Islam: A Message of Peaceful Coexistence

By Prof. M.S. TAJAR (Former Lecturer, University of the Philippines)

Abstract

The very term Islam means peace as well as submissionto God Almighty.

In order to understand the true Message of Islam andits peaceful Co-existence with other religions, oneshould concentrate on the authentic sources of theIslamic teachings i.e. The Holy Qur’an itself and thelife and the practices of the Holy Prophet Mohammad(P.B.U.H.) during his own time, before the Islamic rulewas hi-jacked by some extremist fundamentalist,opportunistic, Khalifahs, Sultans, Pashas, immediatelyafter the death of the Holy Prophet, up to the lastOttoman Caliph in Turkey, in 1923.

The extremist Taliban, Wahhabis, Salafis using thename of Islam, have killed more Muslim men, women, andchildren in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, andYemen, than they have killed the non-Muslims! And thatshows how much of Islamic faith they have, and how un-Islamic they have become!

* * * ** The word Islam itself means: Peace/Shalom; It alsomeans submission to the will of the One and Only God.

* “O’ you who have Faith! Enter into “SILM” (submissionto One God/Peace) all together; and follow not theDevil.” Holy Qur’an, 2:208.

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* “(Tell the unbelievers, O’ Mohammad!) To you yourreligion, and to me, mine.” Holy Qur’an, 109:6

* “There is no compulsion in religion...” Holy Qur’an,2:256

*”If Islam means submission to the will of God, then weare all Muslims!’’

D.W. Goethe (1710-1782) in his “Eastern Diwan” afterreading the Holy Qur’an.

A Confession

Before I start to explain further about those Qur’anicverses, which I quoted above, I must have a confession, a meaculpa, so to speak, a religious confession, indeed.Especially, considering the fact that I am now speaking in aprestigious Catholic institution, like De La Salle University,and more particularly because, I am at the presence of someeminent Catholic Priests!

You know, I was born a Muslim, in a religious family,with an Alim as a father, and I even grew up in the religiousschools of the Holy City of Qom in Iran, which is the seat ofthe Shi-ah Islam, as Vatican is to Catholicism, yet it took aGerman Lady Scholar like Annemarie Schimmel (1922-2003) toremind me, or actually to awaken me to this reality, that:Islam’s most earth-shaking Message was never “Jihad”, as someTaliban and Wahhabis and Salafis are promoting falsely, in thename of this beautiful religion, (and their Western Neo-concounterparts, among the Jewish and Christian communities, arealso brandishing, that same slogan, and fighting fire withfire!). But rather, the most important Message of Islam is anamazingly forgotten or over looked one, i.e.: A Peaceful Co-existence, with all other religions, who wish to live in peacewith us!

Miss Annemarie Schimmel, who spent her entire adult lifestudying Islam, and she even lectured in some prominentuniversities of the Muslim and Western world, like theIstanbul University in Turkey, the Punjab University inPakistan, as well as the American and German universities, not

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only quoted and explained these Qur’anic verses relating to apeaceful co-existence, with other religions of the world, butshe also backed them up further, by presenting the “ways andpractices of the Holy Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H. during his ownlife time, and his role, as the Supreme Leader of the Muslims,both as a spiritual leader, as well as the head of the IslamicState in Arabia, circa 630 A.D.”

Look at the following examples, for instance:

1.) The Holy Prophet and his true followers did notstart any “fight” with the unbelievers of Mecca, in their ownCity of Birth – Mecca. In fact, it was they, who were beingpersecuted by the people of Mecca, for their faith, and theyhad to migrate to other countries, like to the ChristianKingdom of Abyssinia (today’s Ethiopia) or they had to move toYathrib or Medina, to save their own lives!

2.) All the major wars that took place, later, like –The Badar, the Honain, the Khandaq, or the Khaibar, etc. werein fact “defensive reactions to the aggressions, that wereperpetrated by the Meccans, or by the others, against theIslamic community in Madinah.”

(Yes, there were also some “Ghazawat,” those missionary actsto educate the Arab Bedouins, and other masses, about “a newMessenger and the Message, that there is only One God, andMohammad is His Messenger, and a call to Brotherhood, Unity,Equality before One God, and peace in the war-torn tribal landof Arabia, and beyond.”)

But (as long as the Holy Prophet was alive) never there wasany coercion or conversion to Islam by force. That’s why,anyone who wanted to keep his old religion, could do so, buthe would have to pay a tax (as the Muslims also were obligedto pay Zakat, Khums, etc.) which was called Jiz-ya, from theold Pahlavi/Persian word “Ga-zeet” or “Kharaaj” from the oldPersian tax system, called “Ha-raag” etc.) In other words,while the attempt was to make a unified Islamic country, amongthe divided tribes of Arabia, yet there was no coercion toconversion to the faith” at all (as we see in the ChristianInquisitions or the Jewish persecutions of the Christians, orvice-versa, in those days or even later).

