Jesus, Muhammad and the Pope

JESUS, MUHAMMAD AND THE POPE.
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/08/jesus-muhammad-and-pope.html


When there is new conflict, Americans together will do what the great spirituals masters of each religion and tradition have taught us, for example what Jesus (pbuh) and Muhammad (pbuh) would have done.

Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek – simply meaning, do not aggravate the conflict by violence or repulsive words, and Muhammad showed us a way to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill, so all of us can live without apprehension and fear of the other in a given society – a hallmark of civil societies that both these men taught. Thanks to Pope Francis for re-emphasizing the gospel teaching that may become the new norm of religion; mercy.

In one sentence, please share about your (or your religion/tradition’s) take on building civil societies where we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us.

Mike Ghouse
America Together Foundation

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links. 

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and I

As a kid I learned things about him and did not relate with him at all, he was too divine and remote for me. All that changed when I read the book "Muhammad" by Karen Armstrong. She narrates his life from a non-religious point of view, as a civic leader of the society, a dimension that I appreciated it very much. Karen Armstrong's book is one of the five reasons I chose to become a Muslim after a lapse of nearly three decades. He was a man that I can relate with, making decisions that create trust, mutual respect and a sense of fairness among his people at that time. That was indeed the role of every prophet and peacemaker of the time. Mike Ghouse

How I Connect With Prophet Muhammad
Published by Huffington Post
On 01/25/2013 9:48 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/how-i-connect-with-prophet-muhammad_b_2547782.html
 
 

How do I relate with the prophet? I don't wear clothes like him, eat like him or live like him. But when it comes to respecting fellow beings, nurturing goodwill, mitigating conflicts, forgiving others and building cohesive societies, I can relate.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was born on 12th day of Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar, and the year was 571 A.D. The birth celebrations will continue through this week, and if you wish to greet a Muslim, you can say, Milaad (birth) Greetings, Happy Maulood-an-Nabi, Maulood-an-Nabi Mubarak, happy Eid Milaad and Milaad's blessings to you.

First thing first, he took the larger view of the society and became a model of what it takes to be an exemplary citizen. The first requirement of any civil society is to trust each other in living their daily life safely and without fear of the other. He earned the trust of the society for being truthful, honest in his dealings, trustworthy and just. The Jews, Christians, pagans and others called him Amin, the trust worthy. That was indeed the first foundational Sunnah (prophet's example).

Wherever he saw conflicts between people, he found a way to mitigate and nurture goodwill amongst them. Indeed, he was committed to building a cohesive society, where no one feared the other, and he continuously built upon creating balance and harmony in the society. Blessed are the peacemakers, said Jesus! Indeed, Prophet Muhammad is my mentor.

Muslims celebrate his birthday in a variety of ways, including cooking the simplest food as an expression of humility. They sing the likes of Christmas carols, called Milaad, Nasheed, even Milaad Carols and other names. I have found it peaceful to think about his work and reflect on how I could relate with him, the ultimate peacemaker.

Do I forgive often? Do I stand up for the rights of others? Am I a blessing to fellow humans? Do others feel secure and safe around me? Today, I have concluded my day with a short prayer and a commitment and get on the road. God willing, I will follow him to the best of my ability.

As a kid I learned things about him and did not relate with him at all, he was too divine and remote for me. All that changed when I read the book "Muhammad" by Karen Armstrong. She narrates his life from a non-religious point of view, as a civic leader of the society, a dimension that I appreciated it very much. Karen Armstrong's book is one of the five reasons I chose to become a Muslim after a lapse of nearly three decades. He was a man that I can relate with, making decisions that create trust, mutual respect and a sense of fairness among his people at that time. That was indeed the role of every prophet and peacemaker of the time.

When someone hurts me, I think of the prophet, he advised against score keeping and piling revenge and aggravating each other, and I love the freedom it gives me, freedom from brooding and obsession to get even with the other.

