ‘appropriate’ way to transit ‘Democracy’ to other nations!

Equally and more urgently perhaps, this message is also directed to those who behead and murder innocent and wonderful people like Margaret and others in the name of Islam and whose connections with the devious motives have become a common place fact even to a child in the Muslim World.

Here’s the massage:

Islam is not only adaptable and flexible as a way of life but also sympathetic and understanding of other nations’ cultures. Islam urges Muslims to accept and respect other people’s way of life as much as they expect the others to accept and respect theirs.

It is in the core of Islam to approach and criticize other people’s cultures from their cultures’ own point of view. Because of this perspective which was highly held, the Prophet and his successors spread Islam till it reached the boundaries of France and China.

When the Muslims abandoned this essential principle and followed this cleric and that instead they distanced themselves and the others from Islam. What this point stressed could be described as an important cultural conscientization, borrowing Freire’s terms, in his cultural approach into other cultures.

This approach clearly shows Islam as the ultimate conscientization (introduces methods of how and why should a human being become critical of what she\he reads, views and listen to).

Because of its awareness and comprehension of the “sociocultural reality” (of all human beings) that shapes (the lives of human beings) and their capacity to transform that reality (Freire, 1985: 71-93), in Freire’s definition.

In Islam this belief is based on the notion that the main role of man (man kind) on earth is to be God’s Khalifa, the great creator’s vehicle and God’s successor to build and endure life on this earth.

‘Allah’ stated in the holy Qur’an addressing Adam and the human being in him:-

“We have appointed a successor on the earth” (the Holy Qur’an, 30: 2).

This role in Islam could be described as cultural action based on cultural conscientization (the capability to become aware of things and to become critical of what one watches, reads and listens to).

A close examination of the Islamic cultural heritage shows that transferring experiences from non-Muslim cultures to Muslim cultures is an Islamic principle.

In the mid sixth century the Prophet asked one of his disciples, Zaid Bin Thabit, to transfer the experiences of the advanced nations (i.e., The Romans, from whom much European cultures originate, the Coptic, Abyssinian Christian cultures, Persian, who were the second super power after the Romans when the Prophet began establishing the state of Islam in Al-Madina in ,Saudi Arabia, now and the Jews).

According to Al-Tilmisani (1980):- "the Prophet ordered Zaid to mix up with Romans, Coptics, Abyssinians and Persians to transfer their experience to Islamic culture in Al-Madina. Zaid learnt Latin (on which most European languages is based) in order to translate their books into Arabic" (Al-Tilmisani, 1980: 208).

Khan (1977) quoted Zaid as saying:- "the Prophet ordered me to obtain the experiences of the Jews in Writing and reading. I even wrote letters for the Prophet to the Jews and also read their letters which they wrote to him" (Khan, 1977: 233).

These examples of flexibility in Islam ought to be highlighted in order to enable people to become aware of the Islam the Almighty God wants every single human being to follow and to adopt.

References:

Al-Tilmisani, A. (1980) Authenticating The Heard Evidence (an Arabic Editorial) Abu salama, A. (Cairo, Al-Azhar), p. 208.

Freire, P. (1985) The Politics Of Education: Culture, Power and Liberation (London, Macmillan).

Khan, M. (1977) 'Sahih Al-Bukhari' (Revelations, Interpreter) Vol. 1x (Turkey, Hilal Yayinlari), p. 233.

Dr. Ali Al-Hail is Professor of Mass Communications Board Member of AUSACE, Member of ASC, IABD, IMDA, AEJMC, BEA, NEBAA

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

Apartheid Wall


The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

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