Foundation or Free fall

An old man sits on a mat in an old house of stone and mud. The candle is set into the floor, and giant shadows are thrown against the while walls. A breeze stirs through a broken window, and the light dances. His dry lips moving, the old man is reciting a Sura, silently— he stops to look into the light.

The flame is Nar, thinks the old man. Nar to the created self, and Nur to the inner heart. Light is the inner truth. And what is the inner truth, how does the soul of humanity perceive it? He begins the fourth Sura. He reads, “O Humanity! Attend to your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate; and from them spread many men and women; and be mindful of Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual rights, and respect the wombs that bore you: for Allah ever watches over you.”

Allah knows best-- but I believe that the reality of this single inner soul is the reason that, as the US Declaration of Independence begins, “All men are created equal”. Indeed, the Qur’an includes both men and women as humanity with essential, inalienable rights. These essential rights should not be considered a commodity in the world markets or subject to the winds of politics. There can be no compulsion in religion without diminishing the benefits earned by each individual soul. All laws must serve and nourish the essential soul, and not destroy it through heavy-handed application.

We know well that terrible abuses that place in nominally Muslim countries, as well as elsewhere. When we prefer to look at the violations of our own rights but not to perceive what takes place in our own house, we remain like angry children instead of responsible adults. We are all called to build, to safeguard, to plan, to reform, to help each other.

Now it seems most political reporting around the world has less introspection than a football match. Do we consider the implications of some of our interpretations? Where is the light? Young people in search of their true nobility go astray. Old leaders brag and swagger. Observing Bush and Sharon, can we be surprised that some in the Muslim world seem suicidal in their humiliation? But many other leaders are just as graceless. And it is most graceless to imagine that intentionally killing unarmed civilians can ever be the work of a hero, or of a true Muslim. Terrorism differs from guerilla action against a military target. A city street, a restaurant, a cafe, a bus is not an appropriate battleground, in Iraq, Israel or Tashkent or anywhere.

How does God see us? When we see the love and compassion the mother has for her children, even among the birds and animals, we may reflect that Allah’s care for us exceeds this without limits. How can we deal with each other with such grievance and envy? Non-Muslims may live such conflicted lives, but why should we? Let us love the crowds around us, even the weak-minded, the broken and the proud. Let us pray for humanity to learn. Let us pray for each other. Listen to your heartbeat—this is a language we have in common. Or do you think this is the sound of a soul-less machine?

The inner conscience can be your Khalifa. But we have much to learn before we can trust our inner voices. Finer not bigger brooms are needed to clean this house, to prepare for an honest friend.

But we are in the world. I would like to draw your attention to some of the flickering shadows on the walls. This carnival outside, this life; Fallujah, domestic politics, media manipulations. Among all these shadows, the human rights of Jose Padilla have been taken away. No trial, only interrogation. Now the Supreme Court will consider his earthly fate, and that of fellow citizen and “enemy noncombatant” Yaser Hamdi. Just two men. Each has long been sitting alone in his prison cell staring at the walls. And these are US citizens. But according to Donald Rumsfeld, no law for them but the “law of war”.

Deborah Pearlstein of Human Rights First, said the administration misrepresented international humanitarian law, “There is nothing in the law of war that says you can hold somebody indefinitely with no rights.” And his mother stated, “That John Walker Lindh. They didn't make him disappear, take away his rights…I guess maybe because his father's a lawyer. He's white, whatever." And his wife says, “I can never find a man like him in this whole world…and I'll stand by him in this ordeal as long as it shall take."

The foundation of the USA cannot be a “legal black hole”. What ever happened to: “All men are created equal?” Also, the foundation of the house of Islam cannot be the flaming pit of terror. We all need to speak out before it is too late.