The people of Tunesia and Egypt have won stunning victories of real democracy over tyranny. We heard cries of “Allahu Akbar” from the crowds in both nations, and for good reason—the people in the streets showed the true nature of Islam.
Unlike Western revolutions which tend to be blood-soaked, in Egypt millions of Muslims stood up for the highest of Islamic values as a united, organized Ummah. For 18 long days, they stayed in the streets demonstrating patience and determination in what the Quran calls “striving for the sake of Allah,” fighting with non-violent “people power” against oppression and for justice. Five times a day they joined mass prayers in submission to Allah (SWT) and to find courage to strive until the common good could prevail. They reminded us all that Islam is derived from the word Salaam. Islam is all about peace because that is Allah’s (SWT) will for humanity.
Islam is inherently non-violent; it is the enemy of violence. Violence creates disorder, fitna, and is allowed by Islam only in the most dire circumstances. On the say when hired thugs attacked the peaceful crowds on horse- and camel-back with weapons, unarmed individuals used their fists and courage to inflict violence on as many as they could, but only in self-defense. But as soon as the immediate danger was over, as the holy Quran teaches, they returned to peace.
As our ecstasy over the victories of our brothers and sisters in North Africa cools, however, let us understand that if these victories are to be secured—and if the wave of “people power” is to spread to other Muslim lands—there is much more for ALL of us to do.
First, we must recognize that the true enemy of the Egyptian people—and ordinary peoples everywhere—is the Empire of the United States of America. Not only did the USA arm and support Mubarak and his corrupt system out of fealty to Israel, but the USA spreads armaments, violence, war, poverty, corruption, environmental devastation, and oppression to all parts of the earth.
A world-wide democratic uprising against this empire is the only way to stop it.
I write this not as a nihilist, nor as a disciple of a violent ideology. On the contrary, I am a student and devotee of the liberation movements of history, including Nelson Mandela’s movement in South Africa, Gandhi’s in India, and particularly the movement headed by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the US.
Although Dr. King is remembered as a “moderate,” he was not. Committed to the same vision of decisive democracy as we have seen in Egypt, he saw clearly the danger posed by the military/industrial/governmental complex of his government. He agreed with every word in my description of the US Empire above, and went far beyond them in his denunciation of American capitalism, militarism, and racism, and in calling for an international revolution to defeat them.
More tomorrow.
More tomorrow.
