The State Of Our Hearts

By Sheila Musaji, *Egypt’s non-violent jihad and the lurking military crocodile* - TAM The American Muslim - Bridgeton, MO, USA; Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Egyptian revolution brought down a brutal tyrant using only non-violent means. In doing so, they have not only begun the process of changing Egypt, but perhaps of changing the world. They have given hope to many, and they have reminded many of previous non-violent struggles.

This was not an al Qaeda perversion of jihad, but a true Islamic, spiritual jihad - a struggle for freedom and justice. Because it was a non-violent movement, the Egyptian people have won the hearts of people around the world, and have inspired people around the world to struggle to achieve and/or retain freedom and democracy.

Abdal Hakim Murad wrote in 2002 *Islamic Spirituality: The Forgotten Revolution* ... The Islamic movement has so far been remarkably unsuccessful. We must ask ourselves how it is that a man like Nasser, a butcher, a failed soldier and a cynical demagogue, could have taken over a country as pivotal as Egypt, despite the vacuity of his beliefs, while the Muslim Brotherhood, with its pullulating millions of members, should have failed, and failed continuously, for six decades. The radical accusation of a failure in methodology cannot fail to strike home in such a context of dismal and prolonged inadequacy. ... At this critical moment in our history, the umma has only one realistic hope for survival, and that is to restore the ‘middle way’, defined by that sophisticated classical consensus which was worked out over painful centuries of debate and scholarship. That consensus alone has the demonstrable ability to provide a basis for unity. But it can only be retrieved when we improve the state of our hearts, and fill hem with the Islamic virtues of affection, respect, tolerance and reconciliation. This inner reform, which is the traditional competence of Sufism, is a precondition for the restoration of unity in the Islamic movement. The alternative is likely to be continued, and agonising, failure.?

When I saw people praying calmly while water hoses were being aimed at them by the military, I knew in my heart that these people were engaged in a spiritual enterprise.

Shahed Amanullah in an article about one of my heroes, Badshah Khan of Afghanistan *asked a question* Could Badshah Khan’s tactics work in modern-day conflicts in the Muslim world - Palestine, Kashmir, or Chechnya? Perhaps nonviolence isn’t relevant in an age of smart bombs and cruise missiles, but the answer won’t be certain unless someone tries it.

What we have seen in Egypt answers this question in the affirmative. Yes, non-violent tactics can work, and in fact may be the only tactics that will work. The Egyptians have tried it and it works.

Badshah Khan asked of his followers in their struggle to remove British colonial occupation from India and Afghanistan that they take the following oath: I am a Servant of God, and as God needs no service, but serving his creation is serving him, I promise to serve humanity in the name of God. I promise to refrain from violence and from taking revenge. I promise to forgive those who oppress me or treat me with cruelty. I promise to refrain from taking part in feuds and quarrels and from creating enmity. I will live in accordance with the principles of nonviolence. I will serve all God’s creatures alike; and my object shall be the attainment of the freedom of my country and my religion. I will never desire any reward whatever for my service. All my efforts shall be to please God, and not for any show or gain. *Badshah Khan: The forgotten Muslim hero, Chan’ad Bahraini*

The young people in Egypt may not have ever heard of Badshah Khan, but they followed his principles.

When the pictures were televised of the water canons being aimed at protestors I thought of the same sort of images I had seen during the civil rights struggle in America. All through the last month since the revolution started in Tunisia and spread to Egypt, many scenes brought back strong mental images of memories from the anti-war and civil rights movements in my own country, and of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. This revolution made me think often of Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abdul Gaffar Khan, and other heroic figures who brought about change through non-violent means.

And, I am not alone in this, a veteran of the Selma March saw the parallels: As I watched the television footage of demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square make the decision to reduce the violence going on around them by sitting down in the street when word came that thugs from the Mubarak regime were on the way to break up their rally, I was reminded of how it felt in the spring of 1965 to be part of the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march. What we are witnessing in Egypt should not seem strange to Americans. For it is nothing less than Egypt’s version of the kind of protest that permanently changed our way of life more than 45 years ago. *How nonviolent protest defeats injustice, Nicolaus Mills*

People in India saw in this a reflection of Ghandi’s movement This is Egyptians moment to transform their country. As they continue to struggle for a more just and peaceful Egypt, we look from a far with the conviction that there is no greater joy than seeing people take to the streets and in the spirit of non violence exercising their freedom of speech to call for the end of the Mubarak regime. Thank you Egyptians for touching our hearts and making the world believe in the power of the human spirit. Thank you for the message of non violence, civil disobedience, determination, inspiration, peace, justice, faith, love and dignity. It is through this message that a new Egypt will rise. There will be pro-Mubarak supporters trying to take advantage of this situation and trying to sabotage the dream and aspirations of ordinary Egyptians, but that is too late. The violence that they have used against the peaceful demonstrators will not stop the millions of people that are in the streets. This revolution is going forward and will continue to advance until Mubarak steps down. There is no other alternative. The world is watching and stands on the side of the millions of peaceful demonstrators. *Egyptian revolution has been televised*

