Many years ago, I took a couple of semesters of translation workshops with University of Arkansas Professor Miller Williams. As I distributed my first-ever translation of an Arabic short story to my classmates for their critique, he urged them to show compassion to me -- a scientist. He reminisced fondly his early experience as a scientist. I guess, it was to make me, a stranger to arts and literature, feel at ease. Recently, I came across this short poem, Compassion, by Williams:
Have compassion for everyone you meet, even if they don't want it. What seems conceit, bad manners or cynicism is always a sign of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen. You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone.
-- Miller Williams
In Matthew 5:17, Jesus Christ is quoted to have declared, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word "fulfill" means "to put into effect, to meet the requirements of, to develop the full potentialities of and to convert into reality." Thus, Jesus Christ is saying, that through his conduct, he is expressing the true meanings and essence of the Torah.
Despite how his contemporaries -- and especially his adversaries -- interpreted his teachings, Jesus claims his compassion and his teachings of "loving the enemy" are the direct result of following the scriptures. I have heard many a clergy and lay people among Christians say the Old Testament teachings were harsh and violent and originated from a vengeful and jealous God, yet Jesus Christ himself attributes love and compassion as the hallmark of the Judaic teachings.
What seemed conceit and turning the teaching on its head to Caiaphas and his ilk were simply the "things their ears had not heard and their eyes had not seen," as Miller Williams so aptly puts it. They were oblivious of the wars that were going on "down there where the spirit meets the bone" in the bosoms of those practicing compassion and following in the footsteps of their master, even though they (the antagonists) didn't want it.
Today, Islam is in the same boat in the eyes of the West, which sees it with cynicism and is not prepared to give due credit to its teachings of unconditional love and compassion as embodied in its holy book, the Quran.
The opening chapter of the Quran -- which summarizes the entire holy book -- introduces God (Allah) as having the supreme attributes of Al-Rahman and Al-Rahim. Al-Rahman means the God of extreme compassion who, out of his immense love, gives everything his creation needs without being asked and without any discrimination. Al-Rahim means the God of mercy, who rewards any effort that is made by his creatures bountifully. Both of these attributes emanate from the fountainhead of unfathomable love.
Every chapter of the Quran starts with this enchanting verse. Every Muslim starts every act -- whether mundane or spiritual -- by remembering the compassionate and ever-merciful God. This chapter also refers to the compassionate God as the Lord of all the peoples, not just Muslims. Practicing Muslims recite this chapter in their five daily prayers at least 20 times. This short chapter comprised of only seven verses is sufficient to convince a seeker of truth that Islam introduces man to a God, who loves all the peoples of the world without discrimination.
The Quran teaches Muslims how to become righteous. In Chapter 16, verse 91, Allah says, "Verily, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others; and giving like kindred; and forbids indecency, and manifest evil, and wrongful transgression. He admonished you that you may take heed."
The first step toward righteousness starts with justice -- you must be fair, without discrimination of any kind. Many in our turbulent times cannot meet this mark. Yet this is the lowest stage of righteousness, according to Quran.
The next stage is that of giving back generously in return for what one has received. This is called Ihsan in Arabic. When the Prophet (Peace be on him.) was asked, "What is Ihsan?" he answered, "It is to do good while you see God present before you." This is the second stage that requires such high sense of God-consciousness.
The third and the highest stage is to give like a mother gives to her children because of her innate deep-seated love toward her offspring -- i.e., without even a fleeting thought of any recompense or desiring a word of thanks from the recipient. The Holy Quran has more than 200 verses encouraging Muslims to strive toward such levels of love and compassion.
Of course, this is not to say all Muslims are at such high levels of God-consciousness. There are some among the so-called Muslims who commit extremely vile crimes against humanity and try to justify those on the basis of religion. Most Muslims have openly disavowed them and have declared that such heinous acts of terror are contradictory to Islam.
It is hoped the people will read the Quran and judge for themselves if the teachings of Islam are to be blamed or if those terrorists are to be treated as criminals with agendas that have nothing to do with religion.
NAN Religion on 09/10/2016