3.) In fact, during the life time of the ProphetMohammad P.B.U.H. the Jewish community of Khaibar were living side

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by side, in peace, with the Muslim community in the City Stateof Madinah, and the two communities were actually engaged inmutual cooperation, and in various beneficial businesses witheach other; Until finally, the Jews broke their peace compactwith the Muslims, and they also joined with the other enemiesof the Islamic State in the war of “All Parties” or Al-Ahzab(See Chapter 33 of the Holy Qur’an).

Changes after the Prophet Mohammad (632 A.D.)

I should also admit the fact that, after the death of theProphet Mohammad P.B.U.H. (632 A.D.) the Islamic Faith and itsMessage of Peace, were “hijacked” by some fundamentalistextremist groups, who were violent, not only against the non-Muslims, but they even massacred the “Peace loving Descendantsof the Holy Prophet himself!” (As did the Jews, with therighteous children of Abraham, and as the extremist Christiansdid, after Jesus Christ, at different periods, as well).

The history of Islam shows very clearly that someKhalifahs, Sultans and Pashas, from the early days of thisbeautiful religion, up to the last days of the Ottoman Empirein Turkey, in 1923, have abused the peaceful message of theHoly Prophet, and His Blessed Descendants, or the Ahlul Bayt.And today, the extremist murderers of the “Taliban-Wahhabi-Salafi, Al-Shabab, and Abu Sayyaf” organizations, who havemurdered so many Muslim men, women and children, in theIslamic countries like in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq,Somalia, Yemen, etc., are doing the same things, in the nameof Islam. These murderers have killed more Muslims, in thename Islam, than they have killed the non-Muslims. (Then youstart to question their claims to Islam, in the first place,or the hands behind them, who finance and lead them. As didthe CIA to the Mujahidin of Afghanistan/the Talibans oftoday!).).

Just a week ago (Sept. 7, 2010), we witnessed foursuicide bombings by the Pakistani Taliban, killing over ahundred Shi’ah Muslims (30% of the entire Muslims of theworld) during the Holy Month of Ramadan, while those poorpeople were fasting, and they were attending the Death

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Anniversary of Imam Ali, and the rest were attending ademonstration in support of the Palestinian people, andagainst the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem’s Islamic sites,which is illegal under International Law.

If you look at those murderous, heartless and brainlessthugs (who look more like the Jewish extremists calling“Crucify him! Crucify him!” rather than a person of Islam,i.e. of “peace” or Shalom!) closely, then you will have aclear picture of how those extremist elements (or the“revisionists”, as the political scientists would call them)have actually hijacked the entire Message of Islam, and theyhave turned “Islam” into a totally different message – i.e. ofHatred, Murder, Mayhem, Bloodshed and Misery to the Muslimsand the non-Muslims alike – but still I would like toemphasize the fact that, they have killed more Muslims thanthey have killed non-Muslims! (So, who are they, really?)

A Humble Suggestion

Taking all those facts into consideration, I would liketo humbly suggest that in order to better understand the trueMessage of Islam, we should concentrate our own research moreon the authentic Qur’anic verses and the well-documentedpreaching and practices of the genuine Muslim leaders, i.e.the Holy Prophet of Islam and those whom he had approved of,rather than the preaching and practices of those whom he didnot approve of, and they were, in fact, “the Black Sheeps” ofIslam – those who killed their own Muslim brethren rather thanfight the invasions and aggressions against Islam, and thusshowing their true color!

Some More Qur’anic Verses

Now, to support further these views, and in order to shedmore light on the true Message of a peaceful co-existence with(and not violence against) the rest of humanity, that Islamespouses, here are some genuine Qur’anic instructions to theMuslims, as well as to the non-Muslims and the rest ofhumanity, as a whole:

1) “O’ Mankind! We have created all of you from a male and afemale... (you are actually brothers and sisters; so no

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discriminations) The best of you in the Eyes of Allah arethose who are purer in their characters.” Holy Qur’an,49:13

2) “(O’ Mohammad!) Tell the People of the Book (Jews,Christians, Majais, Sabeians) come to that word which iscommon between us (let’s unite)... to worship none butGod Almighty!” Holy Qur’an, 3:64

3) “The Believers (Muslims) the Jews, the Christians, theSabeians, anyone who believes in God and does righteousdeeds (even a Zoroasterian, Manechian, Abadian, etc.),shall have their rewards with their Lord, and they havenothing to fear or to worry about!” Holy Qur’an, 2:62,and 5:72

4) “Call to the Path of your Lord by wisdom (= Logic) andbeautiful preaching; and argue with them in the best andmost gracious manner...” Holy Qur’an, 16:125

5) “If they (non-believers) argued with you, just tell them:I and my followers have submitted ourselves to GodAlmighty!” Holy Qur’an 3:20

6) “...And if they still refused, then your duty is just toconvey the Message!” (Ibid)

7) “And if they refused, well, we have not sent you to guardover them (force anyone), your duty is just to bring themthe Message...” Holy Qur’an, 42:48

