AN IDEA

(This was written during the beginning of the first Intifada with the recent two-word addition of suicide bombers.)

I have an idea. It may be a good idea. It may not be. You and ALLAH will be the ultimate judge of its merits.

Who am I to have an idea for you to consider? I am an American who has only recently arrived in occupied Palestine. I have never been here before except in spirit during your struggles. I have suffered with you over the years ever so slightly, while your anguish has been immeasurable, not only for the months of this uprising (Intifada), but also for decades.

I make no claim to understand the depth of your anguish and the suffering and injustice you have endured and now are enduring. But, your struggles have impacted my heart as I read about you in books and newspapers, heard radio newscasts about you, and have witnessed your rage as captured on television news reports. I have even listened while some of you poured out your anger and frustration in our living room when my family lived in Beirut from September, 1973 through October, 1975.

Even though I have been exposed to descriptions of your ordeal, I cannot begin to comprehend the depth of the rage and inner anguish you are enduring. You have lost your land; your homes and many of you have lost loved ones. You have borne the raping of your dignity, though you are human beings created in the very image of the Living ALLAH.

Yes, I have read the argument of some Israeli leaders that Palestinians are only one relatively insignificant refugee group among dozens of refugee groups which inevitably exist in today’s war ravaged world; that you exist as refugees only as a result of the cruel deception perpetrated by certain prosperous Arab states; that you are vulnerable and exploited as a people in order for these Arab nations to continue to satisfy selfish political ends, instead of choosing to settle you in their own flourishing under-populated nations. Though most arguments contain at least a trace of truth, I am shocked at such simplistic abdications of responsibility by some of Israel’s political leadership.

These particular leaders have persistently exhibited calloused hearts as they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge the justice of your cause. Instead, they have closed their ears and hearts to both the audible and silent scrams of your anguish.

At times I have attempted to put myself in your position in an attempt to identify with your inner suffering. I have concluded that your oppressor’s unwillingness to acknowledge that your people have been victims of serious injustice, and are experiencing the denial of basic human rights, is as painful for you to bear as the injustice itself. Compounding the indignities you are enduring is the assumption that you ought to have a greater appreciation for your oppressors past sufferings. They seem not to hear your explanation that no matter what has happened to the Jewish people in the past, it does not justify their exploitation and victimization of innocent Palestinians. The majority of your oppressors do not understand your anguish, and most of the rest of us have not given your crises the priority it deserves.

I do not wish to minimize the responsibility that many of us have to attempt to rectify deplorable circumstances; I do wish to affirm the hope that sustains many of you, that the very Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe hears your cries. What do I base this affirmation on? I base it on the authority of historical evidence. Before I express this idea, I invite you to reflect with me on the contemporary significance of some exceptionally relevant history, as recorded in the Judeo/Christian Scriptures. It is imperative to keep in perspective that these circumstances on which we will reflect are not just thoughts or abstract dreams. Rather, they are actual events which took place years ago in this land. Additionally, they have at their center some of the most significant historical persons who ever lived.

First, let us consider together the Hebrew Scriptures regarding Hagar, who was the Prophet Abraham’s second wife, and the mother of your forefather, The Prophet Ishmael. While she still carried within her body the unborn Ishmael, serious tensions developed between her and Abraham’s first wife, Sarah. It appears that Hagar had not been sufficiently sensitive to Sarah’s frustration about her own inability to bear Abraham a child. Hagar must have boasted to Sarah that she, rather than Sarah, would be the first woman to bring into Abraham’s life the joy of being a father.

Apparently, Sarah became convinced that Hagar’s insensitive attitude justified severe discipline. The Scriptures record that the mistreatment experienced by the pregnant Hagar at the hands of her frustrated, distraught mistress caused her to flee helplessly into the stark, uninviting desert. Abraham must have realized that the actions he allowed Sarah to take against his second wife Hagar were beyond the bounds of reasonable discipline. Yet the great Prophet Abraham neglected to either protect or aid the distraught, pregnant Hagar. However, one greater than Abraham observed her suffering and humiliation, and at just the right moment the very Angel of ALLAH personally and swiftly came to the aid of this vulnerable and abandoned pregnant woman. Though Abraham closed his eyes and ears to Hagar in her time of desperation, ALLAH did not. The One who is known by the names of Merciful and Compassionate saw her misery, heard her cry, and responded to her need.

