My heart was filled with pain, anger and rage as I watched and listened to international news about some citizens in, particularly two countries; Sweden and Denmark, desecrating and stepping on the holy book of about two billion Muslims around the world.
This is being done in the name of citizens exercising their rights to express their dissatisfaction or anger towards anything they are not happy with or don't like. Although the actions of the individuals were done in a peaceful manner and accordance with their local laws, it violates the moral principles of peacebuilding and peaceful coexistence of different people in harmony.
I am personally not happy because these are happening in countries that for one reason or another I developed liking and commendation for. And more importantly, this is happening around the time that the world is so politised and faces security challenges due to incessant propaganda on almost everything. Human Insecurity continues to rise in every part of the World as evidence of global diplomatic efforts to ending uprisings and conflicts looks fruitless, gloomy, bleak and hopeless.
From my background in a Muslim home and in a Muslim-dominated community, I was psyched up by the environment that some of the Nordic countries are anti-Islam societies due to past incidents of burning the Quran and curbing the height of Minarets in their countries.
But as I was attaining the age of real maturity (40) and of course finding myself right at the heart or corridors of the centre of interfaith and intercultural relations in Ghana, I was unconsciously inducted into embracing people of faiths, backgrounds, and culture to an appreciable level of mutual respect, cooperation, dialogue, and understanding much that I wouldn't be able to recollect my past feelings and thoughts on any country, community, or people about their faith, culture, and background.
I am referring to being born and raised in the house of His Eminence the National Chief Imam of Ghana, Sheikh Professor Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, where almost all religions or to be precise people of all faiths, culture, and beliefs meet, lunch, and dine to dialogue and come to understanding and solutions.
It shouldn't be surprising to anyone, therefore, to see me initiating or building on existing interfaith, intercultural, interracial, or international relationships, especially after I had most of my tertiary education in London, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.
As I watched the recent development on the desecration of the Quran, I knew this is another global challenge and call not only for a general understanding of religions but much more into creating or building on interracial, intercultural, and interfaith relations to a common ground and level of mutual understanding with respect and dignity for all.
This agenda should take us to understanding that our rights end where we trample upon the rights of others, as enshrined in the doctrines and articles of the United Nations and many global organisations, societies, and cultures. I believe I read it somewhere.
One may have the right to exercise his or her freedom of belief, movement, and speech, and demonstrate his or her frustration, anger, or disappointment on another person, religion, or culture by burning the flag or symbol of a person's faith or culture, but you cannot burn the property of that person, religion, or culture because it is not allowed, and your rights would not be extended that far.
Well, to the almost two billion population of Muslims around the world, the Quran is not just a symbol or sacred book that we use as our guide and constitution, but rather, it is valued and considered more important than our properties and even our lives.
I wish to state emphatically that I join in body and spirit with any country, group, or individuals who seek to express their dissatisfaction and disappointment peacefully with the governments and States of Denmark and Sweden in a way and manner that the citizens of Denmark and Sweden would realise that they must not take the rights that their constitutions give them for granted, and they must not use that freedom and pool of rights to desecrate and disrespect some people or faith.
When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was confronted by ignorant people who abused Him, He prayed for them and said: "O Allah, guide these people, as they did not know what they were doing." The holy Qur'an is full of texts and verses encouraging forgiveness, such as, "Show forgiveness, encourage what is good, and do not punish the foolish" (7:199).
As if to say that Allah indeed knows that there would come a time when some people would test the emotions and attitude of Muslims by burning and desecrating the Quran, the books containing Hadiths, and some of our religious symbols to justify their hatred towards us and by pointing at our reaction to say to others "look, how intolerant they are."
Allah says to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the Quran: "So, by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]."
Although intentions matter, and in this context, the Quran was burnt out of disrespect and insult to Muslims, yet still, I find a course, in the instruction of Allah upon believers towards the "foolish and ignorant of the religion" (ref. point 18 as stated in the above verse), to grieve briefly and comfort myself moving forward with exceptional treatment towards the perpetrators in my reaction as a means of expressing my solidarity with the Quran.
One of the greatest Islamic scholars of the 21st century, the late Sheikh Alhaji Ibrahim Niass, Kaolakh of the Republic of Senegal, narrated how he was confronted with insults and barrages of attacks on Sufism by another Muslim scholar and a critic of the Sufi sects in Saudi Arabia in the late 1960s.
Due to the calm manner and intelligent approach of Sheikh Ibrahim Niass, the latter later said, "if this (what you told me about Sufism) is really what Sufism teaches and advocates for, then we are more deserving to become Sufis. The latter was a Wahhabi and was referring to the Wahabi and Salafi sects as deserving of the religious philosophy and characteristics of the Sufi sect in relation to the understanding he had from Sheikh Ibrahim Niass.
Barely five years ago, a renowned pastor in Ghana made some derogatory remarks on the persona of His Eminence the National Chief Imam. The Chief Imam responded calmly and intelligently, and the pastor later came to apologise to the Chief Imam, and they became friends to date.
A similar incident happened about a decade ago when another pastor descended on Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and the Muslim community became very angry, and multiple organisations started planning different reactions. But the response of the National Chief Imam quelled the matter down, and that pastor also announced his apologies in public and since then, he never said anything bad about Islam or Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
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More recently, on the subject matter, I ask Zaeem Sheikh Abdul Wadudi Haruna, the President of the Tijjaniya Muslims of Ghana, that represents, the single largest nonviolent Islamic movement and dominant Islamic body on the African continent and this was his response:
"In all honesty, I am not happy about the lack of respect for our book in a civilised country and I support a peaceful means of expressing our disappointment but dialogue is always the best. I feel there is a serious work to do out there and that is the responsibility of Islamic leadership.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah upon Him) was abused many times and even called a madman by the idolaters and nonbelievers of Mekkah. He (Prophet Muhammad [SAW]) never responded in any negative way although the Almighty Who sent Him responded but the lesson to take from it is that Islam is an embodiment of Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence and that largely calls for Dialogue and Understanding to those who misunderstood Islam.
This incident calls for Dialogue and Understanding of all religions particularly the Three Abrahamic Religions: Islamic, Christianity and Judaism".
The writer is a member of the National Peace Council of Ghana (NPC), GA branch and Executive Secretary of the Tijjaniya Muslims Movement of Ghana.
