Islam is the Religion of Peace [Archives:2001/10/Focus]

COMMON SENSE 
By: Hassan Al-Haifi 
It should be understood for all the people of the world that Islam came to bring peace, harmony and justice to mankind. Yet, the impression that one gets from seeing the way the major Western media channels are projecting Islam that indeed the West has yet to recognize that Islam as having been one of the most important stepping stones towards the progress that the West has achieved and it is not easy to imagine the West being where it is today if it was not for Islam to provide the foundations for scientific, cultural and even political progress. On the other hand the pathetic state of most of the Moslem countries of the world leads one to believe that there is good reason for the poor image of Islam now, thanks to the lack of comprehension and the deviations that Moslems have harbored into their religion, succumbing to worldly desires and narrow interests and forgetting that Islam is a far more universal message to humanity, which underscores peace, harmony and cohesiveness, despite the diverse configuration of human beings. Moreover, the insistence of the regimes that run most Moslem countries to look upon Islam as a danger to their being and to placate Western interests at the expense of keeping the Moslem nation so fragmented and without purpose, has been instrumental in keeping the Moslem world so far behind in so many important aspects of life. 
Thanks God, however, that the Lord Al-Mighty has ordained for us the annual pilgrimage to Mecca where Moslems from everywhere gather in one of the most splendid illustration of brotherhood, harmony and piety that one could ever imagine. In the pilgrimage to Mecca and all the rites involved, the Moslem World, as well as the rest of the World, is bound to see that indeed religion can play a very important role in the elimination of hate, oppression and injustice and move the world closer to an international arena of peace and true globalization that does not look upon the world as merely a checkerboard of conflicting economic interests and as a chauvinistic power theater, where only the strong prevail and the weak must succumb to undue hunger, poverty and deprivation just so a minority of the inhabitants of the world can reap fruit from all the bounties and resources that are accessible to mankind throughout the world. The pilgrimage to Mecca underscores the essential doctrine of universal brotherhood of mankind, where no race should prevail over another. The immense inspiration of this message is well illustrated by the conversion to Islam of the late Malcolm X, alias Malice Al-Sahibs – an Afro-American, who once viewed white men as being “demons” or devils and other misconceptions that defy logic, thanks to the centuries of torment and oppression faced by the American black community at the hands of their white western enslavers and persecutors. The late Malcolm X had come to Arabia driven by the immense curiosity that people with an inherent deep feeling of faith usually are endowed with and their strong belief that there must be a proper answer to all the mysteries that remain unsolved as to the purpose of our being and the overall universal connotation to life itself. But, the serenity of the Moslem community and the brotherhood that brother Malcolm saw, not only in Mecca, but along the way to and from the holiest of holy cities, brought on a great transformation, in the thinking and outlooks of Malcolm X to the point that Malcolm was viewed to many of the enemies of Islam as the biggest threat to their interests. Why? Because Malcolm X had become fully converted to the true Islam. By fully, one implies that there is full doctrinal understanding of what Islam truly entails. It is remarkable, when looking at the fantastic story of this important Moslem martyr, that only after Malcolm X had adopted Islam and shunned his former violent almost discriminatory approach in dealing with the Black American racial issue that he was viewed as being more dangerous than when he was speaking for violence and black separatism, by the very forces that were threatened by such vocal expressions of hatred. Indeed, to Malcolm X, Islam represented the true universal message of peace and brotherhood, which no social order or religious society can claim a more obvious manifestation than that projected by the Pilgrimage to Mecca, as Malcolm X noted in his autobiography, well edited by the able Alex Haley. It is an important book for Moslems as well as for non-Moslems to understand the true power of Islam in culturing human beings to understand that one of the biggest bounties that man enjoys in this Earth is the ability to reason and make matters clear on a universal plane. 
Undoubtedly, the annual Moslem convention in Mecca will continue to illustrate the awesome powers of Islam and over the ages, will lead to the continuous spread of Islam as well as the dissemination of the messages of world peace and the brotherhood of man. 
One must point out that the government of Saudi Arabia, ever since the late King Feisal, have been instrumental in underscoring the importance of the pilgrimage to Mecca, not only for the Moslems but to all of mankind, by first of all making the arduous journey as pleasant as possible for the worshippers, but also through an intensive public relations campaign that shows the rites of the pilgrimage to the world in a positive manner. In going back to Malcolm X, the late Moslem fighter was not failing in praising the important role that King Feisal had in making him understand the brotherly nature of Islam thanks to the hospitality and personal attention that the late King Feisal directed towards insuring that Malcolm truly gets a proper education on Islam and its universal messages. It is regrettable, but nevertheless understandable that the forces that despise the ideas of world peace and human brotherhood are the very same forces that killed both the late King Feisal and the martyr Malcolm X, God bless their souls. The ideas of peace and international brotherhood could never have any greater martyrs to speak for them than both of these important personalities in Islam. 
Peace and brotherhood to all and happy holidays.
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