Comments on: Racism in the Arab world

By: Abed. Hamdan

Abed. Hamdan — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 13:28:00 +0000

Robin:

Dear Robin,

Thanks so much for clarifying, a great & true verse indeed

Yes, There’s a similar verse in Qur’an, which say : “wa hal ta2moroon al nas bl berr wa tansawna anfosakom” (Transaltion: you ask people to do good and you forget yourselves).

and Thanks for clariying this fact about Islam, It’s really misleading for some people to mistakenly think that Islam forces people to convert. Thank you very much my sister ! Masssalaaam ;D

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 00:22:00 +0000

Dear Abed,
Sorry, I was using the King James old English version of the verse which is the most often quoted. Here it is in easier language (Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus speaking) Do not judge or you open yourself to judgement. For in the way that you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye” Or how can you say to your brother’Let me take the speck out of your eye’, and behold, the log is in your own eye” You hypocrit, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye”

Now mind you, this is an ideal that everyone has a problem with. I was just wondering if there is a similar verse in the Quran which would apply in situations when one Moslem faces judgement by another Moslem. BTW, I read verses from the Koran all the time which are beautiful and comforting. And yes I know Islam does not insist on conversion. I tell people that all the time when they get defensive in their Christianity against Islam. We are sisters and brothers in peace, just as the prophet Mohammed pbuh teaches and we need to meet on the bridge which connects us. Masalama

By: Abed. Hamdan

Abed. Hamdan — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 23:56:00 +0000

Robin:

Dear Robin,

You reminded me of this story, when some asked Aisha, one of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) Wives, about Muhammad’s behaviour, and her answer was : He was a walking Quran.

Yes, our beleifs should be reflected on our behaviors, and all religion are just calling for peace and love.

Im not sure If I understood that statement you asked me about ?? please can you spell it again ? “Judge not lest ye be judged yourselves”, I think ther’s a mis-spelling problem.

It’s explicitly said in the holy Quran that nobody should force anybody to change his religion, It’s a personal choice..

Thanks for you words, they’re too precious and mostly appreciated

By: Robin

Robin — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 21:52:00 +0000

Abed,
In 100% agreement with you. That’s exactly what is happening now with all Muslims being lumped into one big “terrorist” bag because of the actions of a few. No, we cannot judge a religion simply by the actions of people if they are horrible because the case is usually a case of fundamentalist interpretation, or very selective interpretation in order to justify one’s criminal acts, even if those acts completely defy the decent basis of the religion. It’s all so very complicated and as for the Sunni/Shia thing, in Christianity we have the Catholic/Protestant now Evangwlical thing. I have no problem saying I’m a Catholic but I’ve heard in response, “Oh, I’m a Christian” HELLO, ignorant person, what are you trying to say to me here?! Religion is such a personal thing but yet I really wonder why we cannot all just understand that, that if we are behaving in a “Godly manner” and treat eachother with kindness and love the details count for next to nothing. The very most important thing we each, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Budhist and all need to do is to come to a common understanding of tolerance and respect. Can there really be that many Gods fighting over this thing or is it just blind people not listening to the God of all mankind who wants us all to live in harmony as his children? “Judge not lest ye be judged yourselves” Is there such a saying in the Koran? It really doesn’t matter because it just makes common sense!!

By: Abed. Hamdan

Abed. Hamdan — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 19:29:00 +0000

Naturalblu: you’re right, and that’s why the awareness of this problem is very important!

Omar: I’m flattered! thanks for your visit, I’ll read through your blog inshallah

NeverLand: Oh Hi ! How you doing ?? and How’s the engagement and everything ?? Hope It’s going alright

By: Abed. Hamdan

Abed. Hamdan — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 19:26:00 +0000

Robin:

Dear Robin,
Of course, and I think that the best way to learn about our differences is through talking about them and discussing them explicitly. I think we MUST ask about the details of any religion inorder to learn about it, because no academic education will give us any minimum acceptable level of knowledge about other religions, so we should read about them from trustworthy resources, and we should ask the decent-trustworthy people about them.

But however, there’s an important point that I would like to highlight, that is we shouldn’t judge the religion out of judging followers of that religion or group. And this is a very important point to keep in mind.

What I really don’t like to answer is, when Im asked if Im a sunni or Shia, and I know that the one who asks doesn’t want any knowledge, rather she/he might probably want to fight or have a useless argument, that’s what I meant to say.

Yeah, racism is everywhere in the Arab world, and I just gave a very narrow example, and you can extend your imagination and think about even worse examples !

Thanks my sister!

By: neverland

neverland — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 18:02:00 +0000

Dropped by to say hi man

By: OmAr

OmAr — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 15:02:00 +0000

Racism.... you took me back to an old post of mine regarding this disease.

nice post you wrote here, and great blog as well, keep it up!

By: naturalblu

naturalblu — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 13:39:00 +0000

its just getting worse and worse in the whole world not just the arab word

By: Robin

Robin — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 01:08:00 +0000

Abed,
One thing I think maybe you didn’t think about it that maybe people could just be curious and want to learn when they ask someone what their relgion is. It isn’t a question I would ask a random stranger but if the subject arises for some reason I am curious for one reason, I like to learn about different religions. Of course the best way to learn is by observing behavior but then even that can be very deceiving because what someone claims and how they adhere to the actual teachings are often two very different things. Although I am personally a Catholic I believe that everyone has an absolute god-given right to worship or not worship as they please and that it is NEVER my place to judge them by my own religious bias. Someone might think it is a relativistic approach to life but I have just known far too many people of MANY different religions, some wonderful people, some not so wonderful, But even within every religion you’ve got your nice people and your not so nice people. My point is that open discussion without condemnation can be a bridge for understanding and peaceful relations. We’re all in this big boat called Earth together and we need to respect each other, love one another, and treat each other the way all of our religions tell us too. You’d be interested if you looked up the Golden Rule. A version of it exists in all the great religions. As long as we each abide by this most basic principal it shouldn’t be a problem discussing our differences because we all know how we ourselves wish to be treated by others. Just a thought.
Now if you want to talk about Saudis hating Kuwaitis, Lebanese hating Egyptians, heck, all the different Arabs hating eachother for one reason or another, THERE’S a subject. It always drove me insane!! As an American I got my fair share but got a thick skin about it because as an individual I learned what the reasons were, not because I was American but because of our political manuevering in the ME. FYI, there’s racism EVERYWHERE here in the US not the least of which is against Arabs and Muslims. I’m sure you alreaddy know this but as a recipient through proxy it SUCKS!