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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Hubris and Hatred in Norway - My Religion Your Religion

14. My Religion Your Religion
It is crazy for us
To be arguing about
The Sea.

The Sea is there,
Beautiful and bountiful,
To play and swim in
With delight!

It does not make
Any sense at all
For us to quarrel,
When we are both
Standing at
The Sea’s edge.

Unless of course,
We see no Sea.

Then it is a psychological problem.

And has absolutely nothing to do
With the Sea nor our differing
Names and maps of the Sea.

Don’t you see?




We are not asking you to change. We are not asking you lose your religious identity. Indeed, we exalt in how you call upon the same One God that all humanity worships. It is different, the humming is different, the postures are not alike. But it is still the Creator that we all worship, seeking solace, and hope to return to one day.


In my country, some of the Catholics are asking for the right to call God by the name of Allah. In another country, I see their brethren telling them to stop this habit of calling God by the name of Allah. And I prefer the first Christians, because they are aware that by whatever name we call Him, He is our Most Beloved Creator. The Perfect Artist, the Sublime Ocean in which our passion and reason swims in.

If there is anything that differentiates us, it is the station of servanthood to God and to Men. The well from which springs all that is good and beautiful in us all. 



That thing which happened in Oslo. It is the opposite of all that is good in religion. And I, as a Muslim, knows that this is not what Jesus, the Prince of Peace taught his followers. So I beg you to acknowledge that the bandits disguised as 'Muslim' extremists are not adhering to what, Muhammad, Mercy to the Worlds, taught his followers. If just you and me can agree on this basic point, we will come a long way swimming into the Ocean of Mercy, and into the Divine Embrace of He Who is the Lord of us all. Why waste time arguing at the shore, the kindergarten of religion for bullies and crybabies, when there is an Infinite Ocean of Unity to swim in? The Oneness of God is the salvation for us all...

May God guide the Norwegians (and really, all of us) in this trying times.

Pax Taufiqa.

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