Recently, I received an email from a frequent poster on one of the Muslim listervs I quietly follow. It appeared to be a short article, perhaps one he had posted elsewhere, but he had sent it to me annotated with the subtitle, ‘My advice to Muslims.’ The advice was more or less summed up in the principle title: It Is Not Enough To Be Good; One Must Also Show The Right Path To Others Who Might Otherwise Do Evil.
It began with a series of arguments which then led to the following observation:
Salaams M.
Hey A, howz it going?
Fine, listen up. I’ve got a new religion for you. Well, it’s not really new, more of a clarification of the religious ideas that have been bouncing around this part of the world over the last few thousand years
Cool, what’s it called?
Islam - and, well, to make it simple for everyone, I’m sending a book. The style is sublime, though I say so myself. Anyway, it should clear up a few things about how people should live their lives and their relationship with Me.
Well, early in the mornin’
‘Til late at night,
I got a poison headache,
But I feel all right.
I’m pledging my time to you,
Hopin’ you’ll come through, too.
(Bob Dylan)
Yahya Birt’s blog is host to a Pledge of Mutual Respect and Cooperation Between Sunni Muslim Scholars, Organizations, and Students of Sacred Knowledge which has been signed by an impressive list of Muslim clever people.