As startling and unlikely as it may seem, the identity of the angel of ALLAH who rescued the unborn Ishmael and his mother, I am convinced, has exciting contemporary implications for the suffering descendents of Ishmael in Palestine. Many scholars believe that Hagar’s rescuer, of whom she proclaimed, “You are the ALLAH who sees me,” was the very Messiah Isa.

We may ask, “How can this possibly be?” I cannot say with absolute certainty that this “Angel of Allah” was a supernatural appearance of the Messiah Isa before his birth on earth in Bethleham. However, we must take seriously Isa’s word spoken to certain Jews who desired to kill him. When we allow the meaning of his words to penetrate our minds, a wonderful reality faces us. We can understand how the appearance of Isa in particular circumstances before his birth is completely consistent with the pre-existence he claimed to have lived.

Isa’s words to those Jews who attacked his character and accused him of being motivated by a messenger of Satan was, “your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; He saw it and was glad.” They could not understand how a man whose age was obviously less than fifty could claim to have seen Abraham. Isa made a precise statement to them clearly demonstrating that he viewed himself as having lived in the past, as living in their time and as continuing to live in the future, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

Whether Hagar, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, Abendigo and a few others actually saw our Messiah in those early times is not the main point. It is however exceptionally significant to realize that it is the clear teaching of the Quran that almost two thousand years after ALLAH took “him up unto Himself,” the Messiah Isa continues to live.

The messenger from ALLAH who was to Hagar “like ALLAH Himself” and very possibly an appearance of the Messiah Isa, gave to her explicit instructions regarding her unborn child. These instructions contained a promise for the child and his future descendents which is one of the most wonderful promises that ALLAH has ever given to man. Hagar was told that she would bear Abraham a son and that son would receive the name “Ishmael.” The meaning of this magnificent name given to first son of Abraham was a glorious promise, “ALLAH hears.”

Although many names in the Scriptures have significant meaning, it has been on only rare momentous occasions when ALLAH Himself has openly intervened to give a name to a person yet to be born. Through the name Ishmael, ALLAH has provided an eternal signpost that the Almighty and Compassionate would always hear the prayers of both Ishmael and his descendents. Additionally, because of the situation in which the name was given, it is clear that our Merciful ALLAH has a special sensitivity to the prayers of those who are experiencing injustice. A Hearing ALLAH, at the right time, intervenes.

Instructions were given to Hagar by ALLAH’S Angel, and she soon had the opportunity to discover personal comfort in the promise that “ALLAH hears.” She was told to return to the home she had fled, and to live in cooperation with Sarah. It was not a humiliating obedience that Hagar was to experience at the hands of her mistress. Rather, Hagar was assured that her cooperative relationship with Sarah would be overseen by the very ALLAH who hears.

Hagar returned to the home of Abraham and during the approximately fifteen years that Hagar and Ishmael lived with Abraham and Sarah, the young Ishmael undoubtedly learned from his godly father the art of prayer. Finally, over ten years after Ishmael’s birth, Sarah bore Abraham a son, Isaac.

Even though Hagar and Ishmael must have sincerely attempted to live in peace with Abraham and Sarah, a serious misunderstanding finally occurred. One afternoon, Sarah observed Ishmael tease his little brother Isaac during a weaning celebration given in Isaac’s honor. Though children in any family often tease one another, Sarah became exceptionally angry when Isaac was teased by the son of Abraham’s other wife. In her anger, Sarah ordered Abraham to cast both Hagar and Ishmael out of their home.

The scriptures record that ALLAH then intervened in this family dispute, first appearing to favor the second son Isaac over the first son Ishmael. However, the ALLAH who hears knew that Ishmael would have to establish his own identity apart from his young brother if ALLAH was to fulfill the promise He had made to Abraham. Abraham had pleaded with ALLAH for His blessings to come through Ishmael, and had received ALLAH’S promise that through Ishmael, He would create a great nation.

