Among all the names and attributes of God, chapters of our revealed scripture begin by referring to Him as the Compassionate and the Merciful.
This is a religion that unequivocally recognizes the belief in all divine messengers as the defining essence of faith, and calls upon followers of all divine religions and doctrines to rally around two fundamentally shared principles, namely monotheism (the injunction that we all worship none but the True God and associate no partners with him) as well as human emancipation and freedom (the command to erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than the True God- Chapter 3: verse 64).
The Prophet of this religion regarded it as his mission to fully develop sublime ethical values. Imam Ali, the exemplary follower of this Prophet, instructed his appointed governor of Egypt to nurture, as a principle of good governance, compassion and empathy for all of God’s creation. He emphasized the essential inter-dependence and oneness, not simply intersection and clash, of humanity and their religious fraternity. How is it at all possible for this religion to be a doctrine of violence?
We should not charge Islam with acrimonious atrocities that may have happened in history. Islam is predicated upon compassion and empathy, calls for justice, and safe-guards human dignity. Even in comparison, the historical record of the deeds of those who claim to follow other religions is darker than that of Muslims. Historically, Muslim societies have offered more grounds for amicable coexistence, toleration and cooperation among various religions and identity-groups with different predilections.
Those who perpetrate violence in the name of religion –Islam, Christianity or any other religion- commit two atrocities: one is violence itself, and the other is perpetrating it in the name of creeds and doctrines which in essence call for tolerance, compassion and peaceful coexistence.
Source : Newsweek.Washingtonpost.com
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Absolute Truth Manifests Itself in Diverse Ways
All divine religions have called humanity to the One, Sacred, and Absolute Truth. Should we aim to strip religion of the Absolute and the Sacred, all its content shall be thereby nullified.
Nevertheless, it remains up to humans to discern and grasp the Truth. Philosophical and speculative discussions of “Being”, “Existence”, the ultimate essence of Truth and the scope and verisimilitude of human understanding notwithstanding, we must realize that humans –all humans- are conditioned and bound within various limits.
Truth is essentially absolute, but we shall never doubt that human comprehension of the truth, within the confines of internal and external limits of time, place, history, society and psychology, always remains partial and relative. Any proprietary claim to the full possession of the absolute truth and that which is truly absolute remains as groundless as the categorical rejection of truth in principle.
The problem that afflicted humanity in old days was the exaggerated insistence on bestowing truth and sacredness to essentially non-sacred categories. The problem that afflicts humanity today is the attempt to disenchant everything everywhere and to reject sacredness. The world denuded of that which is sacred and absolute, is but a cold, callous, unsightly and indeed frightening world: no less than the world in which mundane and essentially non-sacred human affairs are bestowed falsely with a sacred aura.
Human beings are, driven by their nature, searching for the truth and seeking to approach it. Through dialogue and acts of bilateral exchange, the possibility emerges for us to bring in our ideals and earnestly set out on the path toward the truth. Also, in the quotidian public arena, we may discern mutual standards and agree through dialogue upon common ways and means to eliminate obstacles and attain goals.
At this point I would like to share an insight about truth and conflict which derives from the perspective of mystic thought.
While truth is in essence absolute and unique, it has infinitely diversely differing manifestations. It is a calamity to mistake any partial manifestation divulged and discovered on a singular basis for the whole truth. Here we should give voice to the words of the Persian mystic poet who said:
Thou have manifested thyself in a thousand manifestations
And I vow to gaze upon thee with a thousand eyes
When we delve deep into the root of conflicts and controversies, we fathom the illusory whim and bad faith of incomplete individuals who falsely claim completeness, and seek to affirm their own “Self” by obliterating the identity of the “Other”. In conclusion, I would like to cite a verse by the great Persian poet Hafez who said:
May Thou forgive the controversies wrought by the seventy-two creeds, They failed to see the truth, and thus followed their whims.
Source : Newsweek.Washingtonpost.com
All divine religions have called humanity to the One, Sacred, and Absolute Truth. Should we aim to strip religion of the Absolute and the Sacred, all its content shall be thereby nullified.
