Webmaster responds to Ali re: Civil Disobedience and Revolution
My Friend,
Your response about how people's struggles have always been with others points out a feature of human nature that we should consider. People's struggles have always been with others, but more often than not this has been a bad thing, and countless stupid wars have been fought where the leaders of the people fighting lacked the courage to fight the greater war with themselves. As you appear to come from an Islamic country, let me say that it is my understanding that through the Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) it was made clear that the Lesser Jihad (holy war) was the war with others, and the Greater Jihad is the war with ourselves. The problem that all of us humans face is that when it comes to fighting the Greater Jihad, we are all cowards who would rather seek the enemy outside of ourselves so that we can feel righteous, thinking that the source of evil is in an enemy out there, when all along we should be rooting out the evil that we allow to hide and fester within our own hearts. Fighting against the evil in our own hearts does not make us feel righteous, on the contrary, it makes us feel humble and contrite, but those feelings of humility and contrition are the source of true righteousness.Having said that, it should also be acknowledged that there may be times when we do indeed face an evil that is outside of ourselves against which we must take a stand in order to protect and defend those we love. So the question is, how should we take a stand against oppression when it becomes intolerable?
I would suggest that first of all it is important to communicate your grievance very publicly and in exhaustive detail to those who have been oppressing you, and to state your demands very clearly. If possible, this should be done without leaving yourself vulnerable. The world's finest example of how to list your grievances and state your demands can be found <HERE.> This is probably the most successful politically oriented revolutionary document in the history of the world, and there is much that can be learned from it.
As justification of the revolutionary actions, the document points out that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that we will tend to suffer oppression silently so long as the oppression can be endured, but when the oppression becomes more than can be tolerated, then it becomes both the right and the duty of those suffering to cast off their oppressors.
Another important aspect of this document is that it states several very basic truths and rather than citing some written authority as the source of the truths, it offers self-evidence as the proof. The truths are obvious enough that anyone denying them would appear foolish.
Finally, neither I nor anyone else can tell you whether the oppression that you face is tolerable or not. This is something that you must determine for yourself. I would strongly suggest fighting the Greater Jihad before taking on the Lesser Jihad so that if you MUST fight the Lesser Jihad you can do so with a pure heart that is open to the guidance of the Almighty. Be prepared to find that after fighting the Greater Jihad, the Lesser Jihad may no longer be something that you need to fight, as you may be guided to more effective ways to bring about change.
I hope that these resources are useful to you and I wish you well.
-Web |8-)
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