When ALLAH again assured Abraham of this future reality, He also gave him permission to temporarily solve his family’s problems by sending Ishmael and Hagar away. Abraham’s heart was torn. Nevertheless, he gave them food and water for their wilderness journey and sent his second wife and their frightened son on their way. Abraham must have prayed that no harm would come to them, yet the two wanderers became lost. Soon, their water supply was gone. When they were near death from thirst and exposure, both mother and son lifted up their cries to our merciful ALLAH.

They had lived for years in a tension-filled home where the first wife of Abraham did not fully welcome them. During that difficult time, they were tempted to believe that ALLAH had abandoned them. Near death, they now learned that even in their darkest moment, ALLAH had never taken from them His protective presence. He had always heard their prayers and He heard them now. He once again sent the same Angel of ALLAH who was probably the pre incarnate Messiah to intervene to preserve their lives. He repeated the promise to Ishmael’s mother that was made shortly before to Ishmael’s father. This time he again added the qualifying word “great” before the word “nation,” “Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.

Soon after this inspiring promise was given to Hagar for Ishmael, the Scriptures record a brief but significant phrase summarizing ALLAH’S relationship with Ishmael, “ALLAH was with the boy as he grew up.”

ALLAH heard Hagar’s cries though Abraham did not. ALLAH heard Ishmael’s cries though Abraham did not. Today, ALLAH hears the descendents of Ishmael cry out though the majority of Abraham ‘s descendents ignore their cries for justice. Additionally, many of Abraham’s contemporary descendents even deny that Ishmael’s descendents in occupied Palestine have a legitimate right to complain. They callously claim that the Palestinians have experienced no injustice.                        

The contrast between how Abraham and Sarah treated Hagar and Ishmael with how our compassionate ALLAH responded to their need leads to a later historical event that cries out for consideration. Please ponder with me a seldom discussed but exceptionally significant incident from the life of the Messiah Isa. This dramatic and revealing encounter happened in the village of Nazareth.

Though Isa grew up in Nazareth, ALLAH led him away from his familiar surrounding to begin to teach and heal throughout the land of occupied Palestine. When he returned to his home synagogue, the elders invited him to read and comment on the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. What was the content of the Isaiah Scriptures which Isa chose to read on this momentous occasion? What emphasis would the proven healer and perceptive teacher choose to expound to his fellow descendents of Abraham?

Isa chose a passage from the sixty-first chapter of the Isaiah scroll. It spoke of good news for those living in poverty, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, and release for innocent victims of oppression. After reading the passage he concisely interpreted each of these prophetic blessing would reach their ultimate fulfillment in him. His listeners had observed him growing up and were well acquainted with his widowed mother. As Isa spoke, they did not seem to realize that this remarkable Isaiah passage was reaching its fulfillment in the person standing before them.

The Scriptures record that at this point in Isa’s comments, “they spoke well of him and wondered at his gracious words.”

However, our Messiah Isa would not accept the admiration of others when he knew that their appreciation of him was based on a faulty understanding of his teaching. So, he selected from the Scriptures two controversial examples of ALLAH’S intervention to aid vulnerable and suffering people. To their amazement, his two examples were not Jewish. There was not one person in the entire synagogue who was prepared for the examples as Isa presented them. He emphasized that ALLAH had revealed Himself through the Hebrew prophets, without a narrow, bigoted, nationalistic view. ALLAH did not callously bypass the needs of foreigners in order to exclusively reserve his favor for the Hebrew people. In fact, as Isa demonstrated from his two examples, their narrow view of ALLAH was in stark contrast to the history of ALLAH’S relations with all people everywhere who are the objects of his love.

The first example chosen by Isa to drive home his lesson against nationalistic, exclusive thinking was about a poor, non-Jewish widow from Sidon. He explained that there were many widows in Israel who were involved in the same terrible famine that was victimizing this foreign widow. But his listeners were stunned when he emphasized that the Prophet Elijah was not sent to aid even one of these Jewish widows. He helped only this foreign woman.

