OpEd
By
Dr. Maher Hathout
The election of Senator Obama is an
event that has captured the attention and fascination of the world. So many
issues about Obama – his family, his ideas, and the way he ran his campaign –
all became and will remain subject to commentary and evaluation.
One very laudable and pertinent
aspect is Obama’s brilliant ability to coalesce different groups with different
ideologies from all walks of American life and bind them together with a desire
for a better America that lives up to its ideals. The creation of a common ground upon which
every one of these groups can find a space is the glory of a free people, who
possess in themselves the potential for change.
This idea of building coalitions is
the strength of a democracy. We Muslims need to ponder this reality and
appreciate it. One of the early recorded activities of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH),
long before he received the Message, was his participation in the coalition of
“al-Fudool,” which brought together several different
leaders of Meccan society to agree to protect
visitors and passersby who had no tribal support system from being exploited or
abused. In fact, to emphasize the importance of coalition building, the Prophet
stated, after he had become established as the Messenger of God, that if he
were to be invited again for such a coalition, he would join.
The Quran states that the
interaction between groups and masses is the guarantee against corruption and
the protector of the most important of all freedoms – the freedom of religious
diversity. This is illustrated in two glorious verses of the Quran (all verses
from The Message of the Quran by Mohammad Asad):
Surah 2: 251 – “…and if God has
not enabled people to [push in groups] against each other, corruption would
surely overwhelm the earth…”
Surah 22: 40 – “…for, if God had
not enabled people to [push in groups] against each, [all monasteries,
churches, synagogues, and mosques] in all of which God’s name is abundantly
extolled, would surely have been destroyed…”
Furthermore,
the Quran teaches us to depart from the illusion of conformity, to acknowledge
that diverse groups should vie and race for goodness at all levels, and leave
the final judgment to God.
Surah 5: 48 – “…unto every one of
your have We appointed a different law and way of life. And if God had so
willed, He surely would have made you all one single community: [but He willed
it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you.
Vie then with one another in doing good works…”
The
Quran has also directed us to cooperate with others for whatever is good and
righteous.
Surah 5: 2 – “…cooperate with one
another in furthering virtue and God consciousness…”
We
should cherish this moment in history when we see common people cooperating and
creating alliances to shape their own destiny.