8) “Allah is our Lord and (He is) also your Lord; to us ourdeeds, and to you, your deeds; Let there be no quarrelsbetween you and us!” Holy Qur’an, 42:15

There are some 20 more similar verses in the Holy Qur’an,just to emphasize the fact that the Holy Prophet of Islam P.B.U.H.

came to preach, and not to push, or to pressure, the peopleinto the faith (because, according to the Holy Qur’an, thereis no compulsion in religion), and he carried out the nobletradition of the great Prophets before him, (Adam, Noah,Abraham, Moses, Jesus, etc.) very faithfully, to the last dayof his life on this earth. But, what took place after him, orwhat some other extremists are doing in his name today, is notIslamic, because, as they say: You can never be more popishthan the Pope! And I think the Bishops and the Priests in ourgathering also agree with me, wholeheartedly!

Pope Benedict XVI and Islamic Tolerance

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Now, that we are talking about the misunderstood Messageof Islam, which is unfortunately twisted by some twisted-minded so-called Muslims themselves, and it is also mistakenby some non-Muslims, and even by the Catholic Churchhierarchy, I also would like to discuss a little about whatthe present Pope, His Holiness Benedict XVI said, regardingIslam and Christian encounters, which caused a lot ofcontroversies, debates and protests, internationally.

On Sept.12, 2006 the Pope, while lecturing on the issueof Religious Tolerance (or intolerance if you please) in theGerman University of Rosenberg, made some controversialremarks about the violence in the history of Islam. Then hequoted a certain historian as saying: “During the siege ofConstantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey) in 1391 A.D., whilethe armies of Islam laid the siege around the city, inside it,the intellectual debate between Islam and Christianity wasalso going on, between the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel IIPaleologos and a “learned Persian” Muslim, who representedthe intellectual side of Islam (see “The International HeraldTribune” Sept.14, 2006 p.1 “The Lecture of Pope Benedict XVI,at the Rosenberg University”, Germany, Sept.12, 2006).

The Catholic Church later explained that the Pope wasactually quoting the opinion of a certain person, manycenturies ago, when there was less information among thefollowers of different religions, and less tolerance, which, Ifully agree. And here I would like to quote another Qur’anicverse, to show how favourable the Islamic views about otherreligions, especially Christianity, has been since the earlydays of Islam.

The Holy Qur’an says, and I quote:

“(O’ Mohammad!) You will find the kindest religious folksto the Believers (Muslims) those who are called Christians!Because, amongst them are the priests, the selflessmissionaries, and they are very humble people.” Holy Qur’an,5:85

(We have already seen this, very clearly, when the earlyMuslims, [Circa 610 A.D.] who were being persecuted by theirown Arab countrymen in Mecca, went to Abyssinia/Ethiopia, and

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they were welcomed by the Christian King of Ethiopia, and hispeople. This has been repeated many times in history.)

Another interesting positive point that I personallynoticed in that lecture of Pope Benedict was: “While the warbetween the Turkish Ottoman Muslims and the Christian rulerswas going on, there was a religious debate also taking place,between the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II and a Persian Muslimscholar.”

That Persian Muslim scholar, like many other PersianMuslims, including the Saracins (the Khorasanis, the IranianMuslims) and their Islamic scholars, were the “brains” ofIslam, while the Ottoman Turks and the Arab rulers wereinvolved in many un-Islamic atrocities, of which all theMuslims are being accused and abused, until today.

This just goes to show that “every coin has two sides”and Islam is no exception. The history of Islam is not just ofthose abuse of power by some power-hungry and war-mongeringtribes of Arabia or the Turkish warriors or theTaliban/Pashtun highlanders in the mountains of Afghanistan orPakistan! But, there is another side to it, which is tolerant,rational and intellectual, too, and that is what we are tryingto discover, here. (Note: The Persian/Saracin Muslim scholarscomprise some 80% of the entire Muslim intellectuals andphilosophers in the history of Islam. But unfortunately, andmistakenly, many of them have been called “Arabs” in the worldhistory books, just because of their Islamic (Arabic) names,and their religious identity). The best known among thePersian Muslim scholars, are: 1.) Salman Al-Farsi (the first Persian convert to Islam, and a

respectable scholar, the great companion of the HolyProphet of Islam, 622 A.D.),

2.) Jabir Bin Hayyan Al-Tusi Al-Kufi (of the Algebra, fromwhose name “Jabir”, the word Algebra was born, and thefounding father of Modern Chemistry in the world, which isalso called Alchemy),

3.) Imamul Haramain Al-Jowaini (the first Muslim scholar, tobe called Imam of both Mecca and Medinah),

4.) Fakhri Razi (the great interpreter/commentator/mofassir ofthe Holy Qur’an),

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5.) Al-Khawrazmi (the father of Algorithm, from whose name“Algorithm” was born, a pioneer in modern mathematics,the “Arabic numerals”, the “Zero”, the modern geometry andengineering. Even the word engineering in Arabic languagei.e. Hindasa and Mohandis come from the Persian word “Ha-andaza” meaning “The Measurement”),

