In the name
of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Muslims Have Lunatics Too
Munier Nazzal, M.D.
Muslims are living in an
age of fierce accusations and a relentless war against us as the newest enemy of
humanity. We are witnessing an era when the right and wrong are so confused and
when the voice of the media is higher than that of the truth. In our time the
victim has been taken as an aggressor, the oppressed as an oppressor, the thief
as an owner, and the ignorant as the source of wisdom to rule and control.
In this time Islam has been equated with terror and violence. Muslims are taken
as vampires. We Muslim are to blame. The voices of Muslims become defensive for
every offense, reactive for every act but not committed to learn and teach. We
are more involved when it comes to problems among ourselves. We are extremely
passive and allow our illiterates to lead and speak in our names.
The lack of leadership among Muslims allows voices of hatred and bitterness to
prevail and overshadow those of love and kindness. The tolerance of Islam has
been replaced by messages of violence. Although the clash of civilization was
not a Muslim idea, it was perpetuated and strengthened by naïve Muslims or those
with hidden messages. They created new rules that hijacked Islam.
I am quoting a message that truly represents genuine Islam from the Prophet
(peace be upon him) in the form of messages sent to Christian communities at
that time. These messages carry the true spirit of Islam and the real teachings
for Muslims.
In a message sent to the Monks of the St. Catherine Monastery, Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) said,
“This
is a message from Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt
Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the
helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and
by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to
be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their
monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to
damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone
take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet.
Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they
hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims
are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not
to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her
church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be
prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of
the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the
world).”
These words cannot be changed or modified by any true Muslim follower. There
were no exceptions in the words or conditions in return to this offer to fulfill
but the true spirit of the message of Islam.
A similar letter from the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) to the Assyrians (Nazarenes):
“If the Nazarenes wish to build a church, their Muslim neighbors shall help
them”.
“If there be among the Christians a great and learned man the Muslims shall honor him and not be envious of his greatness”.
“If any
one is unjust and unkind to the Christians he will be guilty of disobeying the
Prophet of God”.
These
words of the Prophet are the Law for true Muslims and followers of Islam. In
spite of being accused of being chaos-loving terrorists, history tells us that
Muslims did not start WWI, nor did a Muslim invade his neighbors to ignite WWII.
It was not a Muslim that wiped out cities with weapons of mass destruction.
Moreover, it was not a Muslim who burnt millions of human lives under
unjustifiable and illogical reasons.
Muslims were not responsible for putting other groups in concentration camps and
those who wiped out other nations were not Muslim. Going even further, it was
not Muslims who removed other people out of their homes for religious reasons
and with the encouragement of others under religious motivation.
Muslims, like other religious groups and nations, have a minority who try to
catapult the whole group into madness, violence, killing, and hatred. When these
groups are Muslim they are called fundamentalists (as if reflecting the soul and
essence of the religion), while those of other religions and groups who commit
the same heinous acts are referred to as mere lunatics.
People forget that there are lunatics among Muslim too.
posted
3/1/2010