The world is in need of an architect who will build a stronger bridge to connect the Muslim world to the United States. I can’t think of a better candidate than President Barack Obama.
In his speech last Thursday at Egypt’s Cairo University, Obama asked the world to turn the page to a new chapter between the Americans and the Muslims, and promote partnership and peace, two of the greatest virtues of Islam.
Obama’s speech brought us, Muslims, back to the fundamentals of our religion (not to be mistaken for fundamentalists.) We often forget that it is these fundamental values that make our religion a very beautiful practice. Our religion is one that promotes peace, yet, we allow a few crazy apples to ruin it for us.
There are a few strong groups, on both the American and the Muslim side, that hope to use power and warfare to get their way. But this has been unconstructive. In his speech, Obama quotes Thomas Jefferson, who said, “I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be.” This quote goes well with a saying of the Muslim Prophet: “The ink of a scholar is holier than the blood of a martyr.”
As a Muslim, it disgusts me to hear about suicide bombings. This isn’t the martyrdom that our religion teaches. Obama mentioned that violence and killing “is wrong and it does not succeed.” He backs this statement with the remembrance of how black people in American won equal rights through “peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America’s founding.”
The Muslim world, which has been the beacon of education and intellectual thought for so many years, needs to resolve these situations not through violence, but through intellectual debate.
Too long have we shed blood over religious wars, indifferent to understanding the other side. Too long have we been ignorant of each other, when we should be learning from each other. Too long have we fought over small and petty things that differentiate us, when we should be brought together by the virtues that we as humans all crave for, such as living in peace.
The other virtue that Islam promotes is partnership and the need to strengthen the ummah or community. It’s not just the Muslim community that we need to strengthen, but also the community of all people, despite their age, race and distinction.
As Obama stated in his speech, there are going to be some critics out there “who question whether we can forge this new beginning. Some are eager to stoke the flames of division and to stand in the way of progress.”
Addressing these people, I strongly urge you not to be hypocrites of your religion and faith. We can’t dwell on our past, but only learn from it. Both sides are ashamed of some parts in their histories, and sometimes their histories with each another. But we need to move on and make a change.
Obama’s approach toward Iran, very different from the approach of previous leaders, is one I’ve always dreamed of. Two countries that have had their share of bitterness toward each other, yet share the same values, can finally squash the drama and move forward, providing a better future for both nations.
Iranians, who are so eager and stubborn to hold on to the past, need to realize that they can’t keep going the way they are going. They are being offered a chance to make amends and be able to solve many problems they’ve had on their plates through diplomacy, instead of the cowboy method proposed by previous president George W. Bush.
The plan for the bridge has been made. Now it’s up to both sides to start construction and, one day, meet in the middle.