This first example angered the people. Isa’s second example left the villagers of Nazareth enraged. He chose to discuss an unpopular Syrian, who was suffering from leprosy. Not an ordinary Syrian, but a despised military officer. Isa’s main point was again incisive and unpopular. He emphasized that there were many in Israel who were suffering from this horrible disease. Yet, Elisha was not sent to heal even one of them. Only the dreaded Syrian military officer was the recipient of ALLAH’S supernatural healing power. Both the Prophet Elijah and his successor the Prophet Elisha were sent by ALLAH to aid persons other than Jews.

The listeners were furious when they heard his shocking comments about ALLAH’S attitude of love and compassion for those outside of Israel. So great was their rage at Isa for his revolutionary and offensive views about these two historic events that a hostile spirit united the entire synagogue against him. In the same village where Isa had spent his boyhood being a strong example of every good quality that a Jewish eldest son should exemplify, the entire synagogue spontaneously cooperated in attempting to kill or severely injure him. Without success they tried to throw him off a nearby cliff. Despite their rage and numerical superiority, the righteousness of his cause and the majesty of his presence delivered him from their evil intention. They fell back guilty and stunned as he walked through their midst.

Though I personally prefer to emphasize the positive about any person or group. There are times when it is imperative to consider historical precedents and patterns. I am not making a point that all Jewish people are exclusive or nationalistic. Rather, I am saying that the considerable historical blessing, responsibilities and opportunities which ALLAH has bestowed upon Jewish people, have at significant times been taken for granted. Some forget that it is the Almighty ALLAH to whom we all must answer for our attitudes and actions. In reality, each of us must acknowledge that we have periods of blindness toward love and justice which cause suffering for others. Nevertheless, ALLAH is sovereign and will finally intervene on behalf of those who are the innocent victims of racial pride and bigotry.

With this background, let us now consider an idea. That is, there appears to be a dynamic resource available to Palestinians Muslims and to Palestinian followers of the Messiah whom the majority of Jewish people have chosen to reject. The emphatic teaching of both the Quran and the New Testament is that Messiah Isa is still alive. Why is this fact important? How does it apply to the present circumstances of the suffering of the Palestinian people?                      

Most Jewish people think that Isa being alive is only a superstitious belief. They say that his being alive has no foundation in fact or in history. If what they say is true, then the idea that Isa is still living today may be an inspiring dream but is largely irrelevant to contemporary reality. However, if Isa actually lives today and not only has trustworthy perspectives regarding issues of right and wrong, but also possesses supernatural power, then his being alive has revolutionary implications. He is alive to hear our cries. He is alive to intervene on our behalf. He has proven that he is sensitive to the cries of those who are victims of injustice. He has also proven that he openly challenges the excuses and subterfuge of those who continue to perpetrate injustice while rationalizing that their callousness is justified.

My proposal is this: I appeal to every Palestinian in the world today to cry out to the one who has defeated the plotting of all those who attempted to permanently end the Messiah Isa’s life; to seek from him the wisdom to no longer be manipulated, exploited, enslaved and oppressed; to plead with the living Isa to help us achieve the liberation of our mind and spirit which must be a foundation for the liberation of land.

For decades the weapon has been the master of both the Jews and the Palestinians. Where will the policies of vengeance and retribution end? Isa thought that all who live by the weapon would die by the weapon. Are those leaders who will not be satisfied until the Jews themselves are fleeing refugees, really offering freedom? No! An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth philosophy has brought only death and further enslavement to both the Jew and the Palestinian. Instead of mind and violence liberating, it enslaves both the victor and the victim.          

Oh, Palestinians, you have suffered too much to continue to be enslaved. You have been beaten and maimed. You have lost your home. You have lost your land. You have lost your freedom. You have lost your loved ones. You have suffered imprisonment. You have seen your children learn hate rather than love. They have been taught military aggression rather than peace. They have experienced death and enslavement rather than life and liberty.

Can this vicious, ungodly cycle end? Yes, but only when aid from the only man to eternally defeat his own execution is sought after day and night. When Isa hears your hearts urgently and consistently cry to him, he will set you free. I do not claim to know in what way he will direct the peace and resolution process, but he can and will become involved in your behalf as certainly as he intervened for Ishmael.

