Muslims – in theory – have traditions that value the power of the pen. Islam was revealed to save people from bloodshed and misuse of the sword. That is a paraphrasing of the cardinal’s line in one of the Acts ofEdward Bulwer-Lytton 1839 play “Richelieu”.
The origin of the timeless adage is thought to have originated in Assyrian wisdom – like Islam, moral and value systems of Middle Eastern descent.
However, the moral, intellectual and ethical systems of that region – including those carried through dialogue with Hellenic ideas in the first three centuries of Islam – have all been subjected to obscurantist and literalist interpretations of revelation. Islam’s first command to the Prophet Muhammad was to “read”; “Read in the name of thy Lord.”
First instruction
The first instruction was not to slay, fight or combat (all defensive measures to fend off aggressors against faith, homeland, intellect, dignity, progeny and property.)
Chapter 68 in the Quran is named “Al-Qalam” (the pen). It opens up with the verse: “By the pen and what they inscribe.”
In Chapter 96 of the Quran one finds another reference to the high value placed on the might of the pen; “Who taught by the pen. Taught mankind that which he knew not” (96:4-5).
So it should be natural for Muslims today to feel total empathy towards fellow writers and journalists and the families of other victims in France and elsewhere.
Reading and writing belong to the “genus” of cross-disciplinary activities Islam insists upon repeatedly. Reading, writing and reasoning are all part and parcel of the way of life Islam is all about. In Chapter 55 we find “Allah – Most Gracious! It is He Who has taught the Quran. He has created man. He has taught him eloquence [intelligence]” (55:1-4).
The didactic ethos of numerous Quranic injunctions on the pen, knowing and reasoning, seem to be lost today in the heap of ignorance and obscurantism that is consuming many a Muslim land.
Lands where scholars of Islam underwrite political power at the expense of freedom of speech and a rational interpreting of the Quran that delivers Muslims from the yoke of oppression that is consuming Muslim youth and pleads the case of social justice, freedom of thought and tolerance.
Muslim against Muslim
The sad state of the violence that today engulfs Muslim cities, pitting Muslim against Muslim, is in no small measure the result of the over-politicisation and over-securitisation of Islam. Whole states are disintegrating, and religious and sectarian intolerance is ushering in a horrible era of annihilation and self-destruction.
Islam never began with jihad (a holy war). The miracle of the Prophet Muhammad is that he knew when to retreat (via Hijra or emigration) to build values of solidarity, peaceful coexistence with all kinds of “otherness” (such as in Medina and hostile Arab tribes), create know-how, and voluntarism in faith and membership of community, along with moderation (“wasatiyya”). Larbi Sadiki