When someone dialogues with me, prophet's words jump at me, to respect the otherness of other, without having to agree but respectfully differ and move on. Indeed, it is a big lesson in conducting civil dialogue.

When I am frustrated, I think of prophet's narration, God told him to do his work, and not worry if people don't get his message, give them the room to make up their own minds, and let me guide them, and you respect everyone's free will.

Every day, I think about the Prophet, how he would have found a solution to a given conflict, and all I see is the application of the principles of fairness and justice to every human, with goodness and inclusiveness.

My spiritual mentors are Muhammad (pbuh) and Jesus (pbuh), and my civic mentors are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama.

When I think of getting even with someone who maligns me, I think of the advice of Prophet Muhammad and Jesus: The best thing we can do is to forgive the other; it brings relief and frees us from being possessed.

When I see injustice done to others, the prophets words ring again, the least you can do is to speak out against injustice. Injustice to one is injustice to the whole humanity.

When I see inequality in our society, our immortal declaration of independence kicks in for me, that all men are created equal. I think of prophet's last sermon, where he said no man is superior to the other and that all are equal.

Whenever I think of the liberation of women, I think of the prophet, he was perhaps the first women's libber; and he officially liberated women from the shackles of the bondages. He was a radical of his time, as Jesus was, and said women are free to marry or divorce, own their own business and property, separate from their husbands, and he introduced the idea of consent and free will in marriage. Let's not judge America by the Newtown, Aurora and Oak Creek murderers, and let's not judge Muslims by the misogynistic men among them either.

Whenever I feel judgmental toward others, the prophet's voice pulls me back, only God knows everything about the other, not me, then let me not judge anyone without the full knowledge.

When I think of standing up for others, I think of Gandhi and MLK, if we don't stand up for others, why should anyone stand up for us.

Whenever the idea of being better than others crosses my mind, I think of the prophet, who said, I am a human like you, and don't make a God out of me or paint my pictures and put me on the pedestal. He even said to his daughter, you earn your paradise through your good deeds, the good you do to the fellow beings and not because you are the Prophet's daughter.

Whenever arrogance attempts to creep in me, I hear the words of the prophet, "Treat all prophets the same, no human is above the other" -- instead of saying I am the greatest prophet and listen to me. Feeling and practicing equality is the way for creating peaceful societies.

I will be writing a full chapter on the prophet in my upcoming book, as to how I relate with him in my daily life, and I have learned to give a 20 minutes motivations talk on "Prophet the Peacemaker" and that is rejoicing.

Further reading:

• The Peacemaker
• Criticism of Islam

Milaad Mubarak!

 Follow Mike Ghouse on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MikeGhouse 

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place and standing up for others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News, fortnightly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you want to know about him. 

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the peace maker.

This is an outline of my talk on Sunday, February 12, 2012
Slide show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157629293229287/show/

Are you a Rahmat (Kindness/Mercy) to your family, your spouse, your friends, your neighbors, your nation and your world? Do you believe Prophet Muhammad was a mercy to mankind?  If he was, can the world see a reflection of him  in you?

 No one should be afraid of a Muslim, because a Muslim is truthful, peaceful, honest and trustworthy. Are you willing to follow the prophet?

Peace can be defined as a state of mind of individuals and groups where everyone lives without apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other. Justice gives birth to peace; when there is justice, there is a sense of security among people.

A peacemaker is one who mitigates conflicts and nurtures good will and brings about a sustainable balance to the society. Indeed,  Prophet Muhammad's life was an example of living the life of a peace maker.  

Here are 15 key ideas, nothing is new, you have heard them time and again, but I am asking you to look at the deeper dimension embedded into these actions in creating peace for yourselves and the people who surround you. It is essentially expanding and sharing with you what Rahmatul Aalameen, a mercy to a mankind means.