Those who continue to choose violence and weapons are choosing to reject the living, merciful Messiah, Isa. Their rejection of Him is no less real than was his rejection by those Jews who are still waiting for the first appearance of their Messiah. They continue to foolishly choose to reject Isa as the faultless Messiah sent by ALLAH.

The Compassionate hears the cries of displays persons. He anguishes over the suffering of his oppressed people here. ALLAH yearns for the people of Palestine, a land of rich spiritual heritage, to find a more exalted cause than to destroy a nation and displace its people. Where is that cause to be found?

Not in weapons, violence and force! Not in threats of annihilation and baseless boasting! Not in the imposition of repression and oppression on a lesser armed community by a more heavily armed community!

It is to be found under the direction of the one who said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.”

Islam clearly proclaims that Isa is alive and therefore available because ALLAH has taken him up. The New Testament again and again emphasizes that Isa has defeated death and is a powerful force to heal men and nations.

In this regard, let us look briefly at a proclamation given by Peter after he had just told a man crippled from birth, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” When the man jumped up and began to walk, a crowd gathered. Then Peter said to this crowd, “Men of Israel, why are you surprised that this man was healed through the name of Jesus?”

When Isa appeared alive to his followers after his wonderful triumph over the execution which the leaders of Israel had planned for him, he said,

“All authority and power in heaven and earth has been given to me. Because of this, go and make followers of me in all the nations!”

The last passage we will consider concerns Isa’s driving desire to see the temple of ALLAH in Jerusalem shed its exclusive, nationalistic character and become a center for the healing of the nations through the medium of prayer. Significantly, Isa chose to emphasize this inclusive aspect of Isaiah’s teaching at a time when that Prophet was attacking the economic activities of some men of Israel. They had transformed ALLAH’S temple courts into selfish, nationalistic, and economic enclaves which distorted and interfered with ALLAH’S purpose for His temple. Isa’s words after he had driven out the buyers and sellers were a direct quotation of the combined prophecies of two of ALLAH’S prophets who had seen beyond narrow nationalism, Prophet Isaiah and Prophet Jeremiah;

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers,” shouted Isa.

At the present time, Judaism continues to deny the power, love, and inclusivism that ALLAH showers upon us through His risen Isa. Perhaps, and I now speak as one who has lost his mind, Jewish rejection of Isa provides the key to understanding why Palestinian Muslims and Palestinian followers of Isa have failed to find unity in our mutual Living Messiah. It appears that these two Palestinian groups have a paralyzing fear that they will gain a potential advantage over their Jewish opponents. Consequently, in order to guarantee that the Jewish people do not experience any disadvantage, Palestinians Muslims and Palestinian followers of the Messiah have agreed not to find unity through their mutual belief in the Living Isa.

Gains have undeniably been accomplished through the willingness of Palestinians to fight the bullets of their oppressors with only their hearts and their stones. Their previous rejection of weapons has shown the world community that a terrible injustice cries out to be resolved. But, perhaps one of the greatest gains experienced in the Intifada (uprising) is in the tearing down of long time barriers which have existed between Palestinian Muslims and Palestinian followers of the Messiah. May this gain not be lost. Rather, may it be built into a mighty foundation. May ALLAH ordain that these two groups who mutually know that their Messiah lives, unitedly call upon Him to permanently replace the past darkness of strife and suspicion with the glowing light of peace, love, hope, and cooperation.

Regretfully, if the leaders of Israel allow time to drag on and they neglect to provide positive reforms and the resolution which justice demands, the pressure from outraged Arab leaders to pay back bloodshed with bloodshed will be great. Yes, there has been the shedding of considerable blood already, though it has mostly been Palestinians who have been killed and maimed. Yet, if literal war comes again, the righteous methods David used when he was a shepherd boy will be replaced by traditional armed conflict. The carnage will be horrible for all concerned when both forces from inside and from outside-occupied Palestine unite in conflict against Israel.

