My compatriots were is our UAT for solidarity? The quest of Ethiopian Muslims legitimate demands has surpassed over two years and yet the demands are not addressed by the respective government’s bodies. Holding aside the demands for a while; and recall our journey so far, I must admit that the casualties were costly but nevertheless the merit of the movement has out gained those costs. As community, we have learned how to exercise our constitutional right (although no one cared) and raised our demand in a civil manner, demonstrated our grievance with non-armed disobedience and succeeded in maneuvering the state patience to panic!. No one will deny the lofty of our discipline, coherence of our resistance and the pain we have passed through. Some of us will intrigue why I am mentioning what’s has been discussed over and over but my intent is to challenge our UAT for solidarity. By UAT I mean; Understanding, Acceptance and Tolerance of one another. It may sound odd but fact to the matter; it’s the fragile pieces in our community. Ethiopian Muslims community is suffering from a syndrome which I used to think was cured by the course of the resistance but looks like the gap is widening so deep. The concept of “solidarity” seems to be cosmetic nowadays after smearing the gossips in mosques and social media communities, noticing people black-mailing one another and surfacing hypocrisy among each other for stance that all individually affirms. Such trend of fractioning will only benefit the threats to further weaken us and pull the disintegrated effort to air. If we are to question the solidarity of our community; are we obliged to abide with the same ideology or thinking process in each and every concern of the community? Or does it have to do with reconciling on major concerns and issues of the community and align the difference with more dialogue and acceptance? Our community is curving to a stage were all of us are required to hold a breath and resume exercising our UAT for the betterment of us and the country as whole. The exercise will definitely shield a prospect for better future and matured community. Yes, the widened gap is souring and we are forced to hold a break and call for a consensus among our religious scholars, activists and general public. The consensus on matters of the community will surface our understanding for one another and build a trust shield that we lack today. Some may argue that the shield is prevailing in our community and I would argue that we are by far laid away to achieve the said. We have to admit that the shield requires reconciliation and for-go our staked view for the common good of the community, reproach ourselves for the shortcoming so far , re-approach our priorities based on local need and never mold our needs to the forces away from us. When shall we practice to “understand” one another in a matter that is soundly, recognizable and dignified? We should resume listening attentively to our counter-parties by ensuring we understand them very well to avoid inconvenience and misjudging to their views and quit insisting that we are always in the right path. Here I just want to remind you that mistakes is the beginning to do something and by acknowledging our mistakes and recognizing other as alternate to our approach, then I assume we are dealing with ourselves with justice. And moreover it was never a shame to be in the wrong but and big but is to be wiser for today and never get back yesterday again. The aching piece for most of the community gurus is “acceptance” of one another. I firmly believe that by acceptance we are reaffirming our bravery and courage to live together, resolving our disputes, have honesty in our belongingness and reliable on another. When we spread the concept of acceptance we are to excel our moral to work mutually for the better interest of the community and not our zeal, and after all bring justice and fairness to ourselves. How many of us recognize “Tolerance” was the source of the first Islamic state in medina? The first constitution or charter that united the Muslim, Jews, Christians and pagan communities of medina was the concept of tolerance. They have ensured that their bitter tribal struggle were laid down and constructed toward the foundation of the first Ummah. I encourage my fellows to read about ”Charter of Medina” for it guides us on how we can respect each other, establish a community which is aware of its rights and responsibilities and redefine our ties as one community. The culture of tolerance is the only exit way to our co-existence in our community and nation. The language of Solidarity and marching forward requires determination from all stakes who claim to have a flagship to our community and make self-responsive to the issues we are facing. We should not forget and ignore historical lesson with regards to harmony and solidarity. The lessons depict that we must brush ourselves with wisdom and acknowledge the known, predict and get prepared for the unknown too. History is and will always continue to be a mirror to mark our progress and learning to our pitfalls. If we dive to the history and mark the incident were our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has shown solidarity during victory and defeat, we will definitely identify the need to reconsider our current stance among ourselves. Even further, the disintegration of major kingdoms, caliphates and states was because of inconsistence with the purpose of their existence and losing the track on there societies.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 12:56:39 +0000
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