Nevertheless, it remains up to humans to discern and grasp the Truth. Philosophical and speculative discussions of “Being”, “Existence”, the ultimate essence of Truth and the scope and verisimilitude of human understanding notwithstanding, we must realize that humans –all humans- are conditioned and bound within various limits.
Truth is essentially absolute, but we shall never doubt that human comprehension of the truth, within the confines of internal and external limits of time, place, history, society and psychology, always remains partial and relative. Any proprietary claim to the full possession of the absolute truth and that which is truly absolute remains as groundless as the categorical rejection of truth in principle.
The problem that afflicted humanity in old days was the exaggerated insistence on bestowing truth and sacredness to essentially non-sacred categories. The problem that afflicts humanity today is the attempt to disenchant everything everywhere and to reject sacredness. The world denuded of that which is sacred and absolute, is but a cold, callous, unsightly and indeed frightening world: no less than the world in which mundane and essentially non-sacred human affairs are bestowed falsely with a sacred aura.
Human beings are, driven by their nature, searching for the truth and seeking to approach it. Through dialogue and acts of bilateral exchange, the possibility emerges for us to bring in our ideals and earnestly set out on the path toward the truth. Also, in the quotidian public arena, we may discern mutual standards and agree through dialogue upon common ways and means to eliminate obstacles and attain goals.
At this point I would like to share an insight about truth and conflict which derives from the perspective of mystic thought.
While truth is in essence absolute and unique, it has infinitely diversely differing manifestations. It is a calamity to mistake any partial manifestation divulged and discovered on a singular basis for the whole truth. Here we should give voice to the words of the Persian mystic poet who said:
Thou have manifested thyself in a thousand manifestations
And I vow to gaze upon thee with a thousand eyes
When we delve deep into the root of conflicts and controversies, we fathom the illusory whim and bad faith of incomplete individuals who falsely claim completeness, and seek to affirm their own “Self” by obliterating the identity of the “Other”. In conclusion, I would like to cite a verse by the great Persian poet Hafez who said:
May Thou forgive the controversies wrought by the seventy-two creeds, They failed to see the truth, and thus followed their whims.
Source : Newsweek.Washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
A world without Beauty . . . .
what would life mean without the smile of Buddha, without Christian love and Jewish compassion, without water and fire of Zarathustra, without Quranic word and senses? What would it be without the celestial and cosmological music of Pythagoras, without transcendental Platonic idea, without logic, policy, physics and metaphysics Aristotelians, without the uniting view of Plotin, without the celestial Wisdom of Farabi, Avicenna and Averroes, without the illuminative theosophy of Sohrawardi, without the sacred madness of Greeks and their careful reasoning, without the ocean agitated by Persian mystical poem, without the cheerful delicacy of Arabic love poem, without whiteness of bloomed cherry trees of Japanese Haiku, without look and the heart fascinating and intriguing of Ibn-Arabi and Eckhart Meister, without the frightening night of Romantics, without the century of enlightenment, without Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Pascal, Kierkegaard and Bergson, without the endless music of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.
In brief, and in one word, such Life would be without painting, music, sculpture, theatre and poem, without all that the humanity left us of beauty, of ideal culture and thought.
Mohammad Khatami - UNESCO
In brief, and in one word, such Life would be without painting, music, sculpture, theatre and poem, without all that the humanity left us of beauty, of ideal culture and thought.
Mohammad Khatami - UNESCO
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Democracy, a long evolutionary process
Establishing true democracy is a long evolutionary process and cannot be "exported" or imposed by economic sanctions.
Establishing democracy in the successful western democracies was also the result of long struggles. These democracies were not created by political advice or by economic sanctions.
Establishing democracy is a process, not a revolutionary action, and democracy without democratic behavior cannot be established. Democratic norms are not identical packaged goods ready for export.