6.) Imam Abu Hanifah (the Greatest Imam of the Sunni branch ofIslam) from Kufa (Kuppa = the “Hills”, an ancient Persianborder outpost, now in Iraq’s border with Iran),

7.) Imam Ahmad Hanbal (the second great Imam in the SunniIslam),

8.) Bukhari (collector of Al-Bukhari Hadith Book, the greatestbook, after the Holy Qur’an, according to the SunnahIslam) Al-Sahih I,

9.) Muslim (author of the second great Book of IslamicTraditions/Hadith) Al-Sahih II,

10.) Nasa-iy (of Nasa, Khorasan province of Persia) Al-SahihIII,

11.) Abu Dawood Sajestani of the Sistan-Baluchistan of Iran(Hadith) Al-Sahih IV,

12.) Tirmidi of Tirmiz, ancient central Asia/Persia (Hadith)Al-Sahih V,

13.) Ibne Maja Caspini (Qazwini), an expert in IslamicTraditions from Qazwin of Iran (Hadith) Al-Sahih VI,

14.) Avecinna (Abu Ali Sina), the Greatest intellectual mindin the world, during the Middle Ages, (See the“International Herald Tribune”, Oct. 11/2001),

15.) Razi (Rhazes, the discoverer of the Industrial Alcoholand also the Sulphuric Acid, etc. who was also a greatphysician, and treated meningitis, chicken pox, and otherdiseases in 13th century A.D.)

16.) Ibn-Hazm of Andalusia (a Saracin of Persian Origin, and agreat Muslim scholar of Spain – 994-1064 A.D.)

17.) Ali Zar-yab of Andalusia (a Saracin of Persian origin,and the greatest musician and artist – intellectual ofSpain. Death 852 A.D.)

18.) Al-Kirmani (the Saracin musician of Andalucía, Spain,Circa 860 A.D.)

19.) Farabi (philosopher, linguist) from Farab/Faryab ofCentral Asia (inventor of several musical instruments).He was also a great philosopher, known as the “SecondMaster” after Aristotle.

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20.) Biruni (historian, geography master) from Central Asia,Ancient Persia,

21.) Khawja Naseer Tousi (philosopher/astrologer) from Tus ofKhorasan (=Saracin) [Note: A part of the moon has beennamed after him by the NASA],

22.) Sheikh Tabarsi (Hadith) from Khorasan, Iran,23.) Sheikh Al-Ansari (Fiqah) from Shusha/Susa, Iran,24.) Qazi Nurullah Shush-Tari (Martyr of Islamic Education in

India),25.) Omar Khayyam (the great mathematician, and the creator of

the world’s most accurate calendar until today, which iscalled the Jalali calendar. By the way, he is also thesecond best selling poet in the history of mankind, “TheRubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam”, the most translated book,after the Bible!),

26.) Rumi (the great Islamic scholar, Sufi and the overallbest selling poet in the entire history of the worldliterature!). His shrine is now in Kunya, present dayTurkey.

27.) Imam Tabari (the greatest interpreter of the Holy Qur’anin the History of Islam),

28.) Abul Faraj Al-Isfahani (Lexicon), author of the classicArabic work “Al-Aghani” (897-967 A.D.)

29.) Shaikh Sah-rewardi (Sufi),30.) Maula Sadra of Shiraz (Philosophy),31.) Ibne Muskuyah (Philosophy) [Note: his family name is

derived from the Persian word “Musk/Mushg, as are thenames of Mask-Va (Moscow), Muscat and De-mascus, and theIranian cities of Meshgin-Shahr and Andi-Meshg],

32.) Al-Taftazani (Arabic Grammar),33.) Al-Zamakh-Shari (Arabic Literature/Hadith/Qur’an),34.) Abdul Qadir Gilani (=Jangi Doost, the Great Sufi Teacher

– 1077-1166 A.D.),35.) Kwaja Mo-inud din Cheshti of Ajmer (India),36.) Yaqub Al-Kindi (whose last name is a Persian word meaning

“The Scholar”, “The Citizen” but, he is called “ArabPhilosopher” by mistake!). This great man was the firstphilosopher in the Islamic history.

37.) Mohammad Al-Kolaini (of Kolain, near Tehran, today), ofHadith and Islamic Traditions.

38.) Allamah Majlisi (Master of Islamic Traditions and Hadith)of Isfahan, Iran,

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39.) Sibwaih of Shiraz (the father of Arabic Grammar),40.) Hafiz of Shiraz (“The greatest and the best poet ever to

walk the Earth!” according to his American translator,Daniel Ladinsky [see “The Gift, Collection of Hafiz’spoems, 1998 N.Y., USA]. Hafiz was also adored and“worshipped” by J.W. Goethe, the greatest poet of Germanyand Europe, as a whole).

