'And Allah invites to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to a straight path' -Qu'ran 10:25
'But I say unto you, That ye not resist evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.' -the Prophet Isa, Matthew 5:39
The 20th Century was a hard century. Let us have pity on those who lash out in pain.
Muslims have more reasons than most to be in pain and earn our pity. When the 19th Century began, their world was Paradise.
The modern world destroyed their Paradise.
In the stress of all this, it is natural that some misbehave out of pain. Those that do deserve our pity.
But let us also, as we give them pity, warn ourselves against their example.
There is little bad, and there is awful.
Salman Rushdie supposedly once saw it as part of his job as a writer to be an 'antagonist' of some kind.
I see my role differently.
When people are in pain, as the world is now, the last thing they need is a Socratic gadfly provoking them.
Instead I want my words to heal and build bridges.
But there is little bad, and there is awful.
A very minor bad turn does not deserve murder.
I know that the Ayatollah, leader of Iran, is in pain.
But there is no justifcation for killing save to save more lives than are killed, and even then the killing should be mourned.
Let's let people vent their pain in words.
That's what words are for.
Salman Rushdie was perhaps not as strong as me.
For those like me who have the strength, let my words heal and build bridges.
And let me have the strength to not get angry at those whose words sting.
For it is far better to vent your pain in words.
If someone says something scandalous about me, like Salman Rushdie supposedly did to Islam, let me have the strength of the Prophet Isa to not lash out, and the strength of the Prophet Muhammed to keep my eyes on what I can build up instead.
And let us too have pity on the Ayatollah, for he is in great pain.
But if we should stray, let us stray like Salman Rushdie with mere words, and not with actions that we cannot take back.
And let us remember that in the middle of those rough edges there might be many precious gems in Salman Rushdie's books.
That we do not have to agree with what his characters say. We don't have to agree with everything we read. But perhaps there might be precious jewels among those stories among the rough edges.
After all, he is writing about a very difficult century.
And let us not take the Ayatollah of Iran's sins as an excuse to dismiss Islam.
There are a billion Muslims that feel the pain of the fall of their Paradise. Let us forgive those who stray, and know that the words and ideas of the tradition are still wise and divine just because they could not prevent the pain of millions from driving a few of the millions mad.
We are living in difficult times.
This is not the 18th Century, the beautiful old times of Ottoman and Qing and Maratha Emperors.
This difficult time will pass.
The pain will pass.
As I write this, in 2025, we are still a mere 80 years since the end of the worst crisis or disaster in human history.
The pain will pass.
Let us seek joy in life anyway, for this is what life is for!
And let us take joy in knowing that, in the face of that difficult century, we are witnessing the joyful rebirth of the world from that disaster!
Let us take joy in that! For things are far better in places like India, Poland, and Bulgaria than they were 40 years ago! Things are far better in China than they were 50 years ago! The world is indeed being reborn!
And perhaps the rough edges in Salman Rushdie's books can help us to understand the difficult 20th and early 21st Century!
Just a little bit of food for thought.
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson