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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.”
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