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WHOSE GOD IS IT? by Ibrahim Abu-Rabi The following article was written by Dr. Abu-Rabi in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks. The magnitude of last week’s tragedy raises a number of questions about humanity, faith, and God. Reverend Jerry Falwell believes that "America deserves such a punishment because God has been ousted from the public sphere." This is an atrocious statement. No one deserves to be punished in this horrific manner even if God has been secularized in contemporary America. The fact is that throughout human history, it has been the innocent and the God-fearing who have usually been punished for the acts of the insane few. The first thing that came to my mind on Tuesday, September 11th, when I first learned of the tragic events in New York and Washington, DC, was "Does God really exist?" I do not want to sound blasphemous, since I am a strong believer in the divine presence. However, if our intelligence agencies, which have huge budgets and scores of personnel at their disposal, were not able to uncover this terroristic conspiracy before it happened, how come God did not act swiftly enough to prevent or warn us against what was coming? This question is not mine alone, of course. Throughout human history, many people have asked the same question in response to tragedy and loss. Human beings naturally raise such a question when a huge calamity strikes, and human history has not been bereft of calamities. Native American Indians, enslaved Africans, Irish, Jews, and Arabs have all at some point asked the same question. Yes, all religions call for peace and justice. But let us face it, there are some ‘religious people’ who believe that violence is the way to sanctify their religion and uphold the moral integrity of their people. And because God is at the center of the religious quest, at least in the Abrahamic religious quest, some followers of the Abrahamic faiths believe that violence is at the heart of religion. The horrendous acts of last week resulted in many innocent victims. There are direct victims and also those who suffer indirectly. The direct victims are those who perished in the attacks and their families. All of us have become the indirect victims of these attacks, however, which have blighted not just our week, month or year, but this century and our lifetimes, as well. We have witnessed the most horrendous act in recent memory. America is not going to be the same and neither will the rest of the world. The political and military leaders of this country are talking of retaliation and grave consequences for those who committed these acts and for those who harbored the perpetrators. More bloodshed is distinctly forseeable. God, national interest and pride will be invoked in the process. More and more innocent people may be killed. Once again, we are face to face with Samuel Huntington’s famous thesis on ‘the clash of civilization’. Are we witnessing a new form of clash or struggle between the Muslim world and the West? Or does there already exist so much Muslim anger at the Western world of which we have been simply unaware? Perhaps, there is a clash of civilization between the Muslim world and the West. Perhaps it is true that in their recent history, the Muslim masses have harbored so much anger against the United States for its support of Israel, for propping up the most dictatorial regimes in the Muslim world (we should remember, after all, that most of the political elites in the Muslim world are pro-West or pro-American), and for bombing Iraq almost weekly since the end of the second Gulf war in 1991. Many discontented Muslims take Afghanistan as an example. This poor and wretched country has been in the throes of multiple civil wars since 1977, at least. The innocent women, children, and men of Afghanistan have paid dearly for the atrocities committed by the political elites of their countries, the Soviet Union, Pakistan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. God was invoked forcefully to drive the Soviets out after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The Western world applauded the Mujahidin, and, in a sense, the Christian and Muslim ‘Gods’ were aimed at driving the infidel communists out of Afghanistan. In the process of all of these tragedies, Afghanistan has produced seven million refugees, most of whom are children and women, and many of its people either died or suffered starvation and exile. The perpetrators of last week’s attacks must have invoked God to carry out their evil acts. This is not the God of Islam or the Qur’an, as most Muslims recognize Him in spite of the anger seething in the Muslim world. The Qur’an speaks about the infinite and constant Mercy, Compassion, and Love of God towards humanity. Yes, most Muslims in the contemporary Muslim world do suffer from poverty, disease, illiteracy, political oppression, and all sorts of ills. However, most of these Muslims are strong believers who invoke God every day to grant them patience, wisdom, and guidance. These few extremists, compared to the one billion peace-loving Muslims, have tarnished the image of Islam and the Muslim world. This is unlikely to abate for a long while. American Muslims, both indigenous and immigrant, must work harder now in their efforts to do good in order to repair the damage the few have done in the name of God. This is a timely moment to show that good deeds follow from good ideas and intentions. Violence is often used to restrain violence. Retaliation may stop violence for a while, but can it prevent a new form of violence from erupting? Undoubtedly, sacrifice is at the heart of many Western and Eastern religions. I think that we as theologians must dwell at length at the notion of sacrifice. Isn’t education a form of sacrifice? Or doing righteous deeds? Sacrifice in this meaning, as positive action to safeguard the welfare of people, has a tremendous potential to engage all the good forces in society to uplift the status of every individual man and woman. This is the constant duty of all of us in this short life of ours. To say that last week’s attacks have brought us face to face with tragedy is an understatement. What is most disturbing about the whole matter, perhaps, is that the families of the victims must live with such a tragedy forever. Again, it is the children who suffer the most from such tragedies, and it will be the children who will guide us in rediscovering the true compassionate God of all humanity. The following poem is about these children. ONLY THROUGH YOUR LOVE WE CAN SURVIVE!
When your parents kissed you goodbye that morning Buried under the rubble, the bodies of your loved ones Your pain has thrown me into the unspoken pain of the millions I feel as though my raison d’etre, my foundation, my identity, Yes, we will overcome this tragedy together; I am sure that one day your smile will melt down all the anger I am sure one day you will help us to reconnect to the Compassionate God of the whole universe. Finally, I do not think, as Reverend Falwell does, that God has forsaken the victims of last week’s attacks or their families or any citizen of this country. I think that God is more present in our midst than ever before. We have to humbly invoke the God of compassion, love, and mercy to our side at this tragic moment in human history. This God is not particular to one nation or community. It is the God of Compassion to whom we appeal in this time of distress. Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi’ |
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