In thinking about the momentous events of the past month, I am also struck by a number of amazing achievements and unique aspects of this revolution:

First, that this revolution could never have succeeded if the people had chosen violence as their tactic. This would have made it easy for Mubarak to crush the revolution violently and justify that action to the rest of the world - “you see, they made me do it”. The ordinary people could not have won a military victory, but they were able to win a moral victory. What is very different today than in such struggles of the past is that the revolution was televised and tweeted and texted and posted on Facebook. Those of us who were following events were getting instant reports, photographs, and commentary from people who were right in the center of what was going on.

Second, the Egyptian people through their courageous and noble behavior changed the image not only of Egyptians but also of Arabs and of Muslims. They won hearts and minds and broke stereotypes. Even journalists like Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof, and Anderson Cooper came away from Tahrir Square in awe of what the Egyptian people were attempting to accomplish.

Third, the Egyptian people have struck a blow against the deviant view of the meaning of jihad taught by groups like Al Qaeda who believe that violence is the only way to achieve anything. The Egyptian people have proved that change is possible through non-violent means. This is going to make it very difficult for groups like al Qaeda to justify their violence as a legitimate means to an end.

Fourth, the Egyptian people have forced many other autocratic rulers to consider that their own authority may be on shaky ground, and we are seeing many taking pre-emptive steps to improve the lot of their people before they too face revolutions.

Fifth, the Egyptian people have reminded many in America and other countries of the west that whatever influence they might have in a world of equals will be based on living up to their ideals. They have also reminded Americans that we are currently in a situation where we have lost many of the freedoms that previous generations won through struggle, and we need to regain and protect these freedoms.

Bob Herbert sees this as a call for Americans to *return to their democratic ideals*: The Egyptians want to establish a viable democracy, and that’s a long, hard road. Americans are in the mind-bogglingly self-destructive process of letting a real democracy slip away. I had lunch with the historian Howard Zinn just a few weeks before he died in January 2010. He was chagrined about the state of affairs in the U.S. but not at all daunted. “If there is going to be change,” he said, “real change, it will have to work its way from the bottom up, from the people themselves.” I thought of that as I watched the coverage of the ecstatic celebrations in the streets of Cairo.

Sixth, the Egyptian people have achieved much already, and done this without a coherent leadership. This may be the first time that such a non-violent revolution has been carried out without a strong and respected leader. However, going forward they will need to establish a leadership team that they feel comfortable having speak on their behalf, or too many voices will possibly give an opening to the military or other forces to say they have no one to negotiate with. Even a populist movement needs leadership.

WHAT NEXT?

What has been accomplished to date is monumental, but much remains to do. Two days ago Mubarak was forced to resign. Today, the military agreed to disband the parliament and to suspend the constitution which achieves two more goals of the protestors.

However, the military also said that they plan to rule by martial law for the next six months. They have retained Mubarak’s cabinet to oversee the transition. They have not agreed to disband the emergency powers, or to release political prisoners (including as many as 1,000 protestors arrested since the protests began). Unless the emergency powers are removed, the protestors stand the risk of being picked off one by one and arrested or disappeared. They have not agreed to allow the establishment of a civilian interim government. They show no sign of including representatives of the protestors or anyone else to participate in decision making. It was *reported today* that “An army source said the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will ban meetings by labor unions or professional syndicates, effectively forbidding strikes, and tell people to get back to work.” It seems as if the military elite who are all part of the old Mubarak regime are making only cosmetic changes, and will themselves decide who will be in power and who will be allowed to rewrite the constitution. The Mubarak regime is still in power, only the figurehead is gone. If that is the case, then it is much too early to rejoice.

In a previous article I used a metaphor from Egyptian mythology to refer to Hosni Mubarak and his regime as *scorpions*. I can’t help viewing the Egyptian military in terms of that same mythology. In Egyptian mythology, Sobek was a huge, fierce beast sometimes depicted as a man with a crocodile’s head. He was associated with negative aspects of human nature like deceit, duplicity, passion, and betrayal. A very dangerous creature indeed.

The actions of the Egyptian military remind me of an enormous crocodile lurking in the waters of the Nile. During the time of the people’s revolution in Egypt, the military have remained submerged and silent. The ripples of their presence and underwater movements are visible on the surface of the water. It is a very real presence, but it has not yet given clear indications of whether or not it will come out of the water to sun on the banks of the river or to strike viciously at the people on the bank of the river.

In order to achieve their goal of true freedom and democracy, the people of Egypt will need to be vigilant and focused, and all the freedom loving people will have to remain ready to help them in whatever way we can.

[Click the title of this article to the original article which has many *links* and references (ed.)]

[Picture: Topography of Egypt. Photo: Wiki.]