Tag Archives: Moslem

RADICAL SANITY, Part IV: My Little Well by Vivekananda

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437px-swami_vivekananda-1893-09-signed

Public Domain Photograph via Wikipedia

On the photo, Vivekananda has written in Bengali, and in English: “One infinite pure and holy—beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee” – Swami Vivekananda, as noted at  Wikipedia site.

From the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Vol I.

Vivekandanda’s Address to the World Parliament of Religions, Chicago, IL, USA, 1893:  ” I will tell you a little story. You have heard the eloquent speaker who has just finished say, ‘Let us cease from abusing each other,’ and he was very sorry that there should be always so much variance.  But I think I should tell you a story which would illustrate the cause of this variance.

“A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there, and yet was a little, small frog. Of course, the evolutionists were not there then to tell us whether the frog lost its eyes or not, but, for our story’s sake, we must take it for granted that it had its eyes, and that it every day cleansed the water of all the worms and bacilli that lived in it with an energy that would do credit to our modern bacteriologists. In this way it went on and became a little sleek and fat. Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea came and fell into the well.

“‘Where are you from?’ ‘I am from the sea.’ ‘The sea! How big is that? Is it as big as my well?’ and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other. ‘My friend,’ said the frog of the sea, ‘how do you compare the sea with your little well?’ Then the frog took another leap and asked, ‘Is your sea so big?’ ‘What nonsense you speak, to compare the sea with your well!’ ‘Well then,’ said the frog of the well, ‘nothing can be bigger than my well; there can be nothing bigger than this; this fellow is a liar, so turn him out.’

“That has been the difficulty all the while.

“I am a Hindu, I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. The Christian sits in his little well and thinks the whole world is his well. The Mohammedan sits in his little well and thinks that is the whole world. I have to thank you of America for this great attempt you are making to break down the barriers of this little world of ours, and hope that, in the future, the Lord will help you to accomplish your purpose.”

Radical Sanity Part III: Love

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Dr. Ahmed Akbar at the Festival of Faiths on the importance of understanding Islam.

On October 13, 2007, 138 Muslim authorities representing diverse sectors within the international Islamic community issued A Common Word Between Us and You. This effort is toward understanding and worldwide coordination of peace efforts between two of the three religions of Abraham. Info follows with a Jewish commentary closing the post.

A Common Word Between Us and You : “Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.

The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbour is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity.’

Prof. Miroslav Volf (speaking at a conference of Christians and Moslems on A Common Word Between Us and You at Yale University): “Either love or death — when you think about it, this is the challenge that we face today. Let us learn to love all our neighbors and let us do that in the name of our common future and in the name of our one God.”

Yale Center for Faith and Culture: Common Ground “What is so extraordinary about A Common Word Between Us and You is not that its signatories recognize the critical character of the present moment in relations between Muslims and Christians. It is rather a deep insight and courage with which they have identified the common ground between the Muslim and Christian religious communities. What is common between us lies not in something marginal nor in something merely important to each. It lies, rather, in something absolutely central to both: love of God and love of neighbor. Surprisingly for many Christians, your letter considers the dual command of love to be the foundational principle not just of the Christian faith, but of Islam as well. That so much common ground exists – common ground in some of the fundamentals of faith – gives hope that undeniable differences and even the very real external pressures that bear down upon us can not overshadow the common ground upon which we stand together. That this common ground consists in love of God and of neighbor gives hope that deep cooperation between us can be a hallmark of the relations between our two communities.”

A response to A Common Word Between Us by Peter Ochs, Edgar Bronfman Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Virginia and Co-founder of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning”The world, says Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, rests on three things: Hadin, HaEmet, V’Hashalom: on justice, truth, and peace (Pirke Avot, 1:18). God bless “A Common Word” and receive it as a powerful contribution to the peace, truth, and justice that uphold the world. This Word is worthy of the tradition of Aaron, and it enhances and extends the tradition of the sage Hillel, who taught that the “disciples of Aaron love peace and the pursuit of peace, love their fellow creatures and seek to draw them to the study of God’s word” (Pirke Avot, 1:12).

“A Common Word therefore comes as a gift, as well, to those who practice Judaism, for it does honour and service to the One God whom they acknowledge as sole Creator of the Universe and Redeemer of humankind. It draws into fellowship the two other children of Abraham’s faith, thereby extending Abraham’s blessings to all the nations. In this way, A Common Word contributes to and extends the obligatory service of all Jews to repair the world and bring glory to God’s Name.”

Radical Sanity, Part II: Food for Thought

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Dr. Ahmed Akbar interviews Dr. Judea Pearl 

‘UCLA computer science professor Judea Pearl (left) has left math equations behind to defy the terrorists who murdered his son, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, in 2002. “If they try to spread division among people, then we ought to spread friendship,” he says.Akbar Ahmed (right), a professor of Islamic Studies, is Pearl’s partner and envoy to Muslims in the U.S. and abroad. The two now travel the country to speak at “Daniel Pearl Dialogues for Muslim-Jewish Understanding Featuring Akbar Ahmed and Judea Pearl,” linking their life stories to a larger call for reconciliation and providing a rare forum for moderate Muslims in the U.S. to gather. Dialogue is central to all the work of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which sponsors fellowships for journalists and an Internet news service for high school journalists, advocates press freedom, and organizes world music days to bring people together. One small example of progress: Ahmed will speak at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, the first Muslim to be invited.” from The Purpose Prize .

Dr. Akbar Ahmed interviews Hamza Yusuf.

Some twenty percent of the world’s population is Islamic, including that of the United States.  Only less than one percent are radicals who support terrorism. We would be well-advised to factor the voice of moderation into our judgments and deliberations.