Ramadan Night 23 - The Twelfth Entry

And they witnessed
(All) that they were doing
Against the believers.
And they ill-treated them
For no other reason than
That they believed in Allah,
Exalted in power,
Worthy of all praise!
S.85 A.7-8

I have made a new friend recently, and had I not talked to her recently, I would not have reacted to this verse as I did.  She is from Occupied Palestine, and has seen so much more misery and sorrow in her gentle years than I have in twice as many, even as I searched the world for it. I have never fancied myself a martyr, nor do I believe I have been persecuted for my faith - I have, however, been targeted and humiliated a few times by post-pubescent Israelis toting automatic weapons, whose boredom I abated as they taunted and insulted me.  On the odd occasion, I hear insensitive comments about Muslims and Islam, but I have not been singled out for a campaign of degradation and destruction. 

I talked in an earlier post about my admiration for those early converts to Islam who faced tremendous adversity, even death for their faith. Their courage and fortitude is a beautiful example of the strength and endurance Allah had blessed us with, humbling and shaming me for my trivial defeats. But there are modern day paragons amongst us, and sadly, their unmitigated sacrifices bleed out daily into the dry and dusty streets of Palestine and Gaza, while we watch indifferently secure in the knowledge that sand absorbs water and blood.

I have no means of measure to understand how these people, particularly the younger witnesses to this demiurgic genocide, keep their faith and their dignity, and miraculously a genuine desire for peace.  Unlike my friend, I have never been spat upon nor have I been made an alien in my own land. I have never been shackled and hamstrung, then had war declared upon me.  I have never been made the object of derision and scorn because of the faith I carry in my heart, the pride reflected in my eyes.  Perhaps it is only that pride their tormentors cannot abide, perhaps it is only that which they pine to replace with the brackish bile oozing from their hearts, unable to suffer the withering gaze of integrity. Perhaps they just want the eyes.

I pray for my friend, and the millions of others who purchase their faith and fidelity at such a high price, and I pray for myself, hoping that I will never face those trials, but if I do, I do so with such dignity and grace.  Most of all, I pray for the day when such decency need not be tempered and tested by so much enmity and hate.