Preventing Violence
| Khatib : |
Sadullah Khan |
| Khutbah No: |
236 |
| Khutbah Date: |
04/27/07 |
[b]ان الله رفيق يحب الرفق فى الأمر كله[/b][b]ويعطي على الرفق ما لا يعطي على العنف[/b][i]Allah is kind and loves kindness in every matter, and kindness has been granted capacity which violence could never attain.[/i]As an historical phenomenon, violence has been expressed in different forms, with varying objectives, and has had many affiliations, religious and otherwise. Some observers related it to the inherently violent nature of the beliefs of the perpetrators, some attributed it to lack of knowledge or understanding, and others described it as the form of expression of the oppressed, the weak, and is used as a last resort. At a personal level, violence may be employed as a tool for self defense, or a means of indiscriminate offence.[b]Virginia Tech Massacre[/b]The recent massacre at Virginia Tech; follows a trend of school tragedies like…- Columbine High School massacreApril 20, 1999 Two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, carried out a shooting rampage, killing 12 students and a teacher, as well as wounding 24 others, before committing suicide.- Red Lake High School massacre - Red Lake, Minnesota, United States; March 21, 2005 a student killed seven people including a teacher and a security guard. He had previously killed his grandfather (a police officer) and his grandfather's girlfriend/partner at home before going to school to commit the massacre. Seven others were wounded.- Amish school shooting - Nickel Mines, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States; October 2, 2006, when a gunman took hostages and eventually killed five girls (aged 7–13) and then killed himself at West Nickel Mines School, a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States.- Virginia Tech massacre; that unfolded as two separate attacks about two hours apart on April 16, 2007, on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States where a resident student killed 32 people and wounded many more before committing suicide, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. When tragedy strikes, it is for the rest of us to make sure that life goes on so that those suffering can grieve. In the end, the only thing positive that can ever come out of tragedy is the lessons we learn from it.[b]Reaction[/b]Shock, grief, horror, sorrow, fear and sympathy are the appropriate first responses after a tragedy like the shootings at Virginia Tech. Within days of the Virginia Tech shooting, people in the United States had moved through three stages: Shock; Realizing there is a problem and trying to identify it; Grappling with ways to avoid a similar disaster.But we are also exposed to daily news of killings and deaths in Iraq which we have invaded. To be told that we must fight a war, where 600,000 Iraqis civilians have been killed on their soil and 3,200 Americans have been killed in a losing and immoral battle, and $417 billion of our resources spent so that we won't have to fight "them" here …is an deliberate scam that ignores the reality of life and insults the integrity of sensible people. [b]Moral Outrage[/b]Should there be a difference in the level of moral outrage between the Virginia Tech shooting and an on-going war of occupation in Iraq that has killed 2 000 times more people? Yes. According to standard utilitarian morality (the greatest good for the greatest number, or in this case the least bad for the fewest number), one event was 2 000 times worse than the other. The reason there was not 2 000 times the reaction is simple, and all the more troubling for its simplicity. Virginia Tech is closer to home, had a single perpetrator, and is easier to imagine. It happened to people who speak our language, whom we imagine to be somehow in our community. There was a single person responsible who did it with his own hands. And as horrific as it would be, we can imagine sitting in a classroom and being shot, whereas we have no idea what it is like to be bombed. The possibility of being bombed on daily basis is the daily reality for most Iraqis, Kashmiris, PalestiniansTwo things are baffling: i. why one student’s act on a campus in America caused shock domestically but the globally condemned invasion Iraq did notii. why the American invasion caused shock around the world but not here. The answer lies in a growing intellectual and moral vacuum that leaves our journalists and citizenry not only vulnerable to blatant propaganda but devoid of the moral imagination that gives people around the world a gut feeling that something, such as a massive unprovoked invasion, is wrong. We have been to lose our sense of indignation.Government, and the people it represents, should work to prevent violence in schools, violence in society … including its own violence that it perpetrates against other peoples.[b]Lessons we need to Learn and Teach our Children[/b]Tragedy leaves one without proper words. Perhaps the most you can hope to bring out of such a thing is the perspective it gives to understand other areas of life When we note that these tragedies have occurred in schools, our kids are aware of it and need to be informed age-appropriately about the facts. Many children are deprived of true love, coming from homes where parents may lack either emotional depth or emotional expressiveness.The Prophet warned; [i]The worst person is the one who suppresses/distresses his family[/i]
[b]شرُّ الناسِ الضَّيِّقُ على أهله ، ألرجلُ اذا دخل بيتهُ خشِعَت امرأتهُ و هرب ولده و فرَّ عبدَهُ ؛[/b][b]فاذا خرَجَ ، ضحِكت امرأتهُ واستأنسَ أهلُ بَيتِهِ[/b][i]That person who when he comes home, his wife becomes fearful, his children run away from him and his servant hurries out of his way;But when he leaves the house, the wife is cheerful and his family is at ease.[/i]Our children need to be reassured and made to feel secure. At a domestic and ethical, we need to …- Keep peace and respect at home- Manifest a loving relationship among dear ones- Realize that force and violence is a means, never a remedy.- Recognize that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.- Be aware that intolerance is violence of the intellect and hatred is violence of the heart.- To imbibe the Prophetic advice …
[b]إن الرفق لا يكون في شئ إلا زانه ، ولا ينزع من شئ إلا شانه [/b][i] Surely, kindness when added to anything adorns;and when removed, leads to blemish [/i]
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