41.) Khalil bin Ahmad/Firuz Abadi, the father of ArabicLexicon/Dictionary, whose famous Dictionary “Al-Qamus”became the Standard word for “Dictionary” in ArabicLanguage (like Zerox for the photo copier!),

42.) Al-Shahristani of the Classic “Milal wa Nihal” in Arabiclanguage,

43.) Ibne Moqaf-fa (“Ruz Beh” also called “The Father ofArabic Prose”) the Persian translator of the 1,000 Persianstories into Arabic, which is mistakenly labelled as “TheArabian Nights”; Ibne Moqaf-fa of Persia, was also thefirst man who translated the Greek books of logic andphilosophy into Arabic. This caused an explosion of Greekwisdom mixed with the Islamic philosophy, and that’s howthe Islamic Civilization (mistakenly called the “Arab”Civilization, just because it was written in Arabic) wasborn. This young (36 year old) genius translator, waslater burned alive, “Inquisition style,” by some Arabrulers, who were so jealous of his perfect Arabiclanguage, and books, that they accused him of blasphemy,and “trying to write in perfect Arabic, in order tochallenge the Holy Book of Islam, i.e. Al-Qur’an!”Gentlemen! That’s what I call the “Hijacking of Islam” bythe extremists.

44.) Ibn Khallikan – the famous Muslim historian (mistaken asan Arab, but his real name speaks for itself, that he wasfrom the well known “Barmaki” Persian aristocrats andministers of Haarun Ar-Rashid, the Abbassid Caliph). He isfrom Irbil (now part of Iraq) one of the ancient historiccities of the Kurdish/Persian people. His full name is:Ahmad --- Al-Barmaki, Al-Irbili. (See “The Persian Names”by Maneka Gandhi/India 1994 p.180).

45.) Jama'lud Din Asad Abaadi (known as “Al-Afghani” – 1838-1897 A.D.) the pioneer of the “Back-to-Islam-Movement” inthe Arab and the Muslim world. (See the “InternationalHerald Tribune”, Jan.12/2005). This man, whose identify as

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an “Iranian” was discovered later, was called by theEgyptian extremist, fundamentalist, Wahhabi author Mr.Rashid Rada (1920s) as: “A dog from the Persian dogs”!(Kalbun min kilabil Ajam!)

But, to defend that “silent man” from the barks of thesejealous guys, I would like to introduce his personalityfurther to my readers and to the generations to come, longafter we are all gone:

Seyyed Jamalud Din Asad Abaadi went far beyond his country(Iran) and he influenced some of the greatest minds in theArab and the Muslim world, from Afghanistan and India upto Turkey, Egypt, Syria and even Europe, and here is how:

1. The national poet of Turkey (and a host of otherTurkish intellectuals) Mr. Yurda Qul (1869 – 1944) wasone of the students of Jamalud Din, and a greatfollower and fan of him, when the “teacher” used tolecture in Istanbul Academy, in the 1870’s.

So were the great Turkish reformers like, Saeed Nursi,Mohammad Aakif, etc., etc.

In the Arab world, the greatest Islamic scholar ofEgypt in the last 200 years, Sheikh Mohammad Abdoh(1849 – 1905) who later on became the Rector of the Al-Azhar University in Egypt (the oldest university in theworld?) and the Grand Mufti of the Sunni Islam, hadalso the honor of being one of the students of JamaludDin.

So was the great Egyptian author and scholar, FareedWajdi, and several other Egyptian literati.

And last, but not the least, was his great follower,Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, the Indian born national poet ofPakistan (November 9, 1877 - April 21, 1938) and theideologue behind the creation of the first IslamicRepublic, in 1947, who probably got that idea from theteachings of Asad Aabaadi,(=The Islamic Revivalism)although, he never met the great teacher, personally.

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Plus many other great Muslim leaders, who directly orindirectly, were influenced by Asad Aabaadi’s views,even when he himself was in Paris in 1884, publishinghis monumental magazine “Al- Orwatul Woth-qa,” inArabic language, in order to awaken the Arab world tothe “Back-to-Islam movement, and the IslamicRenaissance (O’ boy! O’ boy! What an interesting“Persian dog/cat?” he was!)

46.) Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini (1904 - 1989 A.D.) – thegreatest spiritual-political leader of the Muslims in thelast 1,000 years. He lead a successful Islamic Revolution(1979 A.D.) and he established the Islamic Government (asdid the Holy Prophet in 622 A.D.). There is no otherexample of any similar Islamic Revolution/Government inthe world history like it, except the first one that wasestablished by the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H. himself!

No wonder, Ahmad Bin Bella, the revolutionary leader ofAlgeria, called it: “The Miracle of our Age!” (see TimeMagazine, Apr. 1979).

