Speaker : Mahmoud Abdel-Hady
Prophet Adam* had two sons, Cain and Abel. When they had an argument and Cain threatened to kill Abel, the Abel’s response was that if Cain tried to kill him, Abel wouldn’t do a thing (I’m using the names that the Bible mentions since the Qur’aan doesn’t explicitly name them).
When Muslims are hurt as a people, they should not violently react. That is not our way.
When a man reacts with quick emotion, that is an animal’s quality, not a human’s. Emotions can cloud judgment. We should not be reactive, we should be proactive. Stop and think before acting, don’t react immediately. First pause, don’t be consumed by emotions. Step outside the situation and view it.
The crooked way is not the way to get to a noble means. The ends cannot justify the means. All of the actions taken must be proper and in accordance with Islam.
We need to define our goals. If our goal in unclear, we’ll just keep reacting. The Prophet* was a rational man, who thought before he acted. We must do the same.
If someone starts to bother you and you hit him, you’re in a sense declaring that you’re more important than he and that he has “no right” to bother you. Yet, we are not the judge of this, we must treat one another like equals.
I left this session early to go to another session but most of what was said reiterated this.