Perhaps worse than the loss of life will be the separation that occurs for an oppressed, suffering people from their ALLAH whose heart yearns to deliver them from their oppression. When weapons or suicide bombers are made the main emphasis, it is no longer ALLAH on whom we are depending for our ultimate deliverance. We are trusting in our own power when we build barriers of weapons between our desperate need for deliverance and the omnipotent power of the Mighty ALLAH, who has authority over men and nations and life and death. He is the very creator of the entire universe. Why does our pride allow us to listen to leaders who persuade us to build these barriers between ourselves and Him, when we have been assured that ALLAH is Merciful and that he does hear our pleas to Him?                 

Ishmael received his name of “ALLAH Hears” when he was helpless and vulnerable in his mother’s womb. Weapons have been used by the Arab people against the people of Israel again and again. Largely because of the amount of weapons the United States has supplied to Israel, conflicts between the Arabs and Israel have resulted in the expansion of Israel. Is it not possible that ALLAH is beginning to bring to birth justice for the descendents of Ishmael when the people of Palestine remain steadfast in their rejection of the weapon as the instrument which leads to justice? The weaponless uprising of righteous rage by a defenseless, vulnerable people has laid the foundation. The time has come to overwhelm the unrighteous attitude of certain calloused and powerful leaders with a heavy weapon from which there is no defense. The mightiest force which can be used by an oppressed people against their oppressors, is desperate, persevering prayer.

When a leader elected by the people of Israel outrageously and callously attempted to dehumanize the Palestinians by classifying them as insects, he seriously offended the Living, Compassionate ALLAH, in whose image all of us have been created. When he spoke of crushing Arab rioters “who are grasshoppers compared to us, “without realizing it, he aided the Palestinian people. His unintelligent comparison of suffering humans with insects helped thousands of Jewish people and multitude throughout the world realize the righteousness and justice of Palestinian rage. As a result, many Jewish people of principle have increased their efforts to reform Israel’s policy so that there be a reasonable resolution for Palestinians.

As dark as the hour seems, glimmers of light are beginning to appear because ALLAH sees and Allah hears. Isa said, “I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” May all of us in secret or with others of similar sympathies, cry out consistently and fervently in the name of the only faultless one, the one who has drawn near to ALLAH and is a Word from Him. As we cry out for justice, love, forgiveness and peace for others and ourselves, may we constantly know: ALLAH hears!

May we find courage and hope in the truth of the saying, “One of the greatest forces in the entire world is the force of an idea whose time has arrived.”

One of the most remarkable abilities that Isa possessed was his gift from ALLAH of moving men and nations through simple stories. Of all the stories he told, the following one has inspired countless people to move the hand of ALLAH through prayer. This story about a vulnerable widow, demonstrates that the mightiest weapon against injustice is direct appeal to the one ALLAH, who holds ultimate power. Significantly, the account of this oppressed woman begins,

“And he told them this story so that they would always pray and not give up.”

“There lived in a certain town a judge who neither feared ALLAH nor did he care about suffering experienced by his fellow human beings. A widow lived in that judge’s town, and she kept coming to him, pleading for legal protection against a man who had harmed her.”

“For a long time the judge ignored her, but finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I neither fear ALLAH nor care about man, yet because this widow is bothering me so much, I will give her legal protection so that she will not wear me out.’"

“And Isa said, ‘ If an evil judge can be worn down, don’t you realize that ALLAH will certainly give justice to his people who plead with him day and night. Yes, He will answer them quickly.”

“As Isa completed the story about this victorious widow, he added a searching question which is imperative for each one of us to answer. His question challenges us to be accountable as to whether we personally will trust and worship a compassionate, prayer answering ALLAH or will we treat ALLAH’S Mercy and Promises as worthless? Isa’s question was, “Even though ALLAH does answer those who cry out, when I return to earth as Messiah will I find those who demonstrate the reality of their faith by preserving in prayer?”

For Palestinians whose hearts cry out for justice, Isa’s question becomes: Will Palestinians choose to pray to ALLAH and look to him for justice? Or, will there be a yielding to pressure and manipulation from others, so that trust and devotion to ALLAH is replaced by trust in weapons and devotion to violence?

ALLAH hears!

The Messiah lives!

May Peace Be With You.