Thursday, February 19, 2009

Tolerance: A Compromise and not a Concession

Let me take you through a leap from Madrid to Texas, where a local newspaper, Star Telegram, had published one of my letters to the editor.



Here is part of what I wrote:



“Spain had a history of more than 800 years of Islamic rule ending in 1492. The Islamic civilization of Andalusia led Europe out of the Dark Ages with lighted and paved streets, public libraries with tons of volumes, hospitals and universities. That civilization granted tolerance among neighboring Muslims, Christians and Jews most of the time. The Jews enjoyed unprecedented rights under Muslin rule, leading to the Golden Age of Judaism where a great philosopher, like Maimonides, re-adopted classical philosophy.”



A couple of readers left me comments on the newspaper’s website. Basically, they agreed to the historical facts that Muslims had a great civilization. However, they criticized the present status-quo of repression inside our Arab and Muslim countries, where, those American readers said, tolerance did not exist.



At least my readership agrees with me on some common grounds. They did not change history and deny that Islam brought a life-changing civilization. They would probably be surprised to find out that there are a lot more in common between us than they realize. This blog exists partly to put those common things under the spotlight, and then build a bridge of communication.



Tolerance is a subject of debate surrounding Islam and Muslims. So what is tolerance anyways?



Tolerance in Islam, a basic principle and a religious moral duty, is the respect of the rights of other people who differ with our own beliefs or practices. It is not overindulgence in the others’ beliefs or concession of our principles in front of the other. It does not mean accepting aggression while keeping a big comfy smile on the face. It is simply a comfort zone of acceptable compromising to beliefs and practices that are not our own, as long as the essence of our religion is not at stake.



In practice, Muslims have a present crisis in tolerating one another as well as non-Muslims. Ignorance and overreactions to differences are the reasons and conflict and division are the results. But that is not an excuse to deny the authentic teachings of Islam that promote equality, unity, tolerance, and peace. It just means we all need to work harder to correct people’s attitudes (with peace and love) so that the whole world can coexist peacefully.



The dialog must keep flowing.