But the most prominent among the Persian Muslim scholars, was;47.) Imam Mohammad Al-Ghazzali of Khorasan (=Saracin), who

according to some Western orientalists, and several MuslimJurists, was: “The greatest scholar in Islam, after theProphet Mohammad, himself!)**

That’s why even Ibn Khaldun, the pioneering Muslimsociologist from North Africa (1332 - 1406 A.D.), clearlystated that: “The biggest group of Islamic scholars werethe “Ajams!” (the Persians). (See: A.A. Velayati, “TheCivilizations of Islam and Iran”, Tehran, 2005 p.560)

The Role of the Saracins in Islamic (Arab?) Civilization

In the early history of Islam, the Saracins (Khorasanis,the Persian Muslims/Iranians) lead the nation of Islam; andthey carried on with its civilization, from Central Asia up to

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China and India, and from Persia up to the North Africa, andeventually, the Persian Muslim general, called Tariq Bin Ziadof the City of Hamedan, Iran (the man after whom Gibraltar wasnamed) conquered Spain in 711 A.D.1, and he and his followers,started the first and the best universities in Europe of theDark Ages, where the Christians, the Jewish and the Muslimscholars, studied and researched, together, in peace!( Inthose days, when the European kings and nobility could noteven write their own names, the peasants in the Muslim Spaincould read and write! All this, thanks to the Saracin Muslimrule in Andalucia! See Joseph Macape’s “The Moorish City ofSpain”.

This noble Saracin tradition was continued by anotherSaracin (Persian Muslim) ruler, called Musa Bin Nosair (thePersian governor of North Africa, who had sent Tariq bin Ziadfor the Andalusian expedition a year earlier, and the Spanishtown of “Valdemossa”=Baldah Moosa, or Moosa City is namedafter him—see “Khadamat…”by Prof.M.Motahhari p.608) and thislead to: “The Glory that was Al-Hambra...” a tolerant cultureand civilization, that is unparalleled in Europe, up to thisday!***

1 Tariq Bin Ziad, who conquered Spain, was the “slave” of Musa Bin Nosair, and being a slave, he could not be an “Arab,” because the Arabs would not make a slave of their own, but only from the other nations – i.e. Mawali/Maula (=Ajami/Persian/African/Berber/Turkish, etc.) see: A. A. Velayati “The Islamic and Persian Civilizations” Tehran, 2005 – p. 759.

Now, compare that Arab slavery of the conquered nations (i.e. Mawali) with Cyrus the Great of Persia, who some 2,500 years ago, upon conquering Babylonia, liberated all the enslaved Jews, and he declared “Slavery” illegal, in the entire Persian Empire, the first empire in history. (See: “World History: by Philip Grossier, New York, USA, 1974, p. 17). Also, check the “Cyrus Cylinder of the Human Rights” the Clay Tablets, some 2,500years old, which is now at the possession of the British Museum.

This was done by Cyrus of Persia, some 2,500 years ahead of Abraham Lincoln, in the USA (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) and the slave trading nations of Europe, like England, France, etc.

Now, was Cyrus the Great also a “Saracin” or “Khorasani?” I dare say: He was the father!

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While the Europeans (the Swiss, the French, the Belgians,the Dutch, the Germans, and even the Vatican) are not tolerantof a minaret of a Muslim Mosque; and when the Americans, inthe land of milk and honey and the First Amendment and ThomasJefferson, and George Washington, cannot even allow aMosque/or the Islamic center of Cordoba, to be built near thevicinity of the Ground Zero, or anywhere else in the U.S.A.for that matter, and the infamous American Pastor Terry Jones,once wanted even to burn the Holy Qur’an on Sept. 11, 2010 (ashis white brother, Hitler, used to do in the 1930’s), theSaracins of Spain, in the 8th century A.D. in the Spanishcities of Madrid, Civilia, Granada, Cordoba and Madinah Az-zahra, were building and even financially supporting theChurches, the Synagogues, the Mosques, Palaces, Universities,for every human being – be it a Jew, a Gentile, a Christian,an Atheist, a Muslim or anything else!

This Saracin tradition of the Persian Muslims, and theirtolerance for other religions, is evident even in this highlypolarized world, and these dangerous days. There is probablynot a single Al-Qaeda member among the Persian Muslims! That’swhy, we can see that in the tragedies of the 9/11 in New YorkCity, and the 7/7 of London and Madrid and Mumbai, etc.etc.the suicide bombers, came from the Arab Saudis, Yemenis,Moroccans, Egyptians, Pakistanis, and even some home-grownbombers in France, Germany, the USA. But, not even a singleSaracin (Khorasani/Iranian) has ever been indicated in suchillogical atrocities, against the Muslims or the non-Muslims,for that matter.

The role of the Persian Muslims, since the early days ofIslam, has always been, tolerance, intellectual contributionsto the Islamic Science, Mathematics, Medicine, Chemistryetc.etc., which are unfortunately recorded in the worldhistory books as, “The Arab Civilization,” “Arabesque,”“Moorish” (Moroccan). But, the truth of the matter is that, asthe Pope also observed, (and Ibne Khaldun, the eminent Muslimsociologist stated, even before) the intellectual role ofIslam, almost always has been represented by the non-Arabs,especially the Persian Muslim scholars; We can see that eventhe greatest musician of Andalusia, in Spain, during the 8th

century was a Persian Muslim (Saracin) by the name of Ali Zar-

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yab (Arabs call him “Zarib!”) whose last name is a Persianword that means “goldsmith / gold miner.”

