People of Faith Must Be Bridge Builders

Dr. Hesham A. Hassaballa

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

Let us, for a moment, go back and listen in on an ancient and sacred conversation: “Behold, I am about to establish on earth one who shall inherit it,” said the Lord God to the angels.

They replied: “Will You place upon it such as will spread corruption thereon and shed blood - whereas we extol Your limitless glory, praise You, and hallow Your Name?”

Alas, it seems that our reputation as human beings preceded our own creation. The Almighty replied: “Verily, I know that which you do not.” In other words, the Lord God said, “I know what I am doing.”

That conversation is recounted in the verse 2:30 of the Qur’an, and it highlights the purpose of the creation of humankind: to be the inheritors of the earth, God’s vicegerents, His representatives. As such, we have a tremendous responsibility placed upon us by the Lord God.

As Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, Professor of Islamic law at UCLA, writes :

“The Qur’an describes the moment of creation as the moment in which humanity was entrusted with a heavy responsibility… God made human beings God’s agents or viceroys on the earth and entrusted them with the responsibility to civilize the land.”

Yet, what does “civilizing the land” mean exactly? Dr. Abou El Fadl continues:

“Civilizing the earth does not mean constructing buildings or paving roads. It means striving to spread on the earth the Divine attributes such as justice, mercy, compassion, goodness, and beauty. In doing so, human beings spread Divinity itself upon the earth. In contrast, corrupting the earth - spreading violence, hatred, vengeance, and ugliness - means failure in discharging one’s obligations toward God. The Qur’an teaches that the act of destroying or spreading ruin on this earth is one of the gravest sins possible - fasad fi al-ard - which means to corrupt the earth by destroying the beauty of creation, is considered an ultimate act of blasphemy against God.”

Indeed, the Qur’an speaks harshly of those who spread corruption on the earth:

”...none does He cause thereby to go astray save the iniquitous, who break their bond with God after it has been established [in their nature] and cut asunder what God has bidden to be joined, and spread corruption on earth: these it is that shall be the losers.” [Qur’an 2:26-27]

My master Jesus Christ (pbuh) said to his disciples on the mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

Thus, our job as human beings is to civilize the earth: to spread justice, mercy, compassion, love, and beauty over all of the earth and its creatures. And this responsibility falls upon all human beings.

Herein lies a problem: what of people of other faiths? How do we deal with those who are not Muslim? Are we - as many are wont to believe - hopelessly locked in a “clash of civilizations” between the West and Islam? Are we doomed never to work together?

Quite the opposite. In fact, Dr. Samuel Huntington, the originator of the much-touted “clash of civilizations” theory, recently decried the misuse of his theory by politicians and pundits. In an interview with Islamica Magazine, Dr. Huntington said: “I think it is a mistake, let me just repeat, to think in terms of two homogeneous sides starkly confronting each other. Global politics remains extremely complex and countries have different interests, which will also lead them to make what might seem as rather bizarre friends and allies.” When asked whether his thesis has been used by people for their own agendas, he replied: “Oh absolutely, all the time. There isn’t much I can do about that.”

Indeed, the Qur’an anticipates the fact that there will be a plurality of religious communities on the earth, a fact which does not threaten it. Numerous verses speak about this:

“Unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life. And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you ...” [Qur’an 5:48]

“And had thy Sustainer so willed, He could surely have made all humanity one single community: but [he willed it otherwise, and so] they continue to hold divergent views.” [Qur’an 11:118]

Given this knowledge, how are Muslims and non-Muslims supposed to interact? They are supposed to “know one another”:

“O people! Behold, we have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes to that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.” [Qur’an 49:13]

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl elucidates what it really means to “know one another”:

“God’s appeal to human beings to engage in ta’aruf, or knowing the other, is not a call for a heartless process of collecting data about other human beings. It is, however, Divine guidance and an exhortation to believers to realize that essential to knowing and loving God is to know and love God’s viceroys on earth.”

An essential aspect of that process of familiarization, of getting to “know one another,” is building bridges of mutual understanding and respect between our respective faith communities. And your inviting me here tonight to break bread with you, engage in fellowship with you, and speak to you is one such example of bridge building, and I am truly honored to be here tonight building that bridge with you.

Once we “know one another,” we can then work together in the spread of Godliness - justice, mercy, compassion, love, and beauty - on this earth for all to enjoy. The Qur’an makes this exact demand of people:

“For, every community, faces a direction of its own, of which He is the focal point. Vie with one another in doing good works. Wherever you may be, God will gather you all unto Himself: for, verily, God has the power to do anything.” [Qur’an 2:148]

“Unto every one of you We have appointed a [different] law and way of life. And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Vie], then, with one another in doing good works. Unto God you all must return; and then He will make you truly understand all that on which you were wont to differ.” [Qur’an 5:48]

The Arabic word used in the verses, fastabiqu, literally means “to race.” Thus, we - Muslims and non-Muslims - should race, or alternatively, compete with one another - not in gaining converts from each other’s communities - but in doing good on this earth. The best of us are those who are most conscious of God, and that is only for God to judge.

