Always had that nagging feeling about my inadequate knowledge of other religions; i.e. religions other than Hinduism. Not that I profess to know a great deal about Hinduism either, but faith is a great healer and I've been at peace with whatever knowledge I had. Until yesterday...
...I finally brought myself to do a bit of study in that area. What I learnt must be commonplace for most readers, but for those like me, who have hesitated to find out, I wish to share my learning.
Well, it begins with Abraham - I didn't have the time to search before him. Abraham's wife Sarah couldn't beget him a child and suggested that Abraham better get one through their Egyptian servant Hagar. Their child was Ishmael. Years later, Abraham and Sarah had one of their own, Isaac. Ishmael's descendants took the form of various Arab tribes and from one of them emerged Prophet Mohammad who propogated Islam.
One of Isaac's descendants was Moses who brought God's commandments to a slave community which ran away from Egypt. This group later came to follow Judaism or jewish faith. From this set of followers of jewish faith arose a rebel leader who encouraged his followers (largely poor people) to disregard scriptures and orthodoxy and follow his teachings. This was Jesus.
So, you see, they all emerged from the same family! As indeed, have all men and women. Doesn't it explain how there is fighting, bloodshed, manouevres, greed, treason and all that (as there would be in a large family) interspersed with relatively lesser periods of love and peace?
I think it's apt that this piece comes on a day when Raj Thackeray believes that people from the North don't belong in Mumbai. One may ask who's Mumbai is it anyway, but one can't reason with anyone living in fool's paradise. Instead, begin with 'A' and remind him of Abraham!
No comments:
Post a Comment