The New Criterion

Jul 05, 2007 02:32 PM

The Meaning of Suffering: Part X

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Roundtable Index: Introduction | Part I: Roth | Part II: Palazzi | Part III: Pearl | Part IV: Yellin | Part V: Guimond | Part VI: Glazov | Part VII: Evanier | Part VIII: Kimball | Part IX: Roth | Part X: Palazzi | Part XI: Pearl | Part XII: Yellin | Part XIII: Guimond | Part XIV: Glazov | Part XV: Evanier | Part XVI: Kimball (Conclusion) |

Palazzi: I must say I agree with Rabbi Yellin for what concern the knowledge of God: what we- as human beings - know about Him, is only what He permitted us to know through Revelation, and that is an infinitesimal aspect of His magnificence and majesty. What we ignore about God is surely incomparably greater of what we know, and when I say "we" I do not include ordinary believers only, but prophets, saints, theologians, mystics, etc. In His mercy, God revealed to some of His chosen creatures only some secrets pertaining to some of His Names Attributes. Because of that Revelation, we consider those chosen creatures to be Prophets and Messengers. Even so, the most outstanding of those Messengers, (which in Islam are five: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad) are only able to partially understand those few Names and Attributes which God revealed to them, and are unable to know the Divine Essence, which is enwrapped in the veil of incognisability. That is one of the reasons why the Prophet Muhammad himself forbade his followers to meditate upon the Divine Essence: it cannot be reached, neither by angels nor by human beings. He said, "Rather do meditate upon those Attributes of His which you see manifested in His creation."

I surely agree that Jews and Christians were dhimmis as long as an Islamic State existed (i.e. as long as the Ottoman Sultanate was not abolished), but dhimmi in Arabic (and in Islamic Law) means "protected", not "second class". The real tragedy for minorities in the Muslims world started when dhimmitude ceased to exist together with the Islamic State, and started being replaced by tyranny and lack of rights. From a historical point o view, the legal status of dhimmitude marks the difference between the Medieval Muslim world and Medieval Europe. The idea of equality of citizens in front of the law irrespective of their religious affiliation is something which only dates back to the Glorious Revolution, and then to the French Revolution. Before that date, the status of a subject belonging to the religion of the State and another belonging to a minority religion was never equal. According to Canon Law, until Council Vatican II, in Catholics countries there existed no personal right to practice a religion other from Catholicism. The Catholic King or Emperor (or the Pope in his domain) could either choose to persecute or to exile non-Catholic minorities, or to tolerate them. Tolerance, however, was only depending on the decision of the ruler, and involved no legal right for the minority subjects. Were the ruler intentioned to tolerate the minorities which the restrictions he deemed opportune, that was in according with the religious code, and in case he chose to expel them all, that was also in line with the religious code, like for instance it happened in Spain with the expulsion of Jews and Muslims after the conquest of Andalusia.

In Islam this could never happen since dhimmitude was an integral part of the religious code, which obligated the ruler to grant religious freedom to his non-Muslims subjects. The Prophet Muhammad said "Whoever of you hurts a dhimmi will face my wrath of the Judgment Day." There surely existed Muslim rulers who oppressed and persecuted non-Muslim subjects, exactly like there existed Muslim rulers who oppressed and persecuted some categories of Muslims, but they did so not on the base of Islamic Law, but against its clear dictates. This explains very well why Jews who were persecuted in Europe frequently found a safe haven in Muslim countries. The know that protection of dhimmis was an integral aspect of Islamic Law, and preferred the protection of dhimmitude to a situation in which tolerance could be replaced by persecution by sudden changes of the political situation. That is also the reason why, like Jews have their list or Righteous Gentiles, Muslims have their list of Righteous non-Muslims, which includes not only Jews and Christians, by also pagans, from Abu Talib to Alexander the Great, to Cyrus, to the Persian King Anushirvan, to the Negus of Abyssinia, until Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa. The prophetic message is never in contradiction with humanity, but rather is a Divine support, conceived to bring human nature to an ethical standard of perfection. Good deeds of good people are always rewarded by God, irrespective of their confessional affiliation. The Qur’an says: "Verily those who believe in Islam and those who are Jews, Christians, and Sabeans, whoever believes in God and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve". (2: 62)

As for Dr. Gregory Glazov’s remarks, when I say "Every creature is annihilated every time it exhales, and created again every time it inhales", I am not resorting to poetry. What I means it that createdness is annihilated, in the sense that for a while it is brought back to its Uncreated Origin, and then is manifested again under the aspect of a creature. When we say that God creates His human creatures in His image, teaches them how to do good and avoid evil, and then leaves them live of earth for a limited period, judging them in the Last Day in order to reward or to punish them in the hereafter, when are abiding by a theological perspective, wherein God is the Necessary Being, while His creatures are the contingent being. This theological perspective is correct in its domain, is an aspect of truth, but is not the highest truth a human mind can grasp. In Islam we consider mystical knowledge, i.e. Tasawwuf (or Sufism) to go beyond theological knowledge itself. In the Sufi perspective, there exists only one Being, the Supreme Being, and creatures are only reflections of the Divine Being which appears under the veil of createdness. Creatures are images of God which appear in different mirrors, and then forget their Origin and suppose to be independent beings. That appearance has the form of a continuum for our ordinary consciousness, but is constantly re absorbed in God and then created again. That is the reason why, from this perspective, a Sufi can say that his heart contains all forms: if a idol-worshippers comes there, he finds that heart to be a Temple of idols; if a gazelle comes, it finds it is a pasture; a Jew finds there the Scroll of Torah, a monk finds there a monastery, while a Muslims finds there the Book of The Qur’an. That is the level in which Islam transcends its own confessionalism, and is also the dimension which contemporary fundamentalists would like to cancel to make Islam a mundane ideology which legitimates their crimes.

I feel honored and blessed by the opportunity to participate in this virtual debate together with so many qualified guests. While thanking all of them, I want to especially thank Mr. Judea Pearl. When I learnt about the horrible killing of his son Daniel, what I immediately heard were the details which are mentioned in the media: some Islamist terrorists butchered in cold blood a journalist who, in their eyes, was culprit of being an American and of being a Jew. I must thank Bernard Henry Lévy for helping me to go beyond this schematic description, and for revealing to me Daniel’s special nature. Because of his moral integrity, of his innate sense of justice, he was not among those who were interested in promoting clashes of civilizations of confessional conflicts. As Bernard said, Daniel was his partner in trying to cause the face of "the Other Islam" to emerge from the darkness which prevails in the contemporary Muslim world. He was able to hear and recognize the voice of that traditional Islam and to harmonize it with his Jewish nature, and this caused him to be the victim of those want to cause the Other Islam and all the rest of Otherness to disappear. That is really the reason view Daniel Pearl and his sacrifice were really a blessing for all nations on earth, and why all nations on earth will bless his memory.