Now, going back to the idea of bridge building I mentioned a few moments ago, let us stop and reflect over why bridges are built in the first place. What is the purpose of a bridge? It is to allow a path or road to be uninterrupted by the inevitable breaks and ravines said road encounters as it winds its way to its final destination.

Our road – as people of faith – winds its way on this earth to the Ultimate Destination, and that is the Lord God. What may possibly interrupt the path to God, so that a bridge needs to be built?

Poverty, hunger, injustice, the reckless assault on innocent human life, wherever it may be on this earth; the reckless destruction of the environment as well. These are just some of the ravines that must be traversed by our bridges of mutual understanding and respect.

Therefore, people of faith should build those bridges so that poverty and hunger are ended once and for all. People of faith should build those bridges so that justice will be for all, and not just the few. People of faith should build those bridges so that all of God’s creation is protected. People of faith should build those bridges so that no innocent life, whether it be in Tel Aviv, the Gaza strip, or in any of America ‘s cities and towns, is ever lost. Whenever something good can be done for this earth, people of faith should always be found in the vanguard.

And, ultimately, those bridges are not for the benefit of the bridge builders themselves. Rather, the true benefactors of the bridges we build are the countless generations of people who come after us, who use the bridges we build to travel on the path to God. The building of those bridges of mutual understanding and respect is ultimately a selfless act.

Yet, this is only natural for people of faith, because it stems from their belief in, and more importantly, their love of God. And they love God because God loved them first. In the Bible, the commandment to love the Lord our God is paramount. In Deuteronomy 6:4-5 it says: “Here, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” In Matthew 22:34-37, my master Jesus Christ (pbuh) echoes this commandment: “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Now, it is a very common perception among many non-Muslims – and even some Muslims as well – that Islam does not have love of God as central to its theology. Many people think that the God of Islam – who is the very same God of my masters Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (pbut) – is a distant, cold, and aloof God, who does not love at all.

This could not be farther from the truth. In fact, the very basis of the relationship between God and humanity, in my reading of the Qur’an, is one of profound love. God loved us before we were. How do I know this? Because He gave us life when we were dead. What better act of love can there be besides this? And out of His love stems His tremendous mercy and compassion. It is no accident that every chapter in the Qur’an save one begins with the phrase: “In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.” One of God’s many names which are mentioned in the Islamic tradition is Al Wadud, or “The Loving.”

Thus, since God loves us, we love Him back, and as a direct consequence of this love for God, we have love and compassion for all His creation. This love and compassion for God’s creation, the most important of which is fellow human beings, leads us to work to build those bridges so that we can eliminate poverty, hunger, injustice, and oppression.

It is the fulfillment of the “second greatest commandment” that my master Jesus Christ (pbuh) mentions in the gospel of Matthew: ” You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments,” that and love of God, ” hang all the Law and the Prophets,” said my master Jesus Christ (pbuh). My master Muhammad (pbuh) also told us the exact same thing: ” None of you has faith until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself.” (Muslim)

And in our struggle to do this work, we seek others who know and love God to help us: other people of faith. They are natural allies.

I must say that I do not imply that those without faith can not, therefore, also love God’s creation, or have no role in the spread of Godliness on earth. Far from it. They are human beings as well, and they are welcome partners in the spread of good on earth. Furthermore, because I speak as someone who believes in God and feels tremendously privileged to be in communion with his Creator, this does not mean that I disparage those who do not have faith or who do not believe in God. Once again, far from it.

Nevertheless, as a person of faith, I am commanded by God in the Qur’an to seek out other people of faith - regardless of what that faith is - and work with them to do good on earth.

Now let me end with this: on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, an open letter to Christian religious leaders of every denomination was sent by dozens of Muslim religious leaders entitled, “A Common Word between Us and You.” In this letter, it reads: “So let our differences not cause hatred and strife between us. Let us vie with each other only in righteousness and good works. Let us respect each other, be fair, just, and kind to [one] another and live in sincere peace, harmony, and mutual goodwill.” Ladies and gentlemen, I echo these words to you tonight.

That is the precise reason we were created. That is our responsibility as human beings, as viceroys of God on earth. That is our role in the 21st Century, and it is a major struggle: a true jihad in its very essence. But it is a jihad which no one should ever fear.

May the Precious Beloved Lord shower His eternal peace, blessings, and mercy upon each and every one of you, and may He bless our precious nation for all time to come. Thank you very much.

Text of the speech Dr. Hassaballa gave at an event hosted by the Youth Theological Initiative of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.  Visit Dr. Hassaballa’s site at http://drhassaballa.blogspot.com/