Ali Zar-yab: The first man of the European Renaissance

Ali Zar-yab was a true man of the Renaissance in Europe,during the 9th century, long before Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519 A.D.), and other newly awakened intellectuals inFlorence, or the rest of Europe, appeared in the 14th-17th

century! Zar-yab, the Persian Muslim artist of Andalusia,Spain (D. 852 A. D), was the pioneering man, who in the 9th

century A.D. “taught fashion designing to the Europeans!”, andhe also “taught them the three square meals a day!” instead ofthe “normal” European’s “two meals a day” (probably because ofpoverty, lack of food or even lack of education andsophistication). See “Gardesh-gari,” Cultural Magazine,Tehran, March, 2005.xxx

He also taught the Europeans the “sophisticated Persian(Islamic) table manners of using spoon and fork, etc.” thatEurope did not know about (and even some non-Persian “Muslims”also don’t know, until today!).Before Martin Luther’sProtestant movement, some Catholics of Germany believed thatfork was the tool of the Devil!( see DW-TV, German channelOct. 31/2010)

To better understand the Saracin contributions toEuropean culture one should also take note of the Latin(Moorish) music in the Iberian Peninsula - Spain, Portugal andlater on, in Latin America, the Oud, the Dulcimer, theSarabandan Dances, the Flamenco, the Flute, the Poetry, theGitanos, the Mosaics of Al-Hamra, and its Heavenly Fountains,the Shiraz of Xeres, the “Turkish Bath”, the paper Industry ofAndalusia, the Pendulum and the early clocks, the compass, thePersian Wheel in Europe, The “Damasin Swords” steel(=Metallurgy) the Austrolabe, Rosa Lutea (=Persian yellow) the“Persianas” or the so called Venetian Blinds and Azimina(=Ajamin=Persian Arts in Europe) etc. all with Saracin(Persian) influences.****

All those cultural, intellectual and civilized practicesand religious tolerance, (in the 9th century A.D.) were beingpromoted and practiced by the Saracins (Persian Muslims) in

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the heart of Europe (from Cordova to Sicily and up to thegates of Paris) even as the Spaniards and the Catholic Churchat that time, were busy with their own infamous“Inquisitions!”. They were burning alive thousands of theirown Christian brethren, as well as the Jews and the Muslims,or any other “infidels” and deviant persons, that they couldfind, like Galileo Galilei, and many other scientists,philosophers, intellectuals and free thinkers, for theircrimes of thinking or believing other than the CatholicChurch! (Maybe the Taliban of today have also learned theirlessons of brutality and intolerance from those MedievalInquisitions, otherwise, the true Islam has never taught itsfollowers to commit brutality and murder, as far as the clearverses of the Holy Qur’an, and the genuine teachings and thepractices of the Holy Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H. and his BlessedAhlul Bayt, are concerned).

The Spanish Intolerance

While the Muslim Saracin rulers of Spain were so tolerantof the Jews and the Christians, their opponents, i.e. theCatholic Kings of Spain, were the exact opposite. They areknown in history, as “Los Reyes Catolicos”. They were sointolerant of other religions that finally King Ferdinand(1452-1516 A.D.) and Queen Isabel of Spain (the grandparentsof the present King of Spain, King Juan Carlos) expelled allthe Muslims and the Jews (1480/90’s A.D.) who were living inSpain for almost 800 years or more! They forced others toconvert into Catholicism, or to be put to death - a trueexample of the Inquisitions, ethnic cleansing and religiousbigotry and intolerance, made in Spain.(According to JosephMacape in his book “Moorish city of Spain” if Spain had notexpelled the Muslims, the progress of the western world—Europeand America would have been faster and America could have beendiscovered much earlier!)

These tragic events of religious intolerance, which tookplace in 1480/90’s A.D. lead to the destruction of Granada,Cordoba, Civilia, the Madinat Zahra, etc. and the end of aglorious era of the peaceful co-existence among the peoples ofdifferent faiths, in Europe, or anywhere else for that matter!Until in the year 2000, the then President of the IslamicRepublic of Iran, Dr. Mohammad Khatami (another new Saracin?),

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came up with the idea of the “Dialogue of Civilizations” andhe presented this idea, as a resolution, to the UnitedNations, which was officially adopted by the U.N. GeneralAssembly, and the year 2001 was declared by the U.N. as theyear of the “Dialogue of Civilizations”. It took place just afew months before the September 11, 2001 tragedy in New YorkCity, and the rest, as they say, is history!

As the Romans, before, used to say: Que tempora, QueMoris! (What a time! What a moral bankruptcy!).

Footnotes:

* Note: Islam is probably the only religion in the world thatits name means its “Ideology” and its ideology is its name,i.e. Peace/Shalom, plus the Submission to God Almighty.Meanwhile, Judaism refers to a certain tribe or a race,Christianity to the “Person of Christ”, Zoroastrianism refersto the Persian Prophet Zoroaster, Manechianism to anotherPersian Prophet called Maani; the same is with Hinduism,Buddhism, etc.

