Building Alliances: Promoting Goodness in the World
We are gathered here today at the National Press Club to build an interfaith alliance for peace and security. We shall be meeting people of many faiths after our Jumu’ah prayer here. We thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala for this gathering today. We pray to Allah to bless this event and bless all those who participate in it. May Allah make it beneficial for us and for all humanity. Thanks also for the organizers of this meeting and thanks for all those who supported it. Allah says in the Qur’an:
……Help one another in righteousness and piety, but help not one another in sin and aggression: Be mindful of Allah: for Allah is strict in punishment. (al-Ma’idah 5:2)
As Muslims it is our duty to do good things always. It is also our duty to make alliances and cooperate with others to promote goodness in this world. The Islamic principle in this matter is simply this: cooperate with any person and any group as long as the objectives are righteous and good; but do not support anyone, if the objectives are sinful and aggressive. There are many good people in the society who love peace and justice and who want to do good, we should forge alliances with them and cooperate with them. In this way the goodness will prevail.
We have a beautiful example of this cooperation and alliance building in the Sirah of Prophet Muhammad –peace be upon him. It is mentioned that when he was in Makkah, eve before Allah appointed him as His Prophet, he was involved in an alliance known as “Hilf al-Fudul”. The Prophet and some good people of Makkah met at ‘Abdullah ibn Jud’an’s home and made an agreement:
“They agreed and made a commitment that if they found anyone who was wronged, whether a native of Makkah or an outsider who came there, they would stand with him against the aggressor until his rights were given to him. So the Quraish called it “The Alliance of the Righteous.” (Ibn Hisham, Sirah, vol. 1, pp. 133-134)
Later in his life, the Prophet – peace be upon him - recalled this alliance and said:
“I participated in an alliance at Abdullah ibn Jud’an’s home … If I am called in its name (now) in Islam, I would indeed respond.”(Ibn Hisham, vol. 1, p. 134)
We are living in an interconnected and more and more interdependent world. It is rightly called a “global village.” More and more cooperation and relation with others are necessary. There are four major problems plaguing the world today. They existed before too; but they have disproportionately increased and intensified. No group, no faith community and no society are immune from these problems. These are: Insincerity, Immorality, Injustice and Insecurity. I call them four evil I’s. Even one evil eye is bad; what to say about four evil ones.
- Insincerity: The whole world is lacking sincerity and honesty. People do not know whom to trust. Few years ago a survey found that 2/3rd of the people of the world do not trust their governments and their leaders. Even religious leaders are losing the trust of their people, although they did not fare as poorly in the survey as political and business leaders.
- Immorality: Good morals and manners are also very difficult to find. Basic human values of chastity, modesty, humility, patience, steadfastness, sacrifice, forgiveness, neighborly kindness etc. are rare commodities. Due to the lack of these values, families are falling apart. There are spousal abuse, child abuse, elderly abuse and increase in divorces. Due to the lack of moral values we have employer and employees problems, lack of neighborly relations and the destruction of civil society.
- Injustice: Justice is the balance of God on this earth. Justice and fair dealings bring prosperity and happiness. Today injustice and double standards are rampant. Those who have they do not care for those who do not have. Injustice has turned into oppression. There are people who are bathing in luxuries and fun and there are millions and millions of people who are starving to death. There was never before such a gap between those who have and those who do not have as it is today. Injustice takes away the blessings and happiness. We see a lot of misery and unhappiness in the world today.
- Insecurity: Violence, terrorism and wars are everywhere. Death and destruction have increased. Human beings are killing human beings for various reasons and sometimes without any reason. Intolerance, disputes, abuses, anger and rage these are the order of the day. Anytime you watch or hear the news, more than fifty percent of the news is about violence and murders.
To solve these problems we all have to work together. No one faith group and no community hold the magic formula or enough resources to solve these problems. We have to work together, put our minds, our hearts and our hands together and strive to make this world a better world.
Unfortunately there are many people today who see and employ religion as a force of divisiveness and violence, rather than a force for unity and peace. We as Muslims are not doing any better. Religious people have a greater responsibility to work together and with others. There is great need for building good peaceful relations among our own communities of faith and among our interfaith communities. Dedicated efforts are needed to examine how, in a world that is increasingly interconnected, we can find new ways to respect our religious differences while forging peaceful bonds based on common humanity.
Working for peace does not mean a passive acquiescence to evil or compromise of principle. It demands an active struggle against hatred, oppression and disunity, but without violence. Building peace requires creative, courageous and compassionate actions. A commitment to peace is a labor of patience and perseverance. It involves a readiness to examine self-critically the relationship of our traditions to those social, economic and political structures which are frequently agents of violence and injustice.
There are so many areas that need our urgent attention: family unity, care for the poor and hungry, justice, security, health and protection of environment etc. We must help each other, whether individual or organizations, domestic or global, to build bridges of trust, faith, and cooperation. It is only through this approach, rooted in our core religious values that we can bring about a world of justice and stable peace.
May God help us and keep us on the right path. Ameen.
(Khutbah at the National Press Club, Washington DC
Dhul Qa’dah 19, 1428/ November 30, 2007)
