A rchive Date
[ 14-08-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Terrorism ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/mansur_toronto.html
Muslims must learn from the past
By SALIM MANSUR - For the Toronto Sun
August 14, 2003
LONDON, Ont. - In faith and politics, as in scholarship, revisionism can be useful in re-examining established conventions and opinions that have hardened into dogmas.
In scholarship, some of the finest works in any age belong to the category of revisionism. This is proper since human intellect is fallible and limited, and revisionism reminds us that what we often hold as true, on re-examination turns out to be partial and incomplete.
In the Middle East today, partial truths hardened into dogmas threaten global peace and security.
The enmity of Arabs and Jews has become so malignant that each side's partial truths have become weapons of mutual destruction. And the simple idea that truth, if it is to heal and nurture, must be shared is lost.
There are Jews, religious and secular, who have engaged in revisionism of modern Jewish nationalism, or Zionism, pertaining to the making of Israel and its consequences for native Palestinians. To mention a few from recent years would include Benny Morris, Amos Oz, Amos Elon, Avi Shlaim, Uri Avnery, Ilan Pappe, Marc Ellis and Tanya Reinhart.
No similar list of revisionist Arabs, Palestinians and Muslims in general can be put together. There are, however, a few, such as Fouad Ajami and Kanan Makiya, and with the liberation of Iraq others may emerge. But they remain ostracized by Arabs and Muslims for repudiating their tribal code of honour which demands consensus.
And yet the exemplar of revisionism for Arabs and Muslims is Mohammed, the prophet of Islam. Moreover, the Koran - as Islam's sacred text - demands of its readers an open mind at all times to re-examine their opinions and dogmas.
One of the more significant aspects of Mohammed's prophetic mission was to reawaken among desert Arabs, and then the rest of humankind, the knowledge of the path of Abraham and Moses and Jesus to God. The Koran is the proof of this mission.
There is nothing more urgent for Arabs and Muslims in these times, when some among them have perverted and pulverized the message of Islam, than re-examining their faith and politics by returning to the Koran with an open mind.
The peril of abusing Islam is immense for Muslims as 9/11 and the evil of suicide-bombings in the Holy Land illustrate.
Arabs and Muslims rightly demand justice for Palestinians, yet forget that for such a demand to be a moral force they must be just themselves in action at all times.
Even a cursory reading of the Koran is illuminating. It is a book that retells again and again the story of Abraham and his progeny, the children of Israel. For instance, Chapter 17 of the Koran is titled The Children of Israel, and here, as in Chapter 7 (The Heights) and Chapter 44 (Smoke), the sacred narrative is a reminder to "learn from the past."
Chapter 17 is most revealing. The opening verse confirms the night journey of Mohammed from Mecca to Jerusalem to the portal of the Lord of the Universe.
The significance of this verse, among other meanings, is that Mohammed's mission was the final summing-up of Abraham's mission, and establishing continuity with the prophecies made in Jerusalem.
Then in the subsequent verses of Chapter 17, the Koran narrates once again the story of the Israelites for lessons to be learned. And toward the end of the chapter, in verse 104, the Koran declares, "And We said unto the Children of Israel after him: Dwell in the land ... "
The reference is to Moses leading the Israelites out of their painful exile in Egypt, and the fulfilment of the promise made of a home for them in the Holy Land.
Arabs and Muslims can save themselves much continuing pain by engaging in revisionism, reading the Koran with fresh eyes, open minds and hearts full of trust and gratitude in God's plenitude.
The sharing of truth in spirit and body would mean once again recognizing the significance of Mohammed's mission, and embracing Jews for having returned to dwell among them as promised.
Salim Mansur is a professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario. His column appears alternate Thursdays. He can be reached at smansurca@yahoo.ca Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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