**With regard the Jews persecuting the Christians, the bibleis full of many horror accounts, but in Arabia before Islam,there was a “haulocaust” of the Christians of Najran (intoday’s Saudi Arabia) by a Jewish king of Arabia, named DhuNuwas. That “haulocaust” against the Christians of Arabia byan “Arabian Jewish Kingdom” took place in 523 A.D. a centurybefore the birth of Islam! What can you say to that? (Fordetails see Robert F. Worth in “The New York Times”Oct.22/2010 p.5).

***Speaking of the Saracins in North Africa (Morroco,Algeria,Tunisia, Libya, etc.) it’s interesting to note that inless than 200 years, some 30 Persians/Khorasanis/Saracins,ruled in those lands as Governors or Sultans. Still there aresome of their descendants in North Africa. (seeProf.M.Motahhari ‘’Khadamat…”11th ed.p.395).

****During the “Inquisitions” the Spaniards would recognizethe Muslims(Moors) from the “True Catholics” by checkingwhether they had taken a bath recently or not! If they were

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“bathed” then they were Muslims. (see: Dr.Ali Mazaheri, “LaVie De Musulman Au Moyen Age” Paris -1982 p.28).

*****According to Ibn Batutah in his “Travels” during theMughal rule in India, there were so many Iranians, and so muchof the Persian influences, that every foreigner was called“Khorasani”—Persian/Saracin.(see Mr. Nuri, A. “The PersianCivilization” Tehran, Iran 2001 p.631).

******No wonder, the Holy Prophet Mohammad had alreadyprophesied, that: “If knowledge be found in the stars, therewill be some Persians to obtain it!”.

*******Making paper, was one of the many gifts of the Saracins(Persian Muslims) to Spain, from where it also spread to therest of Europe, that did not know about “paper” before!

The Saracin paper industry (which they also got from theChinese) went from Spain to Italy in 1279 A.D., and from thereto France in 1348, then to Germany (of Gutenberg!) in 1390 andfinally into (the Industrialized) England in 1495 A.D. (seeDr. A.A. Velayati “Persian and Islamic Civilizations”, Tehran2005 p.04.

********The Saracin artists also influenced the Venetian artsand architecture, as one can clearly see in the building ofthe churches, monuments or facilities (Persiana or VenetianBlinds being one of them). In European paintings during theRenaissance, you could see many guys with Muslim features,attires, like turbans, and oriental looks; Those were mostlythe influences of the Persians/Saracin artists in Venice inthose days, like Mahmoud Al-Kurdi, who lived and painted invenice,during the early 16th century A.D.

*********Madinat Zahra, the city built by the Muslim Caliphsof Spain, was the largest city in European history, that wasbuilt from scratch. Its ruins were discovered in 1911-seeBBC. Dec. 5/2010.

References:

1. “The Holy Qur’an” (English Translation) by Prof. MirAhmad Ali and Tafseer of H.I. Aqa Puya, with the

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transliteration of Prof. M.S. Tajar, Published by theMuslim Academy of the Philippines, 2009 and by theNational Bookstore in 2010 (Third Edition).

2. “The Holy Qur’an” (English Translation) by Abdullah YusufAli, Published by the Iranian Muslim Students Assn. ofthe Philippines, with Transliteration by Prof. M.S.Tajar, 1985.

3. “Nahjul Balaagha”, Lectures of Imam Ali, by Sayyid Radhiand Ibne Abil Hadid, Ansarian Publications, Qom/Iran,2003.

4. “Prophet Mohammad and his Household” (Ahlul Bayt) byUstad Abdus Samad 10th Edition, Islamic Research Center,Manila, Philippines, 2005.

5. “100 Questions and Answers About: Shi-ah, Sunnah andWahhabism” by Ustad Abdus Samad, Published by the IslamicResearch Center, Manila, Philippines, 2007.

6. “A Brief Study of the Holy Qur’an”, by Amid al-Qommi,printed by the Iranian Muslim Students Assn. of thePhilippines, 1981.

7. “Principles of Islamic Government”, by Prof. M.S. Tajar,published by the Iranian Muslim Students Assn. of thePhilippines, 1982.

8. “Islamic Civilization and the Contribution of Persia” aResearch work by Prof. M.S. Tajar and Dr. Abdi Bakhtiariof the University of the Philippines, Diliman, 2009.

9. “Echo of Islam”, the Iranian Magazine (English Ed.),March 2010.

10. “Mahjubah”, the English Magazine for the MuslimWomen, Tehran, Iran, May 2009.

11. “Gardesh-gari” Tourism and Culture Magazine, Iran,September 2000.

12. “Al-Wahdah”, Iranian Cultural Magazine (Arabic Ed.),March 2010

13. “Persian and Islamic Civilizations” by Dr. A.A.Velayati (former Foreign Minister of Iran, 1980-1988)Tehran, 2005

14. “Khadamaat…” by Prof. M. Motah-hari, Tehran, Iran—1998.

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