June 2010

 

   

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I Was Wrong

Yunus Emre


People have a misconception about learning, i.e., that learning is confined and usually gained in what we call the “four corners of the classroom,” such as schools, colleges, universities and other educational and learning centers and institutions. We often believe that if a man or woman didn’t attend any learning institution that he or she is ignorant, dull, illiterate, uneducated and is totally viewed as a pitiful thing. However, in a real sense, learning is beyond the “four corners of the classroom.” In many cases, people have numerous skills and knowledge which were not gained from the classroom in the presence of a master or teacher, similar to what Carol Web has said: “We sometimes encounter people who are very wise and skillful without having learning obtained from any educational institution.” I too believe this statement.

Learning is obtained through experience, engagement and living with people in a community and through observations, etc. The School of Peace (SOP ) for 2010 is a very good example. Participants are learning with one other through engagement and living together.

I am very thankful, not that I have been given a chance to travel, but I am very thankful that I have had a chance to live and participate in the SOP 2010 community. Through this precious opportunity, I have been able to learn many lessons and to learn particularly the “Lessons of Life.” I learned this mainly through living in the community of SOP. Pages cannot contain the numerous things I’ve learned. In this reflection, I will focus on what I have learned about my own faith that helps me understand and appreciate it more.

Through living in this community, I have discovered many things about my faith. Previously, I often entertained the idea that the only right and exclusive path towards God is my faith and that coexistence with other living faiths based on mutual respect and a harmonious relationship is far from a possibility. Somehow I often thought that a harmonious relationship and the mutual respect of living faiths is just a byproduct of some people’s illusion and not a reality. However, when I met this community, I am able to prove to myself that I was wrong! I was wrong! I was wrong about what I thought! People with different faiths and beliefs can live and coexist in a community side by side with understanding, respect, love and appreciation like what I am experiencing and enjoying at SOP. I discovered the essence of my faith through living with people of other faiths.

Furthermore, I have also realized that my faith is not only characterized by a great deal of inner strength but also by a substantial measure of openness and flexibility. It eschews the narrow path of xenophobia, ethnocentrism and exclusion. My faith attitude towards other cultural and faith traditions is reflected in its view of the pursuit of knowledge. In SOP, I am able to learn many useful things from other faiths that can help me in strengthening my own faith and in nurturing me as a good Muslim.

The Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be upon Him) once said: “Wisdom is (like) the lost animal of a Muslim; he catches hold of it wherever he finds it.” The Prophet regarded the acquisition of knowledge as an obligation for every Muslim and exhorted his followers to carry the torch of learning far and wide.

Through reflection about my own faith, I have realized that my faith is founded on the edifice of two principles—the oneness and unity of God and the brotherhood of the human race. My faith is aware of ethnic and religious diversities that characterize human societies across the globe, and it is a divine commandment from God. The Qur’an says: “O humankind! Surely we have created you from a single pair of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another” and so build mutuality and cooperative relationships, not so that you may take pride in your differences of race or social rank and breed enmities. The Qur’an further says: “And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variations in your languages and colors; verily in that are signs for those who know.” Lineages, tribes, ethnic groups and the way of faith, which characterize human societies, are said to have been created by God.

Additionally, I am looking forward for more discoveries about my faith through engagement in the community of SOP. I would like to end this reflection with some further thoughts from the Prophet Muhammad: “All of mankind is God’s family.” Therefore, let us love one another because we belong to one big family; it is the family of God.

May you who in a special way have a part to play in the present moment of our world’s history open the door to the audacity of hope, for we are people who believe in peace, love and harmony. Let us work side by side in helping humanity, like what occurred to our fellow human beings in Chile just two days ago.

“We are not begging for justice, but we are fighting for justice.”