MODELS OF PEACE

AMIN
The first model he created for the world was to be truthful and trust worthy whose integrity and honesty was beyond question.  He was called Amin much before he set out on his mission to work on building the concept of Tauheed, the oneness of humanity, oneness of creation, oneness of God where everyone feels home; like being in the lap of the mother, safe, worriless, anxiety-less, and secure.  Indeed every religion has the idea of oneness built in to it.

Was it the Muslims who called him Amin?  No, there were no Muslim at that time, it was the Pagans, Jews, Christians and others who called him Amin.  What does it mean to you and I? We have to earn that trust among the people we live, no matter who they are. Was Prophet wrong in doing that? Are we suppose to earn the title of the trustworthy and truthful among our neighbors?

ASWAD STONE NARRATIVE
A model of mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill

TAIF STORY
Goodwill is sustainable over revenge against those who pelted stone at him. Did he not turn the other Cheek? He knew violence begets violence and goodwill nurtures peace.

TRASH FROM THE OLD LADY 

It is the patience and genuine caring without having an ill-will towards the one who has the ill-will towards you. Can you apply this in your daily life?

RESPECTING THE OTHER 

Prophet Walks up to a Jewish procession and kisses their Torah to show respect and consciously creating values of inclusiveness and co-existence.

GOOD DEED
What is a Good deed, Quraan 49:13 and Prophet's example of planting a seed or sapling that will benefit others?

PEACE TREATY

Peace Treaty signature - Muhammad Bin Abdullah instead of Muhammad Rasool Allah - Prophet gave an example of learning to respect the otherness of other, one of the greatest examples that can be applied in peace making between in most situations.  Can you think of how valuable this is in peace negotiations?

INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

Muhammad (pbuh) was the 2nd Human in history who carried an interfaith dialogue; the other was Cyrus, the Zoroastrian king. I will cut to the point… He offered Najran Christian scholars to pray at his mosque when the time for prayer came. Can you imagine this? He did not believe what they believed, he did not believe Jesus was son of God, but yet he offered them to pray at his mosque. What does it tell you? Showing respect for others belief.

CIVIL DIALOUGE


Sura Kafirun that you may want to visit.  http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html

MADINAH CHARTER


Madinah charter, one of the first pluralist documents offering freedom to practice ones faith.   The prophet was the king, civic and religious leader, he did not have to offer freedom to anyone. But yet he chose to initiate the charter offering Jews, Christians and others their freedom to practice their religion.  It's a lesson for Muslim majority nations to follow, if at all they follow their own prophet. Do we need to follow the prophet? Why?

HUMILITY


Treat no prophet above the other, it is one of the most powerful verses in Quraan, and it is to prevent Muslims from believing that their prophet is superior and breed arrogance in them. The moment one feels superior to the other, conflict takes root. One is trying to look down and the other is fighting. That is the bravest thing to say and that is the right thing to say, religion is all about humility and not arrogance. As I said earlier, you knew the story and here is a dimension that some of you may have missed.

HONORING BILAL 


Honoring Bilal a superior place in paradise to remove the prejudicial barriers that existed then; how many of your are guilty of it? Yet some claim they are Aashiq-e-Rasool, (fans of the prophet, without following his teachings). There is no room for prejudice in Islam; it is prejudice that destroys the social fabric of the society.

MEN AND WOMEN ARE EACH OTHERS GARMENTS: 
Men and women are each other’s garments. Equal rights for women...

EQUALITY OF HUMANS: 
Inculcating the values of equality through the prayers, fasting and other rituals of Islam.

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY
Individual responsibility for one's behavior – Bibi Fatima Example

If you honestly believe Prophet Muhammad is Rahamutal Aalameen, and if you follow him sincerely, then you will be a mercy, the Rahmat to every one around you starting with your spouse, kids, siblings, parents, family, friends and every human around you. 

Thank you.

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer and offers pluralistic solutions on the issues of the day. Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your place of worship, school, work place, seminars or conferences.  He is a media commentator offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 

Mike's work is reflected at three websites twenty two Blogs linked at www.MikeGhouse.net/