‘Practice what you preach’
libyan cleric ali al-salabi was quoted as saying that there are three differences between a moderate muslim and a hardliner muslim. we added to his differences a third dimension which cannot be missed by the reader:
1. the moderate muslim is preoccupied with his faith, while the hardliner muslim is preoccupied with the faith of others, and non-muslims are busy with work and production.
2. the moderate muslim is preoccupied with seeking paradise for himself, his family and others, while the hardliner is preoccupied with proving that others will not enter paradise, and the rest of the people (non-muslims) are working towards the reconstruction of land, increase in production of food and minerals of all kinds, invention of anything that eases the lives of people, discovery of continents and water sources, and production of the best medicines and vaccines to alleviate the suffering of all human beings.
3. the moderate muslim is looking for excuses for the mistakes of others to forgive them, while the hardliner muslim spends his time searching for the mistakes of others to punish and defame them, and the rest of the people look for different things, strive to find the best ways to educate their children, and coexist with others under the umbrella of the principles of common human rights.
4. i remembered the words of ali al-salabi and i read the tweet of nayef al-ajmi in which he stated life is “dirty” and we all have to work for the hereafter. this is beautiful, and it agrees with some texts and contradicts others.
if life is dirty, then the title of this dirt is money which is dirtier. perhaps, it is the greatest evil, so we ask al-ajmi: why did you accept salaries and bonuses and did not donate to others? he did not tell us that he did so to set example for all of us.
if life is dirty, then those who clean and build it are needed. we are required to religiously work and rebuild the land. if life is dirty and we must pay more attention to the hereafter, who will feed us during famine, who will provide us with clothes and medicines if we get sick, who will provide vaccination when we are plagued with epidemics, and who will grant us various aid if the earth shakes and lava erupts?
who will help us if we are driven out of our homes, and when waves and rain flood our homes?
why did al-ajmi accept the honorable government post, sit with the elite, wear expensive clothes and use the most expensive perfume if life is full of dirt?
on the other hand, kuwait news agency (kuna) published a report in may 2014 stating that minister of justice, awqaf and islamic affairs nayef al-ajmi resigned after a senior us official accused him of calling for jihad in syria and financing terrorism.
we then ask: if one of the senior advisers of the state believes that all our work in this world is dirty, how can you take his worldly advice while he works only for the hereafter?
a sage said: science makes us know something, ignorance makes the ignorant unaware that he is ignorant.
