Says no room for violence in Islam; democrats, judges and UN delegates attend function held in Dallas
Dallas (US): Dr Aamir Liaquat has delivered a speech in a function organised by Hasan Ansari here. The function was attended by democrats, judges and UN delegation. Following is the text of Dr Aamir Liaquat's speech:
Ladies and gentlemen!Honourable judges and assembly women
Respected citizens and my brother, who is hosting this harmonious gathering, Hasan Ansari and the listeners behind the camera,
I would like to say some words right from my heart in front of you to express my feelings as a human being, when we close our hearts to others, our eyes are closed to see the beauty of God in them. The message of Islam, Judaism, Christianity and all other religions is one of love and service to others. ... If God decides to care and love and feed even those who deny his existence, then who are we to deprive someone else of our love just because he is of different colour or speaks a different language or is born in a different country or prays to the same God but in a different direction, using different words. We must try to transcend the barriers among humans so that we break the barriers between humans and God. We must see ourselves in others and we must see God in each of us. We must love others in order to be loved by God, and we must enter into surrender peacefully, willingly and wholeheartedly.
Jews, Muslims, and Christians agree that God is one - Creator of the universe. We have much in common and on which we agree - and much that we disagree about - and that causes us too often to look at each other with suspicion and mistrust. Abraham - the friend of God - is spiritually the shared ancestor of half the people alive today - Jews, Christians and Muslims. Abraham is a defining figure - our common patriarch, - a source of inspiration, - and sadly through much of our shared history a source of argument, bloodshed, persecution and suffering. In the story of Abraham we can find justification for continued suspicion and mistrust, or we can find in Abraham the point of contact, the cornerstone for a new relationship.
We have forgotten the legacy of Abraham - forgotten that to be blessed and to be a blessing we must be like Abraham and compete only in doing good and we have not been much of a blessing to the world. From the time of Isaac and Ishmael until today we have fought over Abraham and his heritage. Perhaps we can find a way through dialogue and building relationships to bring reconciliation - even Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury Abraham. Perhaps we - Abraham’s unruly children can do the same.
We are all witnesses to the faith of Abraham in our own communities - and as in a court of law - no two witnesses agree on all the details - we can agree to disagree.
The clash between Islam and the West is not a clash between Islam and Christianity worthy of war. The clash between Islam and the West is not a clash between Islam and Judaism worthy of war. The clash between Islam and the West is not a clash of civilisations worthy of war. The clash between Islam and the West may be summed up in three words: justice versus greed.
The Quran, the Word of God for Muslims, states: “O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly, the most honoured of you in God’s sight is the greatest of you in piety.”
Thus, Islam, perhaps like no other religion, declares to Muslims the sanctity of all “nations and tribes.” What may surprise Christians and Jews, and even many Muslims, is that the Quran refers to them all as “Muslims”. The three faiths share the Abrahamic heritage, the same values, and revere many of the same prophets. Muslims, Christians, Jews once lived in peace in Palestine, all three referred to God as Allah. The three faiths thrived in Muslim Spain until its fall to Christian armies. Maimonides, highly revered among Jews, studied and practiced in Muslim Spain. Muslims respect the prophets of Judaism and Christianity.
Islam teaches that “the most excellent jihad is for the conquest of self.” It teaches Muslims to speak out against oppression, and to fight if necessary for justice. This is jihad. But, there have been, and perhaps there always will be, clashes both among and between peoples and nations, and within civilisations.
The clash between the Dalits, the lowest caste in India, and the upper castes is a clash that has persisted for centuries. Europe, in centuries past, was ravaged by clashes within Christianity. Muslims have fought wars with Muslims. For the most part, the underlying reason for these clashes was economic. Economics, more specifically greed, is the primary reason for the clash between Islam and the West.
Some in the US wish to control the world’s resources and markets, regardless of the cost to Americans and others, and if dissenting voices are excluded from the national dialogue, as they often are, the US is very likely to go to war. They will be going to a war which will benefit a few, at the expense of many, that’s evident from world history. The clash over the control of resources and markets is not new.
There has been plenty of terrorism and violence committed by human beings from every religious background. Not all terrorists are Muslims. In fact, not even most terrorists are Muslims. Who is defined as a terrorist, and who is defined in some other way is not consistent. The Arabic word to describe terrorist acts is “hirabah”. Hirabah as the “killing by stealth and targeting a defenceless victim in a way intended to cause terror in society.”
Here in the United States, we commonly use the Arabic word “jihad,” normally translated “holy war,” to describe the sick, twisted acts of Middle Eastern extremists who are killing innocent people, instead of the more accurate word hirabah. When we do, we fan the fires that burn within the hearts of those who plan and carry out such evil deeds. The term “holy war” was first used in Europe during the Crusades to justify war against, not by, Muslims. A more accurate translation of jihad is “holy struggle.”
In a religious sense, jihad means striving for the benefit of the community or the restraint of personal sins. It can refer to internal as well as external efforts to be a proper Muslim. If such a struggle is required to protect the faith, it can be performed using legal, diplomatic, economic and political means. Also, while Islamic guerrilla fighters are commonly called mujaheddin, or “holy warriors,” we should refer to these wanton killers as mufsidoon, evildoers and mischief-makers.
I am no expert on Islam – never claimed to be – but I do know the value of truth-in-labelling. Three decades ago, we adopted the language of the convenience killers in the abortion movement, fed to us by a well-meaning, misguided media. As a result, the deliberate taking of life of a human being in the womb first became a “choice” and then a “right.”
Now, we are adopting the language of Islamic extremists fed to us by the same well-meaning but misguided media. Are we really ready to proclaim these genocidal and suicidal acts a “mandate of God” to be inflicted on society by His “holy warriors”? Words have meaning. Repeat them often enough and they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is love that will save the world.