The long process of establishing a "strengthened democracy" also includes the creation of civic institutions, political parties and unions. Dialogue is an integral part of a true democracy And It's during dialogue when it will become apparent that democracy, before being a western political theory, is the result of human experience following a process of extensive human pains and wounds. True partnership calls for genuine dialogue.
And also strengthening human rights could only be realized through dialogue and not propaganda and intimidation. The miracle of dialogue is necessary for global security. The key to the survival of humankind is being together, going along with each other and talking to each other.
President Mohammad Khatami, in his opening address to the 34th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland
Establishing democracy in the successful western democracies was also the result of long struggles. These democracies were not created by political advice or by economic sanctions.
Establishing democracy is a process, not a revolutionary action, and democracy without democratic behavior cannot be established. Democratic norms are not identical packaged goods ready for export.
The long process of establishing a "strengthened democracy" also includes the creation of civic institutions, political parties and unions. Dialogue is an integral part of a true democracy And It's during dialogue when it will become apparent that democracy, before being a western political theory, is the result of human experience following a process of extensive human pains and wounds. True partnership calls for genuine dialogue.
And also strengthening human rights could only be realized through dialogue and not propaganda and intimidation. The miracle of dialogue is necessary for global security. The key to the survival of humankind is being together, going along with each other and talking to each other.
President Mohammad Khatami, in his opening address to the 34th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Religions and Fighting for Freedom
To fight for freedom, justice and peace is a proper common ground for all real followers of religions to come together and stand united.
We have no dispute in our faith in the one and only God, and surely all the chaos, insecurities, wars and struggles are originated by ignoring the presence of God in the world, as well as the souls of us all.
The main purpose of the holy prophets, their books and divine revelations as inviting people is to uphold justice and fighting poverty, discrimination, animosity and destruction of environment are examples of necessary efforts to this goal, and we, followers of all religions, should be the frontrunners of this movement.
President Khatami in a meeting with Swiss Protestant, Catholic and Jewish leaders in Berne
We have no dispute in our faith in the one and only God, and surely all the chaos, insecurities, wars and struggles are originated by ignoring the presence of God in the world, as well as the souls of us all.
The main purpose of the holy prophets, their books and divine revelations as inviting people is to uphold justice and fighting poverty, discrimination, animosity and destruction of environment are examples of necessary efforts to this goal, and we, followers of all religions, should be the frontrunners of this movement.
President Khatami in a meeting with Swiss Protestant, Catholic and Jewish leaders in Berne
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
No Don Quixote-like attitude toward global issues
The world politicians must come down to earth and quit their "Don Quixote-like attitude" toward global issues.
Don Quixotes of our time are in a ruthless terror fit; (they) are destroying people with their gargantuan war machine and putting global life, security and peace in threat.
A Don Quixote look towards the world, when associated with lack of kindness, mercy and love for human beings, would either lead to horrendous terror or horrific wars.
Don Quixotes of our time do not see beyond themselves and want everything for their own interests as well as their power and wealth. Thus, they divide the world into 'us' and 'them' in which 'them' must be eliminated,
Anyone, who talks about a Crusade war today and wants to foment war between Muslims and Christians, is committing an immoral and indecent act,
All those who believe the world history is on a course toward destruction and decadence and consider the world as captured and run by devils are following Don Quixote in making enemies,
President Khatami, at the Complutense University of Madrid
Don Quixotes of our time are in a ruthless terror fit; (they) are destroying people with their gargantuan war machine and putting global life, security and peace in threat.
A Don Quixote look towards the world, when associated with lack of kindness, mercy and love for human beings, would either lead to horrendous terror or horrific wars.
Don Quixotes of our time do not see beyond themselves and want everything for their own interests as well as their power and wealth. Thus, they divide the world into 'us' and 'them' in which 'them' must be eliminated,
Anyone, who talks about a Crusade war today and wants to foment war between Muslims and Christians, is committing an immoral and indecent act,
All those who believe the world history is on a course toward destruction and decadence and consider the world as captured and run by devils are following Don Quixote in making enemies,
President Khatami, at the Complutense University of Madrid
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