November 28, 2003
His Legacy Shows the Way
Neither the vagaries of the inclement weather nor the hardships of the vast, inhospitable continent could dampen the free spirit of the European settlers who made America their home in the early 17th century. Mayflower was much more than a 17th century sea-faring vessel braving the Atlantic high seas, and its shipload of passengers a great deal more than a commonplace group of persecuted, religious zealots. Together the two kindled, and have come to perpetually reinforce, the American spirit of fair play and justice - laudable principles enshrined in the American constitution - to transform the newly-discovered continent into ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’.
This entrancing country has embraced men of all colours - white, black, yellow and brown - and creeds - Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists. It has provided succour and unbounded freedom to each and every one of them to enjoy life in all its wondrous aspects. Contrary to popular belief, the USA is not an exclusively white-man entity. Instead, it has come to be a nestling, cozy home to all. People of diverse extractions and backgrounds - Europeans, Asians, Africans, Australians - all contributing to an entrancing fusion of cultures that remains unparalleled to this day.
But come September 11, 2001, and the situation drastically alters for the seven million or so Muslim Americans. They are disowned as the Patriot Act is promptly clamped. Regretfully, they are held accountable not only for the follies of a fool-hardy fringe group; their past, too, is brought into question. Islam and the last prophet of God, Muhammad (Peace be upon him), are remorselessly targeted. Suddenly, a country that gained ascendancy by clinging steadfastly to a secular outlook and the finest values of humanism appears to shed the very principles on which it was founded. It is against this background that the documentary, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, aired by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) on December 18, 2002, assumes singular importance.
It could not have been more propitiously timed. According to Alessandra Stanley (New York Times, December 18, 2002): “It would be fair to say that the most important invisible figure on American television is Muhammad.... Even many educated PBS viewers know very little of his story, yet his legacy is felt in some form everyday in the United States, as well as in the rest of the world.”
The two-hour programme proved to be much more than a mere PR effort on the part of Muslim Americans. According to Michael Wolfe, a white American-convert to Islam who happens to be one of the producers, the documentary is a picture and portrait of a living person produced ‘at a time of transformation’, when Americans are keen to know about Islam. Muhammad was much more than a spiritual leader: he was also charged with temporal responsibilities. The noblest of all in lineage, the most honest and generous-hearted, everyone who saw him ungrudgingly conceded: “I never saw before or after him the likes of him.”
An introspective child often found “contemplating under the stars.” He encountered Jews and Christians and learned about both religions. In the clipped, illuminating comments of Karen Armstrong: “The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) gave hope and peace to the people.” He was a perfect man, embodying the quintessence of virtuous traits. To be a good Muslim, you have to serve people. “Serve your fellow people first,” he urged. A feminist in his own right, he granted legal rights to women. Hazrat Ayesha, who had an active mind, questioned him often, yet he was not rattled.
The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) was always insistent that he should not be regarded as a divine person, and did everything in his power to ensure that he was not worshipped in his lifetime or after. Tolerant, peace-loving and humble to the core, he did not recount his achievements and in his Last Sermon in February 632 A.D., asked instead, “Have I fulfilled my mission?”
The documentary defines jihad as a ‘struggle against your own desire’, ‘an effort,’ ‘a striving’ and ‘by no means the major imperative to wage war’, as is widely believed. Islam is ‘soft, not hard’ and does not endorse suicide bombings, nor supports Osama bin Laden’s claim to kill in the name of religion. It does not promote a ‘harm for harm’ philosophy or advocate intolerance. The Holy Qur’an asks Muslims to honor the people of the divine books - Jews and Christians. As for resolving religious animosities, the commentator makes an insightful observation as he delineates the chain of events leading to the Battle of the Trench (Ghazva-i-Khandaq): “Both are wrong - Muslims who regard Jews as treacherous, and Jews who feel Muslims are their enemy.”
The documentary describes how Muslim Americans - the likes of Jameel Johnson, Daisy Khan, Nazzah Bazzy and Kevin James featuring in the program - are adapting to the American scene and playing useful roles as peaceful US citizens. They are forward-looking and blend well with mainstream Americans without parting with cherished values or faith. In his tough Brooklyn accent, David Crumm, a heroic New York firefighter who looks like a cross between Charlton Heston and Sylvester Stallone, tells TV viewers that his deep faith as a Muslim inspires him to save lives.
In Ann Arbor, 36 college students are finishing months of work with their professor to present a new Islamic exhibit at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art. Its centrepiece is a dazzling blue bowl with graceful Islamic inscriptions. Nazzah Bazzy tends to her patients with manifest compassion. Muslim Americans appear as an integral part of the American nation.
Besides Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, there have been several studies to suggest that the seven million Muslims inhabiting the USA consist of four major groups: South Asians who make up 33 per cent of the population, Arabs who aggregate 26 per cent, Afro-Americans who form 20 per cent and the remaining heterogeneous assemblage that makes up 7 per cent. Compared to an average American, Muslim Americans are more affluent and better educated: 58 per cent Muslims are college graduates as against the national average of 25; 50 per cent have an yearly income of $50,000. Muslim Americans have made ‘inroads’ in four fields: religion (there are more than 2,000 Islamic centres and mosques in the US), education, ethnic media and public advocacy. According to Silent No More, a book by Paul Findley, a Congressman for 22 years: “Muslims have remarkable attainments in higher education. Ba-Yunus summarizes an unpublished study showing that employed Muslims in the 20 to 40 age group averaged three years of college - two years more than the national average. The middle and upper brackets with a maiden of $39,700 is strikingly high for a group that includes many recent immigrants. These estimates reflect, in part, the effect of US policies that favour immigrants with college degrees.
“US Muslims are prominent in engineering, business administration, medicine, finance, accounting, electronics, science and education, as well as retail establishments. “Egyptian-born Ahmed Zewail, 53, a professor at the California Institute of Technology in Los Angeles, received the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of a high-speed camera that can monitor chemical reactions at one quadrillionth of a second, and record the motion of atoms.
“Chief executive officers of major industries who are Muslims include Safi Qureshey of AST Computers, Ray Irani of Occidental Petroleum and Farooq Kathwari of Ethen Allen Furniture Company. Among Muslim notables are six professors and internationally acclaimed political scientists.
“The most astounding and gratifying revelation of my Islamic sojourn is the emergence of overwhelming evidence that a close kinship exists between Christianity and Islam, specially in primary literature,” writes Paul Findley.
PBS, Paul Findley, Professor Esposito, David Bonior, Cynthia McKinney, Earl Hilliard, Michael Sells, all seem to testify that Muslim Americans have supporters in the nation founded by those who crossed the Atlantic on board the Mayflower. Happily, the spirit of fair play characterizing the founding fathers manifestly survives in ‘the land of the free and home of the brave’, and who knows it may triumph in the not-too-distant future to mitigate the effects of the current setback to Muslim Americans. There is an inspirational message in the words of George Washington: “True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.”
As for the documentary, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, one may heed the advice of Eric Erfan Vickers of AMC Washington and act with due alacrity: “The Muslim community owes the producers, cast and sponsors of this timeless work a standing ovation and a heart-felt round of thanks. More than that, Muslims in America owe them the continuation of the noble legacy of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).” - afaruqui@pakistanlink.com.