It is clear that there is no room for violence in Islam. According to the Quran, war is only possible for defensive purposes, when property, lives or virtue are in danger. But even then, Muslims never go to excess, and have a responsibility to treat the captives they take kindly, even give their prisoners food while they themselves go hungry, to establish peace without delay and to protect civilians and the innocent. It is clear from the life our Prophet (SAW) the kind of behaviour in this regard that Islam demands. Throughout the 13 years they lived in Makkah our Prophet (SAW) and the Companions were subjected to terrible duress, attacks and slanders; they were forced to leave their homes and threatened with death. But they never resorted to violence despite all this aggression and oppression. When the oppression in Makkah increased, they migrated to Medina, and during the Medina period they only engaged in wars that were unavoidable and for defensive purposes.
Allah tells us in the Quran that it is better to forgive people, even if murder has been committed. Muslims’ responsibility, according to the Quran, is always to do what is best for Allah’s approval. Since Allah regards forgiveness as best, even in the case of murder, that is what Muslims need to do. Islam is a religion of affection, compassion, peace and love. Those who seek to give a different impression of Islam should abandon that behaviour forthwith. As Muslims, we strongly condemn all the terrorist attacks around the world, including those on two major cities of the United States of America on September 11, 2001, which caused the death and injury of thousands of innocent people.
Religion commands love, mercy and peace. Terror, on the other hand, is the opposite of religion; it is cruel, merciless and demands bloodshed and misery. This being the case, the origins of a terrorist act should be sought in disbelief or in radical views that misinterpret the commands of religion rather than in religion itself. People with a fascist, communist, racist, materialist or radical outlook on life should be suspected as potential perpetrators. Murdering innocent people in the name of a divine religion is unacceptable. No one who is religious, and loves and fears God would do such a thing.....those who seek to destroy “cloisters, churches, synagogues and mosques wherein God’s names are frequently invoked” Qur’an [22:40].
Cowardly acts of terrorism upon innocent men, women and children is not a doorway to heaven, but a gateway to hell. Blind aggression and retaliation are sins, and as Muslims we reject these practices by ourselves, our kin, our foes, the rich, or the poor. The voice of the Muslim is not mute. Our voice is that of the Quran, and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Both ring with clarity that peace is to be loved and sought, and terrorism is to be hated and rejected.
We are currently substituting profit for justice, occupation for liberty, exclusiveness for inclusiveness, sectarian for universal causes, self-existence for pro-existence, destruction for change, violence for dialogue, bullets for words, and ritual oriented for values based religion.
We need to regain our consciousness to be aware of our connection to each other -- to care about not only what happens to US but what happens to them. We need to recognise violence in all its forms. We recognise war and murder as violence. We need to recognise poverty, hunger, homelessness, racism, prejudice and all forms of intolerance, bigotry and injustice against any people anywhere as acts of violence which damage the human spirit and to understand that we cannot have peace as long as these acts of violence continue.
“For me, then the question, “How to stop terrorism”? is easy. We stop terrorism first of all by stopping our own terrorism! We cannot fight terrorism by becoming terrorists. We cannot end terrorism by using the methods of terrorism to bomb and kill other nations, to occupy Iraq, to support the terrorist occupation of the Palestinians, and to hold the world hostage with our nuclear weapons. Violence in response to violence can only lead to further violence. Jesus taught us that as the soldiers were dragging him away to his death when he said, “Those who live by the sword, will die by the sword.”
Violence cannot stop violence. We have to break the cycle of violence, renounce violence, start practicing creative active non-violence on a level that the world has never seen, and reach out and embrace the world’s poor by meeting their every need. Then, we will win over the world, and no one will ever want to hurt a Westerner again. On that new day, we will sow the seeds of love and peace and discover what a world without terrorism, war, poverty, and fear is like.
I do not understand our love of violence. If you want other people to be non-violent, you first have to be non-violent. If you want to remove the speck from someone else’s eye, you have to remove the two by four from your own head. If you want other nations to hold you in high regard, you first have to hold other nations in high regard, and treat every human being on the planet as a sister and brother. As someone once said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That is the answer to the nightmare of terrorism.
And the question is how do we stop terrorism? My answer is to renounce every trace of violence in your heart and your life. Adopt the wisdom and practice of active non-violence, as Dr King taught. Beg the God of peace for the gift of peace. Join your local peace and justice group. Stand up publicly for an end to war. Let your life be disrupted, and take a new, non-violent risk for disarmament. Create new cells of active non-violence. Embrace the religious roots of non-violence. Study and teach the wisdom of non-violence. Resist your local military and government violence. Stop business as usual, government as usual, media as usual, war as usual and demand peace, justice, and disarmament for the whole world, now. Announce the vision of a new non-violent world, a disarmed world, a world without war, poverty, injustice or nuclear weapons. Explain how such a world is possible if we give our lives for it, demand it, insist on it, work for it, and begin to live it.”
Instead of a violent World War III, I would hope to see a spiritual battle, a battle for hearts and minds. This would be the greatest jihad a spiritual war -- the war within. In this counter vision of war, the goals would be to see: compassion win the war over anger; forgiveness win the war over revenge; intelligence win the war over passive acceptance; truth win the war over lies; love win the war over hatred; creativity win the war over continuing on a well-worn and tired path of endless violence. The only way this can happen is if there is a real coming together of our spiritual brothers and sisters across the globe from heart to heart and spirit to spirit and mind to mind to end the madness of fighting and create a different world of higher vibration, values, hopes and reality.
I would like to thank you again for coming here and listen my views specially I am thankful to honourable judge White, honourable judge Sarah Martinez, DwayneCaraway and United Nation Association.
Thank you everyone indeed.
