Salaam & Shalom: Sticking Together

“Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world” (The Talmud, Mishnah. Sanhedrin 37a)

“Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind” (The Holy Qur’an, Surah A-Ma’idah [5:32])

It wasn’t until I sat in a room filled with students, listening to our Jewish guests, that I suddenly started to have an interest for a religion that wasn’t mine. I consider myself lucky, because I did not grow up in a too conservative family. My surrounding however – some Muslim friends and acquaintances, that I hope don’t get mad at me for this -, have always been quite the opposite.

At a very young age I started going to the mosque regularly, growing up learning how to read the Qur’an and understanding the context. I never got to learn more about any other religion, didn’t know much about the bible, not much about Christianity, and Judaism was an unfamiliar term for me. All I knew about Jews were, that they were bad. They threaten me. Me and my faith. Hence I never spoke about them. I didn’t know much about them and never felt the need, considering the fact that they were bad and thank God we don’t have that many Jews in Germany. 

And today, I’m quite saddened by the fact that I don’t have Jewish friends. For some reason I never questioned the evident Antisemitism that goes on in our Muslim community. I thought it was all written in the Qur’an, I thought God wanted us to hate everyone who’s different.

Thinking about it now, I feel embarrassed. Embarrassed because I never thought about educating myself, never thought about asking my parents what they think about our Jewish and Christian friends. Instead, I fell for the ignorance of some of my Muslim brothers and sisters.

But it wasn’t until one day, on Memorial Day, when we had guests over who introduced themselves as the second generation that had witnessed the holocaust, that I have come to the realization that there’s way more than that. Not only was I grieved by the real stories that had been told that day – but I also felt the need to finally educate myself.

I’m very happy to say that I turned my ignorance into knowledge. I still don’t know everything about each religion for sure, but if there is one thing I have learned in the past years, then it’s definitely the fact that no one has the right to treat someone differently. No matter their belief. We have to stop focusing on what is different, and start talking about what connects us. We need to put our pride and arrogance aside, and concentrate on what we have in common.

"Our enemies are not the Jews or the Christians, 
our enemy is our own ignorance." 
- Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (AS)

And so I’m writing to you. Anyone who’s reading. Whether you’re a Muslim, Christian or Jewish or a religiously unaffiliated brother or sister. I’m talking about this because I think especially us – the Muslim and Jewish community – have to stick together instead of fighting against each other. We both have a history of oppression, and we both still face discrimination and hatred.

So why should we hate each other? Why do we put everyone in a bag and make everything about politics?

Let me just say that hatred definitely exists in both communities. I’m not saying everyone is responsible for it – there are surely good and bad people in each group – but you can’t deny that Islamophobia as well as Antisemitism still exist. They’re still issues. And they’re caused by us. Us. Both groups. Both always been hated, always been oppressed and misinterpreted. Tearing each other down. Does that make sense?

So there is this YouTube video that I’ve found a few days ago that I think is really interesting. It’s basically two couples – a Jewish man and a Muslim woman and vice versa – walking down the streets of NYC in different areas. The reactions are diverse and show us how unlikely it is for a Muslim and Jewish person to walk together, let alone be married to each other.

(Some may say that most social experiments including this one are staged. Even if they are, I think it’s good that some light is being shed on this topic.)

I’m honestly relieved to see especially young Muslim and Jewish people speak up and talk about this. Most of the time, it’s the traditional thinking of elders that makes us jump to conclusions when it comes to friends of other beliefs, which is saddening and should definitely change.

The point of this post is basically that I’m tired of all the prejudices being made towards not only me and my Muslim friends, but also towards my Jewish brothers and sisters and everyone else.

I do not represent Islam, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I’m in no way the idealistic Muslim.

I do not represent my religion.

But I represent solidarity. I represent engagement and independence at the same time. I want two communities to become one, to create mutual understanding, to get in touch and learn more about each other.

Our religions stem from the same Abrahamic roots. We are in no way enemies, we are cousins.

And it’s not religion what separates us. It’s politics and pride. 

Salaam and Shalom,

Esra.

[How to get active for the Muslim and Jewish community (Germany, Berlin and nearby): click here.