Beware of Extremists
by Hamza Yusuf
The Afghans tell a humorous tale of an
American who sought enlightenment in their land. When he arrived he asked
the first Afghan he saw, ” who is the most enlightened man in your
land?” The Afghan who knew no English replied “namai safman” which
in their language means, I don’t know what you’re talking about. The
American set out looking for this fellow named Namai Fafman. He soon came
upon a funeral procession and out of curiosity asked an onlooker who it
was who had died. The Afghan not knowing English replied “Namai Safman.”
Again, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The American
cried; “And to think, I just missed him.”
The moral of this story is that we must
understand a people before we can benefit from them. In the current
crisis, all sides are shouting but no-one seems to be understanding.
Unfortunately in the absence of real discourse extremism has produced its
own language that the mob do understand. If you’re not with us, you’re
against us, has become the mantra uttered by both extremes which
oversimplifies a complex matter and only serves to further polarize and
incite. Reason and truth have always resided in the difficult middle
ground between black and white, good and evil. Indeed life seems anything
but black and white and good and evil battle it out daily within our own
souls. Adhering to this middle ground enables us all to see our common
humanity and its shared core values whether sacred or secular.
The terror inflicted on September 11th
was indeed evil. However, we should ask ourselves, are the retaliatory
strikes presently terrifying and killing mostly innocent civilians a good
response or are they a betrayal of the very core values we all share? The
prophet Mohammed over fourteen hundred years ago said “beware of
extremism, for it is that which destroyed the peoples before you.”
In the light of the present situation it is indeed wise advice. He also
said, “My way is the middle way.” Moderation is in fact the way of
thinking people everywhere. The vast majority of humanity is not extremist
but in key times can easily be driven so.
To attack the seemingly intractable
problem of terrorism at its roots we must address the condition that
produced it and not just its ugly branches or bitter fruit. In our meeting
with President Bush he said to American faith leaders twice, “I see
opportunity through the tears.” My fear is that if we continue to bomb
an already war-ravaged and defeated nation while telling them that we are
not at war with them or their religion, they will only reply “namai
safman” I don’t know what you’re talking about. ~ Hamza Yusuf
Article
Reference: www.therevival.co.uk
|
