Good Against Evil, Really?

Too often we make a mistake, we view this world in light of fairytales and biblical stories. The great war, the good against the evil, God against the Devil.

I realised this as I was sat in a room with American diplomats, within my breasts I carried this passion, this fury. Ready to divulge into the evil that spouts from Americanism, as I directed my thoughts to which they responded. I realised that it was me that was being close minded, viewing the affairs of this world as simply good and bad, failing to appreciate it’s true complexity.

Although their answers in this particular context were not satisfactory, nor did they lead me to change my position on viewing American foreign policy as unsavoury. But in thought of trying to understand a perception outside ones own, it occurred to me. The world is so much more complicated than Good vs Evil. Sometimes evil is used to achieve good, and good is disguised to do evil.

You can not simply end or bring about peace by simply adhereing to your own self perception of righteousness. To an extent, percieving yourself to be on the side of good, brings with it an automatic sense of superiority or superior morality. Naturally this will not sit well with the side you oppose, seeing them as inherently evil. You must appreciate that to the other side, you are ‘evil’ and they are ‘good’. Just like fear, this narrow approach stems from ignorance. Life is more complicated than black and white or good and evil, we must not get lost in its complexity, to achieve this, we must keep our minds open and our hearts sincere.

We must attain a sense of purity. Which is not someting found in sexuality or naivity. It’s within our very breasts, tucked away within our heart.

We must use this, to navigate ourselves through the complexity of what is good and what is evil.

“But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not” [Qur’an]

Dear Muslim World,

Dear Muslim World,

We complain about the state of the Muslim world, the condition it is in. Seeking out and wondering where is the help of Allah (SWT)?

But have we proceeded to satisfy his commands?

“And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and those will be the successful” [Quran. 3:104]

“And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment” [Quran, 3:105]

We are  a nation that is divided not just into sects, but also into other nations and nationalities. Some invest a greater emphasis on being patriotic about a region, about a land, are not all lands the land of Allah (SWT), do its inhabitants not deserve our equal attention or equal protection?

The Pakistani among us may disagree arguing that Pakistan is the land blessed by God, its Army the best in the world, no matter how evident the contrary maybe. Moreover, a measure of  Arabs hold an almost inherent perception that there is no doubt that Arab genealogy surpasses any other in superiority. The fact that Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) distinctively expressed that an Arab is not superior to a non-Arab, or a non-Arab superior to an Arab, has no relevance to dare i say an innumerable amount of Arabs.

As revealed in the verses of the glorious Qur’an, God told us to let there rise from us a nation inviting to good, we are neither inviting to good nor are we forbidding evil, so how do we seek to be the successful ones? We would rather indulge in discourse on why Iran supports a so and so country because it holds a Shi’ite majority than discuss the crimes of Bashar Al-Assad against the believers.

The answers to our success are in plain visible site, yet we have chosen to close our hearts to the words of our maker, for the Muslim world to be successful we must :

1. Invite to Good

2. Enjoin in what is right

3.  Forbid the wrong

4. And not be divided

Baring in mind that once we aspire and build for the Akhira our Duniya falls into place, this is evident from the history of the believers.

God said he will not change the condition of a nation until they begin to change themselves, so as an Ummah we must first fulfill the commands of our lord, in hope that we will be aided. The fact that the word used init self is nation and not individual may bare a greater meaning, one that we must all work together to be successful. So put down your flags, bury your sectarianism and revert to the way of your Lord, a nation, one nation, Pakistani’s, Indian’s, Iraqi’s, Arabs and Indonesians etc all stood firm in inviting to good and forbidding the evil.

Yours Sincerely,

Your Brother

P.S. There you have it, four steps to a more successful Ummah. It’s as simple as that. What are you waiting for?

A Positive Turn Of Events

COEXIST

A Jewish community patrol group has offered to protect Stoke Newington mosque after a rise in Islamophobic hate crime in London.

Before anymore can be said about these positive turn of events it is disturbingly noted that such events demonstrating religious social harmony tend not to be hyped up or even given the media coverage they deserve. Instead focusing on the little skirmishes across the globe of religious tensions, a lot of which can be said to be rooted in political discourse.

At times of high tension and increasing EDL extremism the Jewish community send a helping hand, sending a firm message that not just a majority of Britons but other faith groups also feel the effect of the increasing radicalisation of the EDL and the stigmatisation of particular segments of our society.

Recently ‘hate crimes’ have been on the rise, a particular concern for the British public and their safety. Such incidents include a Somali community centre being burnt to the ground in London, vandalism of property and assaults. The most recent of which was a home-made bomb that was left outside a mosque in Walsall, during which 39 local residences where evacuated, the police as yet are investigating the incidence which they are treating as a ‘hate crime’. Tensions may yet still be on the rise as the EDL have planned a rally on the Saturday 29^th June 2013, where the guest speakers are two prominent fascists from America. The group Hope Not Hate (HNH) has petitioned to the government to ban them, but this in itself may be counterproductive.

One speaker Pamela Geller feels that Bosnian Muslims during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia killed themselves to ‘manipulate media coverage’, and the other speaker propagates that “there is no distinction in the American Muslim community between peaceful Muslims and jihadists”. Pamela Gellers remarks would be particularly hurtful to many Bosnians, and the thousands of Bosnian women raped during such horrific times in Europe’s history. Whether such hate preachers will be banned or not is a matter best left to the experts themselves, but there is no doubt that such rally’s will ‘disturb the peace’.

It then comes as no surprise that some of London’s faith communities and those of no faith are determined to stand together rather than be divided. The Jewish patrol is known as the Shomrim patrol (Hebrew for security and safety) and has been patrolling Jewish sites since 2008, and will soon be adding Stoke Newton mosque to the list.

Despite the small minority that have acquired a larger platform to propagate negativity, the majority of us are determined to spread positivity, and help create such positive turn of events.