"Now again draws near the midnight hour. The clamour of the day has ceased. The howlings of hate and the noise of the rendings and blastings have sub-sided. The wild free voice of the night wind alone is heard. The Quran is set before me. I turn the pages in the name of God and with peace I read:
“And who forsakes the religion of Abraham but he who makes himself foolish ? Most certainly We chose...
...him in this world, and in the hereafter he is most surely...
...among the righteous. When his Lord said to him, "I Submit," he said:
‘I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds.’ And the same did Abraham enjoin on his sons, and so did Jacob: ‘O My Sons! Surely Allah has chosen for you the faith, therefore die not unless you be Muslims.’ Nay! were you witnesses when death visited Jacob, when he said to his sons:
‘What will you serve after me’. They said: ‘we will serve your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac, one God only and to Him do we submit.’ This is a people who have passed away. They shall have what they earned, and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did. And they say: ‘Be Jews or Christians, you will be on the right course.' Say: ‘ Nay! we follow the religion of Abraham the upright one, and he was not one of the polytheists.’
Say: ‘We believe in Allah and in that which has
been revealed to us and in that which was revealed to
Abraham and to Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the
tribes, and in that which was given to Moses and Jesus
and in that which was given to the prophets from their
Lord ; we do not make any distinction between any of
them, and to Him do we submit.’ " - The Quran: (130——136.)
"When I think of the diversity of race now manifest over humanity in this world, how the European differs from the Chinese and the Chinese from the Arab and the Arab from the negro, I am brought up sharply by the realization that all these differences have long ago reached their maximum and that now a contrary process has set in, a process not of differentiation but of assimilation. In other words, the trend of estrangemant of man from man by long periods of isolation brought about by in accessible mountain carriers, wide rivers not to be crossed, rough seas not readily to be passed over and mighty deserts as prone walls between man and man in understanding, this period of estrange-ment has now given place to an era of reunion, when the members of the human family, so long separated, shall once again unite and recognize one another as indeed brothers of the same stock and stuff and destiny."
Herein I am aware that I have so far made no mention of the prevalence of race persecution and race glorification which have so disastrously shown themselves on the continent of Europe within the last ten years.
I have passed over these violations of human brother-hood because, in the long view, I cannot but regard them as temporary phases which will, happily for humanity, “pass away and leave no track behind.”.
“And who forsakes the religion of Abraham but he who makes himself foolish ? Most certainly We chose...
...him in this world, and in the hereafter he is most surely...
...among the righteous. When his Lord said to him, "I Submit," he said:
‘I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds.’ And the same did Abraham enjoin on his sons, and so did Jacob: ‘O My Sons! Surely Allah has chosen for you the faith, therefore die not unless you be Muslims.’ Nay! were you witnesses when death visited Jacob, when he said to his sons:
‘What will you serve after me’. They said: ‘we will serve your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac, one God only and to Him do we submit.’ This is a people who have passed away. They shall have what they earned, and you shall have what you earn, and you shall not be called upon to answer for what they did. And they say: ‘Be Jews or Christians, you will be on the right course.' Say: ‘ Nay! we follow the religion of Abraham the upright one, and he was not one of the polytheists.’
Say: ‘We believe in Allah and in that which has
been revealed to us and in that which was revealed to
Abraham and to Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the
tribes, and in that which was given to Moses and Jesus
and in that which was given to the prophets from their
Lord ; we do not make any distinction between any of
them, and to Him do we submit.’ " - The Quran: (130——136.)
"When I think of the diversity of race now manifest over humanity in this world, how the European differs from the Chinese and the Chinese from the Arab and the Arab from the negro, I am brought up sharply by the realization that all these differences have long ago reached their maximum and that now a contrary process has set in, a process not of differentiation but of assimilation. In other words, the trend of estrangemant of man from man by long periods of isolation brought about by in accessible mountain carriers, wide rivers not to be crossed, rough seas not readily to be passed over and mighty deserts as prone walls between man and man in understanding, this period of estrange-ment has now given place to an era of reunion, when the members of the human family, so long separated, shall once again unite and recognize one another as indeed brothers of the same stock and stuff and destiny."
Herein I am aware that I have so far made no mention of the prevalence of race persecution and race glorification which have so disastrously shown themselves on the continent of Europe within the last ten years.
I have passed over these violations of human brother-hood because, in the long view, I cannot but regard them as temporary phases which will, happily for humanity, “pass